but your heart is gonna see you through

[ashotofgin]

The odds were stacked against them. This was not a fight that they seemed meant to win, at least not on paper. The Boy Who Lived was dead. Fred was dead and countless others. Hogwarts was in ruins. It should be over

Comments

[honestlyrubbish]

There was a touch of inner conflict that Hermione felt whenever someone familiar came to the island. On one hand, it was impossible to quite describe the relief which passed over her at every known voice, at the shine of light red hair under the sun, at faces which she hadn't seen in months, even years- but any amount of comfort she drew from it was always short-lived. The more people showed up on the island, the more Hermione began to wonder. What was their purpose there? Would they ever return home? Things were rarely as simple as they appeared- and for Tabula Rasa, that certainly set the bar fairly high.

Nevertheless, Hermione stifled the breath that threatened to shake, rubbed the pad of her thumb preemptively against the corner of her eye, and held up her free hand in surrender.

"It's just me, Ginny," she said softly, stepping into a clearing from behind the trees.

[ashotofgin]

Turning her head at the sound of a familiar voice, Ginny felt her shoulders slump slightly in relief. Here was someone she knew, someone familiar and not half-mad and talking about things that made zero sense. There was a quick rush of worry, of wondering what it meant that Hermione was here just as she was. Did that mean that Hermione had fallen? Had they lost after having given so much?

God, Ginny hoped not. Taking off in a quick run that ended just as soon as it had started, she threw her arms around the other girl hugging her tightly. It didn't matter that there had been no preamble, no moment of doubt.

"Hermione. You're all right."

[honestlyrubbish]

While she didn't quite rush forward, Hermione managed to raise her arms just in time for a flash of red to come hurtling forward, her breath escaping her lungs entirely as she was gripped in a tight embrace. Feeling a stinging sensation at the corners of her eyes, Hermione fought off the temptation to break into tears altogether, taking deep and measured breaths to calm herself down, although her grip strengthened too in time. Tentatively, she patted Ginny's head, worried about what she would hear about home, worried about the desperation that she heard in the other girl's tone of voice, but soon enough the relief weighed out, Hermione trying to hide her emotions with a quiet sniff.

"Apparently," she nodded, pressing her lips together. "Better now, for you being here. Did you only just arrive? Has anyone told you where all of us are?"

[ashotofgin]

It was hard to hide her feelings under the best of times. This was far from one of those, the days of stress and exhaustion having finally reached the point where she couldn't fight them any longer. Sniffing as she stepped back from the hug, Ginny brushed under her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I've been told, sort of, by this absolutely mental girl so I sort of know," she took a deep breath and shrugged, eyes still roving the scene. No matter how glad she was to see the other girl she couldn't shake the bad feeling that was clinging to her. "I've been here maybe an hour or so."

[honestlyrubbish]

Hermione's hand lingered on Ginny's arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze as she bit down hard on her lower lip to keep from tearing up as well. If she caved now to her emotions, Hermione was sure that she'd never stop crying, and that just wouldn't do- the arrival of someone from home came with responsibilities, with making sure that Ginny got settled, with finding out when she'd arrived from and what, if anything, Hermione would have to keep secret from her during the initial adjustment phase.

(Fred's death immediately crossed her mind, Hermione's eyes quickly squeezing shut as she took a steadying breath.)

"An absolutely mental girl?" Hermione asked skeptically with a soft laugh, shaking her head. "I don't know that we have many of them on the island, but then again... I guess it's also impossible to stay here for long without going a bit mad. We should get you to the Compound." Wrapping an arm around the other girl's waist, Hermione guided them both on the path to the central building.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

[ashotofgin]

The barriers that were usually so strong within her were threatening to crack and fall apart. Another deep breath, in and out as Ginny tried to strengthen her resolve. She was just so tired and spent that the idea of putting forth more effort to stay together almost seemed like it would be too much. But she would try. She had to try. There wasn't any other choice.

Allowing herself to go along with Hermione, she nodded slightly. "She wasn't making sense. All American and irritating. Her name was Polly or something silly like that. I had to get away." And that was exactly what she had did. She had gotten away as fast as she could. "Exhausted mainly, but I can't for the life of me remember the last time I ate. It's been a long day."

But it was better now. No matter how strange it was to be in this place there was comfort to be had from the fact that Hermione was here.

[honestlyrubbish]

There was something weighty about Ginny's presence right then, as though she'd just come from a long battle the likes of which she'd never seen before. Hermione couldn't help but suspect that the girl had come from one of the more trying periods of the war, perhaps shortly before the long wars and battles she knew were to come- the ones that she'd seen in part at Hogwarts, at least in her dream. A part of her knew that she had to ask sooner or later about everything, figure out when Ginny was from, but Hermione hated to ask. It felt as though she was opening wounds by doing so.

"Polly, I- I know her. She's actually quite a sweet girl, it's just difficult for anyone to really explain this place in a way that makes sense. Even now, I feel like I hardly even understand it at all," she murmured quietly, before pressing a kiss to Ginny's temple. "But we'll get you inside and comfortable first. If there's one thing that we can all be thankful for about this place, it's that we've plenty of time. Comparatively."