Endings and Beginnings

Hermione was slowly gaining consciousness. She discovered she was lying on something soft and warm, totally different from the discomfort of the ground where she had fallen. It took several seconds for her to figure out that she was snugly wrapped in blankets, resting in a bed inside the hospital wing. She opened her eyes the tiniest bit, and light flooded in, blinding her even behind her eyelids. She groaned. Instantly, she felt people crowding around her. She tried to move her hand so she could shield her eyes, but even the slightest movement seemed to make her skull explode with pain. Someone shielded her eyes with their hand, and a voice spoke. "It's all right, dear, you can open your eyes now."

Mum! every nerve inside her body screamed. She willed her eyes to open, and she saw her parents standing on either side of her bed. Her dad's hand blocked the light of the afternoon sun from shining full force into her face. Her eyes started to blur with tears.

"Mum, Dad," she sobbed. Her tears were choking her, but she tried to continue talking. "W-when did you..."

"Last week," her father answered as he wiped away her tears. "The mediwizard taking care of us said a phoenix flew in from the window and -- cried over us. I remember waking up and seeing your mum smiling at me, and I knew we were going to be fine."

"L-last week? How long have I been unconscious?"

"Nearly ten days now. We were asking Madam Pomfrey if that phoenix -- Ron told us its name was Fawkes, I think -- could come here and -- er, cry over you. But she said..."

She stopped listening to her mother when she mentioned Ron's name. "Where's Ron? Is he all right?"

"He's fine, dear. He woke up yesterday and got out of bed today. Wouldn't listen to anyone. Said he had work to do," her mother said.

The sound of shuffling noises outside the hospital wing made her turn towards the door, choosing to ignore the pain her slight motion caused. She saw an unconscious Ron being carried by his twin brothers, Fred and George, back to his bed.

"Stubborn git," Fred panted.

"Heavy as Hagrid, too," George said, as he gulped for air.

They threw Ron onto his bed. The bed springs creaked as his body landed on the mattress. "What in Merlin's name made him think he can go on patrol duty? He could barely walk."

"Trying to set an example to the other students, the idiot said. Thought it'd cheer them up to see the Head Boy alive and well again. Lucky he didn't fall down those stairs."

"Prat," Fred whispered affectionately, ruffling his younger brother's hair.

"Bighead tosser," George mumbled, as he took off Ron's shoes as gently as he could and placed them on the floor.

"You could have floated him back in here," Hermione said. She inwardly cringed at how weak her voice sounded.

As one, the twins' heads bobbed up, turned towards her, and sprinted towards her bed.

"Our wands broke," Fred answered. "We've Spellotaped 'em back together, but I don't think it's such a good idea to use 'em." Hermione nodded, remembering how Ron's broken wand backfired every time he used it back in second year.

"And Ollivander's was leveled to the ground -- most of his inventory's either damaged or stolen. Poor bloke can't meet half the demand for new wands," George added. "Besides, we can't af--" he stopped, and looked sheepishly at Fred, who was glaring at him.

"Er, I'm glad you're better now," George said, obviously trying to distract her from thinking about that exchange between him and his twin.

"Yeah, I'm sure our baby brother will be able to keep his pecker up now, seeing as you're well enough to scold him again," Fred joked as he squeezed her shoulder lightly.

"And he'd probably hex you if he heard you say that," a voice spoke from the other side of her bed.

"Harry!" Hermione gasped. It took quite an effort on her part, but she was finally able to turn towards him, lift her arms from the bed and hold them out to him.

He bent towards her and embraced her tenderly. "I'm so glad you're awake now," he spoke in a choked voice. "I thought... I thought you might be... you and Ron were both unconscious for so long, while I barely needed to lie down after--"

His words ended in a sob. Hermione patted his back and let him cry on her shoulder. After a few moments, he straightened up, blushing as he wiped away his tears, embarrassed that he couldn't control his emotions in front of the twins and her parents. Her mum came forward, laid her hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. He smiled and nodded to her.

"Where's Mr. and Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked the twins, partly out of curiosity, and partly in an effort to turn their attention away from Harry.

"Oh, they're... well, they're... you know," George stammered.

"Out on Order business?" Hermione asked.

"No, they're... oh, bugger it all, I don't see why we can't say anything about it to you. You're family too, after all," Fred huffed. "See, Mum and Dad, Bill, Charlie and Percy, they're... they're trying to see if they can rebuild the Burrow."

