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...And the 7th Year Student	By : Carfunky Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 3195 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or make money off of this story

Chapter List
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Matt was resting in the hospital bed finally. The calming draught from Madam Pomfrey had seemed to ease him somewhat and he was able to sleep. Hermione had waited by his bedside until his eyes had closed and his breathing had evened out. It had been horrible to watch, seeing the person she cared most about go through that. Sadly, for her, it was not the first or second time.
The others had taken a group of chairs conjured by Professor McGonagall before she left, sitting quietly. Once Hermione had joined them, sitting across the room, so as not to disturb Matt, they all exchanged glances. Each of them had a similar experience and not one of them had wished it on anyone. Not even Ron Weasley.
“You know, when it first happened to me, I was at home with Daddy. I had gone down to the river to look for plimpies. And I saw a broken branch in the stream. It reminded me of a broken bone. And everything came rushing back. I cried for a long time.” Luna said. Neville nodded next to her.
“Mine happened just after the battle. I had a nightmare, I guess. It was more like a flashback. I remembered the battle, the screams, the sounds of it all. Couldn’t sleep right for a week. I didn’t want to eat. I just felt terrible, hollow.” Neville’s shoulders slumped at the memory. “Why didn’t he ask Draco to be here?”
“A good question, Longbottom.” came a familiar drawl from the door. Draco Malfoy strode into the hospital wing. The others looked surprised. He conjured a chair for himself and sat down.
“Draco, how did you…?” Hermione could not finish the statement.
“Parkinson told me. She said she saw you lot carrying Santini on a stretcher. Came straight back to the common room gloating about it. Although, what did she say…oh yeah that ‘The American scum deserved whatever he got.’ Then she took off to her dorm and rushed back out of the common room again. Said she had to visit the owlery. She just got back from there. I’ve never seen anyone use the post that much.” Draco scoffed, clearly disgusted. “I told her to sod off and came here.”
Hermione knew Draco had become fond of Matt. The two had been conversing at mealtimes and occasionally in the corridors between classes. On more than one occasion Malfoy had joined her and Matt in the library to study Ancient Runes or Arithmancy. The three of them had a small study group for those classes, as they were the only ones out of the set that took them.
Draco had been doing a lot to make amends since they returned to Hogwarts. He had even gone as far as taking Muggle Studies and making donations in his family’s name to help displaced Muggleborns and Half-Bloods find their homes or recover lost estates. Hermione was impressed with the new leaf Draco had turned over and even somewhat considered him a friend. It meant a lot to her that he was showing up to see Matt.
“What happened anyway?” Draco asked.
“Matt’s finally gotten past the memory block.” Ginny said. “And we all see why he blocked it in the first place…” Ginny shuddered.
“That’s been bothering him the whole year, ever since he woke up, hasn’t it?” Draco asked.
“It has, but…I wonder if it was worth it…” Hermione said and looked over to where Matt lay, tears in her eyes again. She swiped at them and cleared her throat.
“What was it?” Draco asked, wanting to know, almost demanding. “I feel like he’s the only one who’s really gotten to see me, you know? He doesn’t have the past stigmas, bad memories, and things.” Draco said looking at the group, Harry, and Hermione in particular. They all nodded, remembering how awful Draco had been before Voldemort returned and how badly things had gone for him afterwards. Clearly the Malfoy heir had regretted who he used to be, and how he had acted in the past. Hermione was fairly certain, if he could, he would change the way things had been.
The group took turns explaining what they had seen in Matt’s memories. How the school had looked, how Matt had stayed to fight for it, who was behind the attack. Draco confirmed that even though he was only a low-ranking Death Eater, Antonin Dolohov had been absent in their ranks during the summer between sixth and what would have been a seventh year, only having returned in time for the meeting where Charity Burbage was murdered. Harry nodded and took a breath.
“Then, with your corroboration and if Matt can give me a statement when he wakes up, I can clear his name and put the word out on Dolohov.” Harry said. “That should get the Auror office fully involved and on the hunt.”
“Won’t that mean that…” Hermion began.
“Yes, it will. Ron will be involved. But he’ll have nothing to go on anymore, this definitely proves Matt was innocent the whole time.” Harry replied.
