Our Constellation--Dramione

Chapter Twenty-Four

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, plotlines, characters, places, events (etc.) all belong to J.K. Rowling, she is the rightful owner. When a character is created by me, you'll know right away ;

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6 May 1998

Hermione had laid awake the majority of the night listening to Ginny ramble about the sexual tension she was experiencing with Harry--which was not a topic Hermione was so keen on listening to. Harry was her best friend! It was an absurd conversation, yet despite her efforts to deter Ginny from the discussion, she remained friendly and helpful. She lent herself as an ear for Ginny to vent to. It was the least Hermione could do since not only had Ginny been the only female in the house barring her mother to discuss such things with for the last three days, but perhaps if Hermione proved her loyalty, the inevitable anger that would stir among her friends after she'd revealed herself would mollify.

"--And I swear on Merlin's saggy left buttock, 'Mione, I thought he was going to kiss me in front of my father, which would have been totally uncomfortable for all three of us! Can you imagine?"

Hermione made certain to nod, shake her head, and verbally affirm her friend at all the precise moments.

"No, that sounds implausible."

And although Hermione, through her best attempts tried to sell Ginny her interest, the redhead wasn't intellectually thick. She could sense the apathy from kilometers away.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Just tired, that's all."

"It's nearly one in the morning." There came no reply. "What are you thinking about, Hermione?"

"What?"

"Come on, tell me what's going on."

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just wondering what's gotten into Ron. He seems... really depressed. I mean, I understand all your guys' loss, what with Fred, but he seems to be taking things worse. Why's that?"

"It's Lavender."

"Oh! I've completely forgotten! How is she?"

Ginny rolled onto her back in her bed. There was hardly enough room for a large bed for Ginny, let alone a second one for Hermione, but she didn't mind camping out on the floor. Molly must've charmed it to soften a little. "Well, she's at St. Mungo's and she's alive, and I think that's what keeps Ron going. But the side of her face is completely disfigured, based on what he's told me, and she's lost so much blood. But the healers are doing what they can. They think it'll be a while until she wakes, but there's hope for her recovery. I worry about what will happen to Ron if she doesn't pull through. You know, besides each other, Fred and George were closest with him," Ginny reminisced with a faint smile on her face. "And now that Fred's gone, George feels that the other half of him--in his words, the better half of him--is gone. And to see George suffer this much probably hurts more than the reality that we'll never see him again, y'know?"

"Yeah."

"And if Ron loses Lavender, I think he'll lose all sense of reason for living. I'm scared that he'll miss all the good things in life because he'll only think of how she wasn't there to witness it too. I hope she pulls through for Ron's sake."

"I do too."

"I never actually liked Lavender Brown, have you? She was always bothersome, she was. But kind of like how 'Phlegm' grew on us," she said about Fleur, "she's not quite as annoying as she used to."

"Don't I know it," Hermione exclaimed. "I shared a common room with her for six years."

"How awful!" Ginny laughed.