Chapter 58

Hermione POV

The following morning, Hermione woke up feeling extremely drained and dehydrated. That came as no surprise to her, as she'd cried more yesterday than she possibly had ever cried in one day, maybe even in a week. She sat up slowly and rubbed her swollen eyes. She knew she must look exhausted, hopefully none of her dormmates were awake yet and she'd be able to get ready and leave without anyone noticing. Hermione poked her head out from behind her curtains and fortunately found that her dormmates were in fact sound asleep. As quietly and quickly as she could, she got ready and headed for the Great Hall for breakfast.

She was one of the first students at breakfast, and for that she was thankful. She ate so fast she barely tasted her eggs, toast, and sausages, and then went off to the library to get in some reading before class. This turned out to be a huge mistake, however, because as soon as she sat down at her usual table at the library, she was swiftly reminded of memories of both studying with Ginny and spending time with Juliette... Instead of reading, she put her head down in her arms on the table and tried to stop herself from crying. She'd broken up with Juliette mainly because of her feelings for Ginny, which now didn't seem to matter as it appeared that Ginny and Katie were now something of an item, the way they had been talking the past week and were holding hands the night before. She felt frustrated, embarrassed, and stupid. How could she have been such an idiot to think that someone like Ginny wouldn't have someone else interested in her?

"Hermione…?"

Hermione heard a soft voice, and looked up to find Luna Lovegood standing beside the table, looking at her with a faint look of concern.

"Are you alright? You look dreadful…"

Hermione shot a small glare at the girl. She was not Luna Lovegood's biggest fan, what with her nonsensical beliefs that she and her father liked to share with the wizarding community.

"I'm fine, Luna," Hermione answered curtly.

"Alright then… You just seemed to be upset by something… Is your girlfriend gone already…?"

Hermione furrowed her brow at Luna, unaware Luna knew of her relationship with Juliette. Well, former relationship.

"Yes, she left last night. It was a short visit."

"Is that why you're so upset…?"

"I – I'm not upset, Luna. I'm just tired," Hermione insisted, her patience with the girl wearing thin.

"If you say so…" Luna walked off, lazily exiting the library.

Hermione quickly gathered her books into her bag and left the library as well. If Luna Lovegood, who always appeared to have her head in the clouds, noticed how Hermione looked, then so would everyone else. Hermione moved swiftly through the corridors, climbing flight after flight of stairs, until she arrived at the door she was looking for on the fifth floor. She quietly gave the password, then stepped inside as the door swung open.

The Prefects' bathroom was a massive room. On one side there were stalls with toilets inside, while the other side held a swimming pool-like tub that was sunken into the floor. There were giant, stained-glass windows letting in an abundance of natural light, as well nearly a hundred different golden bath taps fixed around the edge of the tub.

Hermione checked to make sure no one else was in the room with her, then magicked some of the taps on, and began to disrobe. Normally she'd never miss a class, but today seemed like the day to take care of herself first. Once the water was to her liking, she magicked the taps off and stepped into the tub, sinking into the hot water gradually. The combination of the hot water and the scented bubble bath she'd selected was incredibly soothing, and soon Hermione was fully relaxed, leaning against the side of the tub with her eyes closed. She wasn't sure how long she was in the tub, it honestly could've been all day, but she needed it. The water never cooled, the scented bubble bath never dulled, it was the perfect, relaxing experience that Hermione so desperately needed.

As she finally got out of the tub and wrapped herself in one of the many robes hanging from hooks on the wall, Hermione sat on a bench close to the tub and watched the water drain to the bottom as she thought about the situation she was in.

Juliette and I are done, that is what I know for sure. Ginny said she fancied me one week ago. She appears to know I fancy her, even though I denied it. Now she's with Katie. Who I know was on the lookout for someone new to date, so I can't be wrong about that. How could Ginny move on so quickly though? Or is she… Is she doing what I did with Juliette? Is she using Katie as a distraction?

