Ginny chewed her fingernail nervously. Lunchtime was fast approaching and so was the time they would all be escorted to the Great Hall. She hadn't been able to get a response from Neville on the two-way parchment and she was growing even more concerned. She just prayed that he was waiting for her in the common room. Her class was the last to let out and be led back to the dormitories.
"Neville!" Ginny moved through the other students over to the couch beside the fire. His head was in his hands and she could tell he'd been crying. "Neville... what's wrong?" Ginny took the place beside him wrapping her arm around his back. "What happened? Is it Luna? Is she alright?"
Neville sniffled softly and shook his head, "It's gran..." He wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "I...I got into a fight with Alecto to go and see Luna you know?"
"Yeah..."
"Well...he came to retrieve me from the Hospital wing...he told me that...because of my continued misbehaving that they had to take action..."
Ginny put her hand over her mouth to keep herself from cursing the malicious man under the earth. Neville pulled himself up his eyes searching the heavens for a few long moments. "I think they're going to go after Gran Gin...I-I don't know what to do...what I can do..."
"We go to McGonagall...she can alert the order...come on." Ginny pushed herself up, "Her office isn't that far, I'm sure we can get there and back before they come to get us for lunch."
oOo
"We got into Hogwarts before, we should be able to do it again." Harry had his eyes on the map, his lips pursed as he tried to figure out the best path to getting to Ravenclaw tower. It was the most likely place to start. After all, it was their resident ghost's heirloom.
Ron shifted slightly humming his agreement. He had Hermione wrapped up tightly in a blanket in his lap with her head tucked down into his chest. Her shaking had subsided but she still hadn't woken. Her breathing had evened out a bit, though his arm would shift too low on her side from time to time causing her breath to hitch. It had taken him some time to figure out that he was the cause of the misfire but he had eventually adjusted for it.
"Do we have any more extra wands? Hermione needs a wand...we can't expect her to come with us unarmed." Ron's attention diverted from the map to the small groan that mumbled past her lips. He pulled the blanket a bit further from her face, he had covered her eyes to help her sleep but he wanted to aid her any way he could. When she merely shifted her head he covered her eyes again.
"I don't think we should take her with us..." Harry didn't want to say it but it needed to be said. He had made the mistake once listening to her when she'd assured him that she was capable. Now look where they were.
"We can't leave her here...who knows when Mom and the others will return or if they'll return tonight..." Ron shook his head, "We should just let her rest...the world isn't going to turn on its end in a couple hours..." He shifted to lean back on the couch looking down into her face. She didn't look peaceful anymore, her brow was furrowed and she was starting to squirm slightly.
Harry pursed his lips but nodded all the same, "Yeah...I suppose you're right..." He looked down at the map with a heavy sigh, "Let's see if we can find her a wand...there might be one laying around this house somewhere."
"Sounds good..." Ron adjusted the blanket again pulling her closer to his chest. He rested his chin on the crown of her head letting his eyes go out of focus. He felt so helpless. He had been so happy to have her back with them but now their future not just as friends but as potentially being something more was completely at ends. He wanted to help her, he wanted to heal her, he just didn't have the first clue on where to start.
oOo
Where was his muscle salve? Snape had been sure he'd left it where he always had. Right next to the potions for a similar purpose. It wasn't like him to be careless. His back was burning for relief and it was distracting him from his previous contemplations.
He needed to get the Lovegood girl somewhere safe. There was no way he could directly confront Alecto about the issue at hand. Seeing snippets of what was inside his mind had been enough for him to immediately make the decision to make her inaccessible to him but he needed a more permanent solution to the present situation. Problem was, he couldn't very well tell her either, though he was somewhat confident no one would believe her if she were to speak of his goodwill, he couldn't take the risk. Not now.
"Poppet." He turned on his heel to the sound of the creature popping in, "Did you move my salve?" His face was glowering and his finger pointed to the missing space in his cabinet.
"Poppet...has seen it, yes..." The creature looked nervously down at the floor wringing their small hands.
Snape's brow twitched, "Look at me."
The elf hesitated for a moment, shifting from foot to foot like a child caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar. When her eyes finally rose, the man before her instantly got the answer he sought.
oOo
Ron panted lightly from having carried Hermione up the stairs. She wasn't all that heavy but he wasn't 100% at his best either. He laid her down on the bed and took a moment to collect himself. It had been Ginny's but with her no longer staying at the house he was sure she wouldn't mind. Laying her on her side, he pulled his arm from under her knees and shoulders, helping her curl them up close to her chest. He had felt the muscles in her back twitching when he carried her up the stairs and feared that she might have been having another small seizure.
