Chapter 5 Below-the-Surface Tension

A/N: Thanks to the readers who reviewed the last chapter. It made me happy, especially after having been hit by an awfully strong typhoon and having the house flooded (which is why this fic is updated two weeks late). Everything's fine now so here's to hoping I'd be able to post the next chapter on time! Hahaha. Review, guys. Thanks!

The circumstances regarding Ginny's Mental Block seemed really unfortunate to Hermione. Ill-timed as well, with the wedding only two and a half weeks away, although she knew there really was no good time to lose one's memories. The fact that Harry was still there, though, was not exceptional, knowing how much he truly loved his fiancé. No, that wasn't it. It was the fact that he was able to take everything in and not break down was the truly heroic part.

She once asked him how he was feeling about Ginny's condition as they were leaving St. Mungo's and Ginny was getting her last check-up. He was quick to reply that he was fine but she wasn't convinced. She knew all too well the tell tale signs of a sleepless Harry – bags under the eyes, tendency to not hear what was being said to him, and a slight tremble in his right hand that nobody would notice unless specifically looked for.

"Come on, Harry. You don't expect me to believe that," she said softly, looking earnestly at his face and willing him to confide in her.

Harry smiled. He knew Hermione wouldn't buy that line. He walked towards the window and looked out into the horizon, not exactly knowing how to explain the whole gamut of emotions that he was feeling. How do you tell someone you were happy and miserable at the same time?

"It's hard, Hermione. I'm not exactly sure how I'm feeling right now," he replied honestly.

Hermione moved to where he was perched on the window, following Harry's gaze to a nearby tree where a lone barn owl was resting. "You're worried," she stated simply.

"Yeah," Harry concurred. "I'm really glad she's alive and healing but ... what if she doesn't remember and she decided she never wants anything to do with me?" he asked in the most pathetic voice she heard of him.

"Harry, this is Ginny we're talking about, the girl who fell in love with you the first time she saw you."

"She doesn't know me now," he countered.

"That doesn't matter. She's still the same as she always was. She will come around, I'm sure of that," she said. Seeing that he was still wallowing, she continued. "I sent a letter to a friend of mine, a Healer I met in Australia who specializes in Memory Recall. I asked her how it was possible that Ginny only forgot you and not anyone else," she related, noticing Harry's sudden interest. No Healer at St. Mungo's had any explanation of the phenomenon and she knew Harry's mind had been making up various reasons which most, if not all of them, probably having to do with Ginny not wanting to be with him.

"And?"

"Well, first she congratulated me on Ginny sustaining only a mild case of Mental Block. Did you know she could have lost her entire memory? Cornelia said that was the worst case, a Mental Blackout as she called it and then I thought that was probably what Professor Lockhart had," she rambled.

"Hermione?" Harry interrupted impatiently.

"Oh, right. She said that in accident-related Mental Blocks, the patients usually lose the last memory he or she had and anything connected to it before moving on to the next memory and so on," she said.

"I'm not entirely awake right now so if you can explain all that in English," he suggested.

Hermione thought for a moment before speaking. "If, for example, Ron had an accident and the last thing he was thinking of was pie..."

"Why would Ron be thinking of pie?" Harry asked.

"It's an example, Harry!"

"Right. Sorry. Go on."

"Anyway, if the last thing he was thinking of was pie and he had a Mental Block, he will forget everything about pie – the first time he ate it, what it tastes like, what his favourite flavour is, everything. If the case was worse, the next memory will be erased. If he was thinking of mashed potatoes before pie, it's the next memory that will be wiped out," she finished.

"I get it," he said. The analogy using Ron's lunch was effective though strange. "So you mean I was Ginny's last thoughts before she passed out that day?" he asked, finally putting two and two together.

"Mmmhmm," she mumbled, noticing her friend breathe a sigh of relief at this realization.

Their conversation was then broken with the entrance of Ginny, followed by the Weasleys, who were there to retrieve their belongings before going back to the Burrow. It was amazing how much stuff they've accumulated in the short period of time they stayed there – from blankets, to books (Hermione's), to knitting sets (Mrs. Weasley's), to a bottle of what appeared to be lizards' tails (Fred and George's) and a weird looking gadget that seemed to be a tinkered old Gameboy (most probably Mr. Weasley's).

"What did Herb say?" Harry asked Ginny, who sat in the chair near him, watching the family pick their stuff.

"Same thing as before. It only took us longer because I had to get my prescription potions refilled," she informed him. "Have you finished packing?"

"Yeah. I didn't bring much, actually, just a change of clothes so I'm good," he replied, flattening his hair a bit as he noticed Ginny looking at it and smiling.

"Harry, your hair's fine. Stop fussing about it!" Ginny teased.

"It's all messy and you're laughing at it," Harry accused her.

"I'm not, I promise! I like your hair. It suits you," she said and upon realizing what she just blurted out, coloured a bit and excused herself to go to the loo.

Hermione, who was watching her two friends, felt vindicated and she told Harry so just as they were leaving the room. "I told you you needn't have worried."

A/N: Sorry if I haven't replied to any reviewer of the last chapter. Internet connection's still weak from that damn typhoon. Anyways, thanks just the same. This chapter is dedicated to the readers who were wondering how Harry was feeling. I was wondering about it, too, actually, and I hadn't a clue (hahaha!) so it took longer to write. Scrapped a whole chapter I had previously written and had to start over so humor me and write me a review. Please?