Written In The Body
Poetheather
A/N: Okay… it's official, you all loved the last chapter. 19 reviews… wow. And I just realized that it took longer than Sorcerer's Stone for the girls to get together. Woah…
And snerk… "My true passion is fanfiction." She would totally say that.
So glad JKR lets us play in her sandbox.
Eighteen
The last few weeks before school were always a crazy time for Hermione. It was always filled with her studying and restudying the material to the point where she had the textbook practically memorized. However this year things were a good bit different than in past years. Between her usual studying of her school books, she was also studying Lupin's school journals, spending time with her parents and wishing she could spend some time with Ginny making it a whirlwind of insanity.
A week before it was time to head back to school, Ron had gone off to Auror training, as he had finally admitted to her that he wanted to protect everyone who meant a lot to him and this seemed like the best way to do it. It also meant he would be gone for a while, at least until Christmas, as the initial training was intense and focused. He was going to try to get off for her birthday but wasn't sure if that would be able to happen. There had been a small going away party for him and everyone had been proud of him. It had been the best conversation she and Ron had had since before Malfoy Manor. Thankfully they had managed to clear up a number of things but she had still not felt good enough about things to tell him about her attraction to girls, let alone her dating of Ginny.
Harry was still unsure of what to do with his life, but as he was more worried about getting better he honestly didn't care. Between the money in the Potter family vaults and in the Black family vaults he would not have to do much of anything unless he wanted to. He had told Hermione that he was fairly certain that he did not want to become an Auror as he was sick of fighting for his life, having done far more than any seven people's shares but the idea of helping others like that appealed to him. One the other hand, he wasn't sure if Luna wanted him to put himself in harm's way more than what usually happened on a regular basis and her opinion was taking on more weight with him. All he could do at the moment was waffle. Her only suggestion was to head up to the school and speak with Headmistress McGonnagall when he had the chance. If anybody would be able to come up with a solution to his problem or give him some guidance it would be her.
And so now after all of that, here she was, standing there at King's Cross station for yet another time, her last time as a student, hugging her mother on the first of September, crying because she was going to miss her so very much. They had grown so much closer over the summer and being apart was going to be hard. "I love you Mum."
"I love you too Hermione. I am so proud of you for doing this. Going back to school after everything you have been through is just amazing. I know you'll do well. You take care of yourself and Ginny, okay." The look was very pointed and she could not miss it.
"I will Mum. I have already contacted Madame Pomfrey about tracking my improvement and I will be speaking with her tonight. And I also have Ginny looking out for me as well. We will keep track of each other. I will be fine." said Hermione, trying not to sigh. She was doing well, healthy enough mentally that she had halved her dose of potions, since breakdowns were very uncommon now and seemed to only occur after very high stress. She could anticipate that and take action as she felt she needed.
Her father came up and hugged her, kissing her temple. "Go on before your mother tells you all that again like she did in the car, twice. I love you. Be safe. Send us a note once in a while."
"You too." Hermione waved and then headed towards Platform 9 ¾ wiping the few tears from her eyes. There was no doubt that she was going to miss them however now she had work to do so she had better get to it. She had gone over her instructions as Head Girl several times to make sure she would be able to follow them correctly. If she recalled everything correctly, once the train was in motion and had cleared the station she was to already be in the front car, where she had to sit due to her duties, and conduct the Prefect meeting with the Head Boy, who was a Slytherin named Cameron Boyle. She honestly could not recall anything about the boy, which was either a good or bad thing depending on a number of other factors she supposed. She knew that they would have at least a few minutes to sort themselves out before the Prefects arrived and she hoped to get a feel for him. If she was lucky he would not be cut from the same cloth as many of the other Slytherins she knew.
However the first thing she was going to do, now that she was on the platform, was look for a familiar face. She had noticed that a lot of people, both students and parents, were giving her plenty of space, some even staring, which made her feel a touch uncomfortable. Was this how Harry felt all the time when the Prophet turned people against him or had to deal with that Boy-Who-Lived twaddle? She wasn't really anyone all that special so why were they treating her that way? All in all it was starting to creep herself out and she wasn't really all that happy to admit that, even to herself. She spotted Luna rather easily and hustled over there, calling out excitedly, "Luna! How are you?"
"I'm fine Hermione. Oh my, you seem to be glowing. So it's happened then. Good." asked Luna with a smile that seemed like it knew just a little too much.
Hermione's smile faltered a little as she was parsing her words, trying to work out their meaning. "Happened?"
