Written In The Body
Poetheather
A/N: This coming Sunday is my Birthday. My wife is taking me off for the weekend and we are getting back sometime Monday evening. Due to this I wanted to let you know that there will not be a chapter posted next Sunday/Monday because of that. Just to make you all feel better at the outset, there is no cliffhanger on this to make you scream at me. That doesn't mean that there won't be screaming, just that there isn't a cliffhanger. And congrats to 01lonewolf for seeing this first.
Still not JKR.
Forty-two
The feel of tiny, soft kisses being planted all over her face brought her to waking, making Hermione giggle a little. She moved her head some, trying to get her face away from the assault but nothing was helping. With a slight whine she said, "Stop…"
Ginny kept going, continuing her assault on Hermione, pausing only long enough to say her morning greeting, "Good morning Kitten."
Attempting to squirm away, Hermione chided her fiancée, saying, "Ginny…"
"How is my beloved cuddlesome Otter this morning?" Her voice was nice and chipper, full of happiness. There was more happiness in her voice than se ad heard in a while. The grin on her face was one of the biggest that Hermione had ever seen from the redhead and that made Hermione smile back in kind. She looked so beautiful in the morning light and it made her heart swell.
Hermione reached up, sliding a hand behind Ginny's head, fingers moving through the mussed hair, pulling her betrothed down into a loving kiss. It went on for a while, as she had gotten a good breath before hand and had gotten the knack of breathing through her nose as she kissed. After they broke apart, she pulled her head back, gazing into Ginny's eyes with all the passion she was feeling. With a slight quirk of her lips she said rather formally, "Quite well, thank you. And how is my fiancée this morn?"
"She is quite well." They both started snickering at that. Ginny's eyes went soft again and she softly breathed out, "I love you 'mione."
"I love you Ginny." They kissed again, this time with a touch more passion than before. Their tongues danced against each other, hands getting lost in hair. As heart rate rose higher and higher Hermione broke the kiss as her stomach growled and said somewhat reluctantly, "Come on Vixy, we should get up. My stomach sounds like Ron so I guess I'm hungry. You know that Amy will be up soon and she is going to demand some attention from both of us and may even try to burst in here. You know that you are going to be her favorite sister-in-law, right?"
"I'm gonna be her only sister in law, well, at least until Simon gets married." Ginny replied with a snicker.
"There is that." conceded Hermione with a faint smile.
With a slight grumble of realization, Ginny said, "I should head home. I want to see them and there were things planned for today before I told them I was going to propose to you. Besides I'll be seeing you again soon." said Ginny.
"Absolutely," said Hermione, with a larger smile. How could she deny Ginny anything, especially after she had made her beyond happy last night. The only way she would be happier would be at their wedding and it might be a bit until that happened. "Besides, I still plan on us going out and having some fun on New Year."
"That would be good. Let me get some clothes on, hug people, say goodbye and take off. Mum probably still has breakfast ready and her Boxing Day breakfasts are the best. I might even be able to catch Bill and Fleur before they leave. I really need to let Fleur know just how much I appreciate her taking care of you this spring." Ginny kissed her briefly and sat up.
"Okay. Just so you know I am really looking forward to us waking up like this forever, in our own bed in our own place. It will be perfect." She had a dreamy smile on her face as she contemplated this notion. Dreams of their life together had been a favorite daydream of hers as of late.
Ginny got a dreamy look as well, clearly enjoying that idea as well. "Yeah that will be nice. I do want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. I can't think of anything better. Well, we can talk about getting a place and such later. We do need a place of our own."
She stood and Hermione watched as her ass cheeks tightened while Ginny stretched her arms upward, even raising slightly on her toes as she did so. The view was absolutely delightful and one she could watch for hours. She made her appreciation known, "Mmmmmm… so nice."
Ginny snickered and flexed her ass again, drawing out more sounds of pleasure from Hermione. "Thank you so much for sharing Ginevra."
Shaking her head at the whole situation, Ginny pulled on her knickers and pants, tugging her shirt down as she was not bothering with a bra since she was just popping home where she was going to change. Her breasts were perky enough that one wasn't essential all that often and Hermione liked this fashion development as well. Once Ginny had done that she grabbed her overnight bag and looked down at her fiancée who had been staring at her lustily the whole time. "Shall we?"
