Ron and Hermione stared bleakly at Hagrid, ignoring their steaming tea. "I know. You don't want to hear it, not again. I'm sure everyone's been tellin' ya. But you both know it's the truth. You just need-"Hagrid was interrupted fiercely by Ron. "-to wait. Yeah, we know. We just need to wait for Harry to come around. We just need to be gentle and understanding and Harry will go back to how he used to be. Maybe. But Hagrid, maybe not, OK? I mean, what happened to Harry last year...and everything else that's happened to him, I just mean that Hermione and I don't understand. We can't understand, and frankly, that scares us. We don't want Harry to become someone else. Someone bitter and lonely. We...we..." Ron stammered, trying to fight the lump in his throat. "We care for Harry. And we miss him." Hermione whispered, a lone tear sliding down her face. Hagrid leaned over and touched Hermione's hand. "And he cares about you. Both of ya. But he's been though a lot, you know that. And it's going to take some time." Hermione abruptly stood up, accidentally upending her tea, which had gone cool. "How long Hagrid? We've been coming to see you since the semester started. Every single day, and you've been there for us...but Harry hasn't. He hasn't been there for anyone, including himself. He's just...empty." Ron nodded morosely, not trusting himself to speak. Hagrid handed Hermione his large, checked handkerchief before beginning to mop up the spilled tea. "I don't have those answers, Hermione. No one does, not even Harry." Hagrid's already raspy voice grew even gruffer, thick with emotion and unshed tears. "But ya just gotta keep tryin'. Yer doin' well, I know you are. Harry will open up eventually. Don't ya give up on 'im." Ron smiled weakly. "Of course we wouldn't Hagrid. You know we wouldn't. I guess we should go back to the common room, Harry's probably done eating lunch by now." Hermione grabbed her cloak and the two set off towards the school. She couldn't pretend that it hadn't hurt when Harry had told both her and Ron that he would prefer to eat alone, during the second half of their lunch periods, if possible. Ron had been angry at first, but she had convinced him that they should let Harry have some alone time. She knew he had a lot on his mind, so she had assured him that both she and Ron were fine with it, and if he changed his mind, they would love to eat lunch with him. He had just nodded and went back into his room. Harry had requested to have a separate room from everyone else, but Dumbledore had refused. Instead, he granted Harry the use of a private study, where he could be alone if he felt necessary. Hermione had understood; Dumbledore didn't want to further isolate Harry. But Harry was doing such a good job of it himself, Hermione felt Dumbledore hadn't needed to bother.