Subtle Signs

Title: Subtle Signs
Chapter Title: Comatose
Characters: Harry, Hermione, Tonks
Genres: Drama, Tragedy, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Rating: Innocent-ish(PG-13)
Warnings: Major Fluff
Summary: Tonks is still in a coma and Hermione is sadder than ever, but a visit from Harry cheers her up a bit.


I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood as I stared down at her boneless form. It was hard to tell that my lover of over a year was alive. The only sign of movement was the gentle rising and falling of her chest.

The nurse had told me that she was suffering from severe traumatic stress and that the hospital staff was unsure of when she would awaken. Despite using their best healing salve, they still hadn’t been able to wipe away all the bruises from Tonks’ fragile skin, and never would they be able to heal the mental scars I knew she would have if she were to ever awaken.

The door swung open and my best friend of seven years, Harry James Potter, walked into the hospital room carrying a dozen roses in his arms. I smiled, standing and noticing how much he had grown. He was at least a foot taller than I, and his dark hair was long and shaggy, always seeming to be messier every time I looked at it. His green eyes twinkled with sorrow as he noticed Tonks on the bed.

I hugged him, clinging to his strong body and willing myself not to burst into tears of pain. “Oh, Harry!” I exclaimed, clinging to him as if he were an anchor grounding me from insanity.

Harry rubbed my back soothingly. “Hermione. How are you holding up?” he asked, and then looked embarrassed. “Hang on, that was a stupid question.”

I sighed, waving my wand and trimming the bottom of the roses so I could place them in a vase full of water beside Tonks’ bed. There were dozens of cards from Tonks’ mother and family, family that I hadn’t even known she had, and of course from co-workers at the Ministry. Lupin and Moody had been to visit her at least every day now since she had come to the hospital, worried sick that she would never recover, which made it worse for myself.

“Thanks for the roses,” I said, deliberately avoiding his question about how I was doing. The answer to that was quite complex. At times I had hope that Tonks would awaken and be her usual cheery self, and others I feared that she would not open her eyes ever again and her heart would cease to beat in the chest that I had laid my head on so many nights after making love to listen to the steady drumbeat that was her heartbeat in my ears.

In truth, I wasn’t doing well at all. Each day I sank more into a dark depression as I watched my lover slip deeper into what seemed to be an unbreakable coma.

Harry smiled, placing a strong hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, no problem,” he said, staring down at Tonks with a sigh. “I hope she wakes up soon.”

I sighed. “So do I…”

I reached out and took hold of Tonks’ hand, feeling tears stream down my cheeks at how lifeless it felt. Harry sat down next to me and placed his hand over my other that was free. I squeezed his hand and shivered. “She’s been like this for days… She doesn’t even move.”

Harry stared at Tonks sadly. “She’ll wake up… I know it.”

“I don’t know, Harry. The nurses don’t seem very enthusiastic, nor do the healer’s.”

“Don’t worry, Hermione, Tonks is strong. You can’t give up hope or you will lose yourself.”

I half-smiled, squeezing Harry’s hand. “I know, Harry… It means so much to me that you’re here.”

Harry squeezed my hand comfortingly. “I’ll always be here for you, Hermione. You’re my best friend, even more so than Ron lately, and that’s saying a lot. He and I hardly talk anymore because he’s always off snogging Lavender Brown.”

I half-smiled. Ron had been a right prat to me ever since he had discovered that Tonks and I were lovers. I didn’t understand it, for he and Lavender Brown had been dating ever since the start of last year. But still he seemed to take offense when I merely mentioned Tonks’ name and would bite my head off if I spoke of future plans between us.

I had almost murdered Ron when I told him that Tonks was in the hospital. He had said it served Tonks right for taking me away from him and then laughed when I got angry. He had no idea what Tonks and I had been through the past year or so or how we felt each other, it was too mature of a thing for Ronald Weasley to understand.

“Ron is just being a big prat at the moment,” I said, smoothing some of Tonks’ flat hair off of her forehead tenderly.

“Yeah, I know,” Harry said, leaning back in his chair.

He stayed with me for over an hour and we talked about many things before it grew late and he had to leave to go back to Hogwarts. I wished I could go with him, but I knew I wouldn’t be going back to school for quite some time.

I didn’t want to be anywhere but with Tonks. I wanted me to be the first person she saw when her eyes finally opened. I didn’t care if I had to stay here forever by her side… No one could stop me because I would be here with my one true love, no matter what.