Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Chapter Fourteen
Meeting Ginny
"You know, I wasn't planning on leaving this room today," Ron grumbled later that night, it was near dinner time, and they needed to eat. They hadn't had anything except the small breakfast in bed that morning and Hermione suggested that they just go to Harry's like they have done on Sunday evenings for a while now. "I don't think he's expecting us tonight, not with the party yesterday and all."
"You're not just saying that, so we don't leave, are you?" Hermione asked, pausing getting ready to shoot him a look.
"No," Ron chuckled, because he probably would have said that even if this wasn't the case.
"Do you think he would be upset if we just stopped by?" Hermione asked next biting her lip, there was something that she wanted to ask but didn't want to be an inconvenience to her friend.
"Not upset," Ron said and then thought to himself, surprised, he might even be worried …. "I guess we can go."
"Do I want to know what you're thinking?" Hermione asked starting to get ready and noticed that Ron was putting more effort into dressing as well.
"If you want to go … probably not," Ron chuckled again.
Hermione decided that she wanted to go to Harry's more than she wanted to ask what Ron was planning, so the two of them finished getting ready and then walked to Harry's house and soon enough they were entering the house.
"Hey," Harry said warily, Ron had never stopped by with Hermione unannounced before for obvious reasons, one of which just happened to run by the door closely followed by Bess.
"What was that?" Hermione asked as she watched the elderly looking creature run pass the door and she could hear Bess laughing as she yelled 'you it Krechy' and the bullfrog croak from the creature 'Kreacher is going to get little misses.' Now she was shocked just seeing the weird looking creature but when she heard it talk … let's just say her panic wasn't entirely fake.
"Er …" Harry said as his eyes bulged, what the hell am I going to say? He shot a glare towards Ron; his friend really should have known better than to just bring her over like this. However, Ron looked so pained and nervous right now, Harry couldn't stay angry, and he tried to think of something. "It's … er … it's a robot … by friend brought it over as a prototype ..."
"A robot?" Hermione questioned, regaining her calm and tried to look at Harry suspiciously, she could feel Ron's amusement behind her and realized this was why he had agreed to come here … he wanted to give Harry a hard time. "I've never heard of a robot that can move like that … especially if they were going to be a toy for toddlers."
"My friend works on movies sometimes," Harry tried to shrug nonchalantly. "He thought he'd bring it over so Bess could play with it, instead of throwing it away … she really likes it."
"Is someone else here?" Hermione frowned and Harry shook his head. "Then who's controlling the robot? Because obviously you're not … or are you telling me that it has a mind of its own. I'm sure we don't have anything as advance as that."
"Er … it's programmed to do certain things," Harry said trying to keep his nerves in check but failing.
"You are rather good at being evasive, I think I should be worried at how good you are at lying to me." Hermione said shaking her head, she could have kept going but she wanted to know the truth already. "But cut the robot crap and tell me what that really was. Some kind of magical creature I would guess."
Harry's mouth dropped and he just stared at her for a moment until he was snapped out of his shock by Ron's frantic laughter. "Ron, you arse, why didn't you tell me she knew?"
"Because that was bloody hysterical!" Ron continued to laugh so Harry punched him in the arm. "So much better than I thought it would be too. Shite, Harry I never knew you could lie so well."
"Yeah, I was thinking that too, I should be worried how good you are at lying to me," Hermione agreed.
"I was just pulling that crap out of my arse, I was surprised how well I was doing too," Harry finally chuckled and then looked at Hermione and smiled, "So, now you know our deep dark secret, and obviously you accepted this git like I told him you would weeks ago. I'm so glad you know, now we don't have to hide anything from you anymore."
"Like what that creature was?" Hermione supplied, causing both Ron and Harry to chuckle.
"That's my Mione, always with the one-track mind," Ron smiled and then pulled her into his chest.
"Kreacher is a house elf," Harry started to explain.
"Myknee!" Bess yelled and made her way towards Hermione closely followed by Kreacher until he noticed who was there and stopped dead looking terrified, knowing he wasn't supposed to be seen by the Muggle girl.
"Where's my shout?" Ron pouted as he watched Hermione bend down and pick up his niece. "You used to always come running to me but now it's always Mione, Mione, Mione …."