She gaped at them. "B-but Percy can't--" She stopped herself just before she could say 'walk.'

"No, but he can still cast spells. And even if Charlie doesn't... remember how to cast spells--"

"--yet," George interrupted with a low growl.

"Er, yeah... well, he can still help clear up the debris," Fred finished.

"Oh." Hermione felt her heart being squeezed in two. The Weasleys might not have lost any of their children, but their suffering was still heavy to bear. "What about Ginny?"

"She's in class," Harry answered. "Professor McGonagall started classes again for the students who were staying. She thought they would feel assured that the war was over if they went about their old routines again."

"Besides, she just can't bear not teaching," Fred added.

"Ginny promised she'd come here right after classes end, which would be... just about now," Harry said.

"Then that means dinner's almost ready. C'mon then, we have to go to the kitchens and get-- ow!" George rubbed the back of his neck, where Fred had whacked him.

"Can't you ever keep a secret, you wanker?" Fred growled.

"You're the one who told Hermione what mum and dad were doing, so who's the one who can't keep his cake hole shut, then?" George snapped at his twin.

Hermione's eyes widened as she realised the implications of George's unfortunate slip. The Weasleys had lost everything. Fred and George must have come to nick food from the kitchens so their parents and brothers would have something to eat later. Oh, God. Was it really that bad for them? Why hadn't she known? Did Ron know? Was that the reason why Ron was trying so hard to get back on his feet again, so nobody could reproach him for... for something he had no control over, something that wasn't even his fault?

She felt her throat closing up. But she had to say something, anything even remotely helpful. One thing came to mind. She tried to keep her voice even as she spoke. "You should... you should ask for Dobby, then." Her voice interrupted the twins mid-bicker.

"Who?"

"Dobby the house-elf. Tell him I sent you," Harry answered. It seemed he quickly caught on to what she meant. She looked into his eyes, and saw that he had known about the Weasleys' predicament for some time. "Better yet, let me go with you. He'll give you more food than you can carry,... er, that is... if... if you want," Harry added uncertainly.

The twins stiffened at Harry's words. After a few tense moments, they exchanged a look, and Fred nodded. "So, guess we'd better go now. We'll come back and visit you soon, Hermione."

She smiled as she held her hand out to him. "Just me? What about Ron?"

"Aw, he's a prat, he doesn't need visiting. What he needs is a good woman who'll sn--" This time, George took a distinct pleasure in whacking his brother upside the head as payback for hitting him earlier. Fred wrestled with his twin, dragging him out of the hospital wing without giving him a chance to say goodbye to Hermione. She smiled and gave Harry a little wave as he followed the twins.

Hermione turned to her parents. "How bad is it?"

"Terrible. Percy and Charlie's treatments have been a heavy burden, not to mention useless. The Ministry is in shambles, so Arthur's as good as jobless right now. And then, their home... we offered to help, of course. It was the least we could do, after they saved our lives. But Molly and Arthur would have none of it," her mum answered.

"I tried convincing Arthur again, just this morning, before he left. The insurance money we got on our house when -- when it was burnt down... I said we could split it with them. After all, we could just get a flat in London, near that leaking saucepan place--"

"Leaky Cauldron, Dad," Hermione interrupted.

"Oh, right. Well, Arthur was very touched, but he still said no. Harry offered to help out too, but it seems Molly scolded him something awful, so he didn't dare try again."

"I -- I don't understand. Why would they refuse? After all they've given us, surely we could give something back, especially in light of what's happened," Hermione said.

"They're a stubborn and independent lot, the Weasleys. If they have to, they'll all work their fingers to the bone to get back on their feet again."

"But if... if you said it was a loan, and they could pay you back when they can..."

"They know we'd never accept if they tried to pay us back. And... and I think they know that... they probably won't be able to, anyway."

"So that's it? We just sit back and watch them struggle? What kind of people does that make us?"

"Darling, it's not like that at all. But surely you must know how proud they can be. You've told us enough times how Ron reacts to any remarks about his family's... financial situation. And that was before all this happened to them. Your mum and I, we think about it a lot."

