Written In The Body
Poetheather
A/N: Hey there everyone! My birthday was Awesome. My wife and I had a lovely weekend away and all was good. I have been trying to play catch up as my brain has been fighting against the end almost as much as some of you. So I have no extra lead in the story, I am writing like a fiend in the hopes that I can keep up with the publication schedule. I wanted to do something special for Hermione's Birthday on Thursday but who knows? If something shows up it will be a surprise to all of us. Well, have fun and enjoy the read!
Still not JKR.
Forty-three
They were all sitting together in a compartment of the Express heading back to school, relaxing after the end of the break. No one else was in there as Ginny had made sure to bar the door after the four of them entered. Simon was currently cuddled up against Hermione after finishing explaining to Ginny and Luna what he felt about himself and needed the comfort that she provided, shaking a little in her arms. Hermione had locked the compartment even more securely and put up a few privacy charms before Simon had started in on his story so he would not be interrupted or overheard while he spoke to them. This was important and she would not let Simon down, not if she could help it. The last things she wanted him to deal with was getting teased over this and that was a real possibility if this got out.
Luna just beamed at him, clearly proud of his ability to get all of that out. He smiled back at her a bit hesitantly, faltering a bit probably from nerves. Hermione could tell that he was not exactly sure how to deal with her after everything that had happened, as the nightgown had sort of driven him into revealing this secret, perhaps before he was ready. Ginny sat back in her seat, a thoughtful and slightly confused look on her face as she said, "Hunh."
The three other occupants of the compartment turned and looked at her quizzically, trying to read her expression. Hermione couldn't let it lie and asked in an oh so elegant manner, "Hunh?"
"Well, you know how there have been all those things about Simon which seemed, I don't know, a bit… different that couldn't really be accounted for? I have been wondering about them off and on for a while now because they just didn't seem to make any kind of sense. He seemed like a perfectly normal boy to me except for getting along well with the girls. Honestly, the only guy I've known who seemed to be able to hang around a girl comfortably at your age was Harry and there are other reasons for that. Well, now knowing this they make perfect sense. Everything is falling into place." Ginny said this while she was still looking more inward than out, bobbing her head in agreement with herself.
Simon bit his bottom lip, shifting a bit, unsure how to take that, and he looked over at Hermione who just shrugged. She really had no idea what to say to that either. After smiling at him, she tightened her hold on him, making sure he knew that he was cared for. That might help with his ability to cope with all of this or at least give him comfort. Hermione looked over at Luna, realizing that there was something that had been plaguing her for a few days now and she had to satisfy her curiosity. "So how did you know?"
"What do you mean?" Luna asked innocently, as if she were unaware of where this line of questioning was going. Hermione wondered why she was hesitating in saying anything. "How did I know what?"
"How did you know about Simon?" clarified Hermione, so that there were no misunderstandings and Luna couldn't dodge the question. This was something she really wanted to know about. Luna had known about Simon almost from the beginning it seemed, from what she could recall, and that meant something had to have slipped. She wanted to know what it was in case she had to do something to help protect Simon from other people finding out in the same manner.
Luna smiled in her usual dreamy manner and said, "Well, I knew there was something from the very first, as there was that nudge I often get. It just kept drawing my focus. It was a few days later however when it all fell into place and I understood perfectly what was going on. I also realized then that it was Simon's issue and decided that it would be best to wait to be told. There was no reason to say anything if Simon was uncomfortable. The only other thing was that I was going to be there however I was needed."
Hermione chuckled at that, shaking her head in disbelief. Luna just blew her mind sometimes. She knew the girl was observant but that was insane. "A couple of days? Really? Honestly Luna… that's crazy."
Simon gaped at her with incredulity, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. Ginny looked similarly effected by that realization. Luna nodded and smiled happily, quite pleased with the way things played out. She looked down at Simon and calmly said, "Just so you know Simon, in order to watch out for this, you have a… way of looking at girls your age and some of the older girls that is more layered with want and jealousy than desire. It simply was a matter of putting together the why. I must admit it was a pretty puzzle which made me realize that you might want something pretty of your own. So I bought you the nightgown so you would have one of your own as I figured you didn't have one of your own. I am glad you kept growing out your hair, it will look so pretty soon."
