Chapter Twenty Six
It was quite some time later when Hermione heard Harry coming into her room that afternoon. He came and sat down beside her on the bed, not saying anything.
Hermione was silent. She just lay there, not moving or even acknowledging Harry's presence at all. She hadn't been crying, but she felt rather drained just the same. It wasn't until he finally reached out and touched her shoulder that she actually sat up and looked at him.
"You got told the whole thing, then?" she asked quietly.
Harry nodded, but said nothing. He simply sat there beside her, staring at the wall.
"Who told you?" she asked.
He sighed. "Fred Weasley," he relied flatly. "You have no idea how weird it is to hear him sounding serious."
Hermione didn't reply. She stayed still for a moment, then rolled onto her back. "Well?" she finally demanded.
"I knew, I think," Harry said, unexpectedly. "When they took us to the Ministry building, there was a lot of talk about some Hogwarts student that was being held there. Or something."
"But you didn't know it was Ron," she paraphrased.
"No," he replied bitterly. "I had no idea it was Ron."
Again they were silent. Hermione didn't know if she ought to say something to Harry, or just let him sort himself out on his own. She decided she had better be on the safe side and keep quiet.
"I guess you want to know how we got out?" Harry asked finally.
"It would help," she replied.
He sighed and looked at the wall. "You'll never believe it," he told her. "I'm still doubtful. I keep thinking that I'll wake up in the cell again, and it'll all have been a bizarre dream." He paused again, as if waiting for her to comment, but she said nothing, so he continued.
"We had pretty much given up on ever getting rescued," he said. "No one knew where we were, and even if they did, they would never be able to get in. We were just waiting for someone to come and kill us." He smiled wryly. "We were so optimistic.
"One day, about a week ago, someone just came up and, out of the blue, let us out. We thought we were dead, but he just said to follow him and keep our mouths shut if we wanted our lives. I think we were both convinced we were dreaming. The guy brought us through a bunch of passages, until we got to ground level.
"When we came out into the sunlight, it really hurt Ginny. We'd been in the dark for so long, the sudden light was too much for her eyes. That's why she's got the blindfold.
"Anyway, we managed to get ourselves stuck in the middle of a crowd of Death Eaters, which wasn't too smart, to say the least. Just managed to get out of it. Ginny did a pretty good job, actually, for a blinded kid. She just did the old 'point-and-stun' method, which worked great.
"We got out, which was amazing, and started to walk home through the Forbidden Forest. The Ministry guys found us there, a day later. I think it startled them." He stopped and looked at her. "You'll never guess who it was who let us out."
Hermione frowned. "Who?"
He grinned. "Draco Malfoy."
If she had been holding anything she would have dropped it right then. "You're kidding," she sputtered. "Malfoy?! He let you out? Why?"
"I have no idea," Harry replied. "When I asked him, he bit my head off. Basically said he wasn't doing it for me or Gin, and to shut up."
They were both silent.
"How did you find out about… about the student who was… about Ron?" she asked haltingly.
"They held us at the Ministry building for a couple of days, like I said," Harry replied. "I overheard someone talking about it." He paused. "They didn't mention a name."
"And Ginny?" Hermione inquired.
"She'll live," he replied. "I hope her eyes are OK."
"Was there… anything… between the two of you?" she asked. She knew (as did almost everybody) that Ginny had adored Harry for years. And in their fifth year, Harry had pronounced that Ginny was "cute".
For the first time since he had learned about Ron, Harry smiled. "Not telling," he replied. "So there."
She was silent again, and Harry put a hand on her shoulder. She leant against him gratefully, and he put his arms around her, not saying anything, just letting her cry.
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