Hermione swallowed her fifth potion of the day with difficulty – it was horribly sour – and tried not to worry about Harry. As Ron had told her, Harry was simply dealing with things on his own and all Hermione could do was be with him when he needed her (Ron, of course, hadn't phrased it in quite those terms.)
But not worrying about Harry was very hard to achieve. Worrying about Harry had become an engrained part of Hermione's thought process. It came as naturally as breathing.
So perhaps it was good that Harry had brought Ginny when he came to the Hospital Wing earlier, as, unlike Harry, Ginny was disposed to linger. They hadn't really had a chance to talk since the Ministry, but ever since that day…well, Hermione had an odd feeling. Ginny had been upset, naturally, but that wasn't what bothered her.
The difficulty was that Hermione couldn't seem to put her finger on what was wrong – Ginny just seemed slightly 'off'. She might have had good reason to be – Ron had been especially upset by Sirius' death – but Hermione didn't really think that was the source of the problem.
If there was a problem, and Hermione wasn't certain there was. She sensed something…strange about Ginny, but no one else seemed to have noticed it. Harry might have, simply because it was Ginny, and Harry seemed attuned to her, but Harry wasn't really processing anything at the moment as far as Hermione could tell. He talked to them, and Ginny said that he was eating, and Neville seemed to think he was sleeping, but every time Hermione looked in his eyes…it was like looking at someone who'd been hit on the head. He wasn't really there, with them, he was somewhere far off, and Hermione didn't like it one bit.
As for Ron, well, Ron, bless him, was not the most perceptive when it came to his little sister. In fact, he was anything but; even the twins seemed to be better at steering away from Ginny's weak points when necessary, but Ron… Hermione knew he meant well, indeed Ginny knew he meant well, but there were times…
It didn't help that, like Hermione, Ron had been stuck in the Hospital Wing ever since that night at the Ministry.
Ginny was staring out the window, and Hermione took a deep breath and said, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Ginny said absently. "Is 'Hagrid's Little Friend' Grawp?"
Hermione looked around the room quickly. "You know about Grawp?" she said.
"Of course I do," Ginny said. "Ron told us about him when we going into the forest."
"Oh," Hermione sputtered, "We weren't…we weren't supposed to…to tell anyone about that."
"Yeah," Ginny said. "I figured that out."
Silence fell between them for a moment, and to cover her awkwardness Hermione said, "How's your ankle?"
"It's fine," Ginny said.
"I've never broken a bone." Hermione said, "Was it sore?"
Ginny looked at her expressively, and Hermione shrugged, knowing the question was redundant. "It wasn't too bad," she said.
"Really? Harry said you couldn't even walk."
Ginny shook her head. "It's nothing," she said dismissively, "A crack, a bit of pain…Ron walked around on his, remember?"
Hermione shook her head. "Ron stood up for maybe five seconds, Ginny. And he wasn't running from insane Death Eaters."
"Yeah. Whatever." Ginny said.
"Not whatever!" Hermione interjected, suddenly angry. "I was really scared for you – what with Bellatrix Lestrange picking you out like that."
"Well," Ginny said, her mouth curling with disgust, "She found someone more fun to play with."
Hermione shuddered. "I can't believe…she's sick."
"Yeah," Ginny said, "I know. It was like…it was like it was fun for her. Like it's easy to just up and do an Unforgiveable. All things considered, I think I got off lightly. At least I'm not stuck up here all the time."
"Yeah." Hermione said. "But I'm still going to be glad you didn't die."
Ginny smiled. "Me too… I mean, for you."
Hermione grinned at her confusion and for a moment they were silent. It was hard to think of words to say after everything they'd been through. It wasn't that Hermione didn't want to talk to Ginny, didn't want to hear the news from the Gryffindor common room, it was just that…it was terribly comforting not to say anything. Ginny seemed to like hashing out the details of every single curse, every single jinx that had been thrown (in particular she dwelt rather obsessively on her inability to walk) but Hermione just liked to think about it.
Death and feelings she could deal with, but when it came to scary people in masks who cursed children, Hermione liked to put it in a little box in her head, and think it out, gradually.
Still this silence was most unlike them – usually they were both scrambling to fill their time together, apart from everyone else, with as many words as possible. Ginny eventually sighed and said, "So, what's it like being up here with Ron?"
"Ssh," Hermione said, "He'll here you."
"No he won't. He's too busy beating Neville."
And it was true. Neville's skills didn't really extend to chess. Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's boasting and said, "It's not so bad. He snores, but it's a lot better now I can sit up and poke him if I have to."
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to say a thing about that remark, Hermione. Not a thing."
Hermione snorted, but she wasn't really sorry when they were interrupted by Dean, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati. Admittedly, Lavender's habit of flipping her hair and flashing her perfect white teeth was more than a little irritating, but Hermione could put up with that.
It was Neville's fault, really, that Ginny decided to leave, and even then it wasn't intentional. He was telling Parvati about the Ministry, saying, "And Ginny got through all of that, and only a broken ankle."
A moment later Ginny stood up and said, "I think I need a walk. Last trip around the lake before…"
"Oh," Hermione said disappointedly, and watched her leave. She was intrigued to see Dean follow her out of the room.
Hermione didn't doubt that she'd hear all about what Dean had said, and how he'd said it, soon enough. But, for now, she had to put up with Lavender.