Written In The Body

Poetheather

A/N: Wrist still messed up, causing all sorts of issues. My buildup of lead in story is shrinking thanks to this and editing is taking a good bit longer. I am struggling to continue posting weekly, just to let you know. If anything changes I will let people know.

A/N 2: Next Week in the 6 month Anniversary of the start of posting this fic. That's pretty cool.

Still not JKR.

Thirty

She recognized the owl that flew up to her at breakfast and it made her raise an eyebrow as she had actually been expecting Cuspid to be bringing a note from her parents not Flash. Harry was writing her back? Wasn't he in the middle of his Auror training right now? What was going on? Was there a problem or something going on that needed her involvement? Her mind was a whirl with possibilities as she stared at the owl.

Ginny nudged her, to break her out of her reverie. "Take the note 'mione. Flash looks like he wants to do something else, like I don't know… eat?"

"Oh… right." Hermione blushed is slight embarrassment as she reached out and removed the note from the owl's outstretched leg. Once that was done she then handed the bird a piece of bacon which it happily nibbled on before taking off and moving slightly down the table, to a spot that was clear of people.

"What does Harry have to say?" asked Ginny curiously, trying to look at the note that was still closed up.

"Can I read the letter first Ginevra?" huffed Hermione, somewhat frustrated by how her girlfriend was acting. Seriously, sometimes Ginny was worse than a toddler.

Ginny stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend who just rolled her eyes at that, her thoughts confirmed, as she opened the letter. Her eyes scanned over the writing and she pursed her lips. This was what she wanted, as it was a sort of advice, but it was not exactly helpful overall. Still he had tried to do as she had asked and that was something.

Hermione,

I wish I had better news to pass on but I'm afraid Ron is still rather hung up on you. I talked to him about all of this like you asked and he keeps insisting that you just need time to relax and pull yourself together after everything that has happened before you will come back to him. He seems pretty fixated on the idea of you two getting together and married for some reason. You know how he is. I don't know if this is just him being clueless, stubborn or what. I have noticed that he does start getting a bit shaky, louder, and more confrontational the more I push, getting angrier over the whole thing as well. You have to tell him about this, sooner rather than later otherwise it will get really ugly, but I am quite sure it will not be pretty in any case. Let me know when you are going to do it so I can be there to help you in case Ron does something stupid. You know how his temper can be and lately it seems a bit touchier than usual, especially with this particular topic. I wish I had better news to give you Hermione but that's all I have. Give my love to Ginny and Luna.

Love,

Harry

Hermione reread the letter and looked at it thoughtfully. Ron was getting angry over the idea of her not being with him? He was touchier than usual, especially about the idea of her not being with him? Some of this sounded familiar. Why was all of this sounding so familiar? She ran it all through her head, everything that Harry had said on the subject and it wasn't enough to go on. She needed to expand her parameters and include more information so that her suspicions had more to hang on.

"'mione?"

Could all of this have something to do with his somewhat off behavior over the whole summer? Sure he was a prat at times but he had been far more so than usual since the end of the war, and rather pushy about the two of them "being" together. This required more thought. She would need to sit down and go over all of his actions and try to make some sort of sense of them and try to put them together and figure out the pattern so she could see why they seemed familiar to her. It just kept bugging her, niggling at the back of her head.

"Kitten?"

Ron did have a temper, that was certainly true, but it wasn't really all that bad when you knew about what did and did not set him off and he usually did not go off on Harry for no particular reason. He had gotten better towards the end of things as he had gotten past his issues over Harry's wealth. What was it about her and challenging him about her that would make him all defensive at this moment, to the point that he would snap back at Harry over what she was sure were simple questions? Sure she knew that Ron had feelings for her, that had been obvious for a while and she had reciprocated those feelings for a bit until the Manor, but Ron was well aware that Harry didn't have those kinds of feelings for her and was more like his brother than anything else. And she saw Harry as her brother and that was it, so looking at them as potential romantic partners, especially after the spat they had when he returned to them in the Forest of Dean. Besides Harry and Luna were really doing well if the smile Luna got with every letter from Harry was any indication and she knew Harry wasn't hiding their relationship. She had to admit, they were a cute couple. The more she thought about it the more perfect for each other they seemed. So there had to be something deeper to this, something that she was missing in Ron's actions that was causing this behavior of his.

