The Doctor eyed the book as he sent a concerned thought out to make sure Hermione was ready. He felt a reluctant affirmation and realized that she was as prepared as she was going to be. Therefore, he opened up the book without further hesitation. When he did so, the memories immediately started to flow across the pages and he was able to watch them as if they were on a television or movie screen.
All of the memories were from Hermione's point of view, so he saw the events through her eyes. Consequently, he immediately noticed that she was not alone. He carefully noted the young men who flanked her on each side and felt how strong her affection was for them both. Her memories clearly told him that the dark haired one was Harry and the redhead was Ron. He thought about the stories that she had already told him about their many exploits together and he was a bit surprised to realize that he felt a little irrational pang of jealousy at the obvious closeness of her relationship with them. However, he was soon able to tamp down on that particular emotion - especially when he realized that he already knew what their ultimate fate had been.
He turned a page in the book and watched as the three of them infiltrated and fought their way through the castle that had served as their home and school for so long, but now had to be seen as an enemy stronghold. He felt her heart ache for the castle and he remembered that she had described it as a sentient building. He remembered back to when he had once seen the Old Girl taken hostage in a similar way and understood the utter hopelessness that Hermione felt when she realized that she could not help the place that had become a friend to her. He had known it before, but he had not truly understood until that moment that her relationship with the castle was one of the reasons why she was able to develop such a strong rapport with the TARDIS. Just then, as if she knew that they were thinking about her, he felt the TARDIS touch both of their minds to offer comfort and affection. He sent thanks to his ship (and felt Hermione do the same) before he turned his attention back to the memories.
He continued to watch through Hermione as she experienced joyful reunions with old friends that she had left behind before going on the Horcrux hunt. However, he also saw how that small bit of happiness was immediately overshadowed by her growing horror at all of the death and destruction that surrounded her. He watched the atrocities being committed upon both the living and dead by those behind the silver masks and black cloaks…as well as the ones who did not even bother to hide their identities. These acts were especially heinous since most of the recipients were just school children and those who were barely of age. The Doctor then realized exactly why Hermione had said that he would understand her defensive actions after he saw exactly what these so called Death Eaters were capable of doing. He certainly understood her early distrust and the measures that she had taken to protect herself against him now – especially since he knew that she had been fighting against those monsters ever since she was a young child!
He then watched with amazement as Hermione skillfully fought her way across the battlefield. She was full of grace and determination – even in her desperation. He felt a surge of pride for her every time when she tried to do the right thing and incapacitate the enemy, instead of kill them. She did this whenever possible - even when faced with those who had hurt her before. He watched with approval whenever she stopped to help those in need or pain, regardless of the danger to herself. His hearts went out to her as he felt her pain and anguish when she saw her friends fall one by one until she realized that she was the last one left. He felt himself nod with agreement at her agonized decision to run and not allow herself to be taken alive. Then he watched with great interest as the multiple spells hit her all at once from all sides when she tried to escape by apparating (What is that? It might be important. I must ask. he thought). He speculated that the combination of all of this activity must have been what had somehow sent her to the TARDIS. Then there was nothing…and he realized that this was the end of her set of memories of the battle because she was unconscious aboard his ship directly after these events.
He sighed heavily to himself as he closed the book. Her memories had reawakened some of his own battle scarred ones and he now understood exactly why Hermione had been in such poor physical and emotional condition when she had first appeared on the TARDIS. His poor girl had been through so much and it was a wonder that she was even alive! He was suddenly overcome with concern for her and cast out a mental inquiry to try and judge her state of being while he hoped against hope that she was alright after experiencing these events again. He knew that reliving such traumatic memories could have been seriously detrimental to her physical and mental well-being and set back the progress that she had already made towards healing in both of those areas. He felt only the faintest of responses to his inquiry, however, and decided to gently pull of out her mind in order to check on her in person.
As the Doctor came to his own senses, he immediately missed the warmth and intimacy of the touch of her mind against his and he hoped fervently that it would not be the only time that he would get to experience it. He found that he had to blink several times to readjust to his current surroundings, however, before he was able to look around him. When he did so, he saw that Hermione was still lying on the infirmary bed…with her eyes firmly shut…and he was not really surprised to see that she had fallen soundly asleep! He knew that reliving that horrible series of events had probably drained her - both physically and emotionally. Therefore, Hermione's body had responded the best way it could. It shut down completely and forced her to rest. The Doctor wholeheartedly approved. He realized that rest was probably the best thing for her at the moment and when she awoke the memories hopefully would no longer be as sharp and raw as reliving them must have seemed! He was surprised to note, however, how drained he personally felt after the extremely unpleasant experience. After all, he had done nothing but watch. Nevertheless, he pulled up a chair next to her bedside, reached for her hand, and drifted off into a light, fitful sleep himself before he knew it.
Hermione woke up when the DR beeped to signal the completion of its cycle. She looked up into a pair of concerned blue eyes that were still heavy with sleep themselves as their owner reached over her to remove the device from her arm. She shyly smiled up at him with true affection and he returned the sentiment by lightly caressing her cheek with his free hand.
"You were fantastic, my dear girl!" he whispered with feeling. He meant it, too! "How are you feeling?"
"Like I have lived through a battle - for some reason," she replied with a touch of bitter snark. Then she flushed as she realized that she was speaking to a friend and immediately apologized. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be rude."
"Hermione, after what I have just seen, you can be as rude as you want!" he told her sincerely as he brushed off her need to apologize. "Can you sit up? Slowly now!" he commanded, as he took her hands and helped her into an upright position. In the process, he noted how stiff and painful her movements were. It reminded him that they still needed to run the muscle stimulator in order to take care of that situation.
"Thank you, but I'm okay," Hermione insisted and looked down at her arm to distract herself from the very real danger of losing herself to the power of the concern and affection in his eyes as he helped her. One look, however, was all it took to be amazed that the DR had indeed been able to heal the red, weeping wound. Unfortunately, the hateful slur of a word was still there, but it was barely recognizable as just a series of thin white scars. However, Hermione decided that the lack of blood and pain made the little visible reminder more than bearable. Consequently, she refocused her attention on the man who had made it possible. "I don't know how to thank you. It looks and feels…" here she paused and a small gleam of mischief lit up her eyes, "fantastic!"
The Doctor found himself grinning back in relief. "That it does!" he replied happily.