"My neighbor?" prodded Luna gently, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
The blush that blazed over her face was plenty of answer, making Luna laugh happily. "I am very happy for you Hermione. You have been through a lot and deserve all the happiness you can get. Oh, if you see Ginny, tell her that I saved her a spot in our usual car will you?"
"Sure. That will be fine. Oh, speaking of things like that… how is Harry doing?" Hermione grinned knowingly at the blond.
Luna blushed a little and actually looked a bit shy, which transformed the young woman quite remarkably from her usual spacy self to someone far more grounded and here. It was a rather dramatic transformation. "He's doing well. He didn't come today because crowds still bother him and make him nervous, but he is getting better. He said to tell you, when you asked, that he is going to take your advice and he will be seeing both of us soon, though I suppose it would actually be all three of us now wouldn't it?"
"I am happy for you both Luna. You really do seem to make each other happy." said Hermione honestly, ignoring the last part of what Luna had said.
"Thank you. There is just something about Harry…" Luna trailed off as she groped for the words to describe him.
"Yes, yes there is." replied Hermione with a grin, nodding to show she understood.
After another blush Luna smiled and said, "I must go save the seats now or someone might accidentally take them and it takes forever to explain to them that they are not their seats when they are sitting there. See you soon."
Luna walked off and into one of the train cars and Hermione watched her fade into the crowd, smiling and shaking her head softly. Harry and Luna, who would have believed it? It seemed so unlikely on the surface and yet so likely at the same time, especially the more you thought about it. She would certainly draw him out of his head and get him moving and he couldn't help but ground her and keep her in the here and now. They would certainly be so good for each other.
She turned and scanned the crowd, scanning everywhere for a shock of red hair, that distinctive color that she would know even in her sleep. There was no sign of that color anywhere on the platform. From what she could tell it looked like it might be yet another typical Weasley late start for the first day. She sighed and waited, hopefully they wouldn't be too late as she wanted enough time to meet Boyle and try to get a feel for him before things started. The two of them were going to be working together all year and not knowing anything about him was not a place she liked to be. If this was going to work they had to come to some accord.
As she looked over the students again and tried to ignore the excited whispers of the first years, her thoughts drifted to the journals. It seemed that Remus had a somewhat similar note taking approach to hers, but where she had gone for breadth of knowledge he had tried to get depth as well in each subject. Within the pages there were lists of possible uses for various spells that had nothing to do with standard ideas of how people would usually use the magic, many of which were just fascinating and classic examples of out of the box thinking. The same was true with the basic potions and charms taught in each class, every subject was approached in this manner, to try and find the use no matter how obscure, including in history. That there were a few notes on goblin culture and ways of business, with the caveat that it all depended on the truth of the lesson, was fascinating. Then there were the notes about things learned outside of classes, books he had gotten into and things he had tried just to see what it would do. About halfway through the first year other handwritings joined Remus's, which she had to assume were Sirius and James's scrawl, each adding their own interesting points of view. There were all sorts of thought-provoking notes there as well, plus bits about those three Marauders lives. There was so much to these things that it was astounding and was expanding her own understanding of the men and magic.
She had done her first read through of her textbooks, in addition to a preliminary note taking outline of the chapters as well as made it through the first three years of journals. Each year of journals ended up with more notes in them, more plans and more security on each journal. Thankfully, there were notes on the security that she could reference and she did know the secret code phrase thanks to the Marauder's Map. These things were amazing. No wonder the Marauders were feared pranksters, they had approached magic from several different viewpoints, each member trying to find new approaches to use common spells to do uncommon things and the more complex things got the better she could imagine them getting, each pushing the others farther and farther. Already she could see improvements in her own skills thanks to some of the suggestions made by these three. She seriously doubted that Pettigrew had made any interesting suggestions to their plans and guessed that he had been dragged along with them like a worshipful kid brother. And given how James and Sirius had acted back then… no wonder Peter had become a jealous resentful arse. There were days she just didn't want to understand boys.
Thanks to these journals and her own memory of the twin's catalogue of pranks, Hermione had already developed a few pranks of her own to pull while at school. That was going to be a bit… well strange if she was being honest and she certainly hoped she was able to do it right, but it just felt like the right thing for her to do. Some fun pranking to help lighten the mood of the school would be just the thing that Hogwarts needed after the dark days they had just passed through. At least that was her thought on the matter. Besides, there were some fun ideas in those journals that if done right were much more playful than cruel. That was certainly going to be her aim, to try and affect as many people as possible in as playful a manner as possible.