"Like her better," Bess giggled, and Hermione laughed, though she couldn't take her eyes off of the terrified looking elf.
"Well, I'm just going to have to change that, won't I?" Ron said with an evil smirk as he walked toward them.
"No, my Bessy," Hermione said turning away from Ron, causing Bess to giggle harder. However, she couldn't get away from Ron's long reach and soon he was wrapping one arm around his girlfriend as he used the other to tickle his niece.
"Kreacher is sorry Master Harry, Kreacher is not knowing she is here," the elf said gravely.
"It's okay Kreacher, Mione knows now, you don't have to hide anything from her," Harry tried to reassure the elf, but he could see it didn't help much.
"Because Kreacher is being seen," the elf sobbed. "Kreacher is a bad elf …!"
"No Kreacher, it's because I told her about magic," Ron said frowning at how the elf was taking this. He had found this whole thing rather funny, but he felt bad that the elf was taking this so hard right now.
"Yeah Kreacher, I already knew about magic before I saw you," Hermione tried to smile reassuringly.
Kreacher looked at her again, this time looking conflicted. All his life (minus the pass five and half years) he has been taught to hate Muggles and he didn't know what to do now. He couldn't upset Master Harry by being mean to her but that was all he knew so he just bowed awkwardly towards her general direction and said, "Kreacher should be starting dinner …" and he left the room as quickly as he could go.
"Are all house elves like that?" Hermione frowned as she watched the elf leave. "Terrified to go against orders … I assumed you asked him to stay away from me and that's why he was so scared at first."
"That's right," Harry said frowning, still worried about Kreacher. "And yeah, all elves react that way when they go against orders, or even perceive they go against orders. But it's a lot worse when they are brought up by abusive families. Though to be fair, I don't think the Blacks were mean to Kreacher, but they were strict and very concerned with the proper way an elf should behave. I've been trying to get him to lighten up but sometimes he falls back on bad habits, and I'll have to stop him from punishing himself."
"Punishing himself," Hermione said gravely, not wanting to be the reason that the elf hurt himself.
"Don't worry, he's not going to do anything before he finishes cooking dinner," Harry said and upon seeing her appalled face he quickly added, "I meant I still have time to talk to him to make sure he's okay."
"Good," Hermione sighed, not really sure how she felt about this whole situation, "I think I need to learn more about house elf culture."
"Of all the things about magic you want to concentrate on …" Ron started shaking his head, and then smirked as she glared at him. "I'm not sure that's something you can learn about in books."
"What do you mean?" Hermione frowned.
"There probably are books about elves, but they're written by wizards," Ron shrugged. "Most likely purebloods … er … that's what we call wizards or witches that are born to a family that always had magic."
"Like yourself," Hermione said, and Ron nodded his head, but he was making a face. She wondered what the face meant, but she asked first, "Why would a pureblood writing the book be a problem?"
"Because purebloods think there is a proper way of treating elves and that's what is in the books," Harry explained this time. "And the elves feel like they should be treated that way too. It's a pretty effed up situation if you ask me," he added closing his eyes as he thought of Dobby and all that elf had done for him … and how Dobby had been one of his friends and that no one (but Ron and Ginny) could understand how he could feel that way about an elf.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said, putting a hand on his shoulder because she could see he was upset about this, though she wasn't sure why, she knew it was about something more than just what they were talking about.
Harry gave her a shy smile before he turned away, "I should go talk to Kreacher."
"Is he going to be okay?" Hermione worried as she watched Harry leave the room.
"Yeah, he's probably thinking about Dobby," Ron frowned, he knew he was thinking of him. "He was an elf that saved our lives at the cost of his own, but more importantly he was Harry's friend, something that never really happens between wizard and elf."
Hermione sighed, and then looked at Ron and knew he was upset too, but she didn't think it was about the elf. "Is something else bothering you."
"It's just the pureblood thing … when you said like me … I mean I am a pureblood, but my family isn't like most purebloods … at least not the ones …" Ron started to explain.
"Ron, I already know that," Hermione interrupted him, "you told me that months ago when you talked about the war. I never thought you were talking about you or your family."