A hand was waved in front of her face a few times and she started some, jerking backwards away from it. Ginny rested a hand on her arm and asked worriedly, "Are you okay Kitten? You really kind of spaced out there."

"Sorry, Harry's letter got me thinking. I'm just trying to figure out why Ron is acting the way he is right now." She said, rather distracted as her train of thought kept dragging her along with it. Once her mind got stuck on a problem it tended to not let go until it was solved or something else took over.

"Good luck with that. Like Ron makes any sort of sense ever. My brother is all stomach and wild emotion that he can't even control on the best of days." commented Ginny with an eyeroll.

"That's true." said Hermione, having to concede that particular point. Ginny did have the greater knowledge about Ron after all. She handed over the letter and Ginny looked down at it. "It's just that the more I think about it the more it's clear that he really has been acting out of ordinary for a while now and it's starting to make even Harry worried. I've been worried about Ron for a while but I had my own stuff to deal with and you to distract me. This just makes all that worry come back to the forefront."

Luna looked up from her syrup and fruit laden waffles and furrowed her brow in thought before asking, "Could he be hurt the same way you and Harry are? You did say that the Horcrux did a number to him when he was wearing it, really messing with his anger and jealousy and after that, when he returned to you guys, he was a lot more clingy, more effected by the loss of anyone. Could that be why he has been so hurt by Fred's death and has been trying so hard to hold on to you, to the point where he was telling people you were together?"

Simon looked up from his breakfast in interest as Ginny and Hermione both started, almost as if slapped. The two young women looked at each other with a look of dawning horror on each other's faces as facts slid into place, fitting with a kind of unreal precision. "Oh Merlin… I just thought he was being a royal pain in the arse. Luna, that has to be it."

Ginny shuddered and closed her eyes, as the idea of this seemed to settle in her. "Poor Ron. He never gets a break does he? I mean it's hard enough to be the youngest boy in our family, what with the picking on him and everything, but to be dealing with this as well… I feel bad for him. Sure he's a prat but no one deserves to be dealing with what you're going through. He doesn't even have anyone in his life like me or Luna who really cares for Harry in that way as well, which could also add to his fixation on you 'mione. He probably sees you as his only hope. How are we going to get him to deal with this?"

The three girls looked at each other, their thoughts racing, searching for an answer to this particular issue. Simon kept eating, looking from girl to girl, wondering what exactly was going on as they hadn't included him in this particular part of things. The silence stretched and he crunched a piece of toast with marmalade on it. The girls' eyes widened at the same time and they all said, "Harry!"

The owl fluttered upwards, a bit shocked by the noise they all made and then settled back down as Luna reached out and soothed Flash, rubbing him on the back of his neck in a spot that he apparently never got enough rubbing in. The owl seemed to be enjoying the loving treatment he was receiving from Luna, turning his head to get more as Hermione quickly scribbled out a letter to Harry explaining what the three of them had realized and that she thought Ron needed to see Senior Healer Bainsly about the issue, or at the very least get some sort of an assessment made to see if this was actually the issue. Once she finished, she handed it over to Luna, who jotted down something else down quickly before rolling up the letter and attaching it to one of Flash's legs. She kissed the owl on the top of his head and said, "Go back to Harry sweetie. See you soon."

Simon looked up from his plate, the confusion was quite plain on his face and he asked Hermione worriedly, "You are hurt?"

Hermione sighed, they had been so caught up in this specific realization about Ron that they had forgotten that their favorite first year had been sitting with them through it all and had clearly heard everything they had said. This was not something she had wanted to get into with him but it wasn't like she was going to lie to him about it either. This was just a topic that was difficult to talk about and she didn't want him to feel bad for her. "Yes Simon, I am hurt. That's why you have seen me occasionally take potions. I got hurt really bad a number of times during the war and it still affects me. You see, I'm still trying to get better because there are a few problems that have been hard to heal."