Since her lovely little show was gone, Hermione got out of bed, and put on a nightgown with a robe over it as she really did not want to get dressed yet. She walked downstairs with her fiancée, holding her hand the whole way. Ginny said a quick goodbye to her parents, Simon, and Amy. Amy complained about her wanting to leave as Amy had wanted to do something with her but Ginny just hugged her again and said she would see her soon. Hermione smiled at that. Just seeing that, with the age differences made Hermione have wonderful thoughts about the kind of parent that Ginny would be. They warmed her nicely and made her look forward to the future even more. After another good kiss by the back door, they rested their foreheads together and Hermione said, "I'll miss you Vixy."
"I'll miss you too, love. Once you have a better idea of the plans for New Year send Perdita on over and I'll let you know what I think of the idea. It sounds fun but let me see what we have. I'll find out if there is anything else going on that might work as a counter offer." Ginny kissed her forehead then her lips before she bundled her coat about her before stepping out the backdoor. With a pop, she was gone in a moment.
Hermione felt a bit subdued as she ate breakfast. She had spent her first night engaged to Ginny together with her fiancée but now she was alone. It made her a bit sad as she wanted nothing more than to spent time with her fiancée. The simple breakfast of tea and toast helped as she wasn't sure she wanted anything more right then as her heart hurt from loneliness and that made her stomach a bit jumpy. She missed Ginny despite knowing she was going to see her again soon. That didn't change the missing only the fact that it was not going to be a long wait until she saw her again, could hold her in her arms, and they had returned to Hogwarts.
Her mother looked at her a bit worried as Hermione went up to her room. She turned and gave a rueful smile and shrugged, acknowledging that she was feeling off but she needed some time alone. With a slight nod, her mother acknowledged that and gave her an understanding look. There was no doubt in her mind that her mother understood the pain of being apart from the one you love. Walking up towards her room, she was trying to decide what to do: study something, read one of the novels she had for fun, or perhaps write Ginny a letter and send it with Perdita as she already had most of her plans ready for New Year made. There were various options available and she wasn't sure which might be the best plan. Since it looked like she wasn't going to need the privacy to propose perhaps it might be fun to go out and do the things she had planned with Harry and Luna in tow. That might change the plans some but it was an idea and sounded fun. It was certainly something that could be worked with. Realizing that she should have made a set of mirrors for her and Ginny, as that would have made this easier and made the separation seem less pressing, she grumbled at her lack of foresight as she decided to write the letter. The sooner it was sent off the sooner she would hear back.
It didn't take her long to write out her rough outline for the evening and mention her idea to offer Harry and Luna the opportunity to join them. As far as she could figure, it might be a good time, the four of them running around London going to all those spots, enjoying dinner together in a rather posh restaurant. The fact that she knew that she could afford that made her a lot more comfortable with the idea. Since Ron wasn't dating anyone it would certainly be awkward if he joined them and it would shut down the free flow of conversation between the other four, of that she was sure. She wasn't trying to ignore him, it was just that this was much more of a couple sort of thing and not being in a couple Ron would most assuredly feel out of place and that would only make his irritation at her and Ginny worse. It would almost be akin to rubbing his face in their relationship quite rudely. He said it was better but there was no reason to push things or push him. You just didn't do things like that to people you cared about.
As soon as she rolled the letter up and ready to go, she walked out back, looking up into the trees for her owl. She called down Perdita from where she was roosting, pet her a few times, letting her know what a great bird she was. The owl preened under the praise and after having a set of head scritches that made her preek contentedly, presented her leg. Hermione smiled at that and then tied the letter on. She pet her owl again, told Perdita where to go, and held her arm out. The large owl from Australia took wing and headed off towards the Burrow.
Hermione watched her owl fly off for a bit and then headed into the kitchen where she made herself a cup of tea. The warmth the drink would give her would be nice after having stood outside for a few minutes. It wasn't Scotland cold but it was still winter after all. As she waited for the water she realized that she was still in the original quandary that started this mess: study or read for fun. With either answer she knew that a nice cup of tea would be appreciated. It took her a few minutes to go through their collection of teas to find the particular type she wanted before she made her cup. The tea that would be best while reading was not the same tea that was good for breakfast, everyone knew that. She wanted to have the best tea for the job and this seemed to be the best bet. As she was walking back to her room with her still steaming mug, Simon came up to her from his room and looked really nervous. She frowned a bit seeing this, wondering what could be wrong that was leaving him in this state as he asked, "Can I talk to you Hermione?"