"Good," Ron sighed, feeling relieved and pulled her in for a hug.
O
"So, is there a reason why you wanted to come today, other than having a laugh at my panic over Hermione seeing too much," Harry said, they were now at the dining room table after finishing a very nice meal (making Hermione realized that the elf was the one that had cooked all of the delicious meals at Grimmauld Place).
"Nah, that was it," Ron answered immediately.
"Actually, there is something that I wanted to ask," Hermione added after she rolled her eyes at Ron, "and I thought it was best if I asked Harry too."
"What is it?" Harry asked with trepidation as he could see Hermione was nervous.
"I want to meet Ginny," Hermione asked biting her lip and added, "I was wondering if you could take me to visit tomorrow, Harry?"
"What?" both boys exclaimed, neither one of them expecting that.
"Well, at least I'm not the only one surprised," Harry said, coming out of his shock first and almost chuckled at Ron's flabbergasted expression.
"Myknee see mommy … I go too!" Bess said excitedly, bouncing in her chair.
"I guess I should have known you would ask this, seeing as you wanted more information about Ginny's conditions earlier," Ron said gathering himself after his shock and then looked at her sadly. "But I don't think that's a good idea. Ginny doesn't really like meeting new people and it would be a lot worse if we don't warn her first."
"I really want to meet her," Hermione frowned, she had always sensed that wherever Ginny was, it had something to do with Ron's world, so she never asked for a visit before. However, since Christmas time, and her talk with Bess, she had been a lot more curious about Ron's sister and it was her first chance to meet her now, but she didn't want to be rude. "I guess I can wait until you give her time to know I'm coming."
"I can take you tomorrow," Harry said thoughtfully, he knew that warning Ginny wouldn't make that much of a difference. Then he added, trying to tease her, "though I would have thought you would want to go to Flourish and Blotts … the wizarding bookstore … so you can read up more about our world."
"Ron already promised to take me there this weekend," Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry, it was actually this promise that caused her to make plans on meeting Ginny tomorrow, but she wasn't going to tell them that. "Besides, I can just look at Ron's textbooks to get me by for the week."
"I don't know, I only have like twenty books, you think that's enough to last for the whole week," Ron teased.
"Yes," Hermione said primly as the others laughed.
"Actually, my bookcase might be able to summon books if you need any more," Harry said thoughtfully.
"You mean the one with all the law books?" Hermione questioned. "That's magicked?"
"Yeah," Harry laughed at her shocked expression. "Ron and I were more shocked when you found those books than you were!"
"That's true, I was having heart failure thinking you would find some sort of magic books," Ron laughed shaking his head. "And since we're here, they probably be dark magic books too."
"After that first meeting, we had Kreacher set the bookcase to stay the same as it was before," Harry added more seriously. "I can have him change it back to normal so you can summon any book you need."
"I don't know what to say about that," Hermione said feeling overwhelmed, Harry had a magic bookcase … that could summon any book I want! she exclaimed in her thoughts.
"I think she'll be moving in here tomorrow," Ron teased as Hermione blushed and Harry laughed.
"We seeing mommy morrow?" Bess asked, she had enjoyed all the teasing (though she didn't really follow the conversation), but she wanted an answer to this.
"I don't know love, I don't think you should go," Harry said gravely, knowing that his daughter wasn't going to like that suggestion, but he wasn't sure how Ginny was going to react, and he didn't want to put Bess in potential danger. "You know how your mum gets when she meets someone new."
"Mommy okay with me … no act badly," Bess said stubbornly. "I protect Myknee."
"Hm … you do have a point," Harry smiled besides himself, thinking about how close Bess and Ginny had been since Christmas, and how they have spent a lot more time together. And how that got Ginny acting a lot more like herself.
"Er … I kind of wanted to talk to her by myself," Hermione said. "I know that I need Ron or Harry to introduce me … but then I wanted to be alone with her."
"I go," Bess pouted, she looked so sad that it went straight to Hermione's heart.
"Bessy, I want your mum to like me because of me … not because you're shielding me," Hermione pleaded with the little girl. "You understand don't you," she added, and the little girl sighed then nodded her head.
