Come Back to Me

Hermione didn't remember much of the rest of their walk through Diagon Alley. She knew Ron had been trying to cheer her up, and she tried to humor him with laughter. However, her laughter was weak and usually came out sounding more like a grunt. They ran into Mrs. Harthington who said she was shopping for her granddaughter, because her birthday was coming up. She probably sensed something was wrong, because Hermione gave only one word answers while Ron did most of the talking, but Mrs. Harthington didn't ask any questions.

After they finished talking to her, Ron suggested they call it a day, because it was obvious to him that Hermione just needed some space. They apparated to the entrance of Hogsmeade Village, and Ron walked Hermione home.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right, Hermione?" Ron asked when they'd reached Hermione's house. He'd already asked her this question a few times, but he hadn't believed her answer.

"Yes, Ron," Hermione answered with as much conviction as she could muster. "I'll be fine. I just think I need to lie down for a while."

"Okay," Ron replied, still not convinced by her response. "But if you need anything, let me know, okay?"

"Thanks," she said sincerely and gave him a hug.

"All right...Well...I'll see you later," Ron said, still unconvinced, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before he leaving.

"Bye, Ron," she said, and then walked into her house.

She watched out the window as he took one last look at her house and walked away. As soon as he was out of view, Hermione leaned her back against the door, trying desperately to continue to hold in the tears she'd been holding in all day. But her efforts were in vain, because she couldn't control herself any longer. A single tear rolled slowly down her cheek before she let herself go completely. She let out a loud, desperate sob as she slowly slid down the door until she found herself seated on the floor. She wrapped her arms around her knees and clutched them to her chest as she slowly rocked back and forth, sobbing inconsolably. Not Harry. Please not her Harry. She needed him. She didn't think she could live without him. He can't go now. Not now. Not yet. She hadn't told him how much she loved him. How much she really loved him. Not now. What would she do without him? Who would she turn to?

When she finally came out of her trance, she realized it was dark outside. She checked the clock and realized that she'd been carrying on for almost an hour and a half. She wiped her face with the sleeve of her sweater and took a deep, shaky breath. "Come on, Hermione, pull yourself together," she scolded herself. She slowly stood and stretched out her back which was screaming at her for sitting crouched in a ball like that for so long.

She didn't know what to do with herself now. The clock told her it was dinnertime, but she wasn't even a little bit hungry. She decided to make herself some tea anyway in hopes that it would either settle her stomach or clear her head, even though she knew it would do neither. As she started boiling the water she heard that execrable tapping at the window. She just ignored it. She really didn't want to deal with anything or anyone right now, let alone an owl that would most likely start nipping at her. She'd never been very good with owls. They never seemed to like her, although that was probably because she usually ignored them. She walked into her living room and collapsed on one of the overstuffed chairs, waiting for either the water to boil or the tapping to stop - whichever came first.

Thankfully, silence flooded her ears after only a few minutes, and she smiled for the first time that night, just in time to hear the tapping start up again at the door. "What is with these damn owls? They never let up!" Hermione mumbled indignantly as she stood and went over to the door just to humor the thing and make it go away.

"What?" she growled annoyed, upon opening the door. Now was definitely not the time for someone to be sending her excuses.

"Hello to you too," Ginny Weasley greeted her, handing Hermione a pile of folded parchment. "I see you've been neglecting your owl post."

"Ginny?" Hermione responded surprised as she took the parchment that was being shoved at her. Ginny worked at the Daily Prophet with Hermione, but in a different department. She'd gotten even closer to Ginny (as well as the entire Weasley family) since Hogwarts. Both Hermione and Harry went with Ron to the weekly dinners at the Burrow. Because all of the Weasley children were grown and on their own, Mrs. Weasley had arranged for all of them to return to the Burrow at least once a week, sometimes more, for dinner. Even Charlie came in from Romania most weeks. Over the years, Harry and Hermione had spent so much time with the Weasleys that Mrs. Weasley considered them part of the family too, so they were expected to come as well.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked. Ginny wasn't the type of person who just dropped in. She always sent an owl or something before she came, so Hermione was surprised to see her.

"Just wanted to check in on you," she explained. "I sent you an owl earlier, but from the looks of the pile you've got there, you didn't get the message. Can I come in? It's getting pretty cold out here."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hermione replied, finally remembering her manners and moving aside so her friend could enter.

"Thanks," Ginny laughed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Hermione replied distractedly. "Do you want some tea? I was just boiling some water."