Simon looked a bit worried at that revelation, "So that's why you bought me that. Do… do you think anyone else figured it out? What you did?"
"Probably not. If Hermione, who is absolutely brilliant, was not able to figure it out from the same clues that I had then it isn't likely anyone else was able to," stated Luna knowingly, rather sure of her information.
Simon gave a very relieved sigh, slumping some against Hermione. "That's a comfort. I'm okay with you all knowing, as I know you'll all look out for me, but I'm not ready for anyone else knowing about this. I… I think I need to know more about things."
"I'm sure it is a comfort," said Ginny. "You don't need any more stress. You've had too much happen to you in your life already that you could use the break. I'm just glad you got this out and you have us."
"Uhm… yeah… so… what did you guys do for New Year? You never told me." Simon frowned as he changed the topic, looking accusingly at Hermione.
Hermione understood how Simon might need to take a break from the subject. She also remembered how much he did not like the fact that she hadn't told him anything about what she had planned. He had huffed some and that had been rather cute all things considered. "Well, you know how I told you about the fact that I had planned to propose to Ginny on New Year."
"Yes." He cut his eyes over to Ginny as he said that. The redhead just grinned back at him.
"So, after Ginny said it was fine to invite them, I talked to Harry and we agreed that it might be a fun thing for the four of us to do. We adjusted the reservation which didn't take too much and that was it. Dinner was fun. We went to a nightclub that I'd heard about afterwards."
Luna jumped in at that point, really excited and unable to contain her excitement and amusement. "It was a lesbian club. Harry was uncomfortable for a while once he realized that but then gave in when he noticed that no one cared about his presence. And he wasn't the only guy there either."
Ginny snickered at that. "Oh god that was really funny. We were all out on the dance floor, he looked around for a bit and his eyes kept getting wider and wider before he asked, 'Uhm Hermione, is this a lesbian club?' We about fell over at that. That almost made the evening."
"Do you remember his face when I asked him if I should help him look like he could blend in better?" Hermione grinned, remembering the looks that had been on Harry's face as the other girls broke up laughing. It really had been funny. But the dancing had been a lot of fun and certainly a lot less… formal as compared to wizard dancing. However when you compared everything to the approximate time period the rest of wizarding society was based on, or had reached socially, she had to admit it made sense that some of the social issues were as they were. The dancing at the club was a lot freer however. That was something she could appreciate. And besides, Ginny had looked so damn hot gyrating out there. They had lost track of Harry and Luna as they had focused on each other so much, just trying to drive each other crazier.
"I maintain that Harry could make a very pretty girl if we did it right. His features and height could make it work quite well. Also, longer hair might give him some control over that mop." Luna sighed as she looked off and inward, clearly able to picture it quite well. The others snickered at this.
"We danced for several hours, having fun, and then we went to watch the fireworks display. I think George could learn a thing or two from watching it, but you never know. His is quite good already. It was very impressive; I have to admit and made me wonder why we never have large firework displays like that in the wizarding world. Then we went home. You don't need to know what happened after that." Hermione winked at Simon who blushed to his ears.
When the color faded a bit he said, "It sounds like you guys had fun."
"Well, you know what we did. What did you do?" asked Ginny curiously.
"We stayed up and then watched the fireworks on the telly. I got kissed by Mom. That's it but it was fun, a lot more fun than I'd had before. Amy fell asleep before that but she's six so that's not a surprise." Simon shrugged. "It was a quiet night for the most part. Mostly I was in my room and read one of the books Hermione got on gender stuff. It was really interesting."
Luna gave her a look, shook her head, and chuckled. Hermione regarded her carefully for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on, gave up, and asked, "What?"
"When you went to the store for the books, did you ask them for a copy of Gender Changing: A History?" The blond teased with a slight snicker.
The others laughed lightly as Hermione grumbled. Was she really that obvious? Was the way she thought about a few things that well known? It was rather embarrassing but what was she supposed to do? Given that it actually was funny maybe she should share some of the truth behind things and make everyone amused. Simon really seemed like he could use that. "No. I had learned my lesson last time. I already did that when I first got books for me."
Luna and Ginny gaped at her, astounded by what she had said. Ginny gasped out, "You did not!"
"I did. When I walked in there the first time I asked them for Lesbianism: A History. They didn't have it." Hermione looked down as her cheeks began to burn. Why had she admitted that?
