Chapter 1- Diagnosis

It felt like I'd been hit with a bus. I opened my eyes slowly, prepared to be in the hospital, but I was in the infirmary. Why was I here? I brought my hands up to rub my eyes, but stopped when I saw they were stained red. Was that blood?

Madam Pomfrey walked up to me and squealed when she saw I was awake.

"Miss Granger?" she asked, holding her wand in front of her. I wasn't dangerous, why was she so afraid?

"Yes? What's going on? What happened?" I asked feeling scared. Had I been hurt?

"I think the headmaster should tell you that. He's gone to let students know you're both all right." Madam Pomfrey said soothingly. I held up my hands.

"Is this blood?" I asked. She nodded and cleaned them immediately.

"Whose is it?" I demanded. If it was mine, then shouldn't I be hurt?

"Draco Malfoy's." She looked very uncomfortable and I saw her eye glance over to another bed. Malfoy was lying on the bed a few down from mine, covered in blood, but I could see he was breathing. I looked back down at myself, seeing the splatters of blood on my clothes.

"What did I do?" I whispered in horror. It was no secret that I didn't like Malfoy, but I wouldn't ever hurt him! I'd already done enough to hurt him.

"Miss Granger, you didn't do anything." I jumped a little when the Headmaster came in, smiling less than usual.

"I'm afraid to say that you and Mr. Malfoy were possessed early this morning before classes. It's been more years than you can count since this happened. Someone conjured these particular souls to infect you and Mr. Malfoy."

I felt overwhelmed by that concept. How could I have been possessed and not even remember it?

"The memory will come back, but I think it's best if you see if for yourself. There were a great number of students that saw the exchange."

A little girl, maybe a second year, walked in the infirmary looking terrified.

"Miss Marla has offered to show you the memory of what happened."

I saw the pensieve on a table next to me and sat up. The girl took out her wand and pressed it against her temple, pulling out a silvery string. I didn't even know how to do that!

"Professor Snape showed me how to do it." The girl said simply and put the memory in the bowl. I smiled thanks and looked into the memory.

It was all a blur once I came out of the pensieve. I couldn't believe I'd stabbed someone with an ounce of hesitation. I was crying and I felt someone rubbing circles on my back, trying to calm my down.

"Ugh…" A deep voiced moan came from the other side of the infirmary. I knew he was waking up.

"I should leave. He'll be so angry!" I said, but the headmaster and Madam Pomfrey both shook their heads.

"You can't leave. You could be infected again at any time, Miss Granger. You'll be staying somewhere safe and alone. We can't have Celia hurt anyone." The headmaster said sadly, but I frowned in confusion.

"Did you say Celia? I read something about her in Hogwarts, A History. She was the first student sorted into Gryffindor. She even got engaged to a Slytherin!" I explained, frowning, trying to remember everything I'd read about her.

"She'd died a mysterious death." I whispered, struggling to remember how she died exactly. Maybe it hadn't said.

"Celia was the woman who infected you. Mr. Malfoy was infected with Lucian."

The name sent a bout of shivers through my body and I closed my eyes.

"She was engaged to him. She died her seventh year at Hogwarts. Why were we infected?" I asked curiously.

"Professor Binns has informed me that you can't choose who will be possessed, only who would do the possessing. Some witch or wizard choose Celia and Lucian to infect some students, but never knew who it would be."

"So the souls choose who they possess? That doesn't make any sense! They would go to people in their situation! Someone who-"

"Merlin even in the infirmary you're still going on about things no one cares about. Shut up for once, Granger, I'm tired." Malfoy's sleepy voice interrupted my rant. I ignored him and kept trying to find the connection.

"They were looking for someone to hate. That's why they picked us. I hate him and he hates me even more." I said softly.

A clap echoed around the room and I saw Professor Snape sneering at me.

"Well done, we would have never guessed that Miss Granger. We all thought you to be having a torrid affair under the nose of every person in this school." He said sarcastically. He always wanted to hurt me. I should be used to it by now. Maybe it was the stress of being possessed that made me say it.