“Harry? Perhaps I should call in…uh…my friend. You know, the one who helped clear your name?” Hermione suggested.
“That’s not a bad idea. It may help.”
“Not Rita Skeeter!” Ginny cried. “You’re not serious? Matt’s not going to like that.”
“It doesn't matter! I’ll convince him. Besides it’s better than what Padma’s writing about him. Better it come from Rita, she’s got more sway than Padma does.” Hermione said.
“That’s true, and if Rita writes it, you’ll be there helping them both along.” Neville said. Hermione nodded in confirmation.
“So, if you were just looking into a Pensieve, how did Matt end up here?” Draco asked. Everyone exchanged glances and Harry nodded to Hermione to let her take the lead.
“He…had a breakdown, Draco.” She said with a frown. Draco closed his eyes and bowed his head, his shoulders slumped.
“Wouldn’t’ve wished that on him, anyway. Parkinson maybe. She’s become so haughty and intolerable lately. She’s had eyes on him since she got back. All she talks about is how much she hates that he’s in Gryffindor and that he’s dating a Mud-“ Draco stopped himself and swallowed the urge to finish the word. “A Muggleborn.”
“it’s ok, Draco, I’m fine with it.” Hermione said. She was not going to let that word bother her anymore, she was proud of being who she was after all.
“I’m not.” Draco said and shook his head. Luna patted him on the back. “I can’t believe Matt, of all people, broke.”
“War did it to all of us.” Ginny said. “I remember, over the summer, when it happened to me. Harry was there. I cried for a week straight. I knew it was over, but George was permanently disfigured still, and Fred was dead. Bill’s scarred. There’s so much pain and loss…nothing helped that.” she looked melancholy as Harry put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her.
“I think it was when you broke down, Harry, that it started to affect me.” Hermione admitted. Harry nodded solemnly.
“It was the worst feeling I had ever had. Like something inside me was broken and just gone. Like I’d never be right again.” Harry said, breathing deeply.
“At least you had Ginny and me there to help you.” Hermione said, leaving out Ron entirely, although he had been little help to Harry. When Harry had broken down Hermione had been the one to be there, Ginny too. The two girls had been able to help Harry regain himself, rather than fall into despair.
“Harry was easier than you, Hermione.” Ginny observed.
“Yes, he was. But that was because after seeing Harry like that, it made me realize how much we had gone through. All the bad memories came flooding back, like a blood filled tidal wide. And I was drowning in it. The loss, the confusion, starvation. And then the fighting…the torture.” Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath. She focused her mind on her relationship with Matt to keep calm and used it to ground herself.
“Well, what really made it bad was the fact I was only just coming out of it when you broke down. And Ron didn’t know what to do and so he broke down too.” Harry said, hating to bring up their former friend finally.
“Yes, he managed, like he always seemed to, to make an unpleasant situation worse. And of course, no offense Ginny, but Mrs. Weasley was not helpful in those times, either.” Hermione said.
“None taken. My mother doesn’t understand how this stuff happens. Just get over it and move on is her motto.”
“’Mione?” came a weak voice from across the room. Hermione’s eyes grew wide. Matt had spoken the first real word since they came out of the Pensieve what seemed like weeks ago, even though it was only an hour or two at the most. Immediately she got up and went to his bedside, taking his hand in hers.
“I’m here.” She whispered. Matt simply nodded on the pillow and seemed to fall back asleep.
Ginny and Harry wore stunned expressions on their faces as they looked between each other and Hermione and Matt.
“What is it?” Draco asked, confused at the sudden shift in their behavior.
“It’s just…” Ginny’s voice was dumbfounded.
“Hermione hates that nickname.” Harry said. “She never allowed us to use it.”
“The one time, Ron tried it over the summer, in sixth year, before Harry got to the Burrow, he didn’t sit right for a week.” Ginny said.
“So that was what was wrong with him when I got there.” Harry said, having noticed Ron was much more delicate that summer when sitting at the dinner table than he usually was. Ginny nodded.
“What does that mean?” Neville inquired.
“For Matt to be able to use that nickname, he must really mean something.” Harry said.