Ginny and Luna fell over laughing, tears running down their faces. Simon looked a bit confused when she had admitted that but he was chuckling a little along with the other two. Hermione noticed this and sighed. Great, she would have to admit all of this out loud. It was unfair to leave him out of the joke. "When I first got to Hogwarts I constantly quoted my favorite book…"
"Hogwarts: A History?" guessed Simon with sudden understanding, his grin growing in size and his snickers increasing. "I noticed you have a copy of it on your bookshelf at home."
"That's the one. I also have a copy at school. I think everyone I know has heard me reference that book three or four times at least." Hermione shrugged, her face coloring a bit more. She shook her head ruefully.
"At the very least," tossed in Ginny helpfully. "According to Ron, he will never need to read the actual book because every part of it has been quoted at him at one time or another."
Simon grinned broadly. He appeared to be happier than earlier and much lighter. She was succeeding. "That's funny."
"Hey, I was kind of freaking out. I had just realized that I liked girls, specifically Ginny, and because of that I wanted some books to give me information. That was a book that I knew had given me a lot of information so I was wondering if there was a similar title. It was the first thing that came to mind. I bought a lot of books that day, including a general history on the subject." Hermione tried to mumble that last part but her words were apparently too clear.
"Wait, wait, wait… you mean you actually found the equivalent of Lesbianism: A History? You're serious about that? Only you Hermione, only you." Ginny snickered, shaking her head. "I so adore you."
"It's not called that but yeah." Hermione wasn't proud at herself for whining, but what else could she do? She had to defend herself somehow and this was the best she had in this case. She knew this was going to get back to the boys and she was not looking forward to the teasing. "It's called Lesbianism Through History and is really interesting. There were a lot of things that I had no idea about and some intriguing facts and theories. I wish there were a similar book on Wizarding lesbians and what they have gone through."
Once the chuckling died down, Ginny got up and kissed her, cupping her face lovingly. She blushed a little, turning her face away shyly. Hermione recovered from that and looked people in their faces, checking to make sure there was no more to be said about Simon at the moment. As no one could think of anything else to say on the subject, she cast Finite on her spells providing them protection. The protection went down and they were able to look out the interior windows again. They all relaxed and topics turned to more common things like other presents and activities over the break.
The remainder of the trip back to school went well. On her walk through of the train during her patrol, she only had to break up a few squabbles, which was easily accomplished for the most part by her clearing her voice loudly and looking pointedly at the miscreants. Fleeing seemed to be the common response. The fight between two fourth year girls over a boy did take a bit more intervention than that but in the end it was still a quiet ride. Everything was certainly uneventful based on previous trips she had taken. She approved of that completely.
When she was talking to Cameron, before handing the patrol off to him, she asked curiously, "So, have you discovered any new leads on who might be behind the attacks?"
He looked a bit disgusted, shaking his head, "No. I haven't found anything out yet and I am quite irate over that. I went to a number of parties over the break and talked to a bunch of people. There are a few families left that are dark and have any degree of power which are traditionally oriented in the House that I believe might be the source of them. These are the ardent believers in blood purity but for one reason or another were unwilling to throw in with the Dark Lord except financially. How they got away with that I don't know? So these are families that have lost some status socially but not all, as opposed to those who actually fought in the war and lost most everything. The problem is that this makes the whole process more difficult and not less. These are families that are used to staying in the shadows while they work. The few neutral and even good aligned pureblood students that are in the House tend to keep their heads down and avoid trouble; there just are never enough of them. Some of them had to play really complex games to not get attacked in House by Malfoy and his ilk and family status played a large part of that. Besides, I don't know if you've thought about it but in addition to dealing with this my Prefects and I have been working overtime making sure that the one Muggleborn who got sorted into our House this year remains okay with all of this going on. She is so driven and determined to succeed that she is almost a Slytherin archetype. Somehow she has managed to get the other Firsties behind her as the year leader but against the older kids? A number of them don't want to deal with this 'taint' to the House. I have actually heard a few mumblings in our Common Room before they realize that I'm there."
"Oh Cameron, I had totally forgotten about her with everything else that has been going on. How is she doing?" Hermione asked, worried for the young girl. How had she managed to forget about her? Sure her life had been busy and full of insanity but it was her job as Head Girl to try to keep track of potential problems like this.