"Well, I guess that's settled," Harry said putting his hand on Bess's head and messing up her hair. "If my three-year-old daughter is okay with this I guess I have to be."
O
Even though Ginny might not be in control of herself or know her surroundings all the time, she still noticed the distinct changes in the people she cares about over the last five months. It started with Ron of course, one day in late September instead of being the gloomy annoying git she had come to expect from her brother, he had smiled more and joked with her a few times. She wasn't surprised when he had mentioned meeting a girl, though she was a little wary. Still, she actually really liked seeing this change in her brother because he was clearly happy. However, she didn't know what to think when only a month later Harry came in acting a little upbeat, knowing that he had just met Ron's girlfriend.
She knew that she shouldn't feel this way, but she couldn't help but want Harry to only care about her … to be the only one that could make him happier. If she wasn't so selfish, she would have told Harry to find someone else to settle down with years ago, allowing him to be happy instead of being stuck with her. However, there was never a time before now that she had to deal with someone that was able to change her Harry … besides for her family and especially Bess and Ron … and she really didn't like this one bit. It also didn't help that her daughter couldn't stop talking about Daddy's knew friend 'Myknee'. What kind of name was that anyways? Okay she knew it was Hermione or Mione, because Harry had called her that, but hearing that didn't make her feel any better.
However, it was a while after that, right before Christmas, that all of her worries disappeared because her daughter had showed up one day stating boldly 'I love you' and then hugged her tightly. She couldn't explain how incredible it made her feel having her daughter say that. Ginny had loved her daughter since the moment she was told she was pregnant. Sure, most of the time it was difficult, especially in the first year where she couldn't really comprehend things. However, even when she was at her worst, she still somehow remembered her love for her baby. After Bess was born, Ginny wasn't even able to hold her daughter. On one level Ginny understood why she couldn't, but at the same time all she wanted to do was hold her daughter and make sure she was okay. It was hard on her for the first year, she barely got to see her daughter in that time and got to hold her even less. It had been ingrained in her mind that at the slightest sign of danger that she would hand her baby over to the person that was in the room with them … and there was always someone in the room with her because she wasn't allowed to be alone with Bess. Ginny truly hated this, but Bess's safety would always come first, so she did what she was told.
It really did mean the world to her when Bess refused to be taken from her … that she even clanged to Ginny's shirt so she couldn't go anywhere, because in that moment she knew her daughter loved her, just like she loved her daughter. Still, it hurt a lot every time Bess mentioned the 'other women' especially before Christmas when she thought this 'Myknee' was trying to steal her daughter, her Harry and hurt her brother all at the same time.
That being said, Ginny wasn't all too thrilled when Harry came to visit her unexpectedly on this Monday morning with … 'her'. Of course, Ginny had no idea what the other girl looked like, but there was no one else that she could think of that Harry would bring here to visit her.
"Hello Ginny," Harry said smiling automatically, his face lightening up as he looked at her and went over and hugged her like he always did.
Hermione couldn't help but see a whole new side to her friend as she watched him greet the love of his life with a hug. He seemed so different, happier and gloomier at the same time.
"This is Hermione," Harry said after he pulled away, and his worry doubled as he saw that Ginny was glaring at Hermione. "She wanted to meet you … I'm sorry to just spring it on you like this."
Ginny continued to glare at her for another second and then turned away and went to sit on her bed pointedly not looking at 'her' … and ignored Harry as well. Ginny really didn't have any interest in meeting this girl, especially since she hadn't come with Ron. Why would she come with Harry if the girl wasn't trying to replace me? So, Ginny wasn't about to be nice to her.
"It's okay Harry, you can leave," Hermione said, watching as Ginny glared and then ignored her. She noticed that Harry was growing more nervous, but she didn't think anything could happen with him in the room. "It would probably be better if you do … easier for us to talk."
Ginny sat up straighter after hearing this request. There was nothing she wanted more than to be able to talk to this girl without Harry there to interfere. However, she knew that she reacted too quickly because Harry was now looking at her suspiciously (he knew her too well). It infuriated Ginny when Harry turned to look at the girl to make sure she was okay with this.
"Okay … but I'll just be in the waiting room if you need anything," Harry sighed, after Hermione gave him a confirming nod.
