I should probably add at this point that I do all of my own proof-reading. Any and all mistakes made are mine.

Happy Reading!


February 1st was the day Hermione finally got to leave the hospital wing. She felt terrible for messing up so royally. How could she not have known the hair in her potion was cat's hair? How could she not have known? After all of her careful research and planning and brewing, it had all been screwed up with one terrible mistake.

In retrospect, she thought, it could have been worse. Madam Pomfrey had asked blessedly few questions about the circumstances in which Hermione had imbibed the tainted Polyjuice, and with time had been able to reverse the effects completely. Hermione shivered, remember the feeling of fur, whiskers, and hairballs. Ugh.

Walking out of the hospital wing and heading up to the common rooms with her bag of personal belongings, she tried to avoid eye contact with anyone she passed. She dearly wished to avoid both curious stares and nosy questions. Besides, she was on a mission. After nearly a month of receiving classmates notes and reading ahead in her textbooks, she was dying to speak to her professors in person to be sure she'd been understanding all of the coursework she'd been working on from the confines of the Hospital Wing.

"Hello dear! A very warm welcome home!" The Fat Lady greeted her, letting her pass without a password. Obviously, the portraits had somehow been informed of her "accident", much to her mortification. She trudged up to her dormitory to set her belongings aside, ignoring the surprised stares from her dorm mates, and then gathered a few of her school books.

"Hermione! You're back!" Ron and Harry ran over to say hello when they spotted her crossing the common room on her way out. Harry embraced her warmly, while Ron briefly and awkwardly hugged her, bringing a blush to her cheeks that she could not explain.

"It's so good to be back," Hermione began to walk towards the portrait hole, "I'll see you both later. I've got to speak to our professors. I've got so much to do!"

"Hermione, you've been studying nonstop in the hospital wing, and you're more than caught up," Ron protested over her shoulder. But she kept on walking.

Hermione walked down a few flights of stairs to the History of Magic classroom, intending to have a discussion with Professor Binns about the goblin revolts she'd spent all her time reading about. She opened the door, but right away wished she hadn't.

In the darkened classroom, atop a desk in the back corner of the room, were Percy and Penelope. They were kissing. Hermione turned and immediately tried to leave unnoticed, but bumped loudly against the door frame, startling all three of them. Penelope, who was seated facing the door, gasped.

"Oh!" Percy pulled away and stood up, squinting against the light from the hallway. Penelope ducked her head, hiding her face behind her curtain of curly hair. "Hermione, is that you?"

"Yes. I'll be going now," she squeaked. She fled the room, letting the door thud closed behind her. She could not believe she had walked in on the two of them. In light of her flushed cheeks, she decided to forgo speaking with any professors at all, and hide in the library instead. She found her corner table empty as usual, and took a seat, burying herself in a Transfiguration Theory essay that McGonagall had recently assigned.

Several hours passed before Percy took a seat across from her in the late afternoon. He had a book in his hand, but ignored it in favor of waiting for her to look up at him. It wasn't until their eyes met that Hermione saw that he was blushing. So was she, but he held her gaze.

"Hermione, about earlier today…" He began, softly.

"Percy, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were there, I just wanted to speak with Professor Binns, and-" She stumbled over her apology, whispering quickly. Her face burned at the memory still fresh in her head.

"Hermione, I'm not angry with you. In fact, I came to apologize to you. Penny and I should not have been in there, doing what we were, and I'm sorry we embarrassed you," Hermione relaxed a little. He wasn't mad.

"It's okay, I forgive you,"

"We shouldn't have been in there, we are prefects after all," That was the Percy that Hermione knew. Even two years after his appointment, she knew he was still very proud of himself for receiving the position. "I'm actually glad it was you, if anyone had to catch us. I know that you've agreed not to tell anyone about Penny and I yet…" Oh. He was concerned about his secret getting out.

"I won't tell anyone about today, I promise," Hermione was eager to end this discussion.

