For Longer Than Forever: Ch. 11:
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter ® or any of the entities involved.
Within seconds, they reached Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny were waiting for them. "Where were you guys?" Ginny asked.
"Errrrrr. Talking to my parents," Hermione answered.
"What did you need to talk to your parents for? You could've just written them," Ginny asked.
"You can't just tell overprotective parents some things in letters," Hermione informed her.
"Oh yeah? What are some of those things?"
"That your child is pregnant, or engaged, or married, or dead."
"Okay. Which one applies to you?" Ginny asked.
"Which one do you think?" Ron interjected.
"I'm hoping it's the second."
"Well your hopes are well placed," Ron informed her.
At this statement, Ginny squealed and hugged Hermione. "I can't believe it!"
Harry just gave Ron a clap on the back and said, "Nice one, mate."
At that very moment, Lavender walked into the common room and eyed the group nervously. "What's going on here?" she asked snobbishly.
"Oh, Ron and I have just announced our engagement. These two are just a little overexcited," she said simply, gesturing at Harry and Ginny.
"Oh really?" Lavender asked, looking uninterested. Her tone of voice gave her away however. "Engagement?"
"Yes! Ron has asked me to marry him and I've accepted."
"Oh. That's just wonderful." Lavender said in a voice completely void of emotion.
"Yes, isn't it just?" Hermione said as Lavender reached the door to the dormitory.
"Now, Hermione," Ron said. "Why did she need to know all that?" Now he was the one dishing the Look.
"I wanted to make sure it was all over the school by tomorrow morning," Hermione said, laughing.
"That was a pretty ingenious way to do it. Lavender loves to repeat gossip. Very sneaky!" Now they all were laughing.
"Well, Harry and I have our own little announcement," Ginny said, excited.
"Yes," Harry said. "Ginny and I have decided that there is no point in being apart."
Hermione now knew why Ginny's vacant, too chipper look was gone. The happiness was genuine now. She was back to the old Ginny, the happy, full of life, feisty Ginny who doesn't care what anybody thinks of her. The Ginny that Hermione knew and loved. That filled Hermione with joy for her almost sister.
Harry was almost back to the old Harry, but there was something missing, or maybe just different. He was happy and joking like the old Harry, but the happiness and jokes were different. It almost reminded Hermione of... Sirius. He was happy, but behind the happiness was a grim disposition of someone that has been deeply hurt or scarred. Hermione had to wonder whether he would go back to old Harry, or if he would be this new Harry, who is almost like old Harry but has subtle differences. She almost preferred the Harry who thought about Ginny constantly and didn't listen to half of what you said, and suddenly, she wanted to cry. Somehow, an event so happy and joyful had completely deteriorated.
Soon, Harry and Ginny went to bed, leaving Ron and Hermione completely alone in the common room. Ron sat down on the couch, and Hermione climbed up into his lap, like a young child, and cried into his shoulder.
"Shhhhh..." Ron told her. "I know, I know. Just let it all out."
He really did know. He had been thinking about Harry as well. He could tell by the look on Hermione's face, she had been thinking the same thing. Harry's personality had been changed subtly on a very deep level, and it was hard to look at or think about.
He continued to hold Hermione to his chest and rub her on the back, or stroke her hair. She fell asleep in his lap, so he picked her up and carried her to her room. He knew which one was hers because it had a bronze sign saying Head Girl on the door. He quietly opened the door, saw a bed surrounded and covered by books. He pushed the books off, laid her on the bed, and covered her up with the quilt on the bed. He took a good look at her face in the moonlight and thought about how angelic she looked, and gave her a kiss. He left, closing the door quietly behind him and went back down to the spot on the couch. He stared into the fire, wondering if that there was anyway his best friend would ever be completely back to normal. A little after midnight, he went up to bed and fell asleep soon after he got there. But he remembered one of his last thoughts before he went to sleep as he lay there was, "I hope my sister doesn't notice how he's changed. It would break her heart."
The next morning, Hermione woke up and found herself in her dormitory. She had no clue how she had gotten there, considering the last thing she remembered, she was crying into Ron's shoulder. The whole terrible ordeal came back to her and she almost cried again. Then she got up and got dressed and ready for the day ahead. She decided it was best not to even think about it.
A/N: ANOTHER chapter written while I am sick.
I know that the story just suddenly went from a happy, upbeat theme to a sad, dreary one, and you probably don't like that. I don't want you to worry that this is going to be a sob story now, because it's not.
Stephenie Meyer says that she doesn't control her characters, that they tell their own story. That's the way that this has turned out for me. I started out by telling a gushy, happy storyline set to music that had been in my head for months. The story seemed to write itself.
Oh, thanks to Stephenie Meyer for her wonderful books, Twilight and New Moon. They are wonderful and they entertain me so much.
