Chapter Ten
Hermione opened her eyes to see the entrance hall to St. Mungo's, and didn't even need to look at the floor directory to see where the wards were, it was alarming how much time she'd spent visiting this hospital in the last few years. She saw Harry sitting on a bench outside the non-magical injuries ward as she exited the stairwell, his hair looking even more unkempt than usual. He looked up as if he sensed her watching him, and grinned.
"I wondered how long it would be till you gave in and had to check up on us." He said, hugging her hello.
"You know I worry about you two." She said with a smile.
"Laurie's with him now, I thought I'd wait for you out here." Harry said taking her hand and leading her into the ward.
"I'm really that predictable?" She asked him.
"Only when it comes to things like this." Harry told her with a smile.
"Hey Ron. How are you feeling?" Hermione asked as they stood at the end of his bed.
"Pretty good considering. Feel like a bit of an idiot though." Ron replied smiling sheepishly, and then wincing as the skelegrow caused his leg to twitch.
"They mended my leg, but they decided it would be better to regrow my ankle bone as I managed to smash that up pretty well." Ron said.
"Do I want to know how you managed to do this?" Hermione asked teasingly.
"Probably not, no…" Ron said with a cheeky grin, and a slight blush.
"Right then." Hermione said with a laugh, noting the blush on Laurie's cheeks as well.
"Are you two going to be ok here? Do you want us to bring you anything from home?" Harry asked Ron and Laurie.
"No, I think we're sorted. They should let him go home tomorrow." Laurie told them with a tired smile.
"Ok, we'll see you two tomorrow, just let us know by Floo if you need anything." Harry said as he hugged Laurie and ruffled Ron's hair teasingly. Hermione kissed Ron on the cheek and hugged Laurie quickly before they left the ward.
They walked quietly to the apparition point and a moment later they were home.
"I suppose I should head back to Sussex…" Hermione said with a sigh as they sat cross-legged on the sofa.
"You don't want to go?" Harry asked concerned.
"No, well, I don't know. Mum and Dad were great this morning but Jack is driving me nuts. He barely spoke the whole drive out there, in fact he's barely spoken to me since yesterday. If he has a problem I wish he'd just talk about it, I hate awkward silences." She said unhappily. Harry looked thoughtful.
"He was very quiet yesterday, you're worried about his reaction to everything?" Hermione nodded and Harry held his arms out to her and she snuggled into them.
"I just don't know what to do Harry. Do I force him to talk, or leave it till he's ready?"
"Maybe you should go back there. If he's going to talk he'll probably feel more comfortable in a Muggle environment. And I'm going to guess he wasn't very impressed when you rushed off to see Ron." Harry suggested softly. Hermione made a face, which Harry took to mean he was right about Jack's reaction.
"I know you're right Harry, but I've got a bad feeling about this…he just hasn't been himself since I told him. He's been so distant with me, hardly hugging me or kissing me…" She said sadly. Harry hugged her tight.
"Thanks Harry." Hermione said, as she stood up.
"'Mione, I know this is the last thing you need right now, but…"
"What is it Harry?" She asked concerned.
"Well, people are going to mention it at work tomorrow." Harry said standing and retrieving the Daily Prophet from the kitchen table and opening it to the gossip page where a picture of Hermione holding Jack's hand at the Quidditch game featured in the weekend news.
Hermione looked at it silently, reading the short paragraph underneath, where the reporter wondered who the mystery man was. She groaned.
"Thanks for letting my know Harry. I guess I'll have quite a few owls tomorrow." She said with a wry smile.
"I'm not sure if I'll stay with Mum and Dad tonight. I'll call you if I'm not coming home." She said as she grabbed her bag from the floor by the sofa.
"Bye `Mione." Harry said as he watched her disapparate.