Hermione's dad lowered his voice to a confidential whisper. "But we managed to put one over on them every now and then. We bought them a few things, and told them it's to replace the Christmas gifts we gave them earlier. I've offered Ron a job at the clinic--" He broke off to look at Ron as he lay in his bed. "Well, when he gets better, anyway. Rebuilding cupboards and things like that. I heard he's good at carpentry." Her dad tipped her a wink as he finished whispering.

Hermione blushed. She recalled how she had gushed over the fact that Ron had built her a bookcase with shelves that stretched from floor to ceiling and spanned three walls of her room, just because she had complained about the Head Girl's room having only a piddling shelf that couldn't even hold the books she read for fun. When he had finished, Ron had joked about how she'd be able to alphabetize and sort her schoolbooks, as well as the other half of the library she'd already borrowed, to her heart's content. He had also charmed the bookcase to shrink to the size of a matchbox with a few well-placed wand taps, so Hermione to take it with her when she vacated her room at the end of their seventh year.

Her flaming face must have been the reason why her parents exchanged a significant look. But, to her relief, they didn't make any comments about it. Her mum broke the awkward silence. "I heard Professor McGonagall has asked Percy to be Madam Pince's assistant librarian until the end of term, and then take over teaching... er, is that... History of Wizardry?"

"History of Magic, Mum."

"Oh, right. And Harry's planning to make another 'investment' in the twins' joke shop. He's even agreed to test some of their new inventions. You should have seen him turn into a giant haddock."

Hermione's dad couldn't stop himself from chuckling. She couldn't help but smile at the mental image her mum's words created: a five-foot, nine-inch fish with green eyes and glasses.

"So you see, we're not letting them struggle on their own," her mum gently concluded. The words instantly sobered her.

"I -- I'd like to help out, too," she said. But how? she asked silently, casting about in her brain for ideas. Her eyes drifted towards Ron.

Her mother also looked towards Ron before speaking. "Cheer him up, dear. He's taking everything too much to heart. When he woke up yesterday, he was just so... desperate. I think that's the reason why he's trying so hard to do whatever he can, even if it kills him. He probably feels... I don't know, worthless, somehow."

Hermione was shocked to hear her mother's words. "But... but why would he feel that way?"

"I guess you'll have to ask him when he wakes up," her dad answered.

Ginny's arrival distracted her from brooding over Ron's depression. The youngest Weasley seemed cheerful enough -- she didn't look or sound extremely miserable over her family's misfortunes, although she was a bit more serious than usual. She was hopeful that despite everything, her family would still pull through. It probably had to do with the fact that she and Harry were now a couple. Hermione remembered how Harry had walked up to Ginny a few nights before that fateful battle with Voldemort, and finally admitted his feelings. If only Ron had done the same, she would have had the right to comfort him, even... hold him in her arms.

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled into the room, carrying a steaming goblet. She groaned inwardly, knowing that the goblet was filled with a foul potion that she had to drink. And drink it she did, under the matron's watchful eye. She immediately felt drowsy. Through the haze that clouded her brain, she watched Ginny walking over to Ron's bed and pulling up a chair beside it to keep watch over him. She closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

It was morning when she woke up again. Ginny was sitting beside her bed, reading a Charms textbook and waiting for her to wake up. She found out that she had been asleep for an entire day. Ron woke up the day before, and had again insisted on assuming his duties as Head Boy without Madam Pomfrey's permission. He patrolled an entire corridor (instead of only half, before he passed out the previous day), and then crawled back to his bed exhausted.

She also learnt that Ron had got up and left again just before she woke up. As Ginny scowled and muttered darkly about her brother's "idiotic behaviour," Hermione noticed a pattern to it. It was as though he didn't want to be in the same room with her on the off chance that she would wake up. But... why would he avoid her? Was it because of what happened when they had connected? Had she been wrong to think that what she felt during their connection was love? Had she wished so desperately for Ron to love her that she only felt what she wanted to feel?

Ginny must have sensed how disappointed she was. "He'll be back soon. He said he was just going to talk to McGonagall about a few things." Suddenly, the redhead scowled, as though remembering something unpleasant. "I really will put a Bat-Bogey hex on him if he's getting permission for me to stay here over the summer. I want to go home... well, I mean... I want to go help rebuild the Burrow, too." Ginny looked down at her clasped hands as they rested on her lap. "I can... I can help push Percy's wheelchair around, if they won't let me do anything else," she said, her voice sounding very much like a sad, frightened little girl.