"Is… is that why you have that scar on your arm that you don't like to show anyone?" nervously asked Simon, knowing that it was a touchy subject for the girl.

"Yes Simon it is. This is one of the bad things that happened to me. A crazy woman hurt me really badly and did this to me in order to make me talk and tell her things we didn't want her to know. She tortured me for a while but I made it through. She's gone now but thanks to this scar I will never be able to forget her. I also have a few more scars as well, but for different reasons." explained Hermione, trying to skirt the more raw and brutal aspects of war. She, Harry and Ron had gotten dragged into adulthood far too early thanks to this stuff. There were certainly details he didn't need to know.

"And you think your friend is hurt like you are?" The worry in Simon's voice was pretty strong and reminded her of Harry so much that it gave her a feeling of Déjà vu.

Hermione nodded. How was she going to explain this in a way that made sense to him but didn't go into too much detail about her own problems? "Yes. Not in exactly the same way as I am with the scar on my arm and everything, but war doesn't always scar you on the outside. Sometimes really terrible events can scar you just as bad if not worse on the inside. I got hurt on the outside and on the inside during the war, just like my friend Harry did, though for different reasons. Our issues were really obvious to both of us and we knew that we had to take action in order to get better. Now we think our friend Ron, Ginny's brother, may have gotten hurt on the inside as well, only he can't tell."

Simon looked sad at that and said quietly, "So… so do you think he was hurt kind of like I was?"

The three girls winced at the raw tone in his voice that tugged at their hearts. This was the first time he had really commented on what had happened to him since he had talked to them about it. It was clear that this was still on his mind and he was feeling some sort of kinship with Ron because of his pain. Luna hugged him tight, since she was sitting right next to him and was on the correct side of the table to do that and he relaxed into it. He had gotten used to these signs of affection because the girls made them all the time. Hermione gave him an understanding smile, "We think that he was hurt more on the inside than the outside and that's what the problem is. Being hurt on the outside feels real and is easy to acknowledge, if your arm is broken you can't really say it's all in your head. However, if you are hurt on the inside sometimes it's hard to believe that the damage is even real and you sort of think it's not real. That makes the problem worse in a way. You at least have some outside stuff to let you know the whole experience was real and is not you just being weak or whiney. Ron probably doesn't believe this is real because it's all going on inside of him. He might be making things worse by fighting against himself. We have to convince him that this is going on before he will even consider the help that he might need."

He shook his head, as if he were following her, clearly not happy with what he was hearing, "I feel really sorry for him. That whole thing sounds terrible. I hope he gets better."

Ginny smiled faintly, "So do I Simon, so do I."

Once breakfast was over they all headed off to classes. The girls headed off to their History of Magic class, not overly pleased with having to listen to Binns droning on and on about yet another Goblin War, this one against Centaurs for some reason, as if there really was nothing else that had happened in the wizarding world of note except goblins attacking everything in sight. Hermione was waiting tor Binns to give a lecture of the Goblin war against a forest or something. Honestly, he was ridiculous. They endured it, taking their notes and struggling to stay awake against his somnolent voice and thankfully after a near eternity it was over. Even Hermione had to admit that Binns was the least engaging teacher ever, almost worse than Umbridge true be told, except he actually passed on information that had meaning and value. He was so bad he kind of made Moaning Myrtle come across as a motivational speaker. As they were heading out of the classroom Headmistress McGonagall walked up to the three of them and said, "Miss Granger, if you could accompany me. I require your assistance."

Ginny and Luna looked at her quizzically and Hermione shrugged as she was unsure what was going on. She knew that she hadn't been caught at anything and she hadn't done anything that could be considered bad in days. She had even made sure to properly clean up the Library after her illicit liaison with Ginny, making sure to freshen the air and everything. Following behind the Headmistress, Hermione tried to figure out what exactly was going on. After discarding the possibility of trouble, since the Headmistress was not radiating sheer irritation like she did when she was upset with someone she tried to figure this out. There were a couple of things that came to mind quickly that it could be, either the celebration coming up in a week at Halloween or it could be the fact that two other students had been assaulted by the Slytherin bullies in separate attacks over the last week. Both were perfectly valid reasons for pulling her aside and talking to her.