"That would be great," Ginny answered, unbuttoning her jacket. "Thanks."

Hermione quickly glanced through the pile of parchment as she walked into the kitchen. She saw Ginny's note on top and noticed that the rest were from her writers, as expected. She tossed the pile on the counter, poured the water into two cups, added the tea bags, and brought them into the living room. Ginny thanked her as she handed her the cup, and they both sat on the new chairs, facing each other. Hermione took a long sip from her cup, and after realizing that, as she'd guessed, she didn't feel any better, she spoke.

"So what's up?" Hermione asked, trying to be as cheerful as possible. Hermione didn't know if Ginny knew about the Voldemort sighting, and she didn't want to be the one to have to tell her, so she tried to act as though nothing was wrong.

"I know about Voldemort," Ginny answered soberly as if reading Hermione's thoughts. Hermione just looked at her, not knowing what to say. Then she nodded sedately and looked down, no longer attempting to appear cheerful. "Are you all right?" Ginny asked, this time with more concern than before.

Hermione paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts and willing her voice not to break. "Yeah," she answered softly.

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked, her brow furrowed with worry.

Hermione laughed weakly when she heard the question. "Why do none of you Weasleys ever believe me anymore when I answer a question? You always did when we were at Hogwarts." Ginny allowed herself to crack a smile as the rest of her face conveyed confusion.

"Ron kept asking me the same thing after he told me," Hermione explained.

"Well, we worry about you," Ginny responded with an indignant smile on her face upon being told that she was acting just like her brother. "We know how much Harry means to you."

"Yeah...well...I'm fine," Hermione replied slightly flustered. She hadn't told anyone about her feelings for Harry. Was it so obvious that Ginny and Ron knew? No, it couldn't be. Ginny just meant that Harry was a really good friend. At least that's what she hoped. "What about you?" Hermione asked, hoping to turn the attention from her. "Are you okay? I mean, I know you had feelings for Harry for a while."

Ginny laughed. "Hermione! That was in like first year! I'm over him! You know that."

"Right, okay," Hermione answered, allowing herself to laugh. She was really glad Ginny had come over. Hermione was beginning to feel like herself again. "But seriously, are you okay?"

Ginny thought for a minute before answering. "When Dad first told me, I definitely wasn't okay. But after I thought about it for a while, I realized that Harry can beat Voldemort. He really can. I mean, he's done it before, right? So why wouldn't he be able to do it again?"

"You're right," Hermione replied as if trying to convince herself that what Ginny said really was true. Hermione knew Harry could defeat Voldemort. As Ginny said, if he did it once, he could do it again. But the nagging "what ifs" always took over at this point. However, Ginny's voice broke through her thoughts before the "what ifs" had the chance to make her depressed again.

"Anyway, I had another reason for coming here, too," she said, sitting forward in her chair. "Mum thought it would be a good idea to have some sort of going away party for Harry before he leaves. You know, kind of a last hurrah, and also to keep Harry's mind off of what's happening. It's going to be tomorrow night at the Three Broomsticks."

"That's a great idea," Hermione replied, but then she thought of something. "Wait, does Harry even know about Voldemort yet?"

"Yeah," Ginny answered gravely. "Dad, Percy, and Dumbledore told him this morning before they released the information to the public."

"Is he okay? How did he react?" Hermione asked anxiously. She hadn't even thought of how Harry would get the news.

"Dad said he took it well. He said he seemed determined to just go and get it over with. Harry didn't really want to wait, but they're going to make him wait until Monday to leave to make sure it really was Voldemort those Muggles saw." Hermione just let the information sink in, then nodded.

"Well, I should get going," Ginny said and stood up from her chair. "Thanks so much for the tea, and I'll see you tomorrow night for the party." Hermione stood and hugged Ginny.

"Thanks for coming, Gin," Hermione said, genuinely appreciative. Ginny's visit had really made her feel better.

"You're welcome," Ginny replied as she gave Hermione one last squeeze before letting go. "He's going to be fine," she assured Hermione, holding on to her hands.

"I know," Hermione answered quietly so her voice wouldn't break.

"I'll see you tomorrow night," Ginny said with a wink as she showed herself out the door.

Hermione took a deep breath and looked down at her teacup. She picked it up and gulped down the last bit of tea before roughly setting it back down on the table. She suddenly felt overly exhausted. She went up to her room without bothering to clean up the teacups or turn out the lights. She collapsed on her bed without getting changed, and immediately fell into a deep sleep.