Her eyes had never stopped scanning the crowd as she thought and there was still no sign of Ginny anywhere or any other Weasley for that matter. She groaned, frustrated with the whole situation. This chronic tardiness was not something she approved of. How Ron was going to do well in the Aurors with that sort of background boggled her mind. Maybe they could help break him of that habit. Right now she could not dawdle any longer as she needed to get onto the train and get ready for the Prefect meeting. After one last scan of the Platform she just nodded, trying not to frown in disappointment, and headed for the Prefect Carriage. She might as well get started.
One of the first things she noticed when she entered the carriage was that it was quite lovely and well appointed. The cushions were nicer than in the rest of the train and there was definitely more space for them to stretch out in. Ginny had certainly been right, it certainly was a nice perk and would make the journey more comfortable. This was something that she could get used to. Figuring she shouldn't tarry so she could give the best impression possible, Hermione grabbed her robe and headed off towards the bathroom to change, as she did not want to run the risk of someone coming in while she was changing. The only person who she wanted to see her in her underwear was Ginny.
Looking at herself in the mirror she smiled at her reflection. She had gotten another trim a few days ago, so her hair was still the shoulder length that she had begun sporting in Australia and it was nicely styled, so unlike how she had been. The fact that she had a bit of makeup to give her that natural look and enhance her appearance was also a change. Just that would throw people. Add to that the fact that her robe was nice and of a higher quality than she had worn before with the Head Girl badge standing out proudly and she had to admit that she presented quite the image of strength and confidence. Yes, this would work just fine.
Walking back into main room of the carriage, she was rather surprised to see that there was someone in there maneuvering their trunk into one of the overhead storage areas. He had somewhat short dark hair and was taller than her by several inches, with a medium build. Not as tall as Ron but certainly taller than Harry. He was dressed rather nicely, nicer than her even, but then again not as over the top as Malfoy usually tried for. He was obviously a pureblood of some status but was not trying to flaunt it. That seemed a rather un-Slytherin thing to do from her experience. From everything available she gathered that this had to be Boyle. She walked up and smiled in a friendly manner, "Hello. You must be Cameron Boyle."
He turned and looked at her, his gaze raking up and down, clearly taking in everything about her appearance, his blue eyes somewhat on the dark side. The neutral look on his face ensured that there was little to read. "Hermione Granger. Yes, I am very familiar with you. It should be an interesting year working with you."
Hermione was not exactly sure what he meant by that as his tone seemed carefully dispassionate, neither antagonistic nor favorable clearly trying to avoid starting anything. This was not something she had seen out of Slytherins before and it did engage her curiosity. "Oh and why is that?"
There was clearly a careful assessment of her before he answered, "I am fairly certain why you were made Head Girl and that is not even taking into consideration the role you have played in dealing with You-know-who. And I am certain that the reason I was chosen was the simple fact that I am a Slytherin who has not gotten into any real trouble over the years nor have I or my family had any clear connections to Death Eaters. My family has been carefully neutral in many of these issues, trying to avoid getting dragged into this whole mess. Despite not being the best student or the most popular I can see the clear value, from a message standpoint, in having a Slytherin like me in this position."
Hermione looked thoughtful. That was an astute observation and made sense, meshing with her understanding of why the Headmistress had chosen him. Some people would be upset with a Slytherin in such a position of authority but by doing so it was obviously an attempt to get life back to normal at the school by moving past the divisiveness from before and avoiding the appearance of punishing that House. "Makes sense to me. Just to let you know, I have no problem with that. The fact that I really don't know you tells me that you weren't a party of Malfoy's crowd and their stupid games. That is something I can work with. So I take it you didn't buy into all that Pureblood stuff?"
Cameron scoffed at that, rolling his eyes. "No, not even a little. My family is well aware of what happens when you narrow down your pool of available partners, you start getting more and more idiots and defectives. Besides, almost every driven muggleborn that my family has ever met has been a bit stronger than many Purebloods in both intelligence and magical strength. So, the very idea that Purebloods are stronger merely by the fact that they are Purebloods is clearly nonsense. No my family are quite the pragmatists. We prefer to deal in what works and is grounded in experience and fact rather than in thoughts of fancy."
"I am sure that made you lots of friends in your House." noted Hermione dryly, a bit surprised to hear that anyone in the magical world was so practical.
"Thankfully my family has the kind of connections in both business and government needed to give me some degree of safety from most of that nonsense." Cameron said with a smile. "I know it's a bit crass to use those but for personal safety it doesn't matter."