"Thank you … I think I can handle it," Hermione said, she wasn't going to back off for anything, even if it was clear Ginny didn't like her.
"Right," Harry sighed shaking his head and then turned back to Ginny and gave her another hug. "Be nice," he whispered.
"I'll try," Ginny lied, knowing that she wasn't going to try but Harry didn't need to know that.
"Right then … er … how are you?" Hermione said as soon as Harry left the room, starting to feel nervous. She knew she wanted to talk to Ginny alone, she just wasn't sure how to start this conversation.
Ginny snorted at the question and raised her eyebrow clearly unimpressed.
"You're right, stupid question …" Hermione sighed and then added on honestly, "I'm sorry I'm just nervous."
"Why?" Ginny asked with narrowed eyes.
"Isn't that obvious, you're very important to the man I love," Hermione said, and Ginny looked even more upset upon hearing that. "I know you had a major impact on Ron's life, he talks about you all the time."
"Well, he hasn't really talked about you," Ginny said, though that wasn't entirely true, Ron would mention this girl many times during his visits, but he didn't talk directly about her. "And then there was a time not too long ago that he was in here almost every day and wouldn't say a word, but looked heartbroken," she said pointedly, glaring at Hermione. "That was because of you, right?'
"Yes," Hermione admitted with a sigh, she wasn't expecting Ginny to be this astute. She also didn't expect Ginny to be angry with her, but it would make sense if Ginny thought she had hurt her brother. "I never meant to hurt him, but there were things that I needed to work out." She shook her head, what she said just sounded lame to her so she added, "I didn't realize how much I loved him until I thought I might lose him for real."
"He said you got closer to Harry at that time," Ginny interrupted coldly, she didn't need to hear this girl's excuses about why she broke Ron's heart, or why they got back together.
"I did," Hermione said raising her eyebrow, caught off guard by that comment, not to mention Ginny's tone. The other girl was obviously angry and with that question she now wondered if it might have something to do with Harry. Still, she decided to be as honest as she could with Ginny. "Harry told me that he still wanted to be my friend even if Ron and I weren't together. I've never had a friend like Harry before, it just felt so right talking to him and it was nice to know that he felt the same way."
Ginny despised everything that Hermione had just said and didn't want to think about her Harry saying those things. It was so clear that he did really like this girl. So, she tried changing the subject, "If it was so important for you to meet me then why did you wait so long to come? I mean you have been going out with my brother for five months."
"I'm a Muggle, Ron just told me about the wizarding world and what really happened to you a few days ago," Hermione explained. "Ron had told me that you were shot."
"Oh …" Ginny said indeed shocked about this, Ron and Harry had neglected to tell her that Hermione was a Muggle. She wasn't sure how this piece of information could change the opinion she had formed of this girl. She found that she commented without much thought, "you seemed to have the terminology down."
"Ron and Harry have told me some of the terms and I was finally able to read something this morning, but since I only found out yesterday … well … it was actually Saturday night, but I didn't really have time to think about magic then," Hermione said and started to turned bright red by the end of her explanation as she thought about what she had done with Ron after he told her he was a wizard.
"Hm … it seems like my brother got lucky on his birthday," Ginny said making a face, as she noticed Hermione's blush and almost started laughing as the already red girl started to almost glow at her comment. Then she frowned, as she wondered if she had just been teasing Hermione but shook it off.
"That's none of your business," Hermione mumbled, looking rather awkward.
"And that's an admittance if I've ever saw one," Ginny rolled her eyes, feeling herself relax around Hermione without realizing it. Though now that she thought about it, she got angry at herself.
"Fine, you caught me," Hermione huffed, still uncomfortable but figured she might be able to turn the tables and get this conversation off of her. "Do you want to hear all the sorted details?"
"No way," Ginny said making a face, "I got too much of that from Lavender."
Hermione was the one making a face now and Ginny found it hard not to show amusement at her expression, but she really didn't want to laugh around this girl.
"Exactly how close did you and Harry get?" Ginny asked seriously, she could feel herself starting to actually like this girl with her sincerity and enthusiasm, but there were a few things Ginny had to know before she could truly lower her guard. Though she had to admit she was pleased to learn that Hermione was a Muggle, so it was unlikely she was interested in her brother (and more importantly Harry) because of the war. Don't forget that she's the reason why Harry's been happy lately, Ginny found that she had to remind herself so she wouldn't soften anymore, and that Bess is always bragging about her.