They went up to her office and Hermione took a seat after the Headmistress sat down behind her desk. The portraits did not seem to be too concerned with this conversation. "I am sorry for taking you away from your classes but I wanted to get you early as Percy Weasley will be coming over in a short while to talk to you about some of last minute changes that have been made to the celebration."

Hermione groaned in annoyance. She had already put up with too much of this nonsense from the most irritating of all the Weasleys. "More changes? This is ridiculous. If he tries to change the stupid bunting color one more time… I will not be held responsible for my actions Headmistress. Honestly, I swear the Ministry is trying to kill me."

McGonagall chuckled, obviously amused with her response, "You have been dealing with all of this quite admirably Hermione. I have heard nothing but praise about you and the job you have been doing from Mr. Weasley. You are one of the best students Hogwarts has ever had in her long history and it shows in so many different ways."

Hermione blushed under the praise. It was completely unexpected. "Thank you Headmistress."

"I am sure you will be able to get this deal with this new change with the same skill and decorum as you do everything else. Just as I am sure that my pulling you from class will have no significant impact on your grades. Now there is another issue that I have been worried about and wished to speak with you on." said the Headmistress.

"Is it the attacks on younger students by a group of Slytherins?" asked Hermione, taking a guess at the subject. It was the only other thing it could be.

"Yes. I am aware that you are working rather diligently on coming to some sort of resolution on this but it is something to be worried about. Despite the impressive work by the other students in that House, this particular group of Slytherins is keeping any attempts at true change from happening. They seem to represent the past and their actions are all people appear to see, with regards to their House. Are there any real clues as to their identity to go off of?" asked the Headmistress.

"Not yet. They have really worked hard to protect their identity so far, from the very beginning in fact, and have used a wide range of spells in their attacks to make it more difficult to narrow them down. That points to upper years being involved but so far only the fact that most of them remember male voices is the only clue we have. The most recent victim remembers hearing a female voice as well but she wasn't exactly sure as she had her cloak wrapped around her head which did distort the sounds she heard some. Professor Slughorn has tried talking to his House as has Mister Boyle but it clearly had no effect except to make them more cautious and a touch meaner, as they using more advanced curses on the students. I have the Prefects fully briefed on all of this and we have been doing what we can to try and find them. There really isn't anything more we can do at the moment until we catch them," summarized Hermione, making sure that she had fully briefed the Headmistress on the whole situation. It was making her very frustrated and kept giving her headaches. The Map didn't help because not knowing the names involved seeing events on the map would not be of much use.

"Do you have any ideas about what we can to in order to make that happen?" asked the Headmistress, her hands steepled in front of her.

"Yes, but it honestly is a terrible idea for a couple of reasons. They seem to be aware of where the older students are for the most part, which makes catching them tough but is where my plan comes in handy. What I'm thinking about is to borrow Harry's invisibility cloak, use Simon as bait since he fits in their target profile and then trap them when they do something." It was a terrible plan and was remarkably a plan that felt like something Harry and Ron would have come up with when they had been dealing with Malfoy and his goons back before the Tri-Wizard Tournament. She wished she had a better option however than a truly ridiculous Harry kind of plan.

The Headmistress frowned at her as she spoke. "You're right. It is a terrible plan. Have you considered what would happen if something happened to Simon during all of this?"

Hermione sighed heavily, aware that she had to make her pitch now if it was going to have any chance for success which was going to be tough when she had only come up with this plan a short while ago and had barely any time to consider any other options or variations to it. "I have thought about that and even though the bullies have been escalating their attacks they haven't really caused any students they have attacked any permanent damage, to anyone. They are also not attacking based on blood status but rather age and House affiliation, with Gryffindor having gotten hit more than any other. If Simon is properly prepared, and agrees to this, he should be fine, knowing that it would be a brief fight. I might also check with George to see if the charm that is on the Shield Hats they sell can be put on something less obvious to give Simon some more protection, though that might warn the bullies that something is up."