"Sure Simon, come on in." The two of them walked into her room and she moved to sit at her desk, gesturing at her bed for him to sit at. He glanced at the door after he sat, clearly uncomfortable with it being somewhat open. Hermione raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what this was about. What was going on and why did it make him so worried? What exactly did he have to say that he didn't want anyone besides her hearing? She stood up and closed the door after a few short steps. Once it was closed, she drew her wand and cast several privacy and locking spells, to insure that they would not be disturbed. She put her wand on the edge of the desk as she sat back down; noting that he seemed ever so slightly more relaxed after she had done that. Her brows furrowed in worry as she asked, "Are you okay Simon?"
He had twisted his hands into his shirt, fingers tight in the material, stretching it slightly. Not looking up at her he just shook his head.
Since he was not quite ready to tell her yet whatever it was he wanted to tell her she had some of her tea, hoping it would help calm her mounting nerves, as anything that had him this upset could not be anything good. It worried her and she had no idea what to do to fix this. How could she help her little brother if he was unable to tell her what was wrong? She would do anything to make him feel better however this was his battle and she could only watch helplessly as he was struggling within to get the words out.
After taking a few deep breaths and letting them out with a shuddering exhales, each growing less ragged, Simon looked up at her. His eyes were filling with tears, shiny with the moisture and she could tell that he had probably been crying earlier. What was going on? His voice was plaintive as he asked, "Hermione, can you help me?"
"Simon you know that I would do anything I could do to help you and that was before you became my little brother so why would that change now. Tell me what's wrong and I will see what I can do to help you." She smiled at him hoping to lighten the mood a little. He seemed so crushed under the weight of something and it was worrying her. Outside of Harry and the events of his life, what did an eleven year old have to worry about this much?
"I… I got a present from Luna…" He hesitantly started, his words faltering slightly and trailed off.
"The one you wouldn't show us?" It was a bit of a dumb question she knew but it was a needed clarifying question in case Luna had given him something else. With her it was entirely possible and she didn't want her analysis to fall apart because she made a faulty assumption. She had done that too many times already and they had never ended well. It was better to ask the dumb questions up front than to completely fail at the end.
"Yes." Another deep breath, another shuddering exhale, only he was a bit calmer this time. He had clearly resolved at least some of his indecision on this matter and appeared more able to speak. Then she could see the panic set in as he said, "She… I don't know how she knew but she… Luna knew. She knew! I tried so hard but… she…"
What he was saying did not make any sense to her and only upped her anxiety and confusion. She needed to figure this out or she would be at a loss for how to help Simon with the exception of just sitting there and maybe holding him while this emotional tide rolled through him. Her voice was soft as she asked, almost afraid to discover the answer, "What did she know Simon?"
"She… I… she… Oh God, don't hate me. Please Hermione, don't hate me. Don't send me back. Please don't send me back. Please." Tears were falling now and he sort of curled up in on himself.
She moved quickly over to the bed and pulled him into her arms and lap. He was a good bit heavier than Amy to be sure but at the moment she couldn't have cared less. He was in pain and comfort was something he obviously needed, comfort and reassurance. She may not know what was going on but there were things that she knew that she could tell him that might just help. "It's okay Simon. It's okay. Shhh… it's going to be okay. I would never send you back to them. Never! They don't deserve to have someone as wonderful as you. And I am also sure there is nothing you could have done that is terrible enough that I would hate you for it. Shhh… it's okay. Now, what's wrong?"
After a few sniffles, Simon's emotional maelstrom quieted some and he nodded, trying to work his way deeper into her embrace. She asked, "Do you believe me?"
"Yes." He replied in a subdued voice, holding on to her tightly, trying to snuffle back the tears.
"Will you be okay to tell me now? I can't really do that much to help you if I don't know what's going on. Now, what was it that Luna knows that has you so scared? You can tell me. It will be alright." Luna was such a sweetheart and such a gentle person what could she have done to have upset Simon this much? What could she have given him as a present that could have set this off? It beggared her imagination. If Luna had hurt him not even Harry would be able to stop Hermione from making her pay. Nobody hurt her family, nobody.