Hermione put her head in her hands. Her brain hurt, and that was really saying something. She wanted to talk to someone about this, but Harry was far too close to the situation and Ron… Well, Ron was Ginny's brother, that didn't seem like a great idea. Suddenly, the door to the Prefects' bathroom opened.

"Hey! Just the girl I was looking for. Are you alright? You weren't in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and even Professor Snape seemed thrown off by the absence of your hand in the air to answer the ridiculous questions he threw at us today," Dean Thomas said as he walked through the door and sat beside Hermione on the bench.

Hermione looked up at Dean with a sad expression, "Honestly, no, I'm not okay."

Dean nodded, "I didn't think you were. Well, I know we aren't great friends, I'm no Ron or Harry, but if you'd like to talk about it, I'm all ears," Dean said kindly with a gentle smile.

Hermione spent the next half hour explaining everything to Dean. How she fancied Ginny the summer before fourth year, how she got together with Juliette as a way to distract herself from her feelings for Ginny, how Ginny told her she fancied her and how Hermione had been feeling increasingly stronger about Ginny since she stayed at the Burrow this summer. Once she finished, Dean rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"Wow Hermione, that's a lot to process. I had no idea you were going through all of that," he said sympathetically, "And now you think Ginny is suddenly with Katie? Are you sure?"

Hermione nodded, "I'm positive. I saw them last night when you found me in the corridor, they were holding hands."

Dean paused, "Huh, you're right. I saw them just before I saw you, and they were holding hands. But why would Ginny tell you she fancied you then go off with Katie?"

Hermione shrugged, "Maybe she didn't want to wait for me? I also considered that she may be using her as a distraction, as I did with Juliette… It'd serve me right…"

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"What can I do? Clearly, she's moved on in some way. If she's with Katie then she's with Katie. If she's using Katie as a distraction, well, then there's a reason she's trying to get over me."

"My head hurts…" Dean said, rubbing the back of his neck again.

"I just don't want to get hurt…" Hermione admitted softly. "Part of me is pushing me to just talk to her about it, but I just had my heart broken while breaking up with Juliette… I'm not ready for it to get broken again if she has really moved on…"

"So, what's the plan then?"

"I think I just need to give her space… I should probably just focus on myself and my studies and my Prefect duties for a while… If it seems like she and Katie aren't actually together, then maybe I'll talk to her. Until then, I just don't think I could handle another heartbreak…"

"I'm sorry Hermione…" Dean said, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"It's my own fault. I should've broken up with Juliette as soon as the feelings for Ginny came back. It wasn't right to stay with her when I knew how I felt about Ginny. Had I broken up with her when I should've, maybe I would've had a chance with Ginny. This feels a little bit like karma…"

"I think you're being too hard on yourself. The heart can't help what it wants. You did your best, and you made it right eventually. I'm sure Ginny's just using Katie as a distraction, who wouldn't want to be with you?" Dean smiled down at her, squeezing her shoulder.

Hermione gave a light laugh, "Thanks Dean."

"Anytime. I'll go let Professor McGonagall know you're feeling under the weather, alright?"

"But that's not the truth…"

"Hermione, everyone deserves a day off every once in a while, even you. Just try to relax and enjoy the rest of the day, okay?"

"Alright…" Hermione said hesitantly, nodding. Dean gave her a smile, then left the Prefects' bathroom.

Suddenly alone again, Hermione thought about what she'd told Dean about her plan going forward. While she wanted desperately to talk to Ginny about everything and let her know she'd broken up with Juliette, she even more desperately wanted to protect herself from the possibility of fracturing her heart even more than it already was. If Ginny was indeed with Katie, it would certainly be too much to bear right now. She could wait, observe the situation and try to gauge what's going on with Ginny and Katie from afar, and then maybe make a decision when her heart had healed a bit more. She knew one day was not nearly enough time for a heart to heal, but how long would it take? Weeks? Months? Hermione put her head back in her hands and moaned in frustration, but at least she had a plan going forward.