He watched her adjust herself against the soft mattress with a heavy heart. Her hands came up against her bowed head pressing against her lips. Her legs only made it partway up and he was sure her back was to blame. It was hard to see the taunt muscle through the blankets and layers of clothes but he was sure she would have curled completely up if she could've. It was such a vulnerable position. He couldn't recall her ever sleeping that way before. It was like she was trying to hide away from the world.
Ron sighed softly pulling the blanket out from under her as carefully as he could. He didn't want her to wake up and feel like she was trapped. That wouldn't help her recovery at all. When his hand pressed into her back he paused worriedly. It felt like dozens of snakes were moving under her skin. He frowned deeper pulling his hand away as he tried to think of what to do.
It felt foolish and extremely irresponsible of him to attempt a muscle relaxing charm. He'd only read about it twice when he was looking up ways to help train for Quidditch. He'd never had the courage to try them himself thanks to the warning in the book stating that a wrong movement of the wand casting the spell could make the muscle so relaxed it would be worthless.
No, he needed something else. The team had always used salves and balms before. He remembered Ginny always having a jar of it in her Quidditch bag. He turned on his heel looking over the room. Ginny hadn't brought much of anything with her, just her school bag which she had obviously taken back with her. He turned further noticing that his Mom had put the bag Hermione had come with on the bedside table of the bed Luna had stayed in.
He turned away, moving across the small space. His hand rested on the soft aged leather before he noticed a jar sitting just beside. Curious he turned it to see the label. The handwriting should have sparked some sort of recognition but his brain was too occupied with what it said instead.
"Muscle relaxant..." Ron turned his head when Hermione let out a soft whimper. Her head shifted on the pillow and her arms pulled in tighter to her chest. He wasn't sure if she was dreaming or in pain; as he was still under the assumption that she was unconscious, he settled on the latter.
He looked back down at the salve in his hand pulling open the lid. It smelled the same as the ones he used to use, though the color might have been a bit off, he chalked it up to the dim lighting. Believing his mother had been the one to bring it up, he put little more thought into its origins and moved back towards the bed.
The logistics of the situation were a bit slow in coming forth but when he set the salve down on the bedside table he started to realize what he would have to do. The charm would have worked through her clothes but a salve needed to be pressed into the skin. There was no one to help him do what needed to be done. Either he had to let her suffer or he had to remove her clothes.
He left her side to get the chair in the far corner of the room, weighing his options along the way. The only real compromise he could think of was just to put on as much salve as he could without removing any of her clothes. He would probably get salve everywhere, but she had a few extra clothes in the bag, at least three days worth. She would be able to change when she woke up. It was at least doing something to help her feel better.
Deciding that was the best course, he sat the chair down next to the bed and took a seat. With a heavy sigh and a fluttering heart, he pulled the salve into his lap and shifted to face the bed. He rested his leg on the edge before pulling the blanket he'd wrapped around her down to her waist. She didn't react to the change but he could see her face shifting as though she were dreaming. He didn't linger much on it as he took the salve onto his fingers and leaned forward to raise the back of her shirt.
The back of her jeans were low, low enough that he could just make out the top hem of her underwear and the dimples around her tailbone. It was the first he'd ever seen of her bare skin. It made his stomach feel a bit fluttery like a flock of butterflies had suddenly been conjured inside. He knew he shouldn't feel that way and desperately tried to push it down. She was injured, she needed his help. Not a lecherous stare.
He nodded to himself and bit his bottom lip to force himself back into focus. He held her shirt back with one hand while the other hesitantly made small circles on her lower back. He paused with fear when she shifted her legs. Thankfully, they went still again after a few deafening heartbeats and he pressed his hand down again.
He could feel the muscles that had been moving slowly coming to a stop. He leaned back to get more salve before running his hand up the muscles on her spine. He didn't raise her shirt more than what was needed to let his hand pass so he hadn't realized how far he'd gone until his fingertips bumped into the strap of her bra.
His heart skipped a little and he turned his eyes towards her face. She was still sleeping as far as he could tell. His body felt warm, almost as warm as her skin that was cooling beneath his fingers. He and Lavender had gone pretty far in their explorations of each other but it never felt like this. He licked his bottom lip and took a small breath slipping his fingers underneath. The feel of the fabric on the back of his hand made his mind turn in places he knew were anything but proper.
He swallowed down the rising feeling and closed his eyes. Unfortunately, it only made the texture of her skin feel more sensitive to his senses. He could feel ridges under his palm, lines, deep and long. He wondered if they were new or old...He pulled his hand back fearing that he may do more harm than good if he pressed into them. As he pulled his hand down his fingers glided over the ridge of her side and he could feel the definite bumps over her ribs. One, in particular, stopped his hand. His fingers ghosting over the area to try and sort out what it could have been.
Hermione was struggling inside her mind. Sounds, painfully loud desperate cries filled her dreamscape. She tried in vain to run. She was trapped. Caught inside a distorted memory. The players had changed but the game remained the same.