He bowed his head, curling up a bit tighter and shook a little as he answered her quietly, hesitantly, afraid of what her response might be. "I… I think I'm a girl. That's what she knows."
She looked down at his face in surprise, noting that he was biting his bottom lip, pensive, and still trembling a little in her arms. Simon was clearly in suspense over how she was going to react to this news and she had to admit most of what she felt at the moment was surprise. There honestly was no disgust or repugnance, merely surprise and a touch of shock that he had to have been going through this the whole time she had known him and she never knew. She kept her voice calm as she answered, making everything seem alright, so he would relax some more. The last thing he needed was her overreacting, "Okay… I take it that the present is what set this off, your being so upset? So what did she get you that you were afraid to show us?"
"She… she got me a nightgown." Hermione barely heard what Simon had said, but it was loud enough.
She tipped his head up, noting the red cheeks; so that he could see that she was smiling and not angry or upset with him in any way. It might help reassure him that the world was not ending now that he had told her this. "Well, you know that she is very observant and catches a lot of things others miss. Then there is the fact that she might be a bit of a Seer, with some of the things she says and how they come true. No one is really sure. She's just really good at spotting things no one else can. With her catching on, it's nothing to be frightened of. You know she would never hurt you. Do you like it? Your nightgown?"
Simon nodded again, blushing brightly at her words. He wound his fingers in his shirt again as he answered, "It's really pretty and soft."
Hermione cuddled him, hoping that would give him more comfort while trying to figure out what to say about this. This was kind of radical news and shook her perception of her now brother. Her mind was racing, processing all sorts of data, compiling pieces of disparate information from when they had met until now, attempting to make sense of all of this, to put it together into some sort of coherent picture. The idea that Simon was a girl was really different and truthfully was not something she had expected him to say. This was a subject that she knew almost nothing about and had no idea what to say or what to do. Was there a magical method or technique to deal with this problem? Was this an accepted condition in the magical world where it wasn't very much in the muggle, somewhat akin to their different view on same sex marriage? What could she do for him, to help him since she was his magical guardian and therefore any decision about those sorts of things, like medical treatment and even his ability to change, if it were an option, would be hers to make in the magical world. Maybe she really had been jumping the gun thinking she would have been ready to take care of Simon and Amy full time. Glancing down at her left arm, at the words carved in there, at what they meant and what they had come to mean her purpose firmed. It would be difficult, making this work, but she could manage. She struggled to keep the gentle smile on her face and her voice calm as all this raged inside her. "That's good to hear. I'm glad she got you something that you liked even though it was troubling. So how long have you felt this way?"
He shrugged, looking at the floor again. His body absolutely screamed his discomfort and she was at a loss as to how to make him feel better. He tightened his arms as he said, "I've always felt this way. If it wasn't weird things happening because of accidental magic that got me in trouble it was me not acting 'right' that did. I… I told my Mum about all this when I was six and… and…"
Holding him close as he cried, Hermione again had an overwhelming urge to find Simon's parents and do things to them that would surely result with her spending time in Azkaban. Letting Bellatrix loose on them might not even be enough of a punishment for all they had done to him. How could they have done any of that? To their own child? Did any of this really matter in the end? "It's okay Simon, they can't hurt you anymore. I've got you."
"I got caught a few times in my mother's clothes and then they… they hurt me like they did if something strange happened. Sometimes it was worse. I tried to stop. I did. I don't know why I couldn't." He kept crying and Hermione was at a bit of a loss for what to do. She needed to do something for him but what? She tightened her embrace and whispered a few soothing sounds as her mind ran.
"Look, how about tonight you come to my room, bring your nightgown with you, and you can sleep in the bed with me. The door will be locked magically and we will be safe. You can relax, be you, and we can talk and work this whole thing out. No one will find out what you are wearing or anything. I promise you. Does that sound like a plan?" asked Hermione. She wasn't exactly sure but this sounded like an idea that might at least let Simon know that she was alright with this. Together they might be able to come up with something, at least that was her hope.