"Close?" Hermione frowned, knowing that she had already gone over this question, but thinking that she hadn't been clear enough. "Well, I would say he's my best friend … well after Ron of course, but it's completely different with Harry. There's zero attraction for starters …"
"Hmph," Ginny snorted with narrow eyes, thinking that Hermione was trying too hard to deny this. After all, she knew Harry was very attractive.
"I'm not just saying that it's true," Hermione said having confirmed her theory about why Ginny was so angry with her. "Sure, he's good looking, and his eyes are beautiful, and the tragically sad look sort of makes you want to help him feel better if you could. And he got that whole disheveled rich guy, dotting dad thing going for him too." Hermione went on as she shook her head, "But he's just Harry, that's all I see."
Ginny was glaring at her still believing she was laying it on a little thick.
"However, even if I was interested in him, it would never happen anyways," Hermione said realizing that she wasn't helping her case before, so she decided to switch tactics. She did contemplate telling Ginny how she felt about Ron, but she didn't want to share those details right now and this was so much easier. "Harry is still completely in love with you. If I didn't already know that just by the way Harry's face lights up every time you're mentioned, it would have been obvious after Ron told me about what happened during the war. Not to mention the way he looked at you when he came here. It's obvious that you're the only girl he has eyes for … will ever have eyes for."
"Right," Ginny said as her heart pounded in her chest. Can I believe what Hermione just said? Does Harry still love me like I love him? Ginny wondered as she sat back against the padded wall (that was there because she had a tendency of throwing herself against the wall when she gets too agitated). She couldn't doubt the sincerity she heard in Hermione's voice; it was clear the other girl believed what she was saying. However, there were still lots of things that have changed between Harry and her over the last four years, so much so that she couldn't see the love in his eyes when he looked at her anymore … then again, she couldn't remember the last time Harry had really looked into her eyes, other than fleeting glances.
Hermione wasn't quite sure what to do now, but she thought it was probably best if she didn't try to talk to Ginny, the other girl looked deep in thought. So, she sat down on the farthest corner of the bed from Ginny and took out one of the textbooks she took from Ron and started reading as she waited for Ginny to say something.
"You're really close to Bess," Ginny said some time later, her head was starting to get muddled from thinking so hard and she knew she was going to slip soon but she wanted to hear what Hermione had to say about that. She was started to hope that Hermione wasn't the horrible person that Ginny had thought she was originally. "She talks about you all the time," Ginny forced herself to admit, the bitterness clear in her voice.
"She's a wonderful kid," Hermione smiled just thinking of the little girl. "I've spent a lot of time at Harry's over the last few months because he has, as I just found out yesterday, a magical bookcase with every book I needed for my studies. I'm about to become a solicitor. Anyways, it was brilliant being there, and being able to study all I needed, but at the same time to be able to relax too. I love reading to Bess or talking to Harry … you have a wonderful family," Hermione rambled on honestly but as she looked at the once again furious Ginny, she realized that she had said the wrong thing.
"I'm sure you love being a part of my family," Ginny said turning her head away from Hermione so she could glare at the wall instead. "And they obviously love you," she added bitterly, feeling more repulsed than ever.
"I …" Hermione sighed knowing how tactless she had just been … and she had been doing so well before that. "I know they love you more," she tried to make things better, to explain it properly. "I know they want you more."
"I didn't ask about that!" Ginny snapped at her bitterly, crossing her arms in front of her chest and closing her eyes. She hated that the other girl could see her insecurities so easily, hated that she had to be here talking to her about this and mostly hated that she couldn't get upset, or feel any emotion really, without overloading and losing herself. As she fought to keep her grip on reality … and she always fought for that no matter what because she hated the abyss, she went through in her madden or catatonic states …. She forced herself to ask, "how can you know that anyways?"
