Disclaimer: I don't own J.K. Rowling's stuff. Darn it.


It was a while later before Hermione felt a gentle touch on her elbow. Ginny was crouched beside her, her hazel eyes concerned. "Hermione?" Ginny asked anxiously. "Are you okay?"

Fuzzily, Hermione stared at her for a moment, willing her mind to focus. She had just let go of everything for a while, and obviously she had lost track of time. She made a move to stand, and her legs almost collapsed beneath her. "Yeah, I'm okay, Ginny," she said, trying to sound reassuring. But the concern still remained in Ginny's face.

"Here," she said anxiously. "You're sick. Let me take you to Madam Pomfrey."

Hermione smiled, her mouth twisted bitterly. "There's nothing physically wrong with me, Ginny. Just some hang-ups that I have to get over."

Ginny looked confused, but she helped Hermione to her feet. "Well at least let me take you back to the dormitory," Ginny said, biting her lip. "You don't like very well, Mione. You scared me to death when I saw you sitting there. I thought you were dead for a minute there."

Hermione shivered at the picture that evoked in her mind. No wonder Ginny looked spooked. Hermione squeezed Ginny's hand gently. "I'm sorry I scared you, Gin. I was just--thinking," she said lamely.

Ginny gave her a skeptical look and put one hand under Hermione's elbow. Hermione was a little wobbly on her feet, considering that she couldn't feel them. She wondered absently how long she had been sitting there, because everything from knees down was asleep. Tiny prickles of sensation stabbed mercilessly at her legs, and she winced with each step until some of the blood started to flow again.

The halls were quiet, and there were only a few students wandering the halls. They all gave Ginny and Hermione curious looks, but no one spoke to them, for which Hermione was pathetically grateful. She was annoyed that she had let herself get so worked up about missing just one assignment. It wasn't like it was the end of the world. But when she had realized that she had forgotten to do it, she had felt her mother's words sting like a lash. You're a failure, Hermione. Why can't you ever do anything right? Your father and I were both PhDs. But you don't want to do that. You want to go to this "witchcraft" school. That's trying our patience, young lady. You had better hold up good grades in there, or you'll be coming back here for good. Just the thought was enough to make Hermione shiver.

Suddenly realizing that it was between classes, Hermione looked at Ginny and frowned. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Shouldn't you?" Ginny asked serenely, and with a jolt, Hermione realized that she should. She should be in Care of Magical Creatures with Harry and Ron. They're probably wondering where I am, she thought wistfully.

"I asked first," Hermione retorted, and Ginny smiled slightly. Some of Hermione's fire was returning to her, and Ginny felt some of the tension inside her stomach ease a little. When she had come upon Hermione, who was almost hidden in a tiny nook in the wall, she hadn't thought it was Hermione. But it was the barely tamed hair that had tipped her off. When she had knelt beside Hermione, the other girl was so silent and still that for a split second Ginny had thought she was dead. But when Ginny touched her, Hermione had come around, albeit looking a little dazed.

"I have Charms," Ginny informed her. "Professor Flitwick likes me. He won't mind if I'm a little late, especially if I tell him that I was taking a student to the hospital wing."

Hermione glared and dug in her heels. "I'm not going to the hospital wing, Ginny."

"I know that," Ginny said calmly. "But he won't. Now come on and stop being such a big baby. We're just going to take you back to your bed and let you rest for a while."

"I can't rest for a while," Hermione muttered as they came to the Fat Lady's portrait. She absently noted that the password had been changed to "jingle beans," and then Ginny was helping her up the stairs to her room.

Carefully, feeling like an old woman, Hermione eased down on the soft bed. After sitting in the damp hallways for Merlin knew how long, the softness of her bed was a welcome relief. "And why can't you rest for a while?" Ginny asked, her voice stern and businesslike.

Through a haze of impending sleep, Hermione cracked one eyelid at Ginny. "Merlin, you sound just like your mother," she muttered, and saw Ginny's quick flash of a grin.

"Stop avoiding the question," Ginny scolded as she gently untied Hermione's shoes and eased them off to sit them beside the bed. Hermione curled over on one side and muttered, "I've got to go to Potions. I can't miss that one."

"I'll wake you up," Ginny said soothingly. "Just rest for a little while, ok? You won't be any good in Potions if you're about to fall asleep."

Hermione mumbled something indistinguishable before she burrowed into her pillow and fell asleep. Once she was sure that Hermione was asleep, Ginny sat carefully on the edge of Hermione's bed, concern creasing her brow. For the past few days, something had been bothering Hermione, and it worried Ginny. Hermione was rarely eating, and she had been sleeping at odd hours, and she had displayed increasingly odd behavior. Ginny chewed anxiously on her lip. She wasn't sure if she should just plain ask Hermione what was wrong, but she knew that now wasn't the time. Despite she had told Hermione, Professor Flitwick wasn't going to like her coming into class late.

Still worrying over the problem with Hermione in her mind, Ginny rose and bustled around Hermione's room briefly. She set an alarm so that it would wake Hermione before her Potions class, then looked at Hermione for a moment, worry darkening her hazel eyes. "I wish you would tell me what's wrong," she murmured, more to herself than to anyone else. Then she hurried downstairs and to her Charms class.