Woken Hero

(What if during the troll debacle, Harry was knocked into a coma? Fifteen years later, Voldemort is growing in strength, Dumbledore is nearing the end and Hermione Granger has spent time most days for the past fifteen years at the hospital bed of Harry Potter. Now is the time for the hero to awaken. Now is the time for the prophecy to pass.)

AN: Harry isn't going to be God-tier powerful in this story like he is in some, he's as powerful as canon, better with practise than learning, and he's got fifteen years to catch up on, he won't be on the same level as Ron and Hermione for at least five years, if he can make it five years in this darker world

AN: (So sorry about all these) Story is instantly going on Hiatus, as I'm off to Crete for 2 weeks from Thursday, so I won't be updating until about August 15th.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Harry heard Ron shout as he swung wildly on the back of the troll, his wand lodged into its nose, holding on for dear life.

Harry saw the troll's club floating above its head and saw it crashing down, hitting the troll in the head, it gave out a roar as it fell to the tiled floor with a crash, Harry on its back was thrown into the air and into a wall, he could faintly hear a loud crash and a scream, before darkness claimed him.

Harry could feel himself weightlessly floating in the darkness as muffled voices spoke all around him. He looked left and right, and yet couldn't see where the voices were coming from nor could he make out whose voices they were.

Harry wandered through the darkness for what felt like an eternity, never touching the ground, floating in an endless void of nothing. He felt a pull in his chest though, there must be a place where he was meant to be going. He let the pull guide him and floated along in silence, seeing nothing but darkness ahead of him, and apart from the occasional muffled voice, hearing nothing but the sound of his own breathing punctuating the darkness.

As Harry floated in the darkness, he'd reflect that the never ending darkness had no concept of time, there was only the darkness and the muffled voices from time to time to keep him sane. Once or twice, he was sure he felt a hand on his own, or something brushing against his head, but when he strained to try and trace the source of the feelings, he'd just find more darkness.

Whilst Harry floated, time in the outside world passed normally, for Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, this meant explaining what they did with the troll, discovering Harry Potter was in a coma he may never wake from and the tentative friendship that blossomed between Hermione and Ron over their guilt in Harry's injuries. This friendship however, didn't last to Christmas, with Ron circling around Dean and Seamus with the loss of Harry to the world, and Hermione throwing herself into her studies once more, save a fledgling friendship with Neville Longbottom, another intelligent outcast who found himself spending time in the library when alone.

The year passed with Hermione, blaming herself for the injuries to Harry Potter, spending time every evening sitting by his bedside, talking to him, holding his hand, and begging him to wake up. Sometimes Ron would join her to begin with, and then Neville when they broke apart. After Hermione and Ron's friendship deteriorated around Christmas however, Ron Weasley never visited his former friend again.

The end of the year brought exams for Hogwarts, Slytherin won the Quidditch and House cups with ease, without Harry Potter to win the Quidditch or save the school. Seeing herself and Neville with successful results, Hermione looked forward to the summer months, promising to go visit Harry again in the Hospital Wing one last time before she left for the summer.

"Oh Harry, how I wish you could have been at the Leaving Feast. There's rumours flying around about why Professor Quirrell wasn't there, from him having a breakdown and leaving the school to him fighting Dumbledore and being possessed by You-Know-Who." Hermione said to his unconscious form. "Snape seems to be in as bad a mood as ever, but whatever that dog was guarding, he hasn't got it I don't think."

Hermione looked over at her former classmate and just watched the rising and falling of his chest in silence for a few minutes as tears began to prick at her eyes.

'Oh Harry, I'm so sorry for what I did to you, if I could go back to that day and stop you getting hurt, I would in a heartbeat!' Hermione thought to herself as her mind wrestled once again with the guilt of what had befallen The Boy-Who-Lived. Her rational self always told her it wasn't her fault, that Ron had made her go to the bathroom, and Harry would have sacrificed himself gladly for her, as he was the hero, but her guilt always made her wonder why it couldn't have been her lying in the bed in the coma.

Hermione shook her head and wiped her eyes as she made to stand, walking to the door, and she cast one last look at Harry lying in the bed.

"I'll see you again in September, Harry. I'll be sure to bring back lots of exciting stories to tell you."

Because Hermione Granger would never give up hope that he'd wake up, despite what Madam Pomfrey had said, Hermione Granger would always hope she could apologise to Harry Potter in person for what had happened to him.