"Shut the fuck up, Snape, I'm not in the mood for your whining. No one cares that you hate me, all right?"

Silence filled the room until a humored laugh broke it.

"Damn, Granger."

"You aren't lucid enough to talk, go back to sleep, Malfoy. I'll try to keep it down." I snapped and flopped back onto my bed, feeling drained.

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat, "I think you'll be fin staying here for the night until we find you a room to stay in until this is over."

"Do you even know if it will be over?" I asked softly. I could be stuck like this forever!

"Goodnight Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy."

They all left, Snape giving me an evil glare, and I was alone with Malfoy. I wished Harry and Ron were here, but they were of course in class. That's where I should be.

"Come on Granger it's not that bad. So what? You were possessed. It'll be better tomorrow." He said sarcastically.

"You were possessed too, dumbass. Why do you think you're here?"

He was finally quiet and I closed my eyes, hoping sleep would come quickly.

The sun was blinding me when I opened my eyes. I was still lying on the bed, wearing the clothes I put on yesterday morning. I sighed and sat up, wincing as my back cracked loudly. The sun had just risen, I could tell by the purple color the sky was. I used to think that was the most beautiful thing in the world. Until the final battle; seeing that beautiful purple sky, while so many people were being slaughtered and tortured, made it too much to look at now. It brought back so many horrible memories.

"Let me go, you stupid fucker!" I whirled around when Ginny's voice broke into my racing mind. She was thrown onto the ground and kicked in the stomach. Oh god, her baby! What was she even doing here?

I felt the death curse escape my lips and her attacker dropped to the ground. I ran to her, dropping to my knees. She looked at me with sad eyes.

"Thanks."

I was angry. It was irrational, but she was caring Harry's child how could I not be mad. She could have been killed. Then what would Harry have to fight for?

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Ginny? What are you doing out here! This isn't defense class. You could get you and your baby killed!"

She looked down, ashamed of herself. Good.

"I'll go back; I just wanted to know he was all right. It's driving me insane not knowing." She whispered and stood up.

"Get back inside the castle. Harry wont forgive himself if you're murdered." I snapped and shoved her towards the school. She glared at me.

"Ron wouldn't have treated me like this." She whispered, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm not him! Now go, Ginny!" She finally ran and I searched for Harry or Ron, wishing I knew how to end this torture. I saw Seamus a few feet away and made my way towards him.

"Seamus! Have you-"

He'd turned towards me, his neck cracking unnaturally. I noticed that it had been twisted at an odd angle. Oh god, oh god…. No it wasn't possible.

Only it was. He was dead. I could tell by the blank look in his eyes. There wasn't anything there. He was an inferi. Voldemort must have cursed the grounds or something. This was horrible! How could I kill Seamus?

He moved towards me, struggling to right his footing. His wand would be useless, but he was still strong. I was too shocked to run, or scream, or even use my own wand to stop him. This wasn't real. I kept thinking that. It wasn't real. If it wasn't real then I wouldn't get hurt.

I couldn't tell myself that when his dead hand, that were stained with blood, wrapped around my throat. I kicked him, but inferi don't feel pain, so he didn't flinch.

"Incendio!"

Fire erupted from my wand, coating him in flames. The smell of burnt flesh filled my nose and I heaved the contents of my stomach onto the ground. I saw Minerva fighting with a death eater, but she was losing. She looked so tired. I gripped my wand and said the death curse as quietly as I could so he couldn't avoid it. It hit him in the chest and he fell to the ground. Minerva looked for her savoir and frowned when she saw me.

"Hermione? Dear child, what happened to you?" I didn't know if she was referring to the fact that I'd killed someone without hesitation or the blood smeared on my neck.

"I'm fine. You need to be quicker. He almost hit you." I said and started running towards the forest. That's where Harry is. He should know Ginny is all right.

"Crucio!"

