"What a wonderful idea, Ron. I'm so glad we made up!" Hermione exclaimed before kissing Ron.
Harry sat three feet from the couple, incredulously watching the scene. He had absolutely no idea what the heck was going on. He could have sworn the three of them had gone on a trip in search of the remaining Horcruxes after Dumbledore's death, but for some reason he couldn't explain, they were back at Hogwarts. The weird thing was that everyone was acting more or less off and noone seemed to believe Harry, when he had tried to convince them of the group's absence over the past months.
Okay, Harry. Just calm down and try to figure out what happened, Harry thought to himself. The last thing he remembered was him falling into some sort of funny looking bush, after Ron's departure. Next thing he knows Ron's back and the three are stuck in potions.
It just didn't make any sense at all. How did they get here? Maybe the bush had some sort of teleportation charm stuck to it. But why would Hermione touch something she either knew was dangerous or had heard nothing about? And how did Ron get here if he apparated away? And didn't Hermione say something like Hogwarts being immune to apparition or teleportation? Maybe that was only true for apparition… and something in the bush could have been some sort of Portkey. Yeah, that had to be it. That still didn't explain how Hermione knew about it, though, or where Ron came from. Or why everyone was acting so strange.
Speaking of which, Dean just slipped a little note into Seamus's bag and winked at him, resulting in Seamus blushing.
Harry's mouth fell open. What was going on? Harry tried to get something useful out of Hermione, but she just started mumbling as if she had drunk too much.
That was it. Cursing under his breath he went up to Slughorn and asked him to let him go to Madam Pomfrey.
"But of course, my boy. Get well soon!" Slughorn replied.
Harry didn't really plan to go to Madam Pomfrey, he figured all he needed was some fresh air and maybe a nap. Right before he reached the common room he heard a voice behind him.
"I believe you might need the password to get to your dorm"
The voice sounded so familiar that it made him turn around. He couldn't believe his eyes. Before him stood a tall and old man who was watching him through his half-moon glasses.
"P-p-professor Dumbledore?" Harry stuttered.
"Why, of course. Whom else did you expect?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"Uhhhm I dunno" Harry answered eloquently. To be fair, Harry couldn't have possibly expected his dead headmaster to walk around Hogwarts.
He must have looked extremely exhausted, since Dumbledore told him to rest for a bit.
"Oh, I was just going to take a nap" Harry assured the headmaster.
"Ahh, I see. Well, the new password is white lotus in case you forgot. I'm sure you know a lot of things are going to make sense once you wake up". He said the last part with a serious undertone that made Harry a little queasy. Before Harry could ask Dumbledore how he was alive, the old man was gone.
Now Harry was officially questioning his sanity. Okay Harry, you can do this. You just go to sleep and when you wake up, everything will be back to normal, he assured himself.
When he awoke from his nap, things were not back to normal.
"Hey, Harry. You need to come down, we're playing Truth or Dare". Was that Ginny?
"But I haven't fully woken up yet!" Harry protested.
Ginny watched him intently. "Then you need to wake up". With that she was gone.
Why did she say that so seriously? Harry had no idea.
He practically had no other choice but to go to the common room. Maybe Hermione and Ron were down there. Once they were together they would continue their search. But he had to find them first.
Finding them didn't turn out as a problem. Getting them to leave did.
"Oh come on Harry, don't be such a party pooper!" was Ron's reaction.
"Yeah, right. You're so boring!" Hermione added. Harry could smell the alcohol on her breath. Seriously now, why the heck was she drunk?
To his horror Draco Malfoy just entered the common room. Correction, half the Slytherins of his year just entered the common room. For some reason unknown to him the Gryffindors were happy about that and asked the Slytherins to join. Harry hoped they wouldn't. They did.
"Okay, ummmm Draco… how d'you reaaaaally feel about Harry?" Hermione asked.
What? Why would she do that? Everyone knew they hated each other!
Apparently not.
"I think I actually may like him a bit" Draco said shyly.
What the bloody hell?!
Why was everyone cheering?
"Okay, I'm next" Draco said.
Uh oh.
"Potter, I dare you to kiss me!" Draco almost shouted.
Harry almost cried. That was just too much for him.
Slowly Draco got closer.
"But I don't wanna kiss you!" screamed Harry.
"Then you should wake up!" advised Draco as he got closer.
What? Harry was already awake, why would he need to wake up?
Suddenly Draco turned into Hermione who said "Harry, wake up!"
Harry woke up.
He was breathing heavily and his heart was racing. "What's going on?" Harry whispered into the darkness.
"Oh thank God, you're awake. I was so worried about you" Hermione said as she came over to Harry. "You were out for a few hours and kept mumbling why over and over"
"I just had a weird dream that's all" replied Harry, looking sheepishly at his hands.