Chapter 9
"Hiya", Ginny said, plopping down between the trio at the Gryffindor table, ripping them from their respective reveries. Or rather, she made Harry and Ron jump a little while Hermione stayed lost in her thoughts. Ginny nudged the girl with her elbow. "You okay?" Hermione slowly turned towards her friend.
"Do you think McGonagall likes me?", Hermione asked, seemingly out of nowhere. "Of course she does!", Ginny exclaimed immediately, "she always says you're one of the best students she's ever had!" "Yes, sure, but I meant like OUTSIDE of the classroom." Ginny looked at Hermione for a moment, then at Harry and Ron. She had been wondering about Hermione's emotional attachment to even the most unappealing theoretical framefork in Transfiguration for a while now, but this...
This was a whole new level of dedication.
"You can thank Fred and George for this, they gave her a love potion", Ron said. Well, that cleared things up at least. "And you're letting her run around like this?!", Ginny inquired indignantly, with a stern expression that was such a close imitation of her mother's that both Ron and Harry instantly felt guilty. "Well, it's not like we can send her to the hospital wing with this. Nor can we lock her up in the girls' dormitories. When Hermione gets back to normal and remembers we made her miss a class, she'll have our heads!", Ron justified. Ginny had to admit he had a point. "What's your next class, anyways?"
"Herbology", Harry replied, "atleast that keeps her out of the castle." They were talking about their friend like she wasn't even there.
"What do you think, Hermione?", Ginny wanted to know, so used to her friend having all the answers that for a moment she forgot Hermione was not herself just then. "I just hope she knows she's the most wonderful person... both strong and gentle...", Hermione whispered, and Ginny rolled her eyes. "Well, just don't let McGonagall hear that, or there'll be nothing gentle left about her.", she commented, watching Hermione watch McGonagall march into the hall with the dreamiest of looks on her face.