Cuddled up against her, he nodded. She rubbed his back some trying to calm him down. Her idea seemed to relax him some but clearly this whole topic of discussion was distressing for Simon. Hermione needed to get him to stop stressing out over this so she would have a chance to research this topic so she would have a basic working knowledge of the topic by tonight. "Now why don't you go to your room and lie down for now? I have to run into London really quick and I will see you a bit later okay. You will be fine and tonight we can talk more. If you need me before that you know you can always come and get me. Is that okay?"
"Yes. Thank you 'mione." His voice was subdued. He sounded drained, like he was wrung out and could use a nap.
"You're welcome Simon." She watched him walk out of the room after she got rid of the privacy spells. When he closed the door behind him she fell back onto her bed with a groan of frustration. This really was an intense situation and she needed information. There had been a few asides in some of the books she had picked up over the summer but nothing in the kind of detail that she was going to need. No she needed actual dedicated information on the topic. That set her purpose and she stood, moving to get dressed.
Once she had gotten ready to go, she said her goodbyes and headed out, apparating into London, to the same spot she had used before when she had visited Gay's the Word all those months ago. This place certainly had helped out last time she had needed answers, giving her plenty of books on the subject and that allowed her to find answers to her questions. They had even managed to give her plenty of good advice which had proven useful. She walked in to the store and spotted Sharon again working behind the register. This surprised her some. Clearly that woman either worked a lot or she just liked hanging out there with a nametag on. Hermione walked up to the saleswoman and asked politely, "Hello, I was wondering if you have any books about Transsexuals or Transsexuality?"
"Oh sure, we have some right over here. These four shelves right here hold our collection. Let me know if you're looking for anything specific that we don't have and we can special order it for you." Sharon smiled courteously and then walked back to the register as someone was heading that way.
Hermione scanned the titles of the books in front of her and her brain just wasn't taking any of this in. This wasn't helping. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Simon, her poor put upon Simon. No wonder he didn't make friends with the boys, he wasn't one himself or at least thought that. It was clearly that he felt awkward and out of place for the most part. She felt bad for him and wanted to do whatever she could to help him with this completely overwhelming situation however was at a complete loss as to what to do. She exhaled and opened her eyes again, trying to scan the titles more critically.
This was one area where she only had the vaguest bits of knowledge, only enough to know that such a thing existed and that it wasn't necessarily a perversion. That had been enough to keep her from scaring her brother, well possibly sister now that she had been told this, by reacting poorly. Honestly she didn't know at this point what the truth could be as there were too many variables to consider. This was new ground and she was excited about learning new things thanks to it but also terrified about possibly upsetting Simon since she didn't know something and might just say or do the wrong thing because of that. She hated not knowing, absolutely hated it. It made her feel out of control, like the world was going to spin off without her and she was going to fall endlessly with nothing to hold onto. It made her nervous and sick to her stomach. Knowledge gave her something to hold onto in uncertain times and places. No, she needed to learn a great deal of information on the subject and quickly. And she also needed to get books that would help inform her parents for that inevitable time when Simon was ready for them to know. The books helping Simon too might be a good fit as well.
That they would be okay with this was indisputable, as they had barely blinked at her being magical and were not even fazed by her being a lesbian. This should just be another new step for them that they would take without stumbling. Her parents were amazing in that way. It still boggled her mind how they could take a lot of things in stride. How they could love her after all she had put them through was something that she was at a loss to understand. She was utterly grateful for it but was honestly at a complete loss. They were just so amazing. She loved them so very much and was completely thankful for her parents in everyway.
Oh god… what about Ginny and Harry? How would they react? Clearly Luna would be fine with this revelation given her present but the others, what would they think? What would she do if Ginny turned on Simon over this? Who would she support in that case, her fiancée or her sibling? The thought having to make such a choice made her stomach churn unhappily. And Harry… that one was almost worse for her as it would feel like having to choose sibling over sibling. It would be an untenable position. She swallowed her fear and took a deep, calming breath, attempting to take hold of her thoughts. No, she couldn't think about that right now, couldn't think that way. Simon was at home this very moment, scared that his new big sister was possibly going to abandon him or something over this whole mess, that this might get out to everyone at school and he would lose all his friends. Hermione needed to make sure that he or maybe it would be she by the time this was over, whatever it turned out in the end that would never happen. She had promised to take care of Simon and that was what she was going to do. This piece of information changed nothing.
