Prophecy 472

1- This... Foggy Feeling

"How much longer, do you think?" Ginny Weasley gripped the edge of her paper tea cup, not bringing herself to actually drink the Ministry's disgusting brew. She was worried about Ron, his procedure seemed to be taking longer than necessary, and she looked to her fiancé for some comfort.

"I'm not sure, Gin," Harry replied, reaching to take one of her hands in his own. He played with the small diamond on her left ring finger and smiled. "I'm sure he'll be out soon."

It had been a trying four days. The entire Weasley clan had taken shifts sitting with Ron, who was forced to stay on site during the research into breaking down his block. He was plenty safe there on his own, but after losing one Weasley son three years ago the whole family had become a lot more cautious. No one wanted to let Ron out of their sight.

Mr and Mrs Weasley had been there most of the time, of course, and George would stop in whenever he wasn't at the shop. Percy had popped in once or twice and even Bill and Fleur had apparated in a few times from Shell Cottage. Charlie was out of the country, but Ginny was making up for it by being there almost constantly. And then, of course, there was Lavender.

Ron and Lavender had been going out for almost five years already. They'd broken things off for a while when Ron was with Harry on the horcrux hunt, but they'd picked up again not too long after. Lavender was a constant presence in the Weasley household, though not an all together welcome one. It was a bit like when Bill started bringing Fleur around, except that nobody had warmed to Lavender's… ways. Even Mrs Weasley, who was usually the first to encourage her sons down the altar, had yet to utter one word about Ron needing to settle down already.

"Ginny, I brought you more tea."

Ginny looked up to see Lavender standing before her, all blond hair and smiles, holding out another cup of disgusting tea.

"Erm, thanks." Ginny took the cup and placed the old one on the floor under her chair in the waiting room.

"Is he out yet?" Lavender asked, a worry line across her forehead. The poor girl looked genuinely frightened. Maybe I should go easier on her, Ginny thought to herself.

"I'm just so worried about my Won-Won!"

Maybe not.

"By my calculations, they should be finishing up," Harry said from next to Ginny. He looked at his watch and sighed. "Any minute now, Ron will have back whatever this lost memory is."

Ginny frowned. She'd been going over and over it for days, trying to figure out what piece of information might have been taken from Ron. Was it dangerous? Was it something that should be kept hidden? Ginny internally scolded herself. Of course it shouldn't be kept hidden. Whatever it was, Ron had a right to know. No one deserved to have their mind tampered with, no matter how painful the memory. She knew that much firsthand.

Suddenly, Ginny felt like she was in a fog. Her vision blurred and she began blinking rapidly, the images in front of her swaying as if under water. She was having trouble remembering what she had just been thinking, couldn't quite figure out where she was or what she was supposed to be doing. Ginny looked to Harry, who seemed to be in the same state, blinking just as quickly and reaching out in front of him. The two clasped hands and Harry raised his free palm to his forehead, as he had done so many times during his youth. Then, almost as soon as the feeling had come, it passed and the fog was lifted.

The tea cup dropped from Ginny's hand onto the floor.

"Oh!" She gasped, a hand flying up to cover her mouth. She turned to Harry, who sat stunned, looking like he'd been hit with a bludger.

Harry stared back at Ginny, an expression of pure panic on his face, and said one word: "Hermione."

The pair jumped up from their seats, rushing from the waiting room down an empty corridor. Lavender followed behind, sputtering awkwardly.

"Oh my gosh you guys… did you feel that… Hermione… oh my goodness…I haven't thought of her in years."

Lavender trailed off as Harry pushed open the door leading to the room Ron was being treated in. He stopped short at the entrance of the room. There, balled up in one corner on the floor, sat his best mate, sobbing like he hadn't seen anyone sob in years. Ginny pulled up behind Harry and upon seeing Ron, turned to usher Lavender out of the room. Harry barked for the attendants to clear out then shut the door as soon as he and Ron were alone.

Ron was in a heap, folded in on himself as if in physical pain. The truth wasn't far off. Harry was reminded of a time Ron looked similar, sprawled by a lake in the Forest of Dean, both of them soaking wet and a destroyed horcrux sitting between them.

"Oh God," wailed a miserable Ron, clutching at his head and rocking back and forth. Harry walked over to him and crouched down on the floor, placing a tentative hand on Ron's shoulder. Ron jumped as if surprised there was someone else in the room. He raised his face up from his knees and met Harry's steady gaze. Ron's eyes were red and glassy, and behind them Harry could read hurt, anger and confusion.

"Harry?" Ron asked in a broken sob. Harry nodded back at his friend. "Why?"

Harry racked his brain, trying to make sense out of the flood of information assaulting him. Hermione, of course he knew Hermione. But he had somehow forgotten her. It was like she'd been erased for the past three years? How was that possible? Hermione had been a part of everything, every train ride to Hogwarts, every meal, every study session where she nagged him to do his homework. Harry choked back a sob himself, the emotion of it washing over him. Hermione had helped him and Ron destroy Tom Riddle, they would both be dead if not for her. How could the world not know that?

"I don't know Ron," Harry finally answered. "But I'll find out who did this."

"Hermione," Ron moaned, cradling his head in his hand again.

"I know," Harry said. "We'll find out what happened to her, I promise. We'll catch whoever did this."

"No," Ron said, shaking his head and taking in gulps of air, as if speaking were costing him something as dear as oxygen. "It was Hermione… Hermione did this to me."

A/N: Thanks for reading and please vote and comment!