"Well, she's no you, that's for sure but it's not for lack of trying. I think she has the highest grades in her year, at least in our House and possibly in some of the others. Mallory has really taken to things like a niffler to gold. I laughed when she told me that she had heard about a muggle writer who might be able to help her with some of the in-House squabbling. I told her that I doubted it would help as these were kids raised to play these games. Her parents sent her the books she asked for in late October and I don't even know how but she has only got worse since then. She's a right little terror there's no denying. If Malfoy had been half as driven or as cunning, even a quarter as she is I am afraid of what might have happened to all of us." Cameron shivered a little at that.
Hermione raised an eyebrow questioningly as she filed that little bit of data away. You never knew where the next Dark Lord or Lady could come from and anyone who could enter that House with nothing but disadvantages and turn the tide was not a person to ignore. Mallory certainly would take some looking after to ensure that the older students didn't try to deal with her. If she had some time maybe she should find her and introduce herself? She could probably ask Professor Slughorn for an introduction if she really wanted one. There were options but there was a something more pressing at the moment. "Do you remember the name of the writer by any chance?"
He shook his head, shrugging apologetically, "All I remember is that it was something Italian."
With a groan, Hermione realized who it had to have been. There really was only one Italian who she would have gone with if she had been trying to blend in with the Slytherins, one writer whose advice would have given her a clue how to handle that House. "I am almost afraid to ask, but was one of the books a bit on the thin side and called The Prince?"
Cameron's eyes rolled up as he tried to recall that bit of trivia. "I think that was it. I can't be sure but that sounds right. It wasn't a book I was familiar with and she has been very secretive with it."
"Yeah, watch out for her. Machiavelli, the writer, was very, very good at the political game in Italy in a period that was more cutthroat than we recently went through and from what I've heard about some of your inter-House politics, he would have been my go to source for how to deal with things. Well him or anything on the Borgias." Hermione had to admit she was impressed. That really was a cunning little girl to have thought of Machiavelli. Mallory would have to be watched. Anyone that clever was certainly going to go far and hopefully she would not be a problem.
"Great, thank you so much. That just makes everything better. Thanks for making me feel so much better about my House. I have some thugs hiding in the Upper Years attacking younger kids in other Houses and a little megalomaniac in the Firsties. How's Gryffindor been?" Cameron gave her a wry smile.
"Not bad really. All in all it's been a quiet year, compared to the previous four." That earned her a snicker. "The most interesting thing going on with my House is that the Firsties are split along the gender line, as expected, with one exception. That makes things a bit interesting. Otherwise most people are interested in Ginny and I." She shrugged, not sure what else to say, gesturing with her hands a little. Really, besides Simon hanging out with the girls and her and Ginny getting together nothing much had been happening. She liked that about this year.
Cameron's eyes widened as he spotted the ring on her left hand. He smirked and said, "Well, well, well… congratulations Granger. So you decided to take a real challenge and make an honest woman of Weasley? Good luck with that."
Hermione snickered, fairly amused by what he had said. She would have to remember to tell Ginny. Luna would find it funny as well. "Actually she asked me on Christmas."
"Well… that's certainly something. I honestly thought you would have been the one to ask. The Quidditch team told me all about how you were sitting at her bed side after the accident. Very devoted, which is admirable. I should get going. Need to make sure no one runs off with the train. Talk to you later, Hermione." Cameron smirked and waved as he walked off to make his rounds.
Once the Express arrived at the Hogsmeade station, Hermione double checked with Simon, to make sure their plan was still okay as far as he was concerned. She didn't want to do anything without his approval as she was sure that would upset him and she didn't want him to stop talking to her. They had talked about it last night before going to bed and he had agreed that her talking to Madam Pomfrey about everything might be a good start as he was far too afraid to do it himself. It had taken almost everything he had to tell Ginny and Luna, two people he knew loved him so it was understandable. She wasn't sure where things would lead at the moment but if anyone would know what to do with this situation and if there was a way to help Simon through this it would be her.