She turned and turned in her mental prison trying to find a way out. Anything at all to make the pain go away. The world was tilted, the floor cold and unforgiving. The shelves that lined edges of her vision melted away. The classroom and the man who stood tall at the front disappeared into the darkness. His deep endless eyes the last she could see.
The walls that came next were too close. The air too thick. She could smell him. Burning alcohol and sweat. She turned her head away only to hear his whispered epithets. His touch no longer felt like a memory. It felt real.
Her dream came to a sharp halt as her mind spiraled into consciousness. Her mind trying to catch up. Her back felt sticky and warm, but there was something else more pressing on her senses. She could feel a hand. A very real hand. It was large and rough. It was rising up the center of her back, their fingers running along the ridges of her ribs. It was foreign and most certainly unwelcome.
Ron jumped with a small squeak as Hermione sprang to life. She twisted so sharply that he nearly tipped back in his chair in shock. His eyes wide as the ones that stared back at him terrified.
"Her-"
"Don't-!" Her voice was a harsh whisper. Her entire frame shaking from adrenaline. She took a deeper breath through her still open mouth before her eyes turned to fury. "Don't touch me! Don't ever touch me!"
Still somewhat in shock, Ron raised his hand in surrender trying to show her he meant no harm but the look in her eyes sent fear through his entire being. "I-I was just-"
"Get out!" Hermione could barely see clearly, her chest hurt from the force she had used to yell. The dream and the adrenaline blurred her vision with heavy tears. She couldn't comprehend his words nor expression of pure heartbreak over his face when he pushed himself away from the bed.
"I was just trying to help you." His words came out harder than they should have and even as they left his tongue he could see their effect clearly on her face.
Hermione hadn't felt as hurt as she did right then in a long time. Everything inside her felt as though she was completely worthless. Every fear, every insecurity she had rose of from the darkness inside her threatening to drown her. She'd hurt one of the few friends she had, possibly irrevocably. She made to call him back, to beg for forgiveness but her throat only closed tighter with a fresh set of tears.
Harry had just taken a step into the room with her leftover stew and an extra wand in hand when Ron came stomping past jostling it all when he shoved the salve he'd still had in his hand towards him. The black-haired teen scrambled to take hold of it, a look of pure confusion on his face, he'd not heard what had happened as he'd been too occupied with his own thoughts.
"Hey-where are you going?"
"I'm 'getting out'." He tried to keep on going but a strong hand on his bicep kept him from going far.
"What?"
"That's not Hermione, she doesn't want us, she wants him." Ron glanced back at the bed with complete disdain.
"R-on?!" Harry turned to watch the boy stomp down the hall and down the stairs. Still completely bewildered, he turned his head back towards the bed. Hermione was sitting up with one arm wrapped around her stomach and the other crossed over her chest clawing at her neck. Her face was red from silent sobs. The sort of sobs that were so powerful you couldn't even make a sound to cry out for help.
Harry hastily dumped everything down onto the dresser and crossed the room. He fell down onto his knees beside the bed and tried to look into her downturned face.
"Hermione...?" He wanted desperately to hold her but he knew better. His hands curled tightly into the fabric on the bed to keep himself inline.
"Oh, Harry... I'm so sorry... I'm sorry... I've buggered everything... it's all my fault..." Her words were nothing more than a heart-wrenching plea. She sniffled deeply taking in a choking breath forcing her to cough harshly.
"Hey, what? No... don't be sorry...You haven't done anything... anything wrong...Shh... it's okay..." Harry shifted just a little closer holding out his hand palm up against the bed. The vice around his heart eased somewhat when her hand came down from her neck to take his. He held it as tight as he dared, waiting for her to look at him. "We'd be nowhere without you... you're beautiful, brilliant...one of a kind...He didn't mean it...and even if he did, he can very well sod off then... it's not like he hasn't before..."
He had lightened his tone towards the end trying to ease her pain with a little humor. His lip twitched when he saw just the faintest smile hidden at the corner of her tightly pressed lips. He shifted just a bit, holding her hand tighter. He gave her a soft smile when she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"I promise it'll be alright..." Harry gave her hand another small squeeze holding his breath, "I very much want to hug you right now..."
Hermione lowered her head back down shutting her eyes tight. She sniffled softly and gave him a small nod before giving his hand a gentle pull. When he rose up and opened his arms, she leaned forward holding him tightly. "I'm sorry..."
"Shh...It's alright...It's all going to be alright." Harry pressed his head into hers and ran his hand down the back of her hair gently. Keeping her close, he whispered soft words of comfort into her ear. He had no idea if he would ever hold her again this way. Voldemort's words still lingered in his thoughts. Did they truly have time to repair what had been broken? Would it even matter in the end?