Chapter 16

Ginny POV

-the quaffle is passed from Nigel to Ginny - oh, Pritchard hits the bludger towards Ginny...that's not very nice...but Ginny is quite quick, as you can see she didn't have much trouble avoiding that bludger. It appears as though Astoria is closing in on Ginny, but Ritchie sends a bludger Astoria's way - again, not very nice, but last week Ritchie helped me find my shoes, so I still think he's a good person. Ginny heads down the pitch...another goal for Gryffindor.

Ginny swung around and flew past the commentators' box and gave Luna a very amused grin. Luna's commentaries were certainly unique; she'd give her that.

"Good pass, Nigel," Ginny yelled out to her teammate. "Good work, Ritchie. I never liked those Greengrass girls anyway," she winked.

Another play started up and Ginny hung back, waiting for an opening. Slytherin currently had possession of the quaffle, but they were having trouble gaining ground on the pitch.

Ginny caught Demelza's eye and gave her a nod. Receiving a nod of confirmation, Ginny shot left and Demelza shot right and they both flew out in front of Greengrass and hooked back around coming at her in a 'V' formation. They closed in on her and apparently unnerved her enough that she nearly lurched to a stop and threw a feeble pass that Ginny intercepted.

With a sharp tug, Ginny turned to the Slytherin goals and rocketed towards them. Only Maddock was hanging back and serving as defense and Ginny flew past the young player with little effort.

Another goal for Gryffindor by Ginny Weasley. She's doing particularly well today, isn't she? She has been practicing a lot, though sometimes I think she does it get things off of her mind. But that's okay, we all do things like that. Slytherin seems to not be in the favour of the Winkle Fairies today, though.

Ginny laughed heartily at Luna's odd commentary. She flew back towards the others at a leisurely pace as she waited for the next play to start. She scanned the players in front of her, absently noting how Demelza was waving at her, and frowned. Where were-

It felt like Ginny had been run over by a train. She felt so disoriented and her whole body ached. Her eyelids felt like they weighed a ton and she couldn't quite open them. She tried to move her arm and after what felt like considerable effort, she finally willed it to move, only to feel a dull pain in her side.

Slowly, Ginny became aware of someone or something leaning over her, enough to block out any light that made it through her closed eyelids. Then, she felt something warm on her forehead...soft contact of some sort, almost like a kiss.

Ginny frowned, the simple action sending shockwaves of pain through her head. Then she felt a hand stroking the side of her face. Ginny mustered up all her energy and she pushed at the person.

She blinked, but her vision was blurry. She moaned as bright light invaded her eyes and she squeezed her eyes shut. Immediately, Ginny felt the person reaching for her again.

"Get off me," Ginny mumbled, disappointed at how feeble it sounded - nothing like the stern, aggressive statement in her head.

Ginny was surprised when she heard gentle laughter. She blinked her eyes again, her vision steadily improving. With a final lingering blink followed by a bit of squinting, the person before her took form.

"M-Mione?"

"Hi, Love," Hermione smiled, reaching across to give her hand a gentle squeeze. The girl's smile turned into a playful smirk. "Good to know that even in a daze you'd fight off an over-zealous girl."

"Mione," Ginny smiled, the relief she felt was evident in her voice.

"Mind if I kiss you now?" Hermione said with a teasing smile.

Ginny closed her eyes. "Please do."

She felt a gentle, tender kiss fall upon her forehead once more, before another kiss landed on her lips. Hermione pulled back, and Ginny reluctantly opened her eyes, missing the contact.

"Do you know what happened?" Hermione asked, as she pulled up a chair and clasped Ginny's hand in-between her own.

Ginny went to shake her head, but winced when the movement gave her a sharp reminder to stay still. Hermione was up in a second, and moved one hand up to tenderly cradle Ginny's head. She kept her hand there for a few moments before sitting back down.

"The Slytherin beaters fouled you. Apparently the next play hadn't started yet and they came up behind you and knocked you off your broom. You had a concussion, a couple of broken ribs and a broken leg. Madame Pomfrey has fixed you up, but you're still going to be in pain for a while. She's had you on sleeping draughts for the past day."

Ginny's mind whirred with the information Hermione just gave her. She didn't know where to begin.

"How-how did you know?"

"Luna contacted me. I came as soon as I could," Hermione said, gently stroking Ginny's hand.

"Thanks," Ginny said slowly. "Geez, I haven't seen you since August and I'm looking like this when you finally see me again." Ginny tried to laugh, but her efforts were cut off and she gritted her teeth in pain.