The train was clear and the students all properly herded up to the school. She relaxed in Ginny's arms, having ridden up in one of the last carriages up to the castle. This was certainly going to be fun, facing the castle newly engaged, with a new issue to try and solve as well as all the issues that she had left behind for the holiday. Standing in the entrance way of the castle, Hermione kissed Ginny sweetly before turning to go to the hospital wing. She needed to go there anyway so this wasn't a trip for the sole purpose of the question, as her potion regime had changed after her visit to St. Mungo's a few days into the New Year. Senior Healer Bainsley had been pleased with her recovery so far, as she was doing so much better in a lot of ways. The phantom pain occurred only rarely and even then it was more a memory of pain then an actual flare of the original pain as it had been earlier. She still had occasional nightmares, some quite horrific in fact, but they were also infrequent. A lot of the issues that had been bothering her before were no longer as problematic. This was all good news to her and gave her hope that she might actually get past this. She just wanted to get better. If she never woke up screaming again it would be too soon. Those nightmares were the worst as she relieved things or even worse recently were the ones where Ginny was the one being tortured and she was unable to do anything. She shuddered, took a deep breath to settle herself, and walked on.
The stroll through the halls was quiet and peaceful allowing her thoughts to drift. She smiled content and just enjoyed the distant susurration of the returning students moving through the castle corridors. It was a new year and finally a year free of Voldemort utterly. Sure his memory would remain and the effects of his malice linger but he himself and the looming threat of him was gone. It would be the first year in a long time for her in which there wasn't some vague sense of danger hovering about, coloring everything in her life. That was a good thing so far as she was concerned.
If only it could last.
She knew her history, both world and wizarding, well enough to know that such things as fragile as Peace were never around as long as people wanted them. There was always something stupid that ruined it, some bit of selfishness or cruelty rising up, just like the Slytherin bullies had ruined the peace of Hogwarts. It was an inevitability and almost enough to make her cry.
She reached the familiar doors to the hospital wing and smiled. In all the years she had been here Madam Pomfrey had been one of the staff members she hadn't exactly wanted to grow closer to, for several rather obvious reasons, but the continuous string of events she had gone through dictated otherwise. It was going to be strange to leave the school and not see her or any of the other teachers on a daily basis ever again. There was no time to be nostalgic at the moment as she wanted to drop off her new medical information and potion regime as well as have a brief chat with her before dinner began. She was hungry and waiting much longer might get problematic as her stomach might begin to make Ron like sounds in the near future. She could be maudlin on her own time.
There was one student lying in the beds, not Harry's she noted, who looked particularly dejected with his face all swollen and slightly lumpy, his eyes hard to see. It was doubtful that it was mumps but she was sure it was something else with a strange wizardy sounding name. Gaps in knowledge, such as common childhood disease names and the like, things that only came with growing up magical eluded her. However, she was working on that and was sure to have that taken care of soon. She smiled at the miserable boy and headed over to the little office near the doors to the wing. With a knock on the partially open door she called out, "Madam Pomfrey?"
"Come in." The voice sounded slightly distracted.
Hermione came in and saw that the school nurse was busy writing something down. She waited patiently, knowing that she would be seen when Madam Pomfrey was ready for her. There really was no reason to interrupt her work and her stomach wasn't protesting vociferously yet. Being patient was something she could manage. The older woman put down her quill and looked up, starting slightly and saying with some trace of astonishment, "Miss Granger, this is a surprise. I was not expecting you by today."
"Well, I saw Healer Bainsley over the holidays and he changed my potions around some. I'm getting better and this change should help keep me on track with my healing. I have a collection of them and the recipes with me." Hermione was rather pleased to be able to say that.
"That's good. I am quite happy to hear that. The fact that your potions have changed is a very good thing. Just set them down there, on that table. I'll sort them and make sure your elf delivers them as necessary. I am sure you know the schedule. Was there anything else?" She gave Hermione a friendly and open look. It was obvious that she was happy for her and that helped Hermione summon her own courage for this next part.
"Yes… there is. It's a little unusual so please bear with me while I try to explain. I was wondering if there some sort of treatment available for people whose genders do not correspond to the sex of their bodies?" Hermione wanted to approach this question in an oblique manner, so that no one person was getting narrowed down as the case in point. Giving away Simon at this point was not her intention.
She looked at Hermione for a moment curiously, finally turning in her chair to face her completely, and asked, "Let me see if I understand you correctly, you mean boys who are really girls and/or girls who are really boys? Is that what you are talking about?"