McGonagall pursed her lips as if she were sucking on a lemon, clearly displeased with the whole notion. Hermione couldn't really blame her. "If I had a better idea we would go with that, but the paintings haven't been able to catch them and the House Elves haven't been able to either. I am at a loss as to what they are doing as well. If we do this make sure to speak with Mr. Weasley about that charm to provide some protection before this happens. I am not happy with the fact that this is the best plan we can come up with."

"I don't like it either Headmistress but what other option do we have?" pointed out Hermione.

Before McGonagall could answer her, the fire flared green and Percy Weasley stepped through with a friendlier version of his political smile plastered on his face. He stepped forward with his hand extended in greeting. "Ah, Headmistress McGonagall, Miss Granger, how nice it is to see you both again. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Not at all Mr. Weasley, we were just finishing up. It is good to see you again as well. Don't let me hold you up on any account. Feel free to use one of the empty classrooms downstairs for your discussion. We will speak again Miss Granger." The Headmistress smiled at Percy and her, indicating that they should leave.

"Certainly Headmistress." The two of them headed downstairs, found a nearby classroom that was empty and got to work. After an hour of drudgery discussing seating plans, order of events, decorations yet again, and the like, Percy left the school quite pleased with the outcome of their discussion and Hermione was just fried from it all. She gathered her notes and made her way downstairs to the Great Hall. She knew she was going to be there early for lunch but she really didn't care. What was someone going to do, give her detention? Take points? If she had gone to class at this point she would only have had to turn around and come back here anyway within minutes so why even bother with it.

A few moments after she sat down at the Gryffindor table and rested her head on there a cup of tea appeared next to her. Smelling it's fragrant herbal aroma, she sat up and smiled, speaking aloud, hoping this could be passed to the kind and brilliant elf who had thought of doing this for her. "Thank you."

She prepared it the way she liked it and sipped the perfectly hot liquid, letting the warmth of it soothe her. Working on the planning for that celebration was making her a bit crazy and that wasn't even taking into consideration what the actual day would be like for her. She rubbed her forehead as she could feel a headache beginning behind her left eye. The whole mess was rather stressful and she really didn't need any more of that given everything that was going on. Honestly she was barely hanging on as it was. Furrowing her brows, she pondered if she needed to have one of her calming draughts, to help deal with the stress she felt during the meeting or maybe just a low strength cheering charm. Maybe she should go and ask Madam Pomfrey for some assistance after lunch if she still felt a little off like she did now. The better she took care of herself the sooner she would be healed overall; at least that's what she was told and she desperately hoped it was true.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, pinching it with two fingers, she just sighed and rolled her shoulders, trying to loosen the muscles in her back which felt almost like a solid mass. Things were a lot more tense in her body then they needed to be. With the plan to get the bullies and everything else that she was dealing with in her life was it any wonder that she was pretty much continually stressed? That reminded her; she needed to send a letter to Harry to ask specifically about the cloak and get his ideas on the plan. Maybe she could write it up and send Perdita off with it tomorrow. Then there was also asking him to talk to Simon about things, to see if that helped… well in all honesty, both of them, since she knew that Harry still had some issues with his childhood. Maybe she should send a letter to her parents as well? It had been a while since she had seen them and Cuspid hadn't arrived even though the owl was supposed to. That reminded her that she needed to remind her parents that they needed to go to the Leaky Cauldron in order to meet the Weasley's so that they could escort them into the castle so they could make it to the Ceremony. If they didn't, they would miss out on the whole thing and she didn't want that to happen. She knew that she was getting a something, some sort of award along with Harry and Ron, just not specifically what and really wanted her parents to be there to see that. They had missed so much of her magical life, much of the latter half of her childhood and in a lot of ways that was completely unfair. This was one of the events she absolutely didn't want them to miss. Headmistress McGonagall was fine with everything and had assisted with the arrangements so there shouldn't be an issue.

