Always- a Hinny / Romione fanfic

Chapter Fifteen: Quidditch and Tears

* Hermione's P.O.V *

I was a wreck.

I couldn't eat.

I couldn't sleep.

Deep down I knew that Ron would never hurt me in any way.

I just couldn't believe him.

I should've.

I was stupid.

Pathetic.

***

"Hermione?" Ginny asked, from behind me. "Can I talk to you?"

I almost said no. I didn't want to talk. I wanted to drown my guilt and sadness in books. I felt a lump in my throat, so I just nodded.

"All I want to say is..." She began, sitting next to me on the gold couch, in the far corner of the warm bright common room. "Is that I'm sorry. About, well, breakfast yesterday." When I didn't say anything, she cleared her throat and looked away.

I tried not to burst into tears.

She was right.

Ginny was my best friend. One of the few I could talk to about anything.

I flung my arms around her.

"I'm sorry too."

***

I woke with a pit in my stomach, two days later, my eyes red and my hair frizzy. My dormitory was empty.

I stumbled down the scarlet steps, thinking I had slept late.

The common room was dead silent. It too was empty. That was very strange. I yawned, thinking I'd find Ginny down at breakfast, but I didn't want to eat. I wanted to talk to Ron more than anything, but I still felt guilty and sad, depressed and hurt. And I didn't have the energy to go look for him.

I bent down to grab Hogwarts, a History from the little coffee table by the fireplace, where I had left it last night. But it was gone.

Wondering angrily if anything could go right, I stormed off to the library to look for it.

***

The library was quiet, and empty, but the books seemed to breathe, in a strange way. I searched the shelves lovingly, feeling at home, thinking maybe is find a new book instead, but, there it was, in the exact right section, possible my favorite book.

I sat at a table, all alone, next to the window.

Peering through it, I could see the quidditch pitch.

It was crowded.

So that's where everyone was.

Well, I didn't feel like tromping through the snow, to watch a sport I barely understood, never mind that it was halfway through the game.

Before opening the book, I glanced at the clock.

One?! One PM. Did I really sleep that late?

Well, it didn't matter, I thought as I began to read. Slowly, my worries ebbed away as I lost myself in the book.

***

I must've read for an hour. There were over a thousand pages in that book, and I was almost finished. I closed it for a moment, yawned and stretched, and continued to read.

But I had barely started the next sentence, when Ginny, Harry, Emma, some other people from the gryffindor team, and - much to my displeasure- Vanessa, came storming in, muddy, hair littered with snow, faces white and frantic.

"Hermione!" Ginny gasped, hands shaking, "We've been looking for you for ages! Come- you...well, hurry!" They all turned and ran. Quickly snatching the book from the table, bewildered and worried, I sprinted after them.

We hurried through twisting corridors.

"Ginny, Harry..." I panted, struggling to keep up, "What's wrong."

Ginny's lips tightened. She looked as though she was about to cry. Ginny never cries.

"It's Ron." Harry answered shortly, opening a door to our left. It was the door to the hospital wing.

My heart stopped.

"W- What's wrong with him?!" I gasped shrilly.

Emma led the way into the wing.

There he lay, on the nearest bed, Madame Pomfrey shaking her head sadly.

Without thinking, I rushed over to him, throwing the book aside, and hugged him.

"Oh....dear....please do be careful...." Madame Pomfrey said worriedly, twisting her hands.

"What happend?" I sobbed, stroking his red hair off his pale forehead. His lips were blue. His chest moved with his breath, but very slightly.

"A bludger. Right to his head. He also fell off his broom...Madame Hooch tried to slow him down but...well...it sort of worked..." Harry explained, staring down at his best friend. Ginny's lip trembled. The rest of the team looked worried, sad, and concerned. Vanessa had a tear rolling down her cheek.

I was almost too sad to hate the fake bitch.

I turned instead to Madame Pomfrey.

"Will he be okay?" I asked, feeling his hands. They were cold.

"He had a broken leg, arm, a few ribs, and a cracked skull, of course, I mended them easily, but I don't know if he suffered any brain damage...we will just...have to see when...he wakes up. Mind you, he will be taking potions to try to clear up whatever damage is made but...if it's too serious..." She shook her head again.

"Well, I'll leave you all to him then."

I sobbed, clutching his chest. I wanted him to be okay. What if he woke up and didn't remember me?

I couldn't bear the thought.

"I don't care," I whispered in his ear through my sobs. "Ron, I believe you! Please...please..."

Everyone sat in silence, Ginny holding his other hand, one single tear leaking out of the corner of on of her deep brown eyes. Harry stroked her hair, looking down at Ron, mournful and scared.

I cried on, not caring that everyone was watching me. I wanted him to wake up. I needed him to wake up.

I couldn't even bear to think of life without him.