"Thank you. I know I can trust you," He shifted his weight a little in the chair, "Now, I do have a question for you,"

"Sure,"

"Why have you been in the hospital wing for the past month? People thought you'd been petrified, but I know Harry and Ron having been bringing you your assignments," Well, shoot. Hermione had been hoping that he'd avoid that topic, the only one she wanted to talk about less than today's incident in the History classroom. Most of her classmates and probably a good portion of the student body knew that she'd been in the hospital wing, but Harry and Ron had done their best to spread the vague rumor of a charms experiment gone wrong. That combined with the Heir of Slytherin threat hanging over their heads had muddled the gossip pool enough to keep Hermione's furry secret safe.

"It's...well...uh...it's a long story,"

"I'd be delighted to hear it,"

"You can't tell a soul," Percy raised an eyebrow, but waited. Hermione realized that if she had to tell this story to anyone, Percy was the one person she felt like she could trust. She took a breath, "Okay. Well, it all started when you told me about the polyjuice potion…" Hermione told the story, elaborating on most points but keeping secret the confidences that she, Ron, and Harry held close. Percy's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline, but to his credit, he refrained from comment until she'd finished.

"Hermione, while I can't believe that you the abused the knowledge I trusted to you, I am astounded that you managed to successfully brew Polyjuice potion. That's NEWT level, you know," Percy sat back in his chair and stared at her. Hermione herself was astounded that he wasn't more upset with her for breaking the rules. She decided not to look that gift horse in the mouth.

"It was rather challenging, but since most of the steps involved adding an ingredient and then letting the potion sit for a time, I worked it out," It hadn't been too challenging, given the extensive research she'd done beforehand.

"You slivered the boomslang skin and shredded the knotgrass, and added them to the potion at the stroke of midnight on the full moon?"

"Yes, of course,"

"Wow…" Percy trailed off, processing. Hermione pressed on, trying force the last of her blush from her cheeks.

"Percy, this might be the wrong time to ask, but do you think that you could get another book for me from the restricted section? I want to do a bit of reading on the Goblin rebellion of 381 AD. I...didn't get to ask Professor Binns about it today," His amusement at her question was reflected in the eyebrow he raised, but he moved on.

"You have terrible timing, but yes, I'll get the book for you tomorrow. I did like reading about that rebellion. I found the use of torture in that rebellion to be rather barbaric, but the Goblins' technological advances were far beyond their time,"

"Yes! And the way it began? Those poor muggles…" Hermione saw Percy's gaze shift to a point behind her. She turned her head and saw Penelope standing at the bookshelf that the two teens usually met beside, "You'd better go, Percy. Thanks for the intelligent conversation. I haven't had many of those recently,"

"I'll have intelligent conversations with you whenever you'd like, Hermione. And thank you for not telling about..." He trailed off. It didn't need to be said.

"Of course, Percy, I'll see you later,"


Hermione was in the library; a brainstorm had caught her on the way to the quidditch match, and she'd turned around and run straight back into the school. She quickly found what she wanted and sat down at her usual table in the back of the library, paging so quickly through the book that she knew she was bound to get a paper cut.

"Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known as the king of serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken egg and hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it,"

Of course! It all made sense now! The snake was the one doing all of the petrifying. A Basilisk fit every one of the criteria, including the spiders and the roosters that Hagrid had mentioned. But how was it getting around the castle? It was supposed to be huge. Hermione racked her brain. She spun a muggle fountain pen around her fingers. How? There must have been something...Harry had heard the snake in the walls...there was water all over the floor...not from the lake...it traveled unseen...so that could only mean...the pipes!

Carelessly and uncharacteristically, she tore the page out of the book and scribbled down "pipes" in the margin. This was too important to forget.

