Hermione woke slowly, feeling refreshed and soothed, with new energy flowing through her veins. She stretched, mind light, when she suddenly noticed the quiet in the hotel room. She thought back and decided that no, she hadn't turned the television off before falling asleep. Had she knocked the remote and shut it off that way?
No, there it was on the night table beside her. Hermione sat up and looked around, observing the apartment. Her bag was on a chair. That confirmed it - someone had been in her room. Hermione stood, suspiciously checking the bathroom and then moving to the door and peering out the peephole.
Hermione was knocked back roughly and hit the wall, bouncing off it and letting out a yelp.
"Hermione! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I thought you would still be in bed!" The apologies flew at her like birds, and Hermione shushed them.
"Quit it, Harry, I'm not made of glass."
Harry, who had been checking her for any injuries, quickly looked back up at her face, a crooked half-grin on his face.
"Sorry. Sure you're fine?"
"Fine. Now explain how you got in here, and what you think you're doing." Hermione scolded.
Harry picked up the plate of food from where he put it on the ground, and handed it to her, gently guiding her to the bed to sit. "Trying to make sure you don't die," He answered, tired eyes flying past hers as he tried to phrase it as a joke and not a truth. "It isn't easy."
Hermione began to eat a piece of toast and relaxed. Harry studied her, concerned. When he had discovered her gone the previous day, he had been terrified, and had checked all the houses he could within almost a mile before he encountered the hotel. When he asked for a Hermione Granger, the desk clerk had told him the room, and expressed concern, asking whether he ought to call anyone. Harry had declined and then broken into her room using Alohomora, finding her uncomfortably asleep.
He had cleaned up the room and covered her with blankets, then spent the rest of the night nest to her keeping watch, at first soothing her when upset but later just thinking as her nightmares eased. Once it was midday, he had fetched her lunch and returned to this moment, where he was watching her eat and hoping her annoyance meant she cared about life again.
"Did you eat?" Hermione asked, after eating two eggs and the toast.
"Don't worry about me. Just finish it so I can start convincing you to come home." Harry said.
Hermione obliged, eating the rest of the food, much to Harry's relief.
Hermione looked up at Harry, and smiled lightly, then stood.
"Can we just go home?" Hermione asked, picking up her bag.
"Of course, of course. You won't just run back here again though?" A serious question framed as a joke, Harry also meant it as a question as to why she left.
"I won't. I wasn't even really thinking."
Harry nodded and took the plate, setting it on the bed after a quick 'scourgify!'. Then he led the way out of the hotel.
They walked back to the house in silence, Harry watching Hermione almost the entire way, narrowly missing running into three poles, a car, a garbage can, a tree, and an extremely unlucky black cat.
"Merlin's beard, Harry. Do you need to run into everything?" Hermione asked, with a little more snap than intended.
"Sorry, next time I'll bump into you." Harry tried a smile.
"Well don't. I'm not a bomb." Hermione turned her face away, shielding a tiny smile.
Once they reached Hermione's house, Harry walked into the kitchen and prepared some tea.
"If you'll wait here, I'll go get ready." Harry told Hermione, much to her confusion.
Once the water was boiled, Harry returned and made the tea, peppermint for Hermione and chocolate rooibos for Harry. Harry led Hermione outside, where he had prepared several blankets and pillows and laid them on the ground. They sat down, propped up by the pillows, and sipped their tea.
"So, Hermione. You don't have to talk, we can just sit here in silence, but I'm offering to listen. I won't comment, I won't judge, if you want, I won't even look at you. But I think it may help to talk. I've got these," Harry held up a box of Kleenex and a photo album, "and another surprise as well, if you feel up to it. Though I'll need to go get it if you want."
Hermione looked down at her tea, and thought it over. Harry lightly clicked his feet together, and then took a sip of his tea before continuing.
"I do need an answer for the surprise, though, because I need to... I need to just arrange it. It's very easy though."
Hermione took a sip of tea and widened her eyes in shock. "Harry, how much sugar is in here?"
"Three scoops. That's how many you always add." Harry answered, puzzled.
"Did you use the big spoons? I use the tiny spoons! This is so sweet! How are you drinking yours?"
