Author's Note: This is a rather bad chapter, because I wrote the first part one night, then the second part the other night, so the mood is divided in half, literally. Sadness, then anger-ness at the end. No, don't go looking at the end now! Anyways, thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story. I really appreciate it :D

Disclaimerrrrrrrrrr: I don't own Harry Potter, but I made two wicked awesome characters myself: Healer Kerrie and a new mystery character. Ooooh.

Extra Note: Please ignore the chapter's title. It's really bad and random, lol.

Tears of a Mourning Bookworm

Chapter Four: Addition of Fury

"Harry, I -- " Hermione began, "I'm really sorry for yelling at you like that b-before. I shouldn't have d-done that."

"It's fine," Harry whispered. "I understand."

Against what Healer Kerrie and Hermione told him to do, he had ran into the hospital room and sat Hermione on his lap (and she didn't even protest whatsoever). She was too weak to fully support herself, so she was leaning against him, her body facing his left. Tears were falling here and there, and Harry wiped each and every one of them away.

"What do you think is going to happen when we get back at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked gently. She blinked quickly.

Harry paused, thinking. "I think that a lot of Gryffindors will be supportive."

"I hope so," she replied. "But the Slytherins, they'll just -- "

"Shh," Harry said quickly. "I'll kick their arses if they bother you."

For the first time that day, Hermione laughed. "Thanks, Harry."

It was nice to see her smile again, to laugh, because Harry highly doubted that he would see much of this behavior from Hermione for a long time. And something clenched at his heart, that made him want to know what exactly happened, the life-changing moment that permanently disturbed Hermione.

At, again a bad time, Healer Kerrie walked into the hospital room, carrying a long piece of paper. "Miss Granger, you need -- Mr. Potter! What are you -- ?"

"It's okay, Healer Kerrie," Hermione said.

The Healer nodded hesitantly and glanced at Hermione, who was sitting on Harry's lap. "This isn't what you think it is," Harry said plainly. "I was trying to comfort her. Again."

"Well, then...Right..." she said, looking back at the paper in her hands. "I'm sorry, but the Ministry has a court order for your memory."

"My what?!" Hermione exclaimed, loudly than she had ever spoken. She sat straight up for a moment, but due to her weakness, she collapsed again on Harry, whose green eyes widened in bewilderment.

"They wish to know of the Death Eaters who were involved," the Healer said, pushing back her blond hair. "And the exact cause of your parents' deaths."

"My -- " Hermione began. Her chin trembled, and tears began cascading down her cheeks. It was certainly the first time that the truth had reached her ears, and any denial that she had had (which Harry suspected, was a lot) was gone. "Gone."

"Hermione..." Harry said smoothly, holding her hand.

She shook her head. "Fine, they can take whatever they want! Let get hold of my memories! They'll regret it! And they'll be sorry that they never caught those bloody bastards, those Death Eaters that killed my mum and dad!" Hermione was crying harder than ever, and Harry's attempts to calm her down weren't working.

"I'm sorry," Healer Kerrie said. "A Ministry official will be here shortly, to retrieve your memory, and witness it through a Pensieve. It won't get rid of your possession of that memory."

Hermione, still crying, reluctantly nodded as the Healer strolled out of the room. Harry closed his eyes; he didn't want Hermione to relive what she had been through. "Don't worry," he whispered. "You're strong. You can handle this."

Although the moment he spoke, he somehow regretted saying those words. He thought that Hermione was going to yell at him again on how she's supposed to be strong --

"Leo Cortell, Ministry of Magic," a sticatto voice interupted Harry's thoughts.

The owner of the voice, apparently Leo Cortell, strolled into the room gracefully, holding a briefcase in one hand, fixing his ruffled brown hair with another. He was rather short and skinny, and his boyish face gave the impression that he was in his mid-twenties. "As Precilla Kerrie has told you, the Ministry will need to review your memory to see the full account of what has happened. We recommend you not to tamper with your own memory, but since you, Miss Granger, are only seventeen, I doubt that you would be able to perform such -- "

"Hermione's a brilliant witch," Harry snapped. "If she wanted to tamper with her memory, she'd be able to."

Cortell had apparently not noticed Harry, because he turned to face him with an expression of shock. His gray eyes widened at the sight of Harry's scar. At the corner of Harry's eye, he noticed Hermione beaming at him.

"Harry Potter," Leo Cortell said enthusiastically. "My, what a pleasure to meet you...you are a friend of Miss Granger, I assume?"

Harry nodded.

"Well then, I'm sure that you'd be ever so kind to...er...escort yourself out of the room while I question your friend?"

Harry wasn't so eager to nod that time, but he eventually did so, leaving Hermione behind.

"What did you do now?" Harry heard Ron ask from the left side of the hallway.

"Nothing," Harry replied. "They're just doing a memory review."

"That scrawny little git that just walked in?" Fred asked.

"Yup, that was him. Leo Cortell. Didn't say what division of the Ministry he was from, though."

"I hope she's alright," Ginny muttered.

Harry raised his eyebrows quizically and walked over to her. "Would you care to expand your vocabulary a bit?"

"What? Oh, I -- I mean, it's just all I can think about, you know? I know you're really good friends with her, it must be so hard for you..."

Ron coughed loudly.

"Um," Harry said to Ginny, feeling a little awkward. "Yeah, of course it's hard for me. And Ron."

Ron gave him an appreciative nod.

"And whoever else Hermione is good friends with, besides you and Luna...you know," Harry added. "I'm not in the girls' dormitories, but I'd imagine that she had gotten along with the other girls -- "

"Oh," Ginny said in a near whisper, looking suddenly gloomier than ever. "No, she doesn't have any other friends. The other girls in Gryffindor kind of make fun of her, actually. I thought she told you?"

Harry clenched his jaw, fury rising within him.

"Nope. She didn't tell me."

Author's Note: Pretty please review, and thanks for reading! :)