Hermione bit her lip, after her conversation with Bess before Christmas she had an excellent idea of the dynamics, and the problems within them, between Ginny and her daughter. However, there was no way that she would tell Ginny about her daughter's fear … how her daughter didn't think that Ginny loved her. She knew that would only hurt Ginny more to hear something like that. "I think that Bess has come to look up to me in some ways (and I just adore how smart and cute she is) because I'm around a lot and she knows she can come to me …
"But I know who she really wants to read her bedtime stories, and tuck her in at night," Hermione sighed smiling sadly at Ginny. "She talks about you all the time you know … I mean, she mentions all of her family a lot, but you the most … and there's something in her voice that's different when she talks about you. Trust me … I know she loves you more than anyone … well except perhaps Harry."
Ginny leaned back with her eyes closed and tears going down her cheeks, again she didn't know if this stranger was telling the truth, but she couldn't help but want to believe Hermione. Hadn't she seen her daughter's love for her the last few months, after all. Wasn't that proof of what Hermione was saying. However, even as she thought about it her mind started to fog over and though she knew it was useless to struggle, she did anyways. "I think you should go," she was able to say with the last ounce of strength she had left.
"I'm not leaving," Hermione said confused by the sudden dismissal, she thought she was making progress.
"No talk," Ginny said, trying to control her voice but it was no use, she had no control anymore and she didn't like people, especially strangers, being there when she was like this.
"Ginny, I'm not going anywhere," Hermione said firmly, this time understanding the meaning of Ginny's request. Now, even though she got her degree in psychology she knew she was no expert, but she thought it would help the other girl if she stayed there. She thought that it would show Ginny that she didn't care what state she was in, she would still be there, treating her the same. Now that was just her theory and even if it was true, she didn't know how much it would help but she thought it was worth it to try. "I've got my book … I'm okay."
Ginny glared at her for a moment before she started bouncing off the walls. It was madding, frustrating anger that she couldn't control at all. This was always the worse part of her condition because in a way she was still able to remember parts of herself, not the whole, never the whole, but always enough to miss it, to want it. When she's nearly catatonic she couldn't really place anything, she doesn't know who she is or who the people around her were, but she does often get a sense of peace, especially if she was with a family member. And it was different with each member of her family … with Harry she felt safe and warm and all she really wanted was for him to hold her (though he never does).
Hermione stayed in the room all day. Ginny only had a fit for about twenty minutes … Ron had told her that Ginny had a fit for twelve hours once. After the fit was over, Ginny slumped in the corner looking lacks, her head was tilted off to the side as she stared across the room at nothing. At this point Hermione opened A History of Magic, hoping that she would be able to learn something about magic. She decided to read the book out loud, having been used to doing that for Bess, and she hoped it might create a calming atmosphere and that it might help Ginny relax (the girl looked tense in the corner).
Of course, Hermione found the whole subject matter fascinating and soon forgot where she was, though she never stopped reading out loud. However, when she looked up two hours after she had started reading, she saw that Ginny was closer to her than before, though the girl wasn't looking in her direction, she was still staring off into space. Hermione continued reading, looking up every ten minutes or so and was pleased to see that Ginny was slowly making her way towards her until finally Ginny was resting her head on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione smiled broadly as she continued to read.
"It looks like Harry is going to have to treat Bess to some ice cream," Ron said smiling as he came into the room. Now he had imagined many things happening today, ranging from bad to acceptable, but he never thought that he would see this. His sister resting so comfortably as his girlfriend read to her. "It seems that you'll never stop to amaze me."
"That's good, I love your surprised look," Hermione smiled as Ron leaned down to kiss her.
"Hey Gin," Ron said, kissing his sister on her cheek, but Ginny didn't move or acknowledge him at all. He frowned at his sister, hating to see Ginny in her catatonic state, mostly because it was so different than the way she was before. "We have to be going, visiting hours are almost over and Harry wants to have some quality time with Gin … if you know what I mean," he added waggling his eyebrows.
"It's okay, I understand. It was nice meeting you Ginny, I think I'll be back soon," Hermione said as she left with Ron, she knew the other girl couldn't understand what she said, but she thought it was better to just treat her like she could.
A/N: So, this chapter was very close to the original, I hardly changed the talk with Ginny at all. I did add a little more about elf rights and the magical bookcase, but I'm not sure I like that bit.
