Act I: I Can't Believe I'm Doing This

Part 6

For the third time in my first hour of work, one of the assistants assigned to me stumbles into the room carrying a roll of parchment full of errors. I try to listen to what he says, but I just can't seem to wrap my mind around his words. Something about erroneously submitted reports, need to be corrected and refiled. I wave him away. Hopefully it'll be after lunch before he comes back.

I slip the next roll of parchment off of the stack and start to read it. Ah, yes. A land dispute between a pureblood family and a herd of centaurs. My favorite. Before I even have a chance to read halfway through it, my door creaks open again.

I don't even glance up, still flitting my eyes across the page, trying to parse what the actual complaint is. Who filed this? The family or the centaurs? "Yes?"

"-ione. Hermione!" A hand darts into my field of vision, blocking out the document. I look up to see Harry standing in front of me, concerned.

"Harry? What are you doing here?" I could've sworn he was busy with some kind of meeting or other today. "Are you alright?"

"I should be the one asking you that, Hermione. Someone from your department came all the way to my office to ask me to check in on you. Apparently you've only been here an hour and you've messed up every single form you've had to submit." He holds out a roll of parchment to me.

I open it and scan through it to be sure, but he's right. My handwriting, but... it's totally wrong - like I'd been filling out an entirely different form. And it's definitely dated for today. "I..."

" You ," he says, with a hand pointedly pushing the parchment away from me, "need to go home. And rest, ideally. Or whatever it is you need to do to get your head back on straight."

"I can't just leave , Harry." Honestly, it's like he forgets just how much I have to do every day-

"I've already got it taken care of, Hermione. For at least today, and maybe tomorrow if you need it. Go , and take care of yourself. You won't be able to help if you just run yourself into the ground."

"I..." Harry gives me a look that says don't try me, Granger . "Okay, yeah. I'll go home."

I'm halfway to the Apparition lobby when Harry catches up with me. "Since you're so distracted, maybe take the Floo to mine? Just in case." The realization that he's right only vaguely registers at the back of my mind, and I turn to make my way there.

Floo travel is as pleasant as it never is, and landing in a fireplace I'm relatively unfamiliar with doesn't help in the slightest. Usually I just Apparate here. "Ginny? James?" I call out, hoping to avoid scaring anyone. I start to make my way further into the house when Ginny rounds a corner.

"Oh, 'Mione! I thought I heard you. Work out? Is Harry coming soon?"

"No, just me. Harry, uh, sent me home. Said I was too distracted to Apparate, told me to come here instead." I refrain from complaining that waiting around to be more focused doesn't make any sense.

"Hermione Granger? Distracted? Alright, I'm making tea and then we're talking about it. Might even save this one if I can." Once again, I refrain from pointing out that they don't actually own a Pensieve.

Once we're both nursing a hot drink, Ginny has me sit across from her at their table. "Where's James, by the way?"

"Oh, off with mum. I had practice yesterday afternoon, he stayed there last night. Harry's gonna pick him up on the way home." She leans forward, smiling sharply. "Now, stop changing the subject. What has you all distracted? And don't tell me it's nothing! You won't be leaving til we finish this chat to my standards."