My body dropped like a brick and I screamed as the agony coursed through my body, bringing excruciating spasms with it.

It ended in a few seconds and I saw Lucius Malfoy above me, flanked by his son and Severus Snape. I got to my knees and smiled.

"Avada Kedavra!" I whispered and he too fell. Severus blinked in shock and I stunned Malfoy, unable to kill someone my age. I'd hated Lucius Malfoy for much longer than any other death eater. I felt he deserved it.

"As if he wasn't going to do just that to me." I said indifferently and continued through the forest. I knew without a doubt that Severus was on our side. It must have been shock that stopped Lucius from deflecting the curse. I'd been under the torture curse to many times for it to stun me that much. He probably didn't know I could recover in a few seconds. Naïve bastard.

I had to find Harry, I had to help him.

"Miss Granger!"

I jumped with a scream and saw that I wasn't on any battle field. I was in the infirmary, dealing with things that weren't important. Nothing compared to what we all endured just three months ago.

I doubted that Malfoy knew I'd killed his father. Severus swore he'd been oblivated. I knew how tricky memory charms were. That didn't mean much for now and with this possession, he could easily remember. I could trigger him to remember that I killed his father right in front of him.

"You told me the flash backs had stopped." It was Minerva who had called my name.

"They have." I said firmly. This was the first one in over a month and it only happened because of the stupid sun rise.

"Don't lie to me Hermione. I saw the look on your face. You assured me that your issues were being dealt with." She said with a glance at Malfoy who was still fast asleep five beds down from mine.

"They are." I whispered my gaze was locked on Malfoy. I stepped down from my bed, ignoring Minerva's calls. I reached the end of his bed and felt a somewhat familiar cold shiver go down my spine.

"It's a shame I couldn't kill you like you killed me, Lucian."

The voice was my own, but I never opened my mouth to say it. I knew what was happening and it frightened me. How could I stop it?

"Celia."

Malfoy, or Lucian, said softly. Malfoy's eyes opened and locked with mine, or hers. It was too confusing to try and understand.

"Yes, it's me. Do you remember that time when we snuck into the empty class room on the seventh floor?" I grabbed his hand and held it gently in mine, giving a laugh that made me shudder mentally.

"You were so sweet to me. You had a picnic inside because you know how I hate the cold. We had our first kiss that night, on Christmas Eve no less. I told you that I loved you that night too."

Malfoy had opened his eyes and was looking at me happily. In the back of my mind I knew it was really these two people who were talking and controlling us.

"Celia-

"It's okay Lucian, I understand. You waited until the next morning to tell me you loved me too. You said it was the best Christmas present you could come up with. So you gave me your love for Christmas. I always knew you were a hopeless romantic." The impostor in my body gave another fake laugh.

"I thought it's want you wanted." He whispered, staring at her in fear.

"Oh I did, but I wanted the real thing, not a filthy lie."

I could feel her rage, how strong it was. I couldn't find its source, though. Why was she so angry?

"You but out, Miss Hermione. You may own this body, but it's going to be shared for a while." I was surprised but stopped searching for answers and looked back at Malfoy.

"Malfoy? hmmmm it sounds familiar. Maybe I knew one once upon a time…"

"Celia what do you want. Why are you dragging me to this body? This boy has been through enough without our troubles."

I felt my face harden and imagined I was glared hatefully.

"I want you to feel the hurt I did." She hissed and I felt her slip away, pulling Lucian with her. I didn't lose consciousness this time, which I was grateful for. Malfoy was staring at me with wide eyes.

"You-…you killed him….how. Why…Merlin….you killed him..." Malfoy stammered in awe. I detected pain on his face and felt guilt hit me. Hard.

He wasn't making much sense to anyone but me. It was just like I thought. He had remembered because of these stupid souls invading are minds.

"I'm sorry." I whispered and fled the room, almost knocking Minerva down in the process.

A/N: This chapter is a bit longer than the last, I'm not sure the length will be consistent, though. Reviews make me smile and update more often.