A/N: Hey everyone, sorry it took so long to update. Fall semester at school was crazy, esp. with applying to grad school and figuring out what I'm gonna do with the rest of my life and stuff. Thanks to everyone that reviewed and urged me to continue. Don't worry, I'm going to finish this! Enjoy!
After I left the Potions classroom, I headed straight to the hospital wing, still silently fuming. What gave Snape the right?
"Where's Ron?" I asked Madame Pomfrey quickly as I entered the hospital wing.
"Mr. Weasley is being treated right now," she replied calmly.
"You know that it was lurania, right?"
"Yes," Madame Pomfrey replied more sternly, "and he's being treated."
"Where is he?" I asked, feeling slightly panicked and looking past the school nurse desperately. "I need to see him."
"Miss Granger!" She held up her hand. "Mr. Weasley needs his rest. You can see him when he returns to your common room in a few hours and no sooner. I suggest that you head back there yourself."
I let out a frustrated growl before turning and heading out the door. I mean, God forbid that I want to make sure that my friend is all right. Maybe Snape was right, I thought as I'd turned the corner and started heading towards Gryffindor Tower. If I'd finished reading last night's chapter I might've warned Ron. He might not have listened to me, but I could have warned him all the same.
"Hermione!" I heard Harry yell and slowly turned around. I really didn't feel like dealing with anyone right now.
"What?" I asked when he caught up to me.
"I can't believe you did that! I never would've thought that you'd yell at Snape. It was amazing."
"Yeah, brilliant," I muttered as I tried to ignore the awed look on his face. "I've got a detention that I shouldn't have and Ron's lying in the hospital wing."
I said "Tempus fugit" as we got to the entrance of Gryffindor tower and Harry didn't bother saying anything else as he followed me through the portrait hole.
It was bad enough that Ron had been hurt and they hadn't let me see him, but I'd also gotten a detention. Something that I was sure was definitely frowned upon when one was Head Girl. It was all Snape's fault.
"A detention!" I said out-loud without realizing it. "Can you believe that?! That man is so...so infuriating!"
I just couldn't understand why Professor Snape had to be so perfectly wretched all the time. Not even noticing Ginny, I threw my books onto the table.
"Watch it!"
I absently heard Ginny shout before replying distractedly. "Oh sorry."
"What's the matter Hermione?" Ginny tilted her head at me in that annoyingly concerned manner she has.
"Bloody Snape gave me a damn detention," I replied concisely.
"Why?"
Not feeling like explaining what had happened I just sighed and headed up the dormitory stairs. If Ginny really needed to know what was going on, Harry would tell her.
I was sitting by the window, wallowing, when I heard a knock on the door.
"Hermione...Hermione, can I come in?" I really didn't feel like talking with Ginny at the moment.
She knocked again. "Hermione?"
What was happening to me? I'd yelled at a teacher. Head Girls aren't supposed to yell at teachers and they aren't supposed to get detentions and they aren't supposed to moon over boys lying in the hospital wing. If only Ron hadn't been so still and pale lying there, maybe I wouldn't have lost it. Maybe I wouldn't have ended up sitting in my room, crying.
"Hermione?" Ginny's concerned voice was a whisper and I realized absently that she'd entered the room.
"It's only a detention," she continued. "You've had one before, you've got to know that they're not all that bad."
They weren't all that bad when I was a first year, but I was in my seventh year now. I should've known better. I should've stopped myself.
"I'm not supposed to get detentions," I hissed. "I'm supposed to be a role model. I'm Head Girl. I'm supposed to be a damn paragon of Hogwarts perfection."
I shook my head as I thought about what this would do for my position and started to pick at a nearby pillow. Would everything I said now be treated as hypocrisy?
"Well, aside from your perfectionism," Ginny said off-handedly. "Which we'll talk about later by the way because you're not perfect and nobody expects you to be, if your goal is trying to become the perfect Hogwarts student...well, what's a Hogwarts student without a detention or two."
I let out a strangled laugh. Only Ginny could make detentions sound like a good thing. I just wish she'd said it when everything wasn't spinning out of control. When I hadn't ruined what I'd worked for.
"You know I'm right. I mean, practically everyone in this school gets detentions and almost all of those are from Snape. It's not as bad as you're making it out to be."
I just looked over at Ginny. I knew she was trying to make me feel better, but she just didn't understand.
"But," I said desperately, "I messed up. I yelled at a teacher!"
"You yelled at Snape," Ginny said as if it were something else entirely. "There's a difference. You did what each and every one of us wishes we could do. It's a story to tell your children and grandchildren."
I couldn't help but start to smile. I had wanted to yell at Professor Snape many times before.
"All of your red-haired, Weasley children and grandchildren," Ginny finished with a smirk.
My red-haired...
"Hey!" I couldn't believe that Ginny'd had the nerve to bring that up and it may have been rather childish, but I pushed her.
"I'm just saying," she said nonchalantly. A little too nonchalantly. As if something was already a done deal.
"You didn't say anything did you?" I asked urgently. "You promised!"
"Anything about what?" Ginny looked genuinely confused and it threw me off for a moment.
"Ron," I started hesitantly, "and, you know. How I...well, how I feel about him."
"I haven't told him," Ginny said exasperatedly. "I told you I wouldn't." "Okay." I let out the breath I'd been holding. Having feelings for Ron was starting to make me paranoid. Ginny would never tell him how I feel, right?
"It's time for dinner," Ginny said as she got up, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah," I replied. I had to admit that I was feeling a bit better. Ginny definitely had a way of putting things into perspective when she felt like it. I took her hand and she helped me up. I suddenly thought how glad I was that the two of us had become friends.
"Well then," she said with a mischievous smile, "let's get going sister-in-law."
"Ginny!"
Perhaps I spoke too soon.
A/N: As always, I'm looking forward to hearing what you thought of this chapter. Only about two chapters until we get to the detention (and those two chapters are basically written)!