“And he might be the only person in the entire world who can get away with calling her that.” Ginny said. “She told me one time, that she had been called that by her bullies in school. It was insulting to her because they would make fun of how smart she was. It wasn’t affectionate, it was a dumbing down of her name, or so she saw it as such.” Ginny looked over her shoulder at the couple. Hermione had fallen asleep in her chair, her hand still clasped in Matt’s.
“Hermione was bullied?” Neville looked saddened.
“She doesn’t talk about it much. It’s a lot of bad memories from before she found out she was witch. I suspect that’s why she has trouble with her Patronus sometimes.”
“Hermione can be guarded even in the best of times. She’s opened up to him, though. She’s even told him about how she was hurt at the Ministry and how she was tortured during the war.” Luna said.
“Granger really does know how to pick ‘em, doesn’t she?” Draco commented.
“To be fair, Ron turned out a lot worse than any of us expected.” Luna added.
“The war changed him, I think.” Harry said, finally voicing his long-held theory. “He’s got a lot of traumas around the school too.” Ginny nodded in agreement.
“I don’t think he ever quite saw the value in it after all the danger we all faced since coming here. I think this year’s been the quietest we’ve ever had.” Ginny said.
“After all we’ve been through, I’ll take a quiet year.” Neville said and sighed. “No war, monsters, crazed teachers, or sneaking around.” He sounded relieved.
“Cheers to that!” Draco said with a smile.

The next morning Matt awakened to find Hermione sitting in a chair next to him. He felt shallow, hollow, and did not want to respond. He simply squeezed her hand to let her know he was awake. Hermione slowly awoke and stretched, clearly stiff from sitting and sleeping in the chair all night.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Hermione asked quietly. Matt looked up into her chocolate brown eyes and frowned, his brow furrowing.
“Not good.” He said hoarsely and remained lying down. He did not want to move and did not feel he had the will too. He felt drained of everything, as if he had no energy, will, or even magic in him anymore. Hermione understood and ran a hand through his hair affectionately.
“I don’t know if this will help or not, but I’ve experienced it myself. I can understand how you feel.” She told him. Matt let out a sob tears starting fresh. Hermione nodded and knew he had to let things out and let his emotions flow before he could start to feel normal again.

Professor McGonagall had come around about lunchtime, bringing with her some food for both of them. While Hermione ate, Matt only nibbled, not feeling hungry for anything despite it being well over twelve hours since his last meal. The Headmistress informed them that Matt would be excused from his classes for the rest of the week while he recuperated. Hermione was allowed the day off but was expected to show up the next day. Hermione assured him she would make sure she took extra detailed notes for him and bring him any homework he would need. This earned her a rare smile from him. Even though he was entirely drained, he at least registered the affection.
The following day though, Matt insisted on getting up after much rest and returning to his classes. Hermione was shocked but Matt was there, pushing through. He was much more reserved than normal, did not speak or engage very much. The only time he did was when he was called on. But he seemed to look normal to everyone else.
“I’m ok.” Matt told Hermione. “I’m getting back to normal, slowly.” he said as they walked through the halls. This was a vast improvement over the last two days when he barely spoke at all. “But I can tell, it feels like I’ve lost a part of me. Like I’ve had a permanent reduction in my well of energy and magic.”
“That’s normal.” Hermione said. “After what happened to us, you see we all kind of went through something similar, I read all about that kind of thing. Wizarding journals don’t have a lot on the subject, although Muggles, or as you call them, No-Majs, have in their psychology books. It’s normal to feel off after a breakdown like this.” She told him as they walked between classes. “The good news is that, while you might feel like your well is lower and won’t refill, that isn’t the case. And your magic can’t be diminished like that. Not from a mental and emotional breakdown. There are things that can damage your magic, but this isn’t one of them. The bottom line, of course, is that, with time, you’ll be alright.”
Matt smiled at her for the first time in several days. Which was exceedingly rare, Hermione made him happy, and she could get him to smile almost no matter what. To her, it felt like the sun had come out after being behind clouds and rain for days. Matt was starting to feel again, and it would be good for him, even if it were only a little bit at a time.
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...And the 7th Year Student