"He's not coming back, Harry, we can't stay here. We can't wait for him to return, because I'm doubtful it'll happen" Hermione said quietly as Harry sat beside her, feeling the leaves crumble beneath him. "I know 'mione, I've known for a while now, I just didn't want to force you to move on in case, you know, you weren't ready" Harry smiled sadly. His best friend in the world had left when he'd-they'd needed him most. It wasn't an Unforgivable offense, and it wasn't as if Harry had asked him to come. He was free to leave anytime he pleased, it just hurt that he did. "I just... I really like-d him Harry" Hermione whispered as she turned her head. She wasn't sure if she was going to cry, and she knew that she had to stay strong, if not for herself, then for Harry's sake. She had to stay strong.
Hermione sat on the hospital bed. Unsure of what was going on, and unsure of why her mother was crying. "Do you understand what I'm saying miss Granger?"I have no idea what you're talking about."Yes, I understand thank you" she answered politely, "I don't think you do" The doctor replied sternly. "We've never seen ANYTHING like this" This bugged Hermione, there was no need for that tone, she'd only fainted. "Well that doesn't surprise me!" Hermione said, raising her voice, and momentarily forgetting that the world didn't know about magic. The doctor took a few deep breaths and paused for a minute before speaking again, "We can't treat you miss Granger, we can only run more tests, and try to find out exactly what it is that's happening to you" Hermione's eyebrows raised in shock, "I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're talking about. I only fainted" The doctor raised his eyebrow, before flicking through her notes, "What's day is it miss Granger?" he asked, and Hermione stared back at him, puzzled as to why he was asking for the date, "It's Thursday" she answered and he paused for a moment. "It's Friday" Her father said finally, "I was out cold for a whole night?" she asked confused, and a little anxious. I best write to Harry."You were admitted last week miss Granger" the doctor said as he passed her, her hospital notes.
"Admitted after having fainted"... "Cardiac Arrest upon admittance"..."Temperature has dropped to 33oC"..."Cardiac Arrest"..."Woke up"
Hermione scanned over the notes, 33oC?!I should be dead,she thought,or at least missing some toes,"I didn't wake up?" Hermione asked and her dad looked away, "You woke up screaming 'mione" he answered finally. For as long as she could remember she had hated being referred to as 'Mione' but there was times, when she would allow it; times when she needed to be strong. This was one of them. "How many times?" she asked, her voice unintentionally shaky. "Once every couple of hours, you'd wake up screaming, and you'd scream and cry for an hour, and then they'd have to subdue you. They tried to induce a coma whilst they tested your vitals, but it wouldn't work" Her mother took over, knowing how hard her dad was trying to hold back the tears. "It was quite remarkable really" her doctor said as he put her notes back. "I'm glad someone thinks so" her dad spat angrily, and instantly regretted it, "I'm sorry, I just" he apologised, "I know" the doctor answered, "I'll be back to see you in an hour miss Granger" he said as he left.
Hermione skidded down the hill, running as fast as she could, "Harry! Where are you?!" she shouted as she turned, not daring to stop for more than a moment, before racing on again, "Harry!" she shouted as she dodged trees. "Hermione" she heard in the distance, but could not place where, "HARRY!" she screamed as she tripped, falling through thistles and thorns and magical plants that she hadn't seen before. "Hermione" she heard before passing out.
"I need to see Harry" Hermione said suddenly, as she sprang up out of bed, eager to get out of the hospital gown, "No Hermione, they need to run more tests on you" her mother said, "No they don't, the doctors at St Mungo's will know what to do" Hermione answered, shaking her head slightly at her mother's naivety, "What is a Mungo? What are we supposed to say?" Hermione sighed, "St Mungo's is the best hospital in the Wizarding world, and just say I'm in the toilet and text me or something, and I'll apparate back" Hermione answered, she knew that they were worried, but they needn't be.
"Hermione, hey!" Harry greeted as he jumped up from the sofa, pulling her into a hug, "where've you been? I tried calling, I even went to your house... nobody answered" he asked, and Hermione explained. "What are you doing here Hermione? You almost died, several times, you can't take this lightly, I need to take you back to the hospital" Harry said, looking for his shoes, "will you calm down, I'm not taking this lightly, but we're not going back, not just yet anyhow." Harry looked up, confused, "Well for starters, they just want to run tests on me, and although there's limited time to do it before schoo-" Hermione started, but Harry cut her off, "You're not going to school Hermione, not till I know you're well enou-" this time, Hermione interrupted Harry, "that's not your decision Harry, and it's a waste of time because they're muggles, and as muggles, they're not as advanced. If I'm going to recover as quick as possible, I'm going to have to go through wizard care, not muggle care." She argued, "St Mungo's?" Harry asked, and she nodded, "Well then let's go"
"Hermione, what happened?" Harry asked, as she woke up, she was back in the tent, "Ugh, the werewolf, is he?" she answered, knowing he hated it when she answered with a question. "He got away" he sighed and she nodded, they'd have to move quick then, "I tripped" she said suddenly, and the confusion was evident on her friends face. "That's what happened" she explained, before getting up and packing stuff, getting ready to apparate out of the area, Harry nodded and pulled out his wand, helping to pack.
"Have you digested any liquids? Plants? Or other strange substances in the past 6 months?" the mediwitch asked, and Hermione thought for a moment, before shaking her head, "not that I can recall" The mediwitch scribbled this down, and paused, flicking through pages of notes before flicking back, "Have you been struck by an uncommon curse?" she asked slowly and Hermione visibly tensed, "I was struck by A LOT of curses, and whilst I didn't write any of them down, I don't remember any being particularly unusual, no" the mediwitch nodded, and wrote down some more notes, choosing, wisely, not to answer. "We're going to need to run some quick tests, and then we should have a better idea on what exactly is wrong" the witch said finally, as a team of mediwitches and wizards walked in.
After having been fairly injured after the war, and helping out victims with more serious injuries, she knew exactly what to do. Laying back, she held still as she felt her body lift of the bed, wands scanning her, now, levitating body. The tests took approximately thirty minutes, and Hermione was soon sat on the bed again, Harry sat up on the chair beside her, eagerly awaiting the diagnosis. "I'm afraid, Hermione, that the tests were inconclusive. We've never seen anything like this. We would love to monitor you, but we don't have enough beds as we're having the most urgent patients from across the country transferred. If your condition deteriorates, we will have to see you again, but until then, we don't have the time, space, or man power to observe you" the mediwitch said, and turned to run, but Harry stopped her. "What? So that's it then? You do a shit job, and send her on her way" he asked angrily, "Harry please, leave it, they did all they could" Hermione tried to calm him down, but it didn't work, and seemed to make him angrier, "Bullshit Hermione! You'd have a lot more patients if we'd lost" Harry shouted, but knew he wasn't helping Hermione's situation at all.
"Come on Harry, just leave it, there's nothing they can do" she said as she offered out her hand. He nodded and took it, and they apparated back to his room together. "After all we sacrificed to save them, they can just fob you off like that!" Harry said angrily, before taking a few deep breaths and sitting with his head in his hands. "What time is your appointment?" Hermione asked, and Harry checked his watch, "it's in an hour" he answered, before asking her the same question, "straight after yours" she smiled, "We'll figure something out Harry, they'll run more tests, and I'll be good as new" Hermione said, smiling still, even though on the inside, she didn't believe a word she had just said.