Hermione felt herself groping for words to make her friend feel better. "Maybe it's just because -- you're not allowed to do magic outside of school yet?"

"Hermione! I'll be seventeen before term ends, you know that. Besides, I'm not a baby anymore! I helped fight off Dementors during the final battle, for Merlin's sake. They need me there! They... they should need me, shouldn't they?"

The desperation in her friend's voice went straight to Hermione heart. "Oh, Ginny, I'm sure they'll--" Her voice trailed off when Ron limped into the room.

Ginny jumped up from her chair and ran to him. "What did you talk to McGonagall about? What did she say? You didn't ask her to keep me here over the summer, did you?"

Ron ignored her questions. "What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?" he asked instead.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "It's Saturday. And don't try to distract me. I asked you if--" She stopped talking when she saw Ron looking at Hermione.

"H-hello, Ron." Hermione chided herself for sounding so nervous.

"Hullo. How are you feeling?" He seemed oddly formal, as though they had just met for the first time.

"Better than the last time I was awake, I guess. And you?"

"Like I've been at the blasting end of a dozen Blast-ended Skrewts. But otherwise, I'm fine."

She knew he was trying to appear normal, but something was wrong. He was different -- aloof, she would say. However, all her thoughts were swept away when Madam Pomfrey entered the room, holding a smoking goblet.

"There you are, Weasley! How many times have I told you to stay in bed? Are you trying to kill yourself?" The matron dragged him to his bed, and he let himself be pulled along, probably because he looked about ready to faint with exhaustion. Madam Pomfrey shoved the goblet into his hands. "Drink this, all of it. Now!"

Ron took a gulp of the potion and grimaced. "Ugh," he blurted, sticking out his tongue.

"Don't you dare complain about how it tastes! Drink!"

Ron was glassy-eyed by the time he had tipped the entire contents of the goblet into his mouth. He barely had time to crawl under the bed covers before he lost consciousness. Madam Pomfrey appeared satisfied with the results of the potion and strode over to Hermione's bed.

"As for you, Miss Granger, you need to take this Strengthening potion twice a day. Furthermore, you are not to get out of bed until I say so." The matron pulled out, from somewhere inside her robes, a bottle containing a liquid so brilliantly blue that Hermione couldn't help thinking it was radioactive.

She watched as the mediwitch used the bottle's enormous cap to measure out a portion of the blue liquid and handed it to her. She drank the potion in one gulp and instantly felt her eyelids grow heavy. What is it about healing potions that made people sleepy? Madam Pomfrey helped her settle her head into her pillow more comfortably, and by the time she closed her eyes, she couldn't remember what she was thinking about only a few seconds ago.

She woke up a few hours later. Ginny was gone, and Ron was still asleep. She found a long, rectangular package wrapped in brown paper on top of her bedside cabinet. A card addressed to her indicated that the package came from the twins, who had returned to visit her, just as they promised. But seeing she was still asleep, they left her "something to play with," as the card said.

Hermione opened the package somewhat fearfully, and heaved a sigh of relief when it didn't explode in her face. Inside the package was a fake wand with tassels hanging from the end of the hand grip. She waved the wand, and it turned into a stuffed toy that looked very much like Ron, down to the fringe of red hair that fell on his forehead. The little Ron figure was wearing Hogwarts school robes, and was holding a scarlet heart-shaped pillow in its arms that said "Kiss me, I'm yours" in gold letters.

She sighed over the twins' present. Her eyes started to blur as her gaze drifted from the toy to Ron as he slept on his bed and back again. Ron was just like the doll -- wearing his heart where everyone could see what he was feeling and thinking. She hastily wiped away a tear that had rolled down her cheek.

She couldn't help hugging the toy and kissing the top of its head, wishing she could do the same to the original. After a few moments, she held the doll up to her face and gently kissed its tiny mouth. All the blood rushed to her face as she realised what she had just done. Unconsciously, she gave the doll a little shake, and it turned back into a wand. She waved the wand, and it turned into the doll again. She giggled softly. It was the first time she had laughed in months.

She hid the doll underneath her pillow when she heard Madam Pomfrey's footsteps. The mediwitch gave her another dose of the Strengthening potion before walking over to Ron's bed to check on his condition. Hermione fought the drowsiness settling upon her long enough to turn towards the other side of her bed, so the matron wouldn't see her grabbing the little stuffed toy into a hug before closing her eyes.