Broken Bits

12.Infirmary

Hermione nodded at Henry, but she wasn't taking in a word he was saying. Her gaze was fixed on Fred. 

He was laying down in a hospital bed, his torso wrapped in bandages with a magic fluttering over his chest. Healing him slowly. Slowly putting his fractured ribs back together again. He was still unconscious, and would be until his ribs healed completely. Another few hours at most, that's what the nurse had promised. 

Ron had already woken, and left. Hauled out by Harry, as Ginny had been thrown from the camp the second Henry had found out what had happened. 

"You are walking on thin ice Ms. Granger, I can't have you causing any more chaos in my camp." Henry spoke, tapping his quill against his clipboard. He had written down a very detailed list of all the events that had taken place that evening. 

"I didn't ask Ron to come into my cabin Henry." Hermione spoke, turning her head to face him. "I didn't even ask him to be here in the first place." She finished, moving to step away but Henry caught her arm. 

"One more incident, and I'm kicking you and Fred out." Henry told her sternly, before turning and leaving the room. 

"Wouldn't that be dreadful." Hermione muttered, watching his retreating figure before turning back to Fred. 

George was sat beside his hospital bed, having been the one to carry him here in the first place. George's gaze was on Hermione though, instead of his brother. Hermione approached the duo slowly, choosing to perch herself on a bed near Fred's rather on then on his own bed. 

"The first time Fred told me he loved you, he cried." George stated calmly, leaning back in his chair to stretch out his legs. 

"When was that?" Hermione whispered, sweeping her eyes over Fred's body. He hadn't even tried to defend himself against Ron. He simply let him punch him. 

"A year after the battle. It shocked me, not because he was in love with you but because I hadn't seen Fred cry since we thought we had lost our dad." George explained, bringing his hands together to clasp them. 

"It made sense, after he told me. Every date or hook up I tried to get him to go on, he somehow found an excuse to escape it. I wondered for a while, you know." George chuckled, bringing his gaze to Fred's face. "I wondered what was wrong with him, but all this time it's been you." George brought his gaze back to Hermione to find her staring at him. 

"Why me?" Hermione whispered, fear coursing through her veins. 

"I don't think that's how love works. For me, it's always been Angelina. I didn't have a rhyme or reason, only that if I ever lost her I'd be devastated. If she hadn't agreed to date me, I would have ensured she was my friend just to keep her in my life." George explained, standing from his chair as a nurse bustled into the room but she didn't approach them. 

"For Fred it's always been you." George shrugged, stepping away from the hospital bed to round it, and stand beside Hermione. 

"That doesn't make any sense." Hermione argued, glancing up at him. "He never treated me any different in school." She pressed, growing annoyed as George's face twisted into a smug look. 

"It won't make sense to you, because you've never been in love." George shrugged, and Hermione had the urge to shut him out of the infirmary but she didn't move. There had been enough fighting today.  

"I loved Ron." Hermione whispered, tearing her gaze off of George to settle it back on Fred. 

"You thought you did, what you two were doing was not love. He would have continued to cheat on you, and you would have found yourself drowning in work." George sighed, and then glanced up at a clock. He was due for dinner any minute.