Split Second

Chapter 7

    Hermione's eyes fluttered open. Everything was a blur, but she could make out the two faces of her parents very vaguely. Her parents..... And no one else. It was ironic really, she thought. The same two people she had seen first coming into the world were the same two faces she woke up to after almost leaving it. But where were Harry and Ron?

    "Hi sweetie....." Mrs. Granger rose and settled into the chair next to her daughter's bed. Hermione tried to turn to face her mother, but it was a vain attempt. She squinted in pain.

    "Take it easy, Minnie," her father said, in the nickname he'd relinquished use of since she was a toddler. "Those painkillers are powerful, but you've still had damage done."

    "What happened to me?" Hermione asked, shifting looks between both of her parents, who shifted uncomfortably. "Mum?"

    "Well..." Mrs. Granger looked for support from her husband.

    "You were in a car accident, Hermione," said Dr. Granger in a no-nonsense voice. Hermione's eyes widened with shock. A car accident? Had she been driving? And when? Tried as she might, she couldn't recall.

    "Wha--- When? How?!" she asked.

    "It's best not to worry--" her mother began.

    "Was anyone hurt?!"

    "Hermione, now is REALLY not the--"

    "I was driving?"

    "Hermione. You were in a terrible car accident," her father restated.

    "Was there anyone with me?" Her parents exchanged a look. "There was, wasn't there?!" Hermione struggled to sit up. She desperately needed to know just what had gone wrong.

    "Hermione. Now is not the-"

    "I KNOW THERE WAS! THERE WAS SOMEONE WITH ME!" Hermione shouted. "PLEASE! Please just tell me...." Her eyes filled with tears.

    "Okay. Hermione. Ginny Weasley was with you....." Mrs. Granger trailed off. Dr. Granger walked around to the other side of Hermione's bed and grabbed her hand.

    Hermione struggled to remember, but yet she still couldn't. "Why can't I remember? And where is Ginny?" she asked.

    "It's the trauma," Dr. Granger blurted. "Anyone who's faced trauma often can't remember the occurrence. It's entitled Post-Traumatic Stress." Hermione's father refused to tell his daughter just yet that it was alcohol causing her not to remember. Hermione needed to regain her strength before she could deal with that.

    "Oh," was all Hermione could say. "Well I suppose asking Ginny what happened would be out of the question. It would have been just as traumatic for her, I'm sure." She looked at her parents for agreement. She received none. So, she asked again. "Mum, Dad. Where is Ginny?"

    "Hermione, sweetheart...." her mother began, tears silently filling her eyes.

    Hermione would not believe it until the sentence was finished. She looked at her mother pleadingly. Mrs. Granger figured it best to just blurt it: "Hermione, Ginny was killed in that accident." Dr. Granger tightened his grip on Hermione's hand.

    Hermione went into a state of shock. She'd killed her best friend and had no recollection of HOW.

    Ginny.....dead. Ginny...... Ginny Weasley......gone. Dead..... The words played over and over like a somber record in her mind.

    Hermione snapped out of her trance. "Harry! Ron! Her family!?" She struggled to get out of the bed, but IV's and oxygen were holding her in.

    "NO! Hermione, don't do that, you could hurt yourself!" Her father yelled.

    "What happened to them?"

    "Honey, they are coping. None of them were with you. But they are coping. They're just glad you're alive," Dr. Granger replied.

    "Where are they?"

    "They wanted some time to grieve, 'Mione," Mrs. Granger said, smoothing Hermione's hair back.

    Hermione settled on her pillow, her eyes slowly shutting.

    Ginny was dead. It was true. She, Hermione Granger, had basically murdered her best friend. The most frustrating part was that she couldn't remember HOW.

    How?....seemed to be the question of the night. How did it happen? How were Ron and Harry? How was it Ginny and not her?

    She chased the list of questions away. Her mother had said it all in that one statement, and for now, that was enough.