Chapter 2

Sitting outdoors in a cozy café right in the middle of Diagon Alley, Ginny had her back propped against the wall of the restaurant, as she tuned out all sounds around her – including Hermione's voice. When she noticed, Hermione sighed and hit Ginny on the head with her napkin. Ginny jumped and exclaimed, "What?! What was that for?"

Hermione smiled worriedly at her friend. "Gin, you haven't been paying attention to what I've been saying for at least fifteen minutes – again. Actually, you don't seem to have been paying attention to anything – are you feeling ok?"

With no emotion on her face, except fatigue, Ginny replied firmly, "I'm fine. Look, you have a lot more to do today, and I don't seem to be helping in any of it – I'm just more of a nuisance, really, something that you have to worry about not forgetting. So I think I'll just bugger off, and see you at home later, ok?" Ginny hoped she didn't sound too eager to get away from the bright sunlight and happy people.

Hermione studied Ginny's face carefully, and sighed. "Gin, I'm not sure it's a good idea if I left you alone now... really, you should stay-"

Ginny cut her off. "I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself, Hermione. I don't need a babysitter, despite what my mother or anyone else may think."

"I know you're an adult, Ginny, but I'm worried about you...."

More annoyed now, Ginny groaned quite audibly. "Look, I'm leaving, all right? I'll see you at home later."

Resigned to the fact that she wouldn't be able to keep Ginny from leaving without making a scene, Hermione grimaced sheepishly, feeling bad about leaving her roommate again – like she did almost every night of the week. "Er – actually, Gin, I'm going to be staying at Ron and Harry's again tonight... it being the weekend and all...."

Having expected this, and thinking, since when did the time of week ever effect when you wanted to f--- my brother? Ginny replied snappishly, "Right, bye then," and disapparated with a POP.

Hermione knew that Ginny was in serious trouble, but she also knew that it was out of her hands to control – she had tried to stop Ginny's drinking a couple of times, and it always resulted in them dueling, something which Hermione never enjoyed. After sitting in her seat at the café for a few more minutes, Hermione remembered that she had wanted to pick up a few things at home (namely, clothes) before she went to stay at Ron's, and decided that it would be better to rush home before Ginny got entirely soused to the point of throwing things at anything that moved (be it her roommate or the kitchen clock). She left a few coins on the table to pay for their drinks, and apparated into the small apartment she and Ginny had shared since they were both out of school.

It wasn't much – two bedrooms, the sitting room, a kitchen (which opened right up to the sitting room), and a bathroom. Just enough for them to live by... though, it generally wasn't big enough for Ron to stay the night, which is one of the reasons why Hermione spent so many of her nights over at his and Harry's place (Harry was usually never a problem – he either spent the night at some girl's house who he had happened to pick up, or he came home so late that Ron and Hermione never noticed him slipping into his bedroom anyway).

When Hermione popped into the sitting room of their small apartment, she immediately saw Ginny sitting remorsefully at their kitchen table, with one empty bottle of fire-whiskey hanging from one hand, and a newly opened, full one in the other. Hermione recognized this stage of Ginny's drinking – she only had enough alcohol in her system to make her more open with her surroundings... whether that included people or not.

Ginny recognized Hermione's entrance by dropping the first bottle to the floor, which landed on the white tile with a loud 'crack.' As if in a trance, she began to speak, quietly, her speech slightly slurred, but still audible from where Hermione was standing. "You know, some days I just feel like I'm fading away into nothing… It's nice, sometimes, when it starts to hurt so much that I can't even move. Other days I feel like I'm melting into a puddle... so many tears, and they're all for him... and he doesn't care.... It's too hard." Her voice cracked, and a lone tear slipped out, and onto the rim of her full fire-whiskey bottle, the droplet dripping down to mix with the liquid that would soon help her forget all the pain she always felt, at least for a few hours, anyway.

Hermione knew from experience not to interfere, and that speaking would most likely make Ginny mad, which, at this stage of her alcohol consumption, was a very bad idea (in other words, Ginny was still sober enough to use her wand properly, and since she was a fully trained – and quite powerful – witch, provoking the use of her magic in a negative way was a very poor idea indeed). So, feeling helpless, and like a horrible friend, Hermione slipped into her room to gather a few things in a rucksack, and then briefly stepped out into the sitting room to pick up her coat, which she had left on the couch.

Turning around, possibly to either wave or say goodbye, Hermione was upset to see that in the twenty minutes or so that she had been in her room, Ginny had finished off three-quarters of her new fire-whiskey bottle, and it had apparently had ample time to work its way well into Ginny's system. At the sight of Hermione about to apparate away, Ginny, now at the next stage of her alcohol consumption (not caring what other people thought or felt about anything she did), grinned maliciously. "Bye, Hermy! Enjoy f------ my brother!! And say hello to-" and with that, not wanting to hear anymore, Hermione disapparated.

She appeared a second later in Ron's apartment, and burst into tears right in the middle of the living room. Harry and Ron were surprised, both to see her home so early, and to see her begin to cry right in front of them, which was not something that occurred regularly.

Ron (being the wonderful, caring boyfriend that he is) leapt off the couch immediately to comfort Hermione. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and made to walk her to his room. As they reached the doorframe (Hermione still crying her eyes out), Ron turned quickly to mouth "Sorry" to Harry, who looked very perplexed. The two of them walked into Ron's room, and shut the door, leaving Harry alone on the couch to wonder what on earth had just happened – and since when did Hermione have problems that she didn't share with both Ron and Harry?