Their conversation turned to what they needed to do in order to get ready for the Prefect meeting. Granted the letter from the Headmistress gave pretty clear details as to their duties but they still needed to divide them and figure out some sort of order. Soon the train was pulling away from the station and Hermione felt a bubble of excitement grow within her. She was going back to Hogwarts! For her last year! With Ginny as her girlfriend! How had her life managed to work out so well?
It did not take long for them to work out a patrolling schedule for the train, another task they needed completed before people arrived. It was fairly simple to divide the time and simply assign the shifts to make sure there would be no gaps in the coverage. Cameron also insisted that Hermione take the lead with the others, pointing out that Hermione was far more known and respected than he was, especially with the other Houses. There was no doubt in his mind that she would get instant respect, something he knew that he would not. They got everything done just in time for the arrival of the Prefects.
The meeting went well as they welcomed the Prefects to another year at Hogwarts and that they would really try to have as good a year as possible, despite the work they would have to do. Hermione also made a point of trying to ensure that they all tried to create unity between the Houses and to especially watch out that no one went after the Slytherins. That got a number of surprised looks and she had to clarify her point, stating that none of the returning students were Death Eaters and to judge them that way was ridiculous. To let people in other Houses take revenge for something these students did not do was not something she would stand for. No one really seemed to fuss when they noted the look in her eyes. Her reputation was formidable after all. There were no questions over their assignments either, they all seemed to take them just fine. And with that the meeting was over.
Once the door to the Carriage closed behind the last Prefect, Cameron turned to her with a slight smile and said, "I have to say I am surprised by that last bit you said there. I would have half thought that you would have been after us due to the idiocy of people like Malfoy and Parkinson."
"Your House was put in an untenable position and that is clear. I also know that not all of the Death Eaters came from your House, they came from every House, including Gryffindor. So knowing that and knowing that I fought so that people would not be judged purely on blood, how can I limit things purely on House?" laid out Hermione logically, setting out her point of view so he could understand where she was coming from. She tried to avoid thinking about the name and what it meant to her.
Cameron looked very surprised, clearly not expecting that. "I must admit I had not expected you to have that opinion, and I know a lot of other members of my House will have trouble believing it as well. Just a word of warning, since we are working together and this does seem to be going well. There is a lot of animosity amongst the Slytherins for some of the things that happened at the battle."
Hermione looked at him intently, raising one eyebrow. This was clearly something she needed to know in order to be able to do her job better. "Oh?"
"Yes, a good number of us are still rather upset that we were sent off with Parkinson and some of the others and not given the chance to defend our school. It painted all of us as supporters of the Death Eaters and their Master when that was not true in many if not most cases. We felt robbed of the chance to show everyone that we believed in the school and what it stood for, that the ideals it tried to teach meant something to us. Pansy opens her mouth because she's scared and only thinks of herself and all of us get punished? How does that seem fair? So, yeah, there are a number of people who are upset and probably others holding a grudge for the expected reason." explained Cameron, clearly irritated over this incident as well.
"Thank you for the warning. I will certainly keep my eye out for anyone trying anything. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry that happened. It wasn't my call but that still doesn't make it right. Still, wouldn't you think that people might think twice coming after me, given what everyone knows about me?" Hermione just couldn't understand some of the rationale of those people. This was one of those situations where her reputation as a hero of the War should work to dissuade people.
"That would make sense but some of my Housemates do not make any sense. They have plenty of ambition but are severely lacking in cunning. Anyway, I just thought you might want to be aware so you weren't taken by surprise." He shrugged noncommittally.
"And now I am. Thank you Cameron, I really appreciate it. I am going to head down to see some friends. Will you need me to be back later before our shift?" asked Hermione.
"No, don't worry about it. I can handle most any emergency that might come up and if something serious does occur I am sure you can be found quick enough." He smiled at her politely and she had to admit that it was a pleasant enough smile. It was not something she would have expected her to think about a Slytherin.
"Thank you. Talk to you later, Cameron." Her voice was filled with warmth and reflected how grateful she was.
"You as well, Hermione."
She headed out of the carriage with a little bit of a smile playing across her lips. That had gone far better than she had expected and he seemed like an interesting enough person to work with. Maybe working with a Slytherin would not be the torture that she had initially imagined it to be. Cameron was certainly nothing even remotely like the Ferret or Parkinson. Working with them as Prefect had been a real pain but so far Cameron was rather easy to get along with. This certainly did bode well for the year.