"Hermione? Are you coming to the Quidditch match?" She looked up to see Penelope standing a few feet away. Over the past few weeks, Penelope and Hermione had become friends outside of spending time in Percy's company. Penelope was a prefect, and Hermione would freely admit that she had a small case of hero worship for the older girl, whose serene countenance and matter-of-fact authority were equal parts comforting and intimidating. Her love of study was also exciting; Penelope wanted to apply to a Healer program after graduation and was always reading interesting articles. Hermione hadn't expected to see Penelope in the library today. There was a Quidditch match, which Hermione had fully intended on attending before her revelation. But there was no time to wonder; it was time to act, and quickly.

"Oh, Penelope, we have to warn everyone. I found out what has been attacking the students. It's a basilisk," Penelope's eyes went wide as Hermione quickly explained what she had deduced.

"Oh my! That's horrible!" Penelope looked around the now deserted library, "We need to tell someone immediately,"

"We'll have to be careful, we can't look at its eyes, because that's how it attacks," Penelope began to dig through her bookbag and pulled out a small mirror, "Oh, that's perfect. Are you ready?" Penelope nodded and the girls dashed to the library's exit. Penelope angled the mirror out of the door.

"Clear," they hurried along as fast as they dared. Hermione took the mirror for the next corner.

"What do we tell the teachers?" Penelope asked, peering over Hermione's shoulder as they tried to get a clear view down the next corridor.

"I don't-" A great big pair of yellow eyes. The two fell to the floor.

Hermione's mind was frozen and she was faintly aware that her body was frozen as well, but she couldn't think about that. She couldn't think of anything, really. Before, her brain could have been considered a lake, with thoughts swimming about like little fish. Now, her brain was frozen, the fish suspended in ice, thoughts going nowhere. Her body was not cold, but absolutely still. In her very subconscious, her last thought had been about that library book with the page torn out. Now it was all she could think about. It was driving her subconscious crazy.


Percy was distraught. First, his girlfriend and one of his very close friends had been petrified, and had lain side-by-side in the hospital wing for weeks, unable to move, while the rest of the school were terrified day in and day out. Now, he had found out that his baby sister had been possessed by Voldemort for most of the school year and that a Basilisk had been roaming the school, picking off students one at a time. His little sister, poor Ginny. Percy had wanted to sob when he'd seen her, pale and dirty, but alive. She was sleeping in the hospital wing now, recovering from her trauma with Mum and Dad at her bedside. Thank goodness for Harry and Ron. Percy had been there when the two boys had related their story, nearly tripping over their words and each others as they struggled to articulate the ordeal. It was unbelievable.

Even now, as he sat between Penelope and Hermione in the hospital wing, he tried to get his heart rate to slow. It hadn't stopped racing since he'd found out Ginny was missing, even after he'd seen her alive and okay. He could have lost three of the most important girls in his life, and Voldemort was to blame. Voldemort, who up until last year when the rumors had circulated about Harry, Ron, and Hermione's midnight adventure, had been a long dead villain, the stuff of nightmares.

"Mr. Weasley," Madam Pomfrey's voice startled him out of his thoughts, "Mr. Weasley, I am ready to administer the Mandrake serum now,"

"Oh, thank goodness," Percy began to slide his hand out of Penelope's, but Madam Pomfrey stopped him.

"Mr. Weasley, if you would like to stay, you are welcome to,"

"Are you sure?" Madam Pomfrey normally guarded her charges fiercely, but today she looked as though she'd just run a marathon.

"You were a great help to me in researching those Petrification antidote dosage factors. And I could use an extra set of hands," The moment Percy had found out the two girls were petrified, he'd raced to the library, where he'd spent several days researching everything he could about mandrakes, petrification, potions, and anything else he could think of that might be useful. He'd presented his findings to Madam Pomfrey, and had spent hours with her, figuring out exactly what ratio of ingredients would bring the most favorable results.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, I'd like to stay," Madam Pomfrey took a syringe and began to fill it with the cloudy, sand-colored potion.