"I'll go get something to help with your pain," Hermione announced quietly as she rose and walked away, their touch lingering as she departed.

Ginny was nearly asleep again when Hermione came back.

"Drink this, it'll help you feel better," she said as she helped Ginny sit up enough to drink back the potion.

Ginny coughed after swallowing the potion, some of it getting caught in her throat. Hermione placed a soothing hand on her shoulder, and Ginny practically collapsed into the pillows after the fit was done - it simply exhausted her. A feeling of contentment swept over the redhead as she felt Hermione gently stroking her hair.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, even just her voice comforting the redhead.

"Mmm."

A while later, Ginny woke up, hardly realizing that she had fallen asleep again in the first place. Thankfully, the waking up process was much easier this time. She blinked a few times to see Hermione sitting in a chair next to the bed, a book open in her lap. Ginny's mind raced as she recalled what happened previously, though not having a clue how long ago that was.

"Mione?" She asked, her voice already much stronger than it was before.

"Gin," Hermione smiled, sounding and looking pleased as she turned to the younger girl. "How are you feeling?"

"Great," Ginny smiled. Her body still felt like a mess, but she was just so happy that Hermione was actually here and it wasn't just a dream.

Hermione smiled back and reached out to smooth Ginny's hair. "Brave girl."

"I'm so happy you're here," Ginny said.

Hermione leaned in to plant a quick kiss on the redhead's forehead. "I'm just glad you're okay. You gave me a real fright, Gin." Concern shone brightly in Hermione's dark eyes. "I'm going to be grey and with a heart condition by the time I'm 25, what with you and this sport," she smirked.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said with a soft smile. "Though, if I had known that all it took to see you was to get knocked off my broom, I would've done it ages ago."

The brunette gave Ginny a look of severe warning. "Don't you even dare, Ginny Weasley."

"Kidding, kidding," Ginny laughed lightly.

Hermione leaned in and kissed Ginny once more before settling back into her seat.

"How'd you get time to come here?" Ginny asked.

"I took some personal days," Hermione shrugged.

"How many?"

"This is the second day, and I'll take one more, then I have to go back," Hermione said.

"I've been out for two days?" Ginny asked with as much exasperation as she could pull together. "What a waste. I slept through it all."

"You needed the rest," Hermione admonished. "You still need rest."

"Two wasted days," Ginny reiterated.

Hermione smirked. "Well, you've had a number of visitors." She gestured to the window ledge behind Ginny's bed. Though, Ginny didn't feel up to turning around to observe what was there, Hermione got up and fetched a couple of cards that were displayed there.

"Cards, chocolates, flowers, you name it," Hermione laughed. "I might have weeded out a few gifts from a few select girls..."

Ginny laughed. "That's my 'Mione."

"Nothing you'll miss, I'm sure," Hermione said dismissively as she put back the cards. "Love potions and whatnot," she shrugged. "Those were the brave ones anyhow. A few others took off at a run when they saw me."

"I'm so proud," Ginny smiled amused.

"Vile creatures," Hermione stated airily. "Trying to take advantage of you in your compromised position."

Ginny was about to jokingly offer Hermione her wand to perform some hexes when a thought suddenly came to her.

"Where's my ring?" She asked with a degree of alarm and concern as she tried to sit up.

Hermione's hand gently pushed her back down on to the bed as the girl stood. "It's safe - right here," she picked it up off of the bedside table and held it up for Ginny to see. "I'll keep it here for now, though."

Ginny sighed with relief. "Thank goodness, I was worried." She felt Hermione kiss her hand sweetly.

"Well, it's safe, Love," the brunette smiled softly. "I'm glad you like it so much."

"It's great for many reasons," Ginny said. She suddenly realized how heavy her eyelids felt and she blinked lazily.

"You're still recovering, you should get some more sleep," Hermione advised in such a way that Ginny knew she didn't have much of a choice.

"I'm fine."

"Gin," Hermione warned lightly.

Ginny heaved a heavy sigh that pushed her ribs a bit further than was comfortable. She winced and gave a small laugh.

"Okay, you win. You better not be gone when I wake up."

"I'll still be here," Hermione promised with a small laugh. "Get some rest."

With a roll of her eyes and a played-down smirk, Ginny turned her head away from the brunette and closed her eyes. As much as she didn't want to give in to sleep, soon it took over and she was swept away.

Hermione POV

Hermione walked briskly down the hall to her office, her steps echoing down the otherwise empty workspace. She had just gotten back late the night before. She had desperately wanted to stay in bed this morning, but she had a lot to catch up on after missing three days. It was so early that if the office weren't underground, she would have been able to confirm that the sun surely wasn't even beginning to peek over the horizon.

