The Spider

Before I start with this little story of mine, I guess I should bring you all up to speed. It was our 7th and last year at Hogwarts, the war was over, people were dead, but we were alive. I had broken up with Ron, because we just didn't get along, and I didn't love him. I had tried, tried really hard to love him, to forgive him every time he did or said something stupid or hurtful, but I couldn't continue after the war. It felt too much like a lie, and after all we'd both been through, I figured we both deserved better. Ron agreed, and we are now merely best friends like we were before. Though I think he may still have feelings for me.

Harry is currently no longer with Ginny, I'm not sure why they ending things, but they did, and anyway, they both seem relatively happy, considering the loss we'd all endured.

So, back to the beginning of the story; It was October, and Ron, Harry and I were all sitting by the fire in the Common room.

Then Ron saw it. Tegenaria domestica. A common house spider found in the UK. Ron gasped when he saw it and immediately pulled out his wand to kill it.

By this time Harry and I had seen the spider Ron was reacting to and I quickly realized what Ron was about to do.

"Don't!" I shouted, springing up from my seat by the fire, and walking over to where the spider was standing, beside a side-table near Ron.

"Why not? It's just a disgusting spider?" replied Ron, aiming his wand.

"Because," I replied, "it has just as much of a right to life as you or I do. And it's not like it's hurting anyone"

Ronald, however, had stopped listening, and I can only assume this was because he was thinking of what spell to use, because instead of replying to me, I saw him point his wand again at the spider.

Just as Ron shouted, "Incendio!", I reached out my hand to pick up the spider, meaning to put it outside.

The curse hit my left hand, and immediately my hand went up in flame.

I screamed. Then I did what most muggle children were trained to do when on fire.

I stopped.

I dropped.

And I rolled.

Which quickly put out the flame, even as Harry rushed over to me and cast Aguamenti, spraying water onto me.

Ron, who hadn't moved since saying the curse, asked, in a quavery voice, "Hermione, are- are you okay?"

After which Harry said, putting his hand on my shoulder, "Show me 'Mione, that looked bad."

I pulled away from Harry, and replied, "Um, you know, I think – I think maybe I should go see madam Pomfrey. It's - it's kind of bad, Ron, you might not want to see." Ron was notoriously bad with gore, being in the war had only lowered his tolerance for blood and wounds.

"Oh Merlin Hermione, I'm so sorry, let me take you to the hospital wing-" Ron started, Harry cut him off, saying harshly, "Don't you think you've done enough Ron? What the hell were you thinking?" Harry was angry, really angry, and I couldn't really understand why.

Before Ron could reply, Harry put his arm around my shoulder and steered me out of the common room, towards the hospital wing, all the while trying to heal my hand, with no results, magical fire burns can't be healed by any spell. They had to be treated the old fashioned, muggle way. I have to hand it to Harry, he handled the sight of my hand well, because it didn't look good. My entire hand was black, and the skin was peeling off.

I was in a lot of pain, and I started to feel faint. I was told after that I started to go into shock. Which is generally not a good thing.

"H-harry?" I said weakly, "I'm not sure how long I can keep this up. . ." As I spoke, I felt my knees give way, and I started to fall, only to be caught by Harry before I could hit the ground, his wiry frame easily supporting me. Without a word, Harry swept me off my feet, and carried on towards the hospital wing. Ron was trailing behind us.

I passed out before we reached madam Pomfrey, and I woke up an hour later in the hospital wing.

The first thing my brain registered when I woke up was the pain. The second thing I noticed was that someone was holding my right, uninjured hand. I opened my eyes to see Harry sitting at my side, holding my hand with a worried expression on his face.

"Hey there," he said softly.

"Hi." I replied, my voice raspy from sleep.

"How do you feel?" He asked, looking concerned, "Are you in pain? Should I got get Madam Pomfrey?" As he said that, he started to rise out of his seat.

My hand (the uninjured one) shot out and grabbed his arm. The other hand was swathed in bandages.

"I'm fine, really. The pain is minimal," I lied.

I've never been a very good liar.

Harry called me out, "Liar," he said, "you're in a lot pain, I can tell. Let me go get madam Pomfrey, I'm sure she'll be able to help."

I smiled grimly.

"Harry, the thing about Incendio is that when it burns flesh, there's not much any magic can do to help with the healing or the pain. I think magic can speed the healing up slightly, that is, the regrowth of tissue, but only the strongest pain management potions and spells have any effect."

"Then I guess madam Pomfrey will have to use the strongest magics to help. I'll go get her."

I whimpered, I didn't want to be alone.

"I'll be right back, Ron can be here in the mean time." He said.

"Ron!" He called.

Ron popped his head into the curtains surrounding my hospital bed.

"She's awake?"

"Yeah, can you stay with her while I go get Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked.

Ron looked conflicted, "Um, it kinda looks like she wants you to stay mate. How 'bout I go get Madam Pomfrey instead?"

Harry sighed, i assumed with relief, and said, "that would be great, thanks."

So i continued to hold on to Harry until Madam Pomfrey arrived and started fussing over me.

Eventually she gave me a potion that she said would help with the pain, which was coming back more and more, with a vengeance. What Madam Pomfrey didn't tell me was that it would also make me sleep.

Every thing went black.

A/N: What do you think? Should I continue the story? The whole spider-burned hand thing has been in my head for AGES and I just had to write it down. The more reviews the more I'm encouraged to continue if you like it!