A bit farther down the train, she had to break up a slight tiff developing between a few fourth year Slytherin and Gryffindor boys. It looked like Cameron had been right about that potential problem. She had no idea what this particular fight was really about as they were reluctant to tell her anything so she split them up and sent them back to their cabins with a stern warning to both groups. She threw in her patented 'irritated at Harry and Ron' glare for good measure. They had stared at her wide eyed and scampered off. She just shook her head and walked on, looking for her girlfriend. It took a while but she finally found her towards the end of the train, sitting with Luna and a few other people she didn't really know from their year. She knocked on the glass and slid the door open. "May I join you?"
Ginny's smile was bright and happy, seeming to brighten the whole room. "Hermione! Where were you?"
"Oh, you know the front of the train since I had to go do the Head Girl thing. But I am done for now and wanted to come down and see you." Her answering smile was also full of happiness.
Luna smiled softly and patted an open spot between her and Ginny. "Please have a seat. We kept this one open for you. I didn't even let Ginny sit in it so it would be extra safe."
Hermione nodded and sat down, grinning at the eccentric blond whom she had come to really care for as a friend. She had a teasing tone when she said, "Thank you very much Luna. Some people are quite considerate. Well, Ginevra, I was hoping you would be early so I could see you before I had to work, but I guess it must be a Weasley thing."
"Ugh… don't remind me. Mum was taking forever to get going this morning. George came by last night, as did the rest of the family and we had a big dinner to celebrate my going off to start my last year. It was a lot of fun, except when Mum got all maudlin. I wish you could have been there, if for no other reason than to help spare my sanity but Mum insisted that it was just going to be family event. Not even Harry was invited if you can believe it. It was one of the few times in years that we ate without Harry." replied Ginny, clearly displeased with how her morning went.
"That's different." commented Hermione, aware that it was a change of pace for the big family. They tended to invite Harry to everything, since he was basically considered a member of the family.
"I know." Ginny shook her head and rolling her eyes. "But I made it just before the train took off and now we are on the way to the school. Can you believe it?"
Hermione shook her head. She had been so busy that the feelings of being in a movie, of not really being in her own life began to come back. "Not really. After all the insanity of last year, all the madness that Harry, Ron and I went through, there is a lot of stuff about this that seems a touch surreal to me. Like the Head Boy, Cameron Boyle, a Slytherin, he seems like a really nice guy. I mean, I don't even recall his name from before which I took to be a good sign but still… a nice guy. I don't even know what that's about."
Luna jumped back into the conversation, "He did play the Slytherin game rather well, biding his time, doing his own thing, but last year, when he was working as a Prefect, he actually seemed to 'punish' people in such a way that it kept them out of the way of the Carrows and mostly safe. If you had to get caught doing something, Boyle was the Slytherin everyone wanted to be caught by. He didn't help us with the DA but he watched out for a lot of people."
Ginny had to nod in acknowledgement, her face looking a touch haunted, as if haunted by some of her memories. "That's true. Last year at the school was terrible. With the Death Eaters running things and some of the worst Slytherins going after everyone it was really tough on everyone. We worked hard at keeping people safe and smuggling them out of the school when they absolutely had to go or the Carrows would get them for something permanent. It was… unpleasant. He was a good guy last year and a lot of people were actually pleased to be caught by him whenever it happened. It… helped. There are a lot of people who did not get hurt nearly as bad as they could have because Boyle was the one who caught them. He kept a lot of people out of the Medical Wing and never got caught doing it."
Hermione shook her head, somewhat dismayed by what she was hearing. This was something Ginny had not talked about with her. She sort of understood as she had not really shared all the details of last year with her, only the highlights. The true horror of everything had been left out. She just hadn't been able to bring herself to say those things. Maybe Ginny was the same way? Her arms started to ache, just a little as those thoughts rolled through her head. "It sounds as if last year was really rough for all of you."
"Well yeah but it was not as bad as it was for you. You three really had a bad time of it and you guys were trying to do the nearly impossible from what I managed to get out of you three." said Ginny, smiling wryly. "We were just trying to be brave in order to help hold things together for you three so that when you all got back things would still be in one piece. Luna, Neville and I worked really hard to keep the DA going in secret and protect as many students as possible, pooling all of our resources. The other members of the DA were invaluable as well and our numbers grew but even then it was never enough. All of it wouldn't have been possible without people like Boyle and a few others in Slytherin who were not like Malfoy or Parkinson and the rest of their goon squad. They helped more than you know."
