Changes of War

1.Shock

The war was over, Ginny had crumbled to the floor when she found out that Fred was among the fallen. Harry pulled Ginny into his arms as she sobbed. Hermione tried to comfort Ron, but he yelled at her to leave him alone. Ron had turned to her and yelled, "you don't get it, you don't know how I feel! You didn't lose a brother, you didn't lose your family!" Tears threatened to fall down her face. Of course she knew how he felt, Harry and the Weasleys were all she had now.

After trying, in vain, to comfort Ron, Hermione went to tend to the injured. As she looked around for somebody to help. Hermione was utterly shocked by what she saw, Narcissa Malfoy and her son, Draco Malfoy, tended to the wounded as well. Harry had told Hermione that Narcissa had lied to Tom Riddle, saving his life. (Hermione also remembered that Malfoy's father had to hold her back by her arm while she was being tortured, it was subtle, she brushed it off like it was her imagination.) Draco threw his wand to Harry and betrayed his aunt and father, everyone saw it as he ran from Voldemort's side over to ours.

Hermione wanted to thank Narcissa for what she did, so she walked up to her and helped her treat the patient she was with. There was silence for a few moments, then Hermione broke it with a small and sincere "thank you".

Mrs. Malfoy looked up, "what did you say, dear." She looked shocked at the gratitude, and then a small smile grew on her face realizing what she meant. "It was no problem. I needed to see if Draco was alright, and the best way to get here was to lie to he who must not be named."

"Would you thank your son for me? For throwing his wand to Harry. I'm not yet ready to talk to him, not after... Well thank you Mrs. Malfoy" Hermione said, then she started out of the infirmary. Hermione's eyes locked with Draco's for a second as she left. The cuts on her arm were still healing, she had covered them up with a bandanna under her sleeves.

Hermione left to go see if her parents were okay. Even if they couldn't remember her, she wanted to make sure they were alright. When she reached her childhood home, she felt as if something was off. There were no lights on in the house. It was six o'clock at night, her parents would still be awake. Hermione crept toward the kitchen window, looking in to see a motionless arm on the floor.