rarepair_shorts | FICLET: My Knee (Hermione/Katie)

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Title: My Knee
Pairing: Hermione/Katie
Prompt: oh, the insanity
Rating: R
Word Count: 999 (yesss!)
Summary: Hermione knows the definition of insanity, but this does not stop her from going to look at it every week, expecting different results.
Author's Notes: Dark, dark, dark. Comments are always appreciated, but I'm exceptionally interested to hear what you think of this.
Link to Prompt Table: Prompt Table

The definition of insanity, Hermione had heard a thousand times, was doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.

Hermione knew insanity. She saw it at least once a week. Ron, ever the gentle lover she had long ago understood him to be, would only smile at her when she told him she’d be “going out for a bit.”

Hermione’s recent promotion to the late Amelia Bones’ position had given her a great deal of clout in the wizarding world, but she was certain it was only out of the goodness of Susan’s heart that her wishes for a room change had been granted. Susan, the head doctor at St. Mungo’s, had placed a hand on Hermione’s shoulder and said in a hushed tone that she was of the opinion that it would do little to help any sort of recovery. Hermione tried to hide her despair.

Katie’s new room was bright and large. Hermione was always surprised at how large it truly was--much larger than she had expected. She felt she would never get used to its vastness no matter how many times she was in it. It made Katie seem so small.

Susan escorted Hermione to the room, like she always did, and unlocked it without a word. She swung the door open and Hermione held her breath, like she always did, then exhaled upon seeing Katie in the corner, like she always did.

Hermione entered the room and heard the door close behind her. Katie, as usual, was tracing invisible circles on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest, her head tilted up against the wall. Hermione did not hesitate before crossing the floor.

“Hi Katie,” Hermione said gently, crouching down beside her.

Katie did not turn to look at her. Her skin had a grayish hint to it, her face sunken and shallow-looking. Her hands, which Hermione had once noted seemed so full and gentle, were thin and bony now, like twigs stretching off from branches that were so brittle they cracked in the wind.

“My knee, my knee,” Katie mumbled, her pale blue eyes staring off somewhere.

“I know,” Hermione said, and placed a hand on Katie’s left knee. “I know. Your knee.”

At some point during the Battle of Hogwarts, Katie had been cursed. Hermione remembered stealing a few precious moments away from the festivities to find her, and that was when she saw the burn. It was ugly and blackish-purple, something she had never seen before in any book, but Katie and smiled and kissed her and swore she was fine. She said it barely hurt, and when Hermione accused her of lying Katie kissed her again and reminded her that they were both, in fact, liars. Hermione had once felt guilty for being a liar. She didn’t anymore.

“My knee my knee my knee.”

Susan said she wasn’t sure what it was that caused Katie’s ailment. It didn’t resemble any one specific curse, but an entire myriad of curses. She informed Hermione that Katie’s current incapacitation mirrored that of those tortured into insanity from the Cruciatus Curse, though, if that had been the cause, Katie’s decline would not have been prolonged. Years had gone by since that conversation, and Hermione had yet to hear of anything that was helping Katie get better. But still, she visited every week, waiting to see a change. And every week, she saw nothing.

Oh, the insanity.

“My knee.”

A string of drool hung from the corner of Katie’s mouth. Hermione pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped it away delicately. She had done this many times before, but none of those times had been like the first time she had wiped Katie’s mouth. It had been in the darkness of her room, just as she was pulling Katie up, up from between her thighs, up to her face where she could kiss her and taste herself. She had wiped Katie’s mouth with her thumb and giggled.

Susan informed her that whatever it was seemed little to do with Katie’s knees at all. Susan had a theory that it might have had something to do with whatever it was Katie was thinking about at the time the curse took hold of her mind. Susan noted that, if she were right, whatever this thought was did not seem to cause Katie any great emotional pain. She seemed most content, in fact, when she was talking about her knee.

Hermione heard the door open behind her, and gave a curt nod when Susan declared the twenty minutes were up. She leaned in and pressed her lips against Katie’s temple. This was the place she had kissed when she told Katie she and Ron were getting married, and it was the place she kissed again when she promised nothing between them would ever change. She wished, as she pulled back, that she could return to that moment.

Katie mumbled something, giving Hermione pause. It did not sound like “my knee,” it sounded like one syllable, something softer, but as she leaned in closer to hear, she felt Susan pull her up by the elbow.

“She said something,” Hermione said, turning to face Susan. “I swear, I swear she--”

“She says things all the time, Hermione,” Susan told her patiently, leading her towards the door. “You should go home. You should get some rest.”

Hermione looked back frantically at Katie, who still traced her circles. This was the hardest part, the leaving, even harder than the arrival.

“If you stay any longer, you might set her back,” Susan said sharply, and with a final yank had Hermione out of the room completely. “D’you want to do that?”

“No,” Hermione said quietly.

Susan looked apologetic, her sternness fading. “I’m sorry. You can see her next week.”

“Yes,” Hermione said. “Next week.”

The door closed, and Katie was alone and talking about her knees and mumbling her new word.

“Her. Her. My knee.”