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Chapter 2
Hermione's eyes opened with a snap; confused by what she saw she began to look around slowly. Even in the dim light she could make out several things, an uncomfortable chair sitting next to a glass door, a telly, a tray table pushed up against the wall, bed rails… a hospital? Looking down at her arms, the left was in a cast, as for the right, she saw several clear tubes running from her elbow to a clear bag hanging above her head, a soft beep coming occasionally from the plastic box just below.
Why was she in a hospital?
"Harry!" she yelled, as she sat up, suddenly remembering what had happened in the forest. Pain, and a wave of nausea swept over her, she ended up gasping as she grasped the bed rail tightly.
A voice, that seemed to come from all around her, said calmly, "Ms. Hermione, your friend Harry is here as well, and is being tended to. I will summon the doctor, she will be here in a couple of minutes to speak with you. If you need anything just ask for me, my name is Jarvis, and I will see that it is taken care of immediately. Welcome to Stark Tower."
"T-thank you…" she said weakly. "Um- Jarvis?" Stark? She thought she had heard the name before, but she had never heard of Stark Tower.
"Yes Ms. Hermione?" the voice replied.
"Ho-How long have we been here?" she asked, afraid to know the answer. "And where is here, for that matter?"
What she had originally thought was a wall seemed to shimmer, a beautiful but unfamiliar skyline appearing. "It has been a little over three hours, from the time you were moved here from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mobile headquarters. As for where you are, this is Stark Tower, the new home of Stark International, New York City.
She stared out of the window, stunned. "New York City?" she mumbled. "Oh… Harry… How did we get here?"
She squinted as the lights in the room suddenly came to life, and a young brunette woman in a white lab coat entered carrying what looked like a clear piece of glass with blue writing on it. She tapped it a few times as Hermione watched her, amazed as the blue writing changed.
The woman looked up from the glass. "I'm Doctor Fleming." She glanced back down. "Can you tell me your name please?"
Hermione shifted nervously, not sure what to say. She went with the simplest answer. "H-Hermione…"
The doctor nodded, and after a few moments looked up at her and asked, "And your last name?"
The girl shook her head.
"You don't remember your last name?" she asked again.
"N-No… I mean… yes… I remember… but…" she stammered, finally letting her voice trail off.
The doctor looked aggravated. "Mr. Stark said you probably wouldn't say…" She tapped on the glass a few more times. "For the moment I guess Hermione will have to do."
The doctor turned toward the TV and slid her fingers across the sheet of glass harshly. The TV sprang to life showing an outline of a female form, red splotches peppered over it. "The red indicates your injuries. You've got a concussion and a broken arm..." She gestured to the largest splotches. "Those are the most serious of your injuries… she pointed to a couple of other places in turn. "You have six stitches here… just above your left ear... and another four here… and here… where a limb pushed through your right thigh… all the other cuts and abrasions were fairly minor… You were lucky… your friend…"
"Harry…" Hermione supplied, her mind running on automatic.
The woman nodded. "Harry…" She swiped her fingers again, and a male frame appeared. Where hers had splotches, his was almost completely covered. "He has several burns, on his upper body… a punctured lung, internal bleeding, both of his legs as well as his right arm are broken… and a concussion… among other things…. It's still touch and go with him… If he makes it through the next forty-eight hours then his prognosis is good, but it will be a long recovery."
She turned back to the girl. "I need to know… is there anyone I can contact? For either of you?"
The girl was in tears, as she shook her head. The doctor pulled the chair toward the bed and sat next to her. Looking at her right arm she said, "I think we can do away with the IV." After pulling the needle loose and taking care of it, she turned back to her. "I don't mean to sound cold… but if someone is out there… family…"
She shook her head again, "I wouldn't know where to even begin looking for them…" she said sobbing, "But I doubt they would care… W-we're all each other has got left…" Tears streamed down the girls face. "C-can I see him? Please?"
The doctor studied her for a moment, then sighed. "If I do this, I don't want you out of this bed till I say different, understand?" The girl nodded. "Jarvis?"
"Yes Doctor?" the voice replied.
"Please allow Hermione to see my other patient," she said.
The wall beyond the end of her bed shimmered and became clear. A person lay in the next room, wrapped in bandages; the only thing she thought she recognized was his mop of black hair.
"Oh… Harry!" she cried, as sobs wracked her body again. "Why is it always you?"
The woman beside her asked, in a quiet voice. "Has he been hurt seriously before?" hoping for any tidbit of information that may help with any of a multitude of questions she had about the young man in the other room.