She started working on her neck, feeling the tight bands of muscles there and attempted to do something about them. Had they always been that tight? Weren't they supposed to be fairly supple at her age? It hurt when she moved her neck too much. When did she get to be so old? She was leaning more and more towards heading to Madam Pomfrey's, possibly even before lunch as there were a number of things that were bothering her and this just added to her worries.

Students began trickling into the Great Hall for lunch, the noise in the room growing a good deal as they did so. She lifted her head wearily and plates and place settings filled the table, one appearing right where her head had been. Luna was the first of their little group to show up, sitting down in her usual spot across from her. She was wearing her glasses with the different colored lenses and had a happy smile on her face as she greeted her brightly, "Afternoon Hermione. How are… oh dear, you seem to have an infestation of wrackspurts."

Recalling from her other conversations with the blond witch that wrackspurts seemed to be mentioned whenever someone was being plagued by thoughts and their thinking got all muddled or confused. That was a fair assessment of her current state so she nodded in agreement. Perhaps there was something to these creatures that Luna kept mentioning? "I think I might be. I know I seem to be thinking in circles and getting nowhere, my thoughts just stuck. Do you have any idea how I can deal with them?"

"Well if we had a siphon that would be best method we could use, so we could draw them out of you without infecting anyone else with them. That's the biggest danger with using some of the other methods you know. Without that, we need something that will drive them safely away from you, something that will make them no longer interested with infesting your brain, something that will rather shock your thinking." stated Luna quite seriously, turning her head slightly to the side as she considered the problem and the girl across from her.

Hermione nodded, trying to figure out the truth from the weird when she heard a voice from behind her say, "Will this work?"

Ginny dipped her backwards and kissed her soundly for a good thirty seconds, hands working in her hair, tongue finding its way in her mouth. She then sat the rather stunned Hermione upright and sat next to her calmly, as if nothing had happened, sweeping her skirt under her as if nothing had happened. Hermione just blinked a few times, trying to reboot her brain after that, her cheeks flushed. That had been wonderful and really got her going and she so wanted more. Luna cocked her head the other way and looked closely at the bushy haired girl. "Yes, that seems to have worked quite nicely. You only seem to have a few yourself Ginny so well done. I think the intensity of that kiss really drove them off."

Hermione grinned happily and sighed, turning her bright smile towards her girlfriend. Her life was so wonderful.

Ginny nudged her with her shoulder, snapping her from her lust filled reverie and asked, "What did McGonagall want?"

"Hunh? Oh, uh… right, Percy came by to talk more celebration stuff. It was nearly as bad as dealing with Binns only without the actually learning anything. Your brother is better and more personable than he used to be but he is still rather pompous. I just want this dumb thing to happen so it's over and done with so I don't have to deal with it anymore." grumbled Hermione, her mind going back to the previous stress.

Ginny stroked her hair, trying to soothe her. "It's okay baby. You only have another week to go and then you don't have to put up with him anymore. He makes everyone crazy so this isn't really a surprise. You've done a great job and it is sure to be amazing."

Hermione nodded hoping that Ginny was actually right. "I know. But I have to admit he is organized."

Ginny snerked at that. "Of course you would like that about him. You are one of the most organized people I know but at least you aren't as crazy about it as he is. Did you know he has lists of lists?"

"I've relaxed about it." huffed Hermione as the others laughed.

"You have and have even more since the start of the year." commented Luna calmly. "It is rare thing to see such a wrackspurt infestation in you anymore. It used to be much more common. Your head is usually much more clear. I am happy for you. Percy however seems to be some sort of nesting ground for them. It makes me sad."

Simon looked over at Luna and asked worriedly, "What year is Professor Hagrid going to teach us about wrackspurts? They sound dangerous."