With an exhalation she opened her eyes and looked at the books again. She felt a bit calmer at this point and more able to look at them objectively, able to discern what was important from what was not. She needed to get this right the first time as it would be a while before she could get back here. One thing was for sure, that it would be very difficult to get these books while she was up at Hogwarts and she did not know if the Library had anything there on the subject. It was a far better plan to get what she needed now and worry about other matters later.
It took her a while to scan through the books, reading titles, back covers and table of contents, but finally she grabbed several that looked like they would be able to answer some of her questions in sufficient detail and maybe some of Simon's as well, which was fundamentally more important. They would thus be able to answer her parents' questions when the time came just as easily. That realization made her feel a good bit calmer and less urgent at the moment. One task completed the primary task. Now perhaps she could find something… fun for her and Ginny. She went to the lesbian section, which hadn't moved, and browsed through the books quickly, finding a few on topics that intrigued her. They were also a few on topics that Ginny had mentioned once or twice and so they would be decent purchases for that reason as well. She grinned wickedly as she added those to her pile. She even found the fiction section and picked up a few titles that looked intriguing. Lesbian romance books sounded a bit more interesting than the books that Lavender and Parvarti had always been talking about. As soon as she was rung up she said goodbye to Sharon and headed home putting her purchases in her purse, so no one could see what she had bought or from where. It would certainly elicit questions if she walked in with a bag from that store.
After hugs, a brief chat with her mother, and grabbing another pre-reading cuppa, Hermione headed back to her bedroom so she could start reading the books she had bought. It was time for her to get into information devouring mode. When the door was closed behind her she used a weak locking spell, one an alohamora could unlock with ease and pulled the books from her bag, stacking them on her desk, arraigning them in the order she wanted to read them. She sat at her desk, placing a note pad and pen to her side, everything ready, and she got to work, approaching this almost as if it were her looking things up for Harry during the Tournament or the summer when they were preparing to face Voldemort.
The knock at the door startled her and she looked up from the book, realizing that her hand hurt a little, the muscles cramping a little. "Yes?"
"Hermione, dinner's ready." called her mother from the other side.
She stood up from her desk and stretched her back and neck, trying to loosen tight and sore muscles. It helped some and she shook her right hand, trying to get the muscles to stop complaining. Blinking a few times, she could feel the information settle into her mind and sort itself out, making various connections with preexisting information. She had several pages of notes and had gone through two and a half books during the time she had been up here. That wasn't that bad all things considered and certainly would help her in preparing to talk with Simon. Rubbing the bridge of her nose she wanted to give her eyes a bit of a rest after the workout they had been given. Speed reading was a useful skill that had helped her more times than most anything else she had picked up before Hogwarts. Once she created some friction with her hands she put her warm palms over her eyes and sighed happily. That felt so good, the warmth soothing them nicely. Power studying was great in terms of information gained but it was hard on her body as she didn't move much and lost herself to the world. Thankfully she would be ready to talk with Simon tonight as she had done all of this for him.
It would calm her some to be able to talk to Ginny for a bit before anything else happened but she didn't really have an opportunity at the moment as after dinner they would be spending some family time together and then she and Simon would be together for the rest of that evening. No, she needed to calm down and center herself without Ginny. This was something she had to be ready for if she were going to be able to take care of Simon and this issue. It was also something she had to be able to do on her own if she were going to be able to do anything without Ginny being there as support.
She took her seat at the table and her mother asked, "So what have you been so busy with today?"
"You know, studying, since it's the NEWT year. I just want to do my best." replied Hermione.
"And so you're busy studying instead of relaxing like you should?" Her mother gave her a very pointed look. "I thought you said that Ginny made you promise to not study over the break?"
"Yes, Mum, I won't study again for the rest of the break. I promise. I just was thinking about something, a problem that was bugging me, and wanted to follow up on that. Will that help?" Hermione asked, checking to see if that was a nice compromise. She really didn't want to spend her break in her room reading as she did have places to go and people to see, unlike before she had gone to Hogwarts. She had friends now and that ate more of her time, something she was happy to deal with.
"Some review is okay but the focused studying you did today… that can wait until you go back to school. You were missed today," chided her mother gently.