"When they begin waking up, the first stage is usually a seizure, because the blood rushes through the body at an accelerated rate," Madam Pomfrey filled five more syringes. She walked over to Mrs. Norris, "The longer they've been petrified, the longer they will seize for. After they finish, they should begin breathing again. If you could keep an eye on Mrs. Norris and Sir Nicholas, I'd like to double check the dosage levels for our human patients. If the cat doesn't start breathing within a few minutes, alert me immediately,"

Mrs. Norris received a syringe full of Mandrake serum to the neck and Sir Nicholas received an injection somewhere in his gaping neck wound. Percy watched carefully as the feline began to shake wildly. Her limbs twitched wildly, and Percy feared the cat would fall off the table. Madam Pomfrey came to watch beside Percy as Mrs. Norris stopped twitching, was completely still for a few seconds, and then drew a deep breath. Sir Nick had turned nearly opaque and had wavered around in the air as though being blown by a stiff breeze. Now he was nearly transparent again and floating peacefully in the middle of the room. Percy wasn't sure what the ghost was supposed to be doing, but Madam Pomfrey seemed satisfied.

"Excellent. I'm comfortable proceeding now with our human patients. Mr. Creevey first. If you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on him," Madam Pomfrey's wand twitched, and all of the guard rails rose on the beds, and Percy assumed this was to keep the still-still patients from falling. The Medi-Witch injected Colin first, finding a vein in his neck and emptying the syringe of cloudy beige liquid into the boy. She repeated the process for Justin. They passed a quiet several minutes watching the two young patients seize, become still, and then begin breathing.

"Almost finished," Madam Pomfrey injected Hermione's neck first, and then Penelope's. Percy watched the girls seize while Madam Pomfrey began administering new potions to the others, who were starting to awaken more fully. Mrs. Norris began to howl. Hermione and Penelope finished seizing and began breathing within seconds of each other. Colin woke up and began deliriously asking what had happened, and Sir Nicholas began floating of his own volition, letting his head pop on and off of his neck repeatedly.

"Mr. Finch-Fletchley, I would suggest you move cautiously, unless you want to snap your fingers off," Madam Pomfrey called a warning to the boy, who glanced down at his hands with great concern.

Penelope shifted a little, and Percy moved to be in her line of vision.

"Penny, can you hear me?"

"Is the snake gone?" She asked, looking around. Percy had never been so happy to hear her speak.

"Yes, it's gone. Here, drink this," Percy accepted a potion glass from Madam Pomfrey and helped Penny drink it. Hermione stirred, and winced when she tried to move.

"How do you feel, Hermione?" Percy asked.

"Like I need to go to the library," Everyone laughed at that, and Hermione explained what had been on her mind for the past month and a half. Madam Pomfrey handed out nutrient-replacing potions and gave everyone basic examinations while Percy told everyone the story of what had happened since they'd been petrified, starting as far back as when the first of them had fallen victim, and finishing with the events of the previous few days with Harry, Ginny, and the Basilisk.

"That's unbelievable," Nearly Headless Nick said when Percy was finished. He was stretching his ghostly limbs, testing out the neck hinge between his head and body. Percy tried not to look; even in his ghostly form, the wound was ghastly.

"It is quite the story, I know," Percy was embarrassed to be the center of attention, but thankfully Madam Pomfrey interrupted, saving him from having to answer any questions.

"Students, you are free to leave the hospital wing. It's just about dinner time, so you might wish to head to the Great Hall. However, you are to come straight back here if any part of you still feels petrified, or if you experience severe headaches, vomiting, or an inability to defecate,"

"What does defecate mean?" Colin whispered to Justin. Justin murmured the answer in the boy's ear, and both boys cringed.

They all rose, and Penny and Hermione came to Percy.

"Dinner, ladies?" Percy offered. They nodded eagerly, and Penny took his hand, while Hermione jogged along at his other side. Percy could not stop smiling. He was so relieved to have them back.