"They are. They muddle your thinking and make you fuzzy headed which can lead you to do all sorts of silly things. However Professor Hagrid doesn't teach about them or Nargles or any of a number of other esoteric creatures that are out there. He does an excellent job teaching you about the more well-known creatures but there is so much more out there." said Luna with a patient smile. "That's why I am going to become a Naturalist, so I can better catalog these creatures that most people aren't aware of. The world is incredibly diverse and beautiful; it would be a shame if people neglected that because they thought they knew it all. Too many people close their minds to how wonderful things are and I want to fix that."

Hermione grinned at her. While it had taken her a while and a lot of patience she better understood the blond. Those hours talking at Shell Cottage had really helped her make sense of the girl. "I think you would be brilliant at that Luna. I know I am generally stuck on needing rather definitive proof before I believe anything but I really am trying to get better about that. I think I am actually starting to come around on the wrackspurts. There seems to be something to that. Not sure about Nargles yet, but I will certainly be much more careful around mistletoe regardless. I would hate to lose things because of my failing to take precautions."

Luna beamed at her, one of the brightest smiles that Hermione had ever seen from the younger girl and it made her feel warm in her own heart. This was one of the things about Luna that could not be denied, how she showed what she felt. "Thank you Hermione. That means a lot coming from you."

"I guess the way to look at it would be is if you can convince Hermione that these creatures exist then there is nobody in the magical world who would doubt you." commented Ginny with a wink and a grin.

The girls started laughing at that and Simon still looked a bit unsure of things. He turned to Luna and asked, "So does that mean that Wrackspurts aren't real?"

"Oh Simon, of course they're real, it's just that most others don't believe me when I say they exist. You know that doesn't mean they don't, you said as much earlier. Same with Nargles, the Crumple Horned Snorkack or the Blibbering Humdinger. They are very rare creatures that are very difficult to see, because they are very small or their camouflage or their invisibility, which makes people think they don't exist." said Luna with a light hearted laugh.

Simon looked a touch confused at that and Hermione took pity on him. "Don't worry about it right now Simon. Just focus on your own studies and we'll teach you about all this other stuff later."

He nodded and went back to his drumstick, gnawing the meat from the bone. The girls got to eating their own meals, chatting about a lot of nothing and after a while finished their lunch. Hermione was still feeling a bit tense and out of sorts by the time they finished and that worried her. She figured that she might as well do the responsible thing and head off, because she did want to get better. "Gin, I'm heading off to the Medical Wing."

"Are you okay?" Ginny was a lot more alert and was looking at her closely.

"I'm fine. I'm just a bit too tense right now and I think that the calming draughts haven't been able to really help too much lately. I've been going through them a lot and they seem to have less effect. I was going to see what Madam Pomfrey could do to help. I don't want to have another breakdown or mishap. They really aren't a lot of fun." admitted Hermione.

Ginny nodded. "Okay, as long as you are fine. You know I worry about you sometimes."

"I know you do Gin and I wish I wasn't such a bother sometimes. But I am trying to take care of myself." admitted Hermione.

"That you are and I far prefer you getting to the Hospital Wing under your own power than needing to be rescued. Okay, I'll see you later Kitten." Ginny hugged her, kissing her on the cheek before heading off towards her next class.

Hermione walked through the halls towards the Hospital wing, just breathing, doing the deep slow breathing that helped relax her. Taking care of herself like this was a bit more new to how she behaved. She was so used to giving her all to ensure Harry was okay that this was an interesting change. She tried to relax her focus, so her tension could flow out of her as she walked but before that could happen she heard the sounds of a spell being called out from up ahead.

Breaking into a run, she neared the spot, hearing a few male voices calling out spells, even a few female voices doing the same. There was some derisive laughter and jeers but no voices were clear enough to identify. Then as she was almost there she heard a voice callout, "Scatter!"

She came barreling around a corner and saw several Slytherin cloaks fleeing the scene. She cast a few stunners after them, moving to try and get a better angle on them, hustling after them but they vanished into several different halls without her scoring a single hit on them. Hermione grumbled to herself as she went back to the site of the attack, frustrated at failing to score a single hit of the bullies, despite the fact that she had been casting while at a full run, rubbing her left arm as she walked. When she got there she saw the two second year Ravenclaws who had been the victims of this attack and it made her angry and upset at the same time.