"It tastes fine to me." Harry defended himself.
"You're insane!"
Hermione started to laugh, shaking as she put down her mug to stop it from spilling. Harry joined in, and only stopped when he choked on air and fell into a coughing bout. Hermione chuckled, smile still on her face. Laughing felt horrible, but wonderful at the same time.
Harry stood up. "Do you want the surprise? If you change your mind just wink twice and I can take it away."
Hermione nodded. Harry left and went inside. Hermione turned away and drank her tea, looking out upon the view, unaware of the noises from inside.
"You're here, aren't you?" Harry argued.
"Yes, but I'm only doing this because it's the right thing to do."
"Why are you angry? If it was for Ron or Neville or someone, you wouldn't be bothered."
"I would be, Harry, and don't turn me into that. I wanted to get a place with you and you wouldn't, but suddenly, Hermione wants you to move in and you do, without a second thought." Ginny looked down angrily.
"What do you mean by that?"
"That you like Hermione-"
Harry looked away. "What? Woah, stop right there, I do-"
"-or that at the very least, I'm not as important to you. I'd be alright with it if you were willing to move in with anybody. But the fact that you just said no to me says something." Ginny stared directly into Harry's eyes.
Harry looked at her guiltily.
"You not denying it says more. And your guilt does too." Ginny stepped closer. "I'm alright with not being your first priority, Harry, as long as you don't pretend I am when I clearly am not. I just thought that that's where we were."
Harry nodded. "I didn't want to move in with you because I wanted to make sure everything settled down first. I said I'd move in to Hermione because the need was too great to wait to ease in."
Ginny nodded. "Alright. But can you at least be more clear next time? I don't want to be needy, but I do have needs, and I want us both to be happy and honest."
Harry nodded once more, and smiled. "Sounds good. Now you'd better go out for her surprise."
Ginny kissed him lightly. "No more lies."
They went outside.
"Hey. Mind if I sit?" Ginny asked.
Hermione turned around and shook her head, then turned forward again. Ginny sat beside her and Harry sat on Ginny's other side.
"I'm sorry about your parents. You can talk about it. I don't mind. Or we can talk about nicer things."
Hermione smiled at her friends. "I appreciate this. I know you're here for me. Sometimes, it just doesn't feel like it though. I just feel alone, and everything seems so warped. I just can't process it. I'll be fine, and then it hits me. I don't have parents. Nothing will change. Life takes people away, and no matter what I do, everything and everyone I know will disappear. And I'll die too.
"And then there might be nothing. We have no idea. It's just over. Over. Nothing after that. I just fade away. What happens? I have no way of knowing. No way of knowing at all. No matter how many books I read, I'll never know the answer for sure until I die. And then it's too late. And I hate that. I hate the not knowing what happened to my parents. Where they are. How it felt. That it'll happen to me one day, and I won't even know when until it happens.
"What if it is the end? I have no way to stop it, and I'm just gone. And then there's complete terror and I can't stop it. And if so, that means it happened to my parents. They're just gone with nothing left. And the chances of reincarnation are very slim, because every animal or human that has ever lived has died or will die, so the math doesn't add up. There's too many dead and too many alive and it's all so confusing.
"And then science is so horribly right all the time, let alone with magic. There's ghosts too, but they could just be anomalies where the process went wrong. And it's all horrifying and inevitable. And it's terrible that my parents died and all I can think of is what about everyone else, instead of the fact that they're gone and I'll never hear or see or smell them again. No more hugs ever. No more memories."
Hermione put her head in her hands and Ginny hugged her tightly. Harry lay on his back, unable to think of anything to say that would help. So he just lay there, mentally supporting his friend while Ginny soothed her with pats and hugs and words of comfort.
Eventually, Ginny left and Hermione went upstairs to bed. Harry brought everything back in and then sat in bed, listening for sounds that would mean Hermione was having a nightmare. Hermione also stayed awake, though only for a bit as she stared at the ceiling. They were both so caught up in thinking that neither realized they had skipped dinner.
And then Crookshanks jumped onto the bed and curled up at her feet, purring loud enough to ease her into sleep.