Hermione shuddered at the mention of the ferret's last name, as it brought back memories that still felt raw and just under the surface, summoned back by the topic of discussion. She felt a chill, kind of like the chill of cold marble against her back and arms. The cold ate into her muscles and made them ache, the skin tight and prickling. She had to close her eyes and bite her bottom lip to keep her focus on the here and now and to keep from losing herself to pain. Ginny apparently noticed this change in her and hugged her tight, pulling Hermione against her. "Oh 'mione, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned that git, especially after what we had been talking about. You're okay."
She lost herself in the strength of those arms and the safety they brought her. The smile she gave the redhead was a bit weak but it was there, even though it didn't touch her eyes. The closeness and comfort that being in the girl's arms gave was helping and so she drank that in. "It's okay Gin. I guess the stress of the day has been a bit much."
Ginny seemed pensive for a moment, as if appraising what was going on with her girlfriend. She then looked across at the other girls before asking, "Could you give us a moment please? It shouldn't take too long."
They looked at each other and then left, unsure of what was going on. Hermione noted the looks of respect on the other girls' faces that were directed their way. Clearly Luna and Ginny had done a great deal last year based off of those looks. Once the other girls were out of the cabin and the door closed, Luna cast a few spells to grant them some privacy from eavesdroppers. Ginny then asked worriedly, "Are you okay 'mione? Don't get all Potter on me and answer me truthfully. Do you need to take one of your potions? Have a nap? What do you need?"
Hermione's smile was quite sincere as she looked lovingly at the redhead. "I don't need anything right now Ginny, but thanks. I am strong enough to deal with this. What I think I really need right now is you."
Luna snickered and used her wand to lower the shades, giving them even more privacy from prying eyes. Once that was done she moved to the other side of the compartment and got comfortable, "Don't mind me."
Ginny just rolled her eyes at her friend who giggled. She shifted into a better position and took Hermione back into her arms and held her close, kissing her softly. "Well, you completely have me. I missed you 'mione. Today couldn't come fast enough."
"I missed you too Gin. I really needed this. I've been needing you to hold me for days." She sighed and relaxed into the strong arms that held her. It reminded her of one of her less erotic dreams, one of the ones that had made her feel loved and cherished. Ginny made her feel that way all the time just by being her so she was fairly sure that was not going to change.
"Are you sure you don't need one of your potions?" It was clear that Ginny was on the overly worried side even for her, trying her hardest to take care of her. It was cute in its own way.
Hermione patted Ginny's leg, not wanting to move in the embrace and possibly break contact with those arms. There were so many things about Ginny that she was attracted to but there was something about her girl's arms that really did it for her. There were other body parts as well, but her arms were one of the most socially acceptable. "I am sure. I haven't been using them as much so it's fine. Just let me rest here for a while in my favorite place and I should be perfectly okay in a little while."
"I am really happy that you two finally found each other. I was getting worried." commented Luna as she got out a recent copy of the Quibbler.
Both girls looked at each other and blinked in surprise, having been so caught up in each other that they had almost forgotten the blond had been in there with them. They looked at Luna with questions in their eyes. Ginny was the first to speak, "You knew?"
The smile that was returned was the usual slightly out of it, all knowing Luna smile that used to drive her crazy. Now she could see it for what it was, the girl being aware of something and fairly sure the other party was unaware of it or didn't want to know it. The girl laughed lightly, a bright sound that was as charming as it was infuriating. "Of course I knew. I knew about this a while ago actually. I was always surprised when you two never seemed to figure it out. Watching you both go after the wrong people just made me sad but I knew I couldn't do anything to help you. You had to find each other or it wouldn't work out in the end."
"Wait, earlier, on the platform when you told me, you never did say how you knew when we didn't?"
"The same way I know a lot of things Hermione, by observing. It is one of the things I am quite good at, noticing all the tiny details. When you do a lot of wildlife observations you become very used to looking for minute changes in the environment that could be signs that what you are looking for is about. There were a lot of subtle signs there if you knew what to look for and after a while it was simply impossible to miss. Your actions were practically screaming them at me. And if that weren't enough, well, what you two just did there was a huge clue as well." Luna shook her head in amusement, making her radish earrings bounce.
Hermione rubbed her forehead, trying to relieve the pressure that had quickly built. If only she had known any of this earlier, her happiness might have started even earlier. She thought about all the fights, all the issues she might have avoided if she had known. She turned to face Ginny, looking at the side of her face, her eyes tracing the contours as if memorizing them. Reaching out, she ran a hand down the girl's hair. "Well, at least things worked out now."
Ginny turned and smiled at her, leaning in to kiss the side of her head. "That they did."