"Yes, exactly like that." Hermione was glad that she had caught on without needing to provide any further information which just might indicate that she was talking about Simon.
Again Madam Pomfrey was quiet and sat there measuring Hermione with her gaze, trying to determine what she should tell her or even if. Hermione had seen that look before on her face many times when trying to get information out of her about Harry and a few times about Ron. The results had varied so she was hoping that this time they were in her favor. "Yes, this is a recognized medical issue and there is a course of treatment for it. It is a very rare condition and is more often seen in Muggleborn or halfbloods than anyone else. The supposition is that the magical core of the parents, specifically the mother, ensures that everything works out alright, that everything comes into alignment properly for the child, but no one is quite sure. There are several theories being looked at however this is neither my specialty nor field of study. However, there is a simple test that has been discovered to check for that condition, as it creates a sort of… imbalance you might say within the person's magical core that gets worse as the person grows older. The sooner it is discovered and treated the better as the imbalance can lead to a number of mental issues such as anxiety, depression, and in really bad cases degrees of psychosis as the core struggles to balance things on its own. There are also some issues with magical energy flow but those are not nearly as devastating potentially. The treatment is effective but not exactly quick, taking several months to reach completion."
"So this is a known issue and is not… uhm… problematic?" Hermione winced internally. That sounded bad to her but she wasn't sure how to say this delicately. She sounded so disconnected from everything despite being very concerned with how this played out.
"Problematic?" Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow at her.
Hermione fidgeted some, her mind racing for a better way to phrase things. Something fell into place and then she clarified, "Yes, by that I mean that other people will give the person who is getting treated grief over the event, harass them and whatnot. Basically make it difficult for them to undergo this process."
"Ah… now I follow. To answer your question, it varies, there are those who are fine with it, understanding that it is simply a medical issue and nothing to concern themselves over it. There are those who are ambivalent, vacillating between acceptance and repugnance. And there are those who find the whole issue distasteful, even abhorrent, especially a few of the purebloods. Some of them say that this is one of the rarer proofs that Muggleborn are lesser beings, that this is an inherent weakness in non-purebloods, that their bodies can't even figure out who they are. Now, this was certainly a rather random and specific topic to have brought up. Why do you ask?" The Healer locked eyes with her and tried to figure out what she was thinking.
Hermione was glad that the nurse did not have any skill at Legilamancy, or at least not to the best of her knowledge. She would have to play this carefully in order to tell the truth of this situation without telling too much of the truth. "Someone came to me with some questions and concerns about this topic and I said I would ask about it. I looked into the muggle side of things and now I'm talking to you. Then I can go back and give them their answers."
"If this is indeed the problem they are dealing with, the test to discover if this is the case is fairly straightforward and does not take long. And the treatment protocol consists of a few spells cast predominantly at the beginning and a series of potions taken over the remaining time. That's it. Things may be a bit awkward early on for them as dealing with this problem does have its problems, such as trying to adapt to their proper gender, which can be a rather big shock at first, but soon enough they'll be right as rain." Madam Pomfrey smiled at her. "It is easier with friends of course. So please let them know that. And tell them that they will need to have a new name figured out as well, as the school records will need to be changed once treatment starts as the initial transformation is fairly rapid. We try to integrate the patient back into their life fairly quickly, so they don't have a chance to overthink things."
This was a lot better than she was afraid it would be. The whole thing sounded very straight forward and a lot less involved than the muggle version of the treatment, but that was almost a given. This was really good news for Simon. If this was actually the case and it was what he was dealing with soon she would have a new little sister. She could live with that. "Thank you for letting me know that. I'll let them know about all of this when I see them. I'll talk to you later Madam Pomfrey."
"You too Miss Granger. Take care of yourself."
Hermione left the hospital wing feeling a good bit more positive over this whole situation than she had earlier. If it were really that easy to deal with than Simon could be set to rights as soon as he had a name in mind, should that actually be the case. Of course that meant telling Mum and Dad as well as Amy all about this situation, which was sure to be loads of fun, but despite the stress involved she was sure it could be sorted with little worry. They were brilliant parents, the absolute best but she seriously kept hitting them with one crazy thing after another. One day they were sure to get tired of it. It was little help that it would be Simon's issue as she would be the one bringing it to them. She sighed, letting out the tension she had been unconsciously holding onto ever since Simon had told her about this. Everything would work out, she was sure of it.