One of them, a boy, had a bloody nose, a black eyes and a split lip from smacking his face into the floor several times thanks to the jelly leg curse and the other boy looked dazed and their eyes were unfocused and she wasn't exactly sure why. After the appropriate counter curses for the spells that had been cast against them that she could recognize she took her time to ensure that the two of them got to Madam Pomfrey safely, practically supporting both of them. Madam Pomfrey came out from her office when she entered and looked rather shocked when she saw the damage, and Hermione frowned as she said what she could.

As the Nurse was treating the two second years, she was off to the side trying to calm herself down so she could send her Patronus to get Professor Flitwick and the Headmistress down there. That had gotten her really worked up and her heart was racing and she sort of felt like she was going to throw up. Things were clearly getting far more serious with these attacks. This was the first time that the group had drawn blood even if it might have been inadvertently, but it was a significant amount of blood. That and both students were quite injured, needing actual care from the Nurse.

Patronus sent and the two students resting in beds Hermione went over to the Nurse for her own reasons. "You know, this was not even what I had intended to come here for."

"Oh?" Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow, somewhat concerned. "What's wrong?"

"My stress levels are very high and the calming draughts do not seem to be doing enough to help me relax any more. I know that if I take it more often bad things might happen and I don't want a repeat visit like the last time I was here so I wanted to check in with you to see if you had any ideas." said Hermione, a bit embarrassed about the whole issue, especially after bringing in two actually injured students. She felt like her issue paled in comparison. The short flurry of combat also had her a touch flustered which was making it difficult to get her thoughts straight.

"Well, a cheering charm would only mask things and not deal with the underlying cause of the stress. Do you think it could be due to everything you are doing?" asked Madam Pomfrey. "Everyone knows how busy you are."

"I think so, that and my worry for Harry and Simon, the issue with Ron and also Ginny and our coming out to the Weasleys. Then there is the celebration coming up, all of my Head Girl stuff, these attacks which are clearly getting worse. And there are probably other things I'm not realizing right now that are also jumbled up in that. I have been taking my potions as I'm supposed to and doing the exercises that the Senior Healer has given me but none of it seems to really be stemming the tide of this growing stress. It just seems to keep building as I don't have an actual respite. I have headaches all the time and my neck and back are so tight that it is distracting me in and out of class. Do you have any ideas?" asked Hermione, clearly sounding like she needed the assistance, a slight note of desperation in her voice. This was hard for her to do but she really was trying to do the right thing here because she knew that Ginny would be upset with her for not taking care of herself. Being a good girlfriend meant making sure she was in good health or at least the best she can manage.

Madam Pomfrey looked thoughtful at her words, raised a finger in a gesture for her to wait, and then scurried off into her office for a moment. After a few minutes away she came back out with a smile on her face. "Hermione, you have been working very hard, perhaps a little too hard. I know that is just how you are but with what you are dealing with that might be counterproductive at this time. So I have just talked to Senior Healer Bainsley and we have agreed on a short term course of treatment for you."

Hermione looked askance at the slight mischievous grin that the Nurse was wearing. She had seen it a few times when she had been treating Harry, just before she did something particularly unpleasant to him that helped but that he didn't enjoy. It was a look that fit more on one of the Twins faces rather that Madam Pomfrey. "Am I going to regret this?"

"Not at all. It should be just fine. Could you send your Patronus off to your Head of House please asking for her to come down here? I believe that she and the Headmistress need to be involved in this particular conversation. Just wait there until they get here." Madam Pomfrey then headed over to check back in on the two Ravenclaw students, leaving Hermione standing there next to a chair looking unusually confused. This was not a state she was used to being in. What exactly was going on?

The Headmistress and the diminutive Charms Professor came in through the door to the hospital ward at that time and headed towards her. All Hermione could do was stand there, looking between Madam Pomfrey and the Professors, blinking a few times and she finally said, "Hunh?"