"It seems like he spent more time in the Hospital Wing at school than he did in his own bed sometimes…" she replied, without thinking. "He never seems to be able to keep out of trouble…"
"So he's a trouble maker?" she asked.
Hermione chuckled lightly. "He sees more than his fair share… But he rarely goes looking for it."
The doctor laid a hand on the girl's, pulling her attention away from the sight in front of her. "Hermione… Harry's blood tests… He doesn't take any medication… or drugs?"
Hermione's head tilted to the side slightly, a look of confusion on her face. The doctor continued, "We've… We've found some things in his blood we can't explain… We know that he has had a couple of transfusions before he arrived… But S.H.I.E.L.D. is… well… they won't give us any information on the donors… and some of the things we have found don't make any sense…"
Hermione's mind was racing; any potions they would have taken would have been out of their systems months ago… She shook her head. "No… He…We haven't taken any thing… Not that I know of…"
The doctor smiled. "Your results came back normal, a little low on iron, but normal… Are you sure you don't know of anything your friend may have taken?"
"No… and we've been together almost every moment for the last couple of months…" she said.
The doctor's brow furrowed. "Alright, but if you think of anything please let us know," she said as she began to stand, returning the chair to its spot next to the door. "You try to get some rest. Ask Jarvis if you need anything."
As the woman was stepping out Hermione asked, "Our things? Did they bring any of our things?"
The woman nodded, moving toward the counter. "Most of your clothes were ruined, but any personal effects are in here," she said picking up a plastic bag and placing it on the tray table. She pushed it next to the bed and began opening the bag. "Was there something in particular you were looking for?"
The girl shook her head. "I just wanted to know… Can you leave it there? I'll go through after I rest a little."
The woman smiled at her. "Sure…" She pushed it within arm's reach. "Try to get some sleep," she said walking out of the room.
As soon as the click of the woman's heels had faded away Hermione grabbed the bag and dumped the contents onto the bed.
The first thing she saw, and grabbed, was her beaded handbag. She clutched it tightly to her chest, if nothing else they had this! She sighed deeply, thanking Merlin that it hadn't been lost and that she had taken to wearing the small bag constantly, just like Harry did his mokeskin bag on which hers was based. What they had stashed inside the unassuming purple bag, that she had enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm, may just save their lives.
She dug her way through the remainder of the things, most of it useless at the moment, though she hung Harry's bag around her neck just in case, saddened her wand was missing. She sighed, 'nothing for it' she thought as she began to fumble with her beaded bag.
Jarvis was one of Tony Stark's crowning achievements, one part man servant, one part guard, one part friend and one part lab assistant, and had saved the man's life on more than a few occasions. While not a true artificial intelligence, he was highly adaptable and as close as any program had yet come to achieving that feat.
Jarvis watched as the young woman began digging through the objects she had dumped out onto the bed, his logic routine faltered as she opened the small bag and her arm disappeared into it up to her elbow.
In a separate area of his consciousness, a reconstruction of the object began. A wire frame of the small bag assembled itself out of the ether; dimensions began to flash past as each section's size was confirmed. The accrual volume inside of the bag appeared next to the bag frame, .25 cubic feet. A wire frame of her arm appeared next, measurements fluttering by at incredible speed. A red outline surrounded each.
What he had observed was impossible.
Even as he re-ran the simulation for the tenth time, Hermione had not yet removed her arm from the bag. Allocating a number of the additional scanners inside the tower to monitor her further he continued to observe, and record her movements.
Hermione sighed as she withdrew the wand they had taken from Bathilda Bagshot's home after the encounter with Nagini, as it had turned out Voldemort's familiar had been spelled and taken the old lady's place in an attempt to kill Harry. Harry had insisted that they may need it after his own wand had been broken in the struggle, leaving them with only her wand between them. Looking at it she sighed again; it had never worked well for either of them but at the moment she couldn't complain, at least it was something.
Digging into the bag again she pulled out a small vial, holding it up to the light to check the contents. Essence of Dittany… She watched as the small bubble denoting the level left in the vial moved as she shook her hand. 'Not much left…' she thought. 'I need to see to Harry first, once he's out of danger I'll get us out of here… somehow.'
Slowly she picked up the other items on the bed and put them back into the plastic bag, then gathered it and the beaded bag, hooking them on the arm covered with a cast, and slid forward, hissing with pain as she moved her injured leg. Ignoring it, she continued till her bare feet touched the floor.
With her wand leading the way she moved to the door.
Jarvis debated alerting Doctor Fleming, but her actions intrigued the AI and he allowed her to continue.