By Hermione L. Granger
DISCLAIMER: b/s, b/s, b/s, these ain't me characters, leave me alone.
Hermione stepped into her shower, and felt the warm water flood down her back. She closed her eyes, taking in the waters. She hadn't had a shower in 7 days. Of course, she could of been sensable and used the witchs and wizards way out, just a few hocus pocus words, and you looked and smelled as good as new. Almost everyone had picked up the habit of muttering the words just before bed, so Hermione always had the shower to herself. It had of course, been quite a fixer-uper, but her magic had cleaned out the mud and filth.
Falling back into her thoughts, she remembered her two best friends. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Harry had always been the brother type, now that they faced their fifth year at Hogwarts, he was always there for her. Or had been. Everytime she began overworking herself, or stressed out about the rules, or even when she just needed to cry, he was always there for her.
And Ron. Ron had started out as a friend, turned opponite. They had constantly fought over what was right. But slowly and surely Ron had helped her open up, and taught her that breaking the rules wasn't always so bad. He had even turned into something more than a friend, someone she could learn to love. Or could of. Hermione rested her head against the wall, feeling the water rush over her head, trying to wash away the pain. Had it only been a week? The year long hours had made it seem longer.
****
The whole school screamed as the blinding green shot out of the far wall. The trio immediatly recognized it as Voldemort. Who else? But how had he come back into power so quickly? Dumbledore later told her that he had drank the blood of a perfect hippogriff. Voldemort had drank Buckbeak.
Of course Hermione had stood up, prepared to fight the dark lord. Hary could noway beat him on his own. But just has she prepared to help him, she felt Harry take her by the sholders and shove her violently into Ron.
"Harry?!"
"Take her and run Ron, I'll try to hold off Voldemort," Harry breathed, then took off toward the light.
"Right," Ron replied, then pushed Hermione onto the floor, pulling her along as he climbed toward the doors, where many students had already fled. Glancing behind her as Ron pulled her out of the door, she saw Harry fall back against the wall, head cracking. Turning to run to him, she felt Ron pull her arm.
****
Why Harry? Hermione let the streams of water hit her face, washing off where the tears had been. But then that had been a dumb question. Of course Harry, with his parents, his harridatage, and of course that scar. A better question that had risen to her mind was why her? Why had Harry let Voldemort deffeat him, just to save Hermione. And Ron of course. But he had failed at that too.
****
"Don't look back Hermione!" Ron yelled above the screaming of the rest of the school. They had all flooded out into the halls. Feeling her arm being pulled into the lesser crowded hallways, she could feel the tears forming in her eyes. Pulling her into another corrider where there was no one, Ron broke into a run.
"Wait, Ron!" Hermione screamed, following him. She was tripping over herself with tears. But they suddenly vanished as she ran into the block infront of her.
"Ron!!" she screamed before she was shot back.
****
Why, oh why had she called him back. Hermione sat down in the shower, and made the sound of crying, felt like she was crying, only missing tears. She had no more.
****
"Hermione!!" Ron had yelled as he ran back. She could see him running back towards her, and throwing himself infront of the blast set for kill. Taking it right in the chest, Ron fell into a heap in front of her.
"I'm sorry," he muttered before the breath left him.
****
There was always why. Always the questions on what she could of done differently. It had all been her fault, the attack....it was meant for her, not Harry. That much Dumbledore was sure of. The blasts, hitting Ron and Harry, never her. Why not her?
****
Hermione had blacked out for a moment, and found Proffesor McGonagall towering above her, the first look of fear the young girl had ever seen in her eyes. Behind her, Dumbledore was over the dark lord, and beyond that she could see Hagrid carring Ron and Harry to the medicine room. She struggled to get up and follow them. No one stopped her.
Madam Pomfrey had wanted her out. She didn't want Hermione to see the boys, to have to think about them. But Hermione refuesed to leave, and Dumbledore had given her permission to stay. For four days she sat inbetween their beds, watching them in their comas. She didn't sleep, she didn't eat, she just waited. Never giving up hope, even after Dumbledore shook his head on the fourth day, and ushered her out. He never thought they'd make it.
However, Hermione still clinged to hope, and had spent the past three days in the halls outside of the medicine room. No one had the heart to move her, until McGonagall had come up to her on the seventh day.
"Ture friendship.....never seen anything like it....poor child, too see both of them...."McGongall kept muttering as she pulled the tear stained, ragged form of Hermione back to Gryffindor. She remembered being pulled through the hole, and facing the Weasleys. The twins were in a chair, not making noise, or causing any confussion at all, as they usually were. Ginny sat in a chair, being comforted by the other girls she had clung too, and her boyfriend, Jacob Tonson. They looked as if they hadn't done a very good job.
The entire dorm stared at Hermione as she was pushed upstairs. McGonagall put her in her room, still muttering about friendship, but spoke loudly enough to tell Hermione to shower and sleep. And too eat something.
So Hermione took a shower first. She finally rinsed the condition out of her hair, and stepped out of the shower, pulling her bright red bathrobe around her. She used a towel to ruffel her brown hair, that had become more and more strait as time went on. Slowly moving back to her dorm, she pulled on her night shirt, and fell into bed, setting the alarm for an hour later. Hermione fell fast asleep.
****
No one in the dorm was happy when Hermione's alarm sprang off at 1 AM. Sleeply, Hermione rolled over, and pulled on a pair of muggle clothes, jeans, and a sweater Mrs. Weasley had made. Forcing back the urge to break down, she stumbled down the stairs.
She felt horrible for the Weasley's. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley couldn't be reached, they had to go on an undercover assignment, and wouldn't be back for a few weeks. Of course the Dursleys hadn't responded to any of the owls, all the better for them that Harry was practacally dead. As Hermione climbed out of the hole, she ran right into Ginny.
"The boys.." was all she managed to get out as Hermione took off, full tilt for the medicine room, pushing Ginny behind her. She was flying so fast she couldn't even feel her feat touch the ground. She turned the corner, and burst into the room, and began to wiggle her way through the crowd around the boys beds. The twins, Harry's Quidditch team, all of the professors. A smal crowd formed, letting her burst through, and letting her see Harry and Ron's smiling faces.
'They did it,' Hermione thought as everything turned black and she hit the floor.