Accepted (Drarry/Pansmione/Linny)

Chapter Twenty One - Ginny

Even many days after the whole event had occurred, Ginny felt weak and tired. Luna seemed to be faring a lot better, which was strange considering that as the half mermaid she should be feeling worse than Ginny. To make matters even more confusing, Pansy and Hermione, who had had less time to recover than her and Luna, were doing just fine. Percy had thought Ginny was getting a cold and made her take some Pepperup Potion, but other than make her ears steam it didn't have any effect at all.

"Perhaps it's worse than a cold," Luna had suggested. "A flu, maybe?"

That had been a good explanation, but when Ginny had gotten assessed by Madam Pomfrey, there was: "nothing wrong besides a little sleep deprivation." Ginny had tried to explain that she had indeed been getting enough sleep, but Madam Pomfrey just gave her a week's supply of Dreamless Sleep and told her to come back if that didn't help.

Ginny took her potion last night, which led to what may have been the worst night of sleep she had ever had. Sure, there were no strange dreams, but the lack of anything at all frightened her so much that when she woke up she flushed the rest of the potion away. She had been awake for about fifteen minutes now, sitting in the bathroom worried about throwing up. Her head felt heavy and her mouth tasted horrible. It was likely she had already thrown up a little in her sleep, actually. Luna was still asleep in the pool, and Ginny didn't want to wake her up at four in the morning. Instead, as soon as she felt able, Ginny dug her diary out of her bag and sat back down on the floor. She had been talking to Tom about everything going on lately. It felt nice to have someone listen to her and give her unbiased advice. Plus, he wasn't annoyed if she woke up at two in the morning after a nightmare and ran straight to the diary. It seemed time was insignificant to a sentient diary. He had become a bit distant lately, but then again, Ginny had only been complaining about her problems. Maybe a diary was like a portrait, and she needed to ask him about his day once in a while, even though there was no day to be had.

Tom, everything is getting worse.

Worse? Didn't the nurse give you a potion to take?

Yes, but now I feel like a part of my memory was ripped out. I'm still so tired, too.

Dreamless Sleep, was it? The potion takes some getting used to.

I flushed it all down the toilet.

Ginny, that potion was supposed to help you. One night isn't going to fix everything.

I know, but it scared me. I really feel like I've forgotten something.

What could there be to forget? Do you remember going to bed?

Ginny frowned. She did remember, very clearly actually. She took the potion, nearly threw it back up, guzzled a glass of water to get rid of the taste, turned off most of the lights, and then fell asleep as Luna finished up her homework.

Yes, I remember.

So what could you have forgotten?

I don't know, that's the problem.

Tom didn't respond for a long moment.

You don't need to worry, Ginny. If you really don't like that potion, I certainly can't force you to take it. However, you do need to find a way to sleep better. Walking around Hogwarts like a living corpse is no way to spend your first year.

What does it matter if I'm just going to die anyway? I don't need an education.

Don't think like that. I admit that school may seem unimportant in your situation, but it's more the experience that you should be awake for. You're going to be alive for a thousand years, Ginny. You shouldn't waste what little time you have as a human sulking about.