As she entered her office, numerous paper airplanes lay scattered on her desk - an alarming reminder of just how much she'd missed. With a heavy sigh Hermione sat down in her chair, setting her briefcase off to the side and began unfolding the memos.

"FYI...can you get section 14.2 to Ted...meeting Thursday," Hermione muttered under her breath as she flipped through them hurriedly. She was nearly done scanning them when her breath caught in her throat. "Oh no."

Hermione glanced at the clock on her wall and quickly tried to determine if Ms. Blake would be in yet. The note didn't give any details - time, content, or otherwise. She didn't notice anyone in the office when she came in, but she shouldn't assume.

With another sigh, uneasy this time, Hermione stood up. She smoothed out her clothes in trepidation and began the short trek to Ms. Blake's office.

Hermione tread just a touch lighter as she approached Ms. Blake's office. The door was open and a soft light was being emitted from the room, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. She stopped in front of the open door and looked in, as luck would have it, there sat Ms. Blake.

"Good morning, Hermione," Ms. Blake greeted evenly without glancing up from her work.

"Good morning, Ms. Blake," Hermione said, struggling to rid her voice of her nervousness and sound pleasant instead. "You wanted to see me?"

"Mm, yes, please have a seat."

"Oh God," Hermione thought as she crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the empty chair, her hands folded in her lap.

"So, I heard you had to take a few days leave," Ms. Blake said, her tone sounding casual, as though stating any random fact. "Was everything okay?"

Hermione gave Ms. Blake the answer she had rehearsed over and over. "Family emergency. Everything's okay now, though, thank you."

"Mm, that's good that everyone's okay," the older woman replied with a polite smile.

Hermione sat awkwardly waiting for some sort of indication on whether their conversation was over or if there was more to discuss. Finally, Ms. Blake looked up to make eye contact with Hermione.

"So the French Ministry accepted your assessment - again, excellent work. You put their policy analyst to shame." Ms. Blake gave an airy laugh. "Moving forward, we need to begin formulating new policies. They'll just be proposals at this point, of course, but this time the French Ministry wants you to work with their people so we can avoid any further setbacks."

When Ms. Blake said 'setbacks', her nearly humorous tone caused Hermione to frown in question. Ms. Blake just gave her a pointed look.

"Anyhow, I trust that you will be more than capable of guiding the process along. I hope you don't mind the additional responsibility."

"No, not at all," Hermione insisted. "It's a great opportunity and I'd be happy to help."

Ms. Blake gave her a curious smile. "Ambitious and kind. Rare combination."

Hermione was about to respond when Ms. Blake went on with her thought.

"What would you like to accomplish back in London? What is your long-term goal?" Ms. Blake asked, sitting back and gauging Hermione.

"Well, I'm hoping that the reforms we set in place here can be introduced in England as well," Hermione answered. "Beyond that," she frowned in thought, "I'd like to eventually transfer over to Magical Law Enforcement and work on policies in other areas of the Ministry. I believe my impact would be greater if I were in your department. Which, by the way, it is a huge honour to be working so closely with you," Hermione expressed, hoping to not sound like she was just spewing hot air.

Ms. Blake gave her another small smile. "Thank you, dear, that's sweet. Pleasure is all mine, though. It's not often that someone so bright and with so much promise comes by. And I believe your assertions are right, this is a good department to be in and I do believe that you could go far. In fact, the way you're going, you could have Jacob's job in no time," she chuckled.

Hermione blushed. "Thank you, that means a great deal. And I'm not trying to take Mr. Noirent's job from him - not at all. He's been really kind to me." Ms. Blake gave a slight nod of acknowledgement but didn't speak further. Hermione felt the need to continue their talk. "So, you must be absolutely swamped. You already have so much responsibility, and now this project as well," she said. "I can't believe how well you handle all of that stress. And the way you really reined things in at the Ministry after," Hermione hesitated briefly, "Mr. Thicknesse, well, it's very admirable."

Ms. Blake sat forward with a shrug. "It has been busy, certainly. And the transition last year after Pius, well, that was interesting, but we all got through it."

"That was absolutely terrible," Hermione blurted out, as she remembered reading the expose on Pius's offenses. "Someone of such high rank and power, abusing it and corrupting the system."

Ms. Blake offered her a kind smile. "You're very passionate," she stated. "And apparently of strong ethics, as well. A true Gryffindor, indeed," she said with a playful wink that completely caught Hermione off-guard. The blonde sobered and continued on, "Yes, it was tragic, really. I-"

Ms. Blake cut herself off and her gaze snapped up towards the door. Wordlessly she picked up her wand and with a slight twitch of her hand the door closed rather audibly. Hermione turned in her chair to look at the now closed door, and saw the silhouette of a figure standing outside. Turning back around, she saw Ms. Blake setting her wand down - she continued.

