Out of Time

Chapter 17

Ron's said nothing of the sort, of course, but a bit of fibbing will help smooth this along. Parvati certainly takes her word for it.

Rising along with the last stragglers to fetch school bags for their initial lessons, Lavender pulls Hermione aside. She waits until Parvati steps into the loo. "What was that?"

"I obliviated him. You should have seen him when he got back to the common room. It was a kindness."

Lavender's hand is over her mouth and Hermione can't tell if she's shocked or amused.

"All I told him was that nothing had happened, except that the two of you decided to split amicably. That's all. Then I sent him to bed. So now it'll just stay between the two of us."

"Hermione, you're brilliant," Lavender gushes, sagging against the wall.

It's hard to dispute the point at times. Truth be told, she'd been a little worried that Lavender's residual irritation and desire to embarrass Ron might have bled through to this morning, and is quite glad to see that isn't the case. Lavender's just as happy to have it come to a neat and succinct end as Ron is, and Hermione wishes all sticky situations could be resolved as cleanly as this one.

* * *

It's not quite resolved. Ginny traps her next.

"What the hell is going on with my brother? Why is he so chipper? Did someone nail him with a Cheering Charm behind his back in the middle of class? I mean, I couldn't blame them, but I do need pertinent details. Who and why?"

Hermione snorts, barely managing to swallow her mouthful of soup first. Sometimes it's inconvenient that the best times for chatting during daytime hours are during meals.

And gods, it's almost unbearable how badly she wants to tell Ginny. Tell anyone, really. The more distance she gets from it, the more ridiculous it is and the absurdity of it is begging to be shared.

She won't though and not just because Ginny is Ron's brother. Hermione doesn't have siblings but can't imagine knowing something like this about one.

Even if it wasn't Ron, but some random student whom Hermione happened to... assist(?), she still wouldn't say anything. This is one of those situations where Hermione would die of embarrassment if it were her. She thinks a deep and desperate desire to disappear would result in her melting into a puddle of mushy robes on the floor, à la the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz. She must discount the latent hilarity and persevere with keeping the secret to herself.

"Ah, no," is all she manages and Ginny (for good reason) does not buy this. Hermione wouldn't either.

She begins again, with a bit more fervence. Confidence is the best peddler of lies. "No, but he and Lavender finally split. I think he's just feeling the surge of a fresh, new life full of hope and prosperity."

Ginny stares at her, blinks twice, and begins to laugh. A little at first and then more, and more, until Hermione can't help but join in. Even if she can't tell Ginny why it's so funny to her, at least she can let it out a bit.

Regaining a semblance of seriousness at last, Ginny says, "I wonder if this will make him more or less in favour of Harry and me."

Hermione winces. "Ron aside, how's that going?"

Ginny astonishes her by growing fidgety, and not a little bashful. It's incredibly weird on Ginny's self-assured exterior. "It's... good," she hedges as she picks at a cuticle. "I fancy him."

"Well, I know that. And nevermind; you were nice enough not to press me about... mine. I won't hound you."

"It just feels... different than it did with Michael or Dean. There's a seriousness to Harry."