Content Warning (CW): Slavery

A/N: Luna is gender fluid and uses ey/em/eirs for pronouns, which is like they/them/theirs without the 'th' and conjugated singularly. Here's a thing about why pronouns are important watch?v=3xpvricekxU

"Sirius, he's not right in the head," said Hermione. "I don't think he realizes we can hear him."
"He's been alone too long," said Sirius, "taking mad orders from my mother's portrait and talking to himself, but he was always foul."
"You could set him free," said Hermione.
"We can't. He knows too much about the Order. Anyways, the shock would kill him. You suggest to him that he leaves this house, see how he takes it."
Sirius walked over to the tapestry and Harry followed him. Everyone else fell on the sandwiches.
"I keep telling you that not all house elves want to be free," said Ginny.
"I know," said Hermione. "And because you called me out I started actually listening to what it was that they did want, but I still don't understand. It's slavery! Britain abolished slavery how many years ago? A hundred or so? Too long for slavery to still be happening here."
"You don't have to understand it," Ginny said, gentle as she always was with Hermione when they talked about this. "Maybe in the future they won't want to be servants for wixes anymore, but in the meantime all we can do it help them get what they do want."
Hermione sighed, "I know. You're right as always."
"Kreacher wants to preserve the things in this house. We could save some things that aren't riddled with Dark magic for him."
"That's a really good idea. Let's do that. But nothing dangerous."
"Nothing dangerous," Ginny agreed. "Do you want to do some planning for S.P.E.W. and the Alliance now?"
"It feels weird to do anything without Luna."
"Yeah, but I've felt so useless all summer. My brothers are horrible and I just want to be able to do something that will make a difference."
"We could brainstorm some activities. Or we could plan the things we've done before and want to continue."
"Let's re-plan things we've done before. I like having Luna's brain around when we do brainstorming. Ey always thinks in such different ways."
"It's Luna's specialty to be two steps ahead and a kilometre over to the left of everyone else. I love eir brain," said Hermione.
"I know you do," teased Ginny, nudging Hermione with her elbow.
"Not like that!" said Hermione, "Ey's just my friend."
Ginny looked at her with a blank face and a partially cocked eyebrow.
"Okaaay, maybe a little like that. But mostly not! I don't want to cross eir boundaries."
"You know ey is romantic, right. As in, would be interested in having a romantic relationship with someone."
"Yeah," said Hermione, flustered and fiddling her fingers. "It just, I really enjoy being eir friend and having em in my life in the way that they are. I think ey is attractive and interesting and such a wonderful person, as well as an incredibly talented wix. I don't want to change that dynamic."
"I was mostly teasing," said Ginny, relenting, "but I knew you liked em."
"I do," said Hermione, "but don't you dare tell em. Deal?"
"Deal."
Mrs. Weasley came back in to the room. "Let's get back to work," she said. She looked supremely satisfied.
Hermione wondered what had happened to Mundungus and the cauldrons. They were probably on their way far away from the house, judging by how pleased Mrs. Weasley looked. She didn't feel sorry for Mundungus. He was rude, encouraged the worst in Fred and George, and she hadn't forgiven him either for leaving Harry and putting her friend in harm's way.
She quickly ate the remaining few bites of her sandwich and cleaned her hands with a napkin.
The glass cabinets were filled with silver instruments with pinchers that fought back when you tried to put them in the bin, snuffboxes filled with moldy powders, and curiosities that didn't house dark magic, but were dingy and decorated with nasty pictures.
Hermione slipped a locket no one could open into her pocket. She didn't sense any magic on it, though it would be impossible to tell for sure since she couldn't use spells. It was a large, gaudy yellow stone in silver casing with a long silver chain, and a depiction of the Slytherin snake embossed. She thought Kreacher would be glad to have it.
On the other side of the room, Harry opened and wound a music box. The music tugged at her, drawing her towards the box to stare at the little whirling Pegasus and her reflection in the small mirror.
She couldn't take her eyes off of it. The music reminded her of something - the lullaby her father used to sing to her every night before bed when she was little. She smiled. She was light and floaty to the point where the ceiling of the room looked inviting, and increasingly calm. The calmness sat on her, weighed down her limbs and her eyes. She was drousy and her eyelids drooped. The lightness was replaced with the heaviness of the calm and everything took so much effort.
She didn't want to turn her head to look at the others, or lift her hand to scratch an itch on her nose. Even breathing seemed like a chore.
Ginny darted forward and snapped the music box shut. Hermione came back to herself with a start. She shook her head to clear it. Beside her Ron giggled nervously, and Ginny tossed the music box into the bin with the other dark instruments to be destroyed.
Silently everyone shuffled back to the task of emptying the shelves with more presence of mind. When Ginny wasn't paying attention, Hermione stared at her.
After her first year at Hogwarts and her trials with Riddle's diary and the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny had lost most of her naivety. Hermione hadn't known her before, but she could still see the change in her friend between the person who laughed freely in the photos taken pre-Hogwarts and the living version of Ginny now.
Ginny's experiences had made her harder, less gullible. She looked at the world with a highly critical eye and reacted quickly and without hesitation to any threat of danger.
She was powerful. Resolute. She attacked every problem relentlessly until it crumbled before her. When she learned new jinxes and hexes she was stone-faced and steel-hearted. She always approached offensive magic that way. Hermione had noticed it immediately when she started practicing with her.
Of all of the people that had come to her for help with school, Ginny was still her favourite. They had spent the summer after Ginny's first year pouring over books on offensive magic, learning the wand motions and practicing the spell pronunciation separately.
Once they were back at the school they had sealed off empty classrooms and practiced relentlessly. If Ginny had needed help with the research, she certainly didn't need help with the actual casting. Her will power and determination was so strong that every jinx crackled and every hex met its mark. Hermione had learned from her.
It would take a very brave wix to take on Ginny. Even adults would be hard pressed to hold their own, especially if they were idiotic enough to make Ginny furious.
Hermione's heart felt uncomfortably too large, it was forced up against her ribs and her stomach dropped, hot and tight. She was so proud.
Ginny felt Hermione's eyes on her and turned around, smiling. Hermione smiled back. She was very lucky to have Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Luna as her best friends.