"Sorry Mum. I'll do better and try not to have things take up all my time. Like I said, I had something strike me and I needed to delve into it. I think I actually lost track of time some while I was studying. Sorry." Hermione looked a bit abashed despite not really feeling that way. What she had studied that afternoon had been important and she needed that information so she could be there for Simon. That overrode most any objections that could be named to what she had done.
Smiling across the table to him, she hoped that settled his nerves. The last thing he needed at this point was to get asked about what was wrong by her mother before he was ready to talk to her. He smiled shyly back at Hermione clearly feeling a bit better than he had earlier. She did the dishes after the meal, thinking about what she was going to say to him, about what she could do to help. This whole situation was way beyond her comfort zone but she would be strong, for both of them if need be. She had done too much in her life already that was beyond her comfort zone for this to faze her. Being Harry's friend had really stretched her experiences far beyond what normal students got.
Waiting in her bedroom, she had changed into her night clothes, making sure that she had enough pillows for them to sleep with. She was glad that she had a larger bed now. It would be different sleeping with someone besides Ginny but this was certainly for a good cause and it wasn't like Simon was going to steal her away from her fiancée. There was a soft knock at her door. "Come in."
Simon walked in holding some stuff bundled in his arms. He looked rather anxious. "Hi."
"Hi Simon, come on in." Once he had fully stepped into her room and the door was closed behind them, she cast a few privacy spells to make sure they would not be interrupted while they talked and such. She looked over at him and asked, "Did you bring your nightgown?"
Blushing, Simon nodded, looking down at the pile in his hands.
"Was it just the nightgown she gave you or was there more to it?" She asked nicely, patting the bed next to her, inviting him closer. He was tense again and she needed to calm him down if she was going to be able to make any sense out of him and his statements.
"More."
"Maybe you can change and then we can talk. I have drinks for us and snacks, so we should be fine. Mum knows we're hanging out, just you and I. I told her it's because we've wanted to hang out like this for months but school has made that difficult, given that they segregate the boys and girls. She's okay with that and is going to keep Amy from bothering us. She just thought it was kind of funny but was alright." She went over to her desk to give Simon some privacy to change, looking down at her notes. "I bought some books today, on what you told me about earlier."
"You did?" Simon sounded quite surprised by that. "Is that why you had to go into London?"
"Well, yes, you had questions so I went to find answers. It's what I do. Luna may have seen it first but I am here for you to help you with it. Never forget that. All the stuff I learned about was muggle, of course, so I don't know what the wizarding world has to offer about this but I did learn a lot. Are you ready yet?" asked Hermione curiously, wondering what Luna had gotten Simon. Her curiosity had been peaked ever since yesterday morning and in just a moment she would have her curiosity sated.
"Yes." The nervousness that filled that one three letter word made Hermione feel bad. Simon definitely needed a hug once she turned around.
The nightgown he was wearing was of an older style, basic white with a gentle ruffle on the bottom and a little simple lace around the straps and neckline. There were even white buttons partially down the front. It was something that surprised Hermione as she had not expected to see something like that in the wizarding world, seeing as she had owned something like that before she had gone to Hogwarts. It was a fairly simple nightgown all things considered which might explain why both groups had such a similar design. After her first year she had traded in the nightgowns she had previously enjoyed and worn for pajamas as they were far more practical with all of the running around the three of them tended to do at the strangest of hours. She had to admit that Simon looked cute, especially since he had not cut his hair since arriving at Hogwarts and perhaps had not had one beforehand as well. When she had met him he did not have an extremely short hair but rather a more normal boys cut. If she squinted she could just imagine his shaggy hair as a pixie cut, maybe. She hadn't really noticed his hair getting shaggy but then again with Harry and Ron as friends how could she? "That's very pretty. It looks good on you. I must say that Luna has nice taste."
Simon's smile was worth this whole plan as she hadn't seen him really smile since Christmas now that she thought of it, not since he had opened that present from Luna. This was something that needed to be fixed if only to ensure that he would stay happy. When she got back to school perhaps she should have a quiet inquiry with Madam Pomfrey or a search in the Restricted Section of the Library could let her know what options the magical world had to deal with this issue, compared to the muggle. While she might know one side of the issue she had no clue about the other. She would have to keep running double time if she was going to be able to help Simon through this mess.
She sat on her bed and pat the cushion, just like she had done earlier. "Come on up and sit next to me. Let me tell you what I learned. It'll be okay, just like I told you."