In no time at all she caught up to a group of students heading towards the Great Hall for dinner and wondered if she was going to beat Ginny there. She knew that her fiancée was not as food obsessed as Ron so it was unlikely that she had raced down there to get the 'best' seat, whatever that meant when applied to long tables. When Ron said that, she could neither make heads nor tails of it either. There was no real way of knowing so she would discover what was going on and who was where when she arrived, why bother stressing over it. Walking into the Great Hall, she noted that there was no Ginny or Simon anywhere about nor was Luna there either. With a sigh of frustration, she took a seat where they usually did and made herself comfortable.
Her thoughts were turning to classes and the things she needed to prepare in order to be ready for her NEWTs that were coming in less than five months, when all of a sudden she was dipped backwards and kissed passionately. She was surprised and ready to struggle until she recognized the feel of very familiar lips on hers and so she allowed the tongue access. She moaned her approval of this move, sliding a hand behind Ginny's head and into her hair. Then Ginny sat her back up upright was a very satisfied sound. They ignored the few catcalls and cheers from several different places about the Hall and Ginny grinned at her. "Had to make sure there were no Wrackspurts, since you looked so pensive. Pre-emptive treatment you know."
"Of course." Hermione nodded as if that were the most logical thing Ginny had ever said to her. It would have made more since if Luna had said it but that wasn't important.
"Good. Now is everything good with Madam Pomfrey? Did you talk about everything?" Ginny asked with a grin.
"Yes, everything is just fine. She was happy to hear about my progress and I got some interesting answers to my questions. From what she said it looks like that issue will be easier to take care of than we thought. It is all good." She sent an encouraging smile across the table to where Simon was sitting, as he had just joined them.
He smiled back and looked a good bit more comfortable. Before he had been a bit uncomfortable but this really did calm him down. Her words seemed to give him some reassurance.
Feeling a bit exhausted, Hermione lay her head down on Ginny's shoulder and closed her eyes. There was always so much going on and she was always the one right there in the thick of it juggling everything. That had been true in the years before now, especially in the years before now. How she had kept everything in the air was still a mystery but when it was a matter of survival apparently her skills came out of nowhere. Granted this particular holiday was not nearly as traumatic as some others had been in the past but her school year had been rather eventful and life changing so far and it was just January. Her last year had been disgustingly eventful and life changing is a whole different manner and things weren't going to stop just because they won the war, were they? She still had her NEWTs, still had bullies to hunt down, and still had classes, a fiancée to love and care for as well as planning for her future and everything. What the hell was she going to do? She already felt like she needed another vacation and she had just gotten here.
Ginny rubbed ever widening circles on her back and with a voice filled with loving concern, asked, "Are you okay Kitten? You look a touch stressed. Do you need a potion or anything?"
Hermione shook her head ever so slightly, so as to ensure that her head did not come off Ginny's shoulder. She was comfortable and had no intention of dislodging herself for any reason whatsoever. "No. I'm just tired and stressed, too much in my mind I think. A potion won't really help with that at the moment. I think this is what I need more than anything. Once we're done with dinner I just want to go upstairs, draw a hot bath and soak for a while, maybe with you joining me? I think letting this day go away and facing everything else tomorrow is the best plan for right now."
Ginny's hand came up and stroked her hair lightly, "If that's what you want to do Kitten then that's what we'll do. That tub thing sounds lovely. I'm sure Simon's girlfriends can keep him occupied for the evening without any problem. You can tell him all the news tomorrow if it can wait."
With a huff, Simon frowned at them making both older girls smile at the sight. "They're not my girlfriends."
Hermione sat up reluctantly and fixed her gaze on Simon. He squirmed under the intensity of her eyes and she chuckled lightly, "Simon, they are your friends, correct?"
"Yes…" He looked at her nervously, as if she was going to trick him somehow.
"And correct me if I'm wrong, but they are girls correct?" She grinned at him, content in how that played out. It was so nice when people walked right into things. She didn't have to exert effort or anything.
Simon groaned and lowered his head to his hands, shaking it slightly. He raised his voice a bit as he protested, "That's not what you meant!"