"I worked with Pius for many years and he had become a true friend. When I had learned of the things he was doing," she looked down at her desk, apparently lost in thought, "it was just...disheartening, to say the least. I didn't want to believe it. You think you know someone..."

Hermione nodded her head earnestly. The thought of experiencing something like that made her heart ache in sympathy. She couldn't imagine having to come to terms with that sort of betrayal. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she also couldn't believe that Ms. Blake was telling her these things. The woman was always so distant, so this very personal disclosure left Hermione in awe.

"Anyway," Ms. Blake said, her tone anew as she sat back in her chair once more. "Let's not linger on such things, shall we? I'm sure you have lots of work to catch up on," she commented with a faint smile.

"Yes," Hermione nearly stammered, caught off guard by the ending of their conversation. She stood. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Blake."

"You may leave the door open when you leave," Ms. Blake replied, returning to her aloof ways. "Have a good day."

Hermione opened the door as she turned back. "Thank you, you as well."

A few moments later, Hermione was seated back in her office again. She was laying out some paperwork, though her mind was on her recent conversation with Ms. Blake. A firm knock at the door drew Hermione out of her musings.

"Oh, good morning, Percy," Hermione said, somewhat surprised to see him in her office - he never stopped by.

"Was Ms. Blake talking to you about your absences?" Percy asked as he stepped in.

"Ginny's doing fine, thank you for asking," Hermione replied sternly as she locked eyes with the boy that she couldn't believe was Ginny's brother.

"Right," he said with a shake of his head, looking momentarily regretful, even if it was just a flash of concern. "Well, Madame Pomfrey is highly capable, she's dealt with worse, so I had no doubt that Ginny would fully recover."

"That's not the point," Hermione snapped. "She's your sister," she said exasperated. "You should be worried about her, or I don't know, maybe visit her," she continued in a snarky manner. "Heaven forbid you miss a day to check up on your little sister who just suffered a concussion and several broken bones."

"Well I'm sure Ms. Blake had words for you about missing the time that you did," Percy replied haughtily.

"I had approval from Mr. Noirent," Hermione retorted in a slow, deliberate way. "And, if you must know, Ms. Blake wasn't reprimanding me at all. She told me I'm to take on a greater role with the French Ministry's policy creation process and she spoke with me about other future opportunities for me at the Ministry." Hermione knew she was just rubbing it in, and perhaps exaggerating ever so slightly, but Percy deserved it. From the look on his face, it looked like she had struck a nerve.

The look of subdued upset on his face was erased with a scoff. "I'm sure she's just being nice."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, because Ms. Blake is so concerned with everyone's emotions and making sure everyone feels appreciated," she replied dryly. Percy was about to spit out a comeback when Hermione held up her hand to stop him. "I'm sorry, Percy, but I really do have a lot to catch up on. I'll send Ginny your regards," she said pointedly.

He seemed to contemplate a response before ultimately turning on his heel and stalking out of her office. A moment later she heard his door shut.

With a sigh, Hermione grabbed a piece of blank parchment, ignoring the way that the rest of her paperwork called out to her. She laid out the parchment, dipped her quill in ink and began to write.

Ginny,

Your brother is a total prat (not Ron - Percy). I'm sorry, I'm just upset with him right now. He does care for you, he's just all mixed up and has his priorities in the wrong places. Not that I can preach, but I'd like to think I have a better handle on things than him. You'll keep me in check, won't you? Just kidding, though feel free to.

I hope you're feeling completely better now. Although, considering how you were in the Room of Requirement...I'd say you're more than fine (I can only imagine what other things that room has seen). But, on that topic, thanks for the wonderful visit - makes me think I should swing by more often. If only I could!

Well, I miss you already. I'm sure I'll have talked with you through our rings before this gets to you. I just needed to get this out of my system.

Miss you, love you.

Hermione

PS - That Hufflepuff girl stopped by twice while you were in the hospital wing. She does know that you're not the only one who can work a hex, right?

Rolling up the parchment, Hermione made a short detour to the French Ministry's owlery and sent an owl on his way with Ginny's letter. Arriving back at her office, Hermione got comfortable in her chair knowing that she was settling in for a long, long day.

AN: A little bit of quality time for the girls ;) Even if it was brought about by something not entirely positive. Thanks again to everyone for their support! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.