Chapter 8

Madame Pomfery had allowed Cormac to follow them to the hospital wing. She had used her wand to conjure a stretcher, and made it hover ahead of them, carrying Hermione, as they rushed towards the hospital wing. On the way she had quizzed him thoroughly. He told her everything that he knew, but it was clear from the look of her face that nothing he said had led the matron to a better understanding of Hermione's condition.

"Wait here!" she had barked at the entrance to the hospital wing, and he was left stood in the corridor as the double doors crashed shut in front of him. It was then that he realised that Hermione's condition must be serious, for him to be made to wait outside. With this realisation echoing around his head Cormac found that he simply didn't have the strength to stand any more.

He was crouched on the floor, his head buried against his knees, when Madame Pomfrey came to tell him how Hermione was doing. He'd been sat there for an hour, although to Cormac it felt like he had been there for years. Cormac stood to greet her.

"Miss Granger is still unconscious, Mr McLaggen. I cannot detect what is wrong with her, beyond that it seems to be some kind of curse." All colour drained from Cormac's face, and he was unable to reply. "You're going to have to wait here for Professor Dumbledore," she continued. "He'll want to speak to you himself about what happened."

"Dumbledore?" Cormac managed to ask, and his voice didn't sound like his own.

"He may be able to help me decide what to do next." For the first time she seemed to really look at him. "Would you like a glass of water, Mr McLaggen?"

Not trusting himself to speak, Cormac simply shook his head.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor as Dumbledore approached.

"I got your message, Poppy," he said, in a voice that spoke of gentle concern. Cormac felt that the professor hadn't grasped the true magnitude of the situation. "Where is she?"

This time nobody stopped Cormac from following them into the infirmary.

Hermione lay in a bed halfway down the ward. It was clear that the rest of the school's inhabitants were healthy and whole, as all the other beds were empty. The curtains hadn't been drawn around the bed where Hermione lay, as there was no one there to invade her privacy.

Her hair lay tangled on the pillow around her. Her face was pale and drawn, and an expression of sheer pain graced her sleeping features.

"She awoke about half an hour ago, but she seemed so pained and confused that I thought it best to sedate her." The matron seemed unaware that Cormac had followed her into the room, as she rapidly explained Hermione's condition to the headmaster. "It looks like some sort of curse, Albert, but which one I can't fathom."

Dumbledore rested his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Mr McLaggen will help us get to the bottom of it, I'm sure." The elderly wizard turned to him. Despite everything the calm, caring look in the old man's eyes comforted Cormac; in that moment he felt certain that Hermione really would be okay. "Come and have a seat, Mr McLaggen, and tell me exactly what happened."

As Cormac sat down Dumbledore sent the nurse to find Professor McGonagall. "There's nothing more we can do for her Poppy, until we find out what went wrong. Ask McGonagall to search Miss Granger's dorm for anything that may give us a clue to what happened. Please ask her to fetch Miss Granger's friends as well."

Cormac drew his seat close to Hermione's bed and gently took hold of her hand. She felt so cold.

"What happened, Mr McLaggen?"

It took him a few moments to find his voice. "I don't know, sir. One moment she was fine. We were going to study together, and we'd just met outside of the library. She seemed bothered by something, she said it was something that a friend had said."

"Which friend?" interrupted the professor.

"Harry Potter," Cormac replied simply. Dumbledore motioned for him to continue. "She said she had a headache, and then suddenly she just started clawing at her face. I tried to stop her, but when I did she got really aggressive." He looked down at the scratches on his hands.

"Is there anything else, Mr McLaggen?"

Cormac shuffled his feat nervously, and swallowed back his fear. "Yes, Professor; it happened when I mentioned Weasley. It was like his name was some sort of curse."

Looking grave Dumbledore nodded. "Thank you for your honesty, Mr McLaggen. Now I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to wait outside again for now." As he rose to leave the room, Cormac couldn't take his eyes off the unconscious girl in the bed.

"Will she be okay, Professor?"

Dumbledore offered his pupil a reassuring smile. "If my theory is right, Mr McLaggen, I am sure that Miss Granger will be just fine."


"What is he doing here?"

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were following Professor McGonagall down the corridor towards Cormac. Harry looked worried, but Weasley looked furious. Professor McGonagall's usual disapproving frown was firmly in place. In her hands she carried a small cardboard shoe box, and Cormac vaguely registered that it must be whatever the teacher had found in Hermione's room.

"Mr McLaggen was with Miss Granger when she collapsed," McGonagall explained briefly. "Wait here please, I need to speak to the headmaster." Taking the box with her, the teacher left the three boys outside, shutting the door behind her.

As soon as she was gone Weasley lost the little control he had previously held over his temper. He started towards Cormac, fists raised, but his best friend hurriedly grabbed the back of his robes. "What did you do to Hermione?" the redhead growled.

Shock and anger gripped Cormac as he looked into the eyes of the younger boy. Who was he, to stand before Cormac with such accusations when he had been ignoring and insulting Hermione for months, if not years? Ron had hurt Hermione deeply, and his effect on her life had hung like a great shadow over the relationship that she had tried to build with Cormac. It felt to Cormac like Ron had dogged his steps and tried to doom his relationship long before Hermione had come into his life. "What did you just ask me?" Cormac whispered quietly. He restrained himself, barely, knowing that Hermione wouldn't want him to fight over her, but he clenched his fists at his sides.

"It's a good question, McLaggen," said Harry in a much calmer voice, although the hand that wasn't restraining his best friend held his wand. "You were there when she was attacked. If it wasn't you who caused it why didn't you prevent it?"

Cormac stared at him aghast. "She wasn't attacked," he tried to explain. "She collapsed. We were talking, about him." Angrily Cormac pointed at Ron. "When I mentioned his name she started fitting, and then she…" Cormac's voice broke off.

Slowly Harry put his wand back in his pocket. With his free hand he pushed his messy hair out of his eyes. "That makes a lot of sense. I wonder if someone cursed her to react to Ron's name. She didn't seem to know him when I spoke to her. I thought that she was just pretending but…"

"Wait," interrupted Ron, his face now a vibrant red that matched his hair, "are you blaming me for Hermione being cursed?"

"How could we?" said Harry, and there was a hint of bitterness in his voice. "You haven't been near her in months."

The redhead's face turned a shade to match his hair. Before Weasley could come up with a suitable response to his friend's remark the doors to the hospital wing were flung open to reveal Professor McGonagall. "You can come in now," she invited, standing back to let them pass.

On the bed next to Hermione's the contents of the cardboard box had been emptied. Small vials of swirling silver liquid were scattered across the bed, glittering like jewels against the crisp white linen.

"Sir, are those memories?" asked Potter curiously on Cormac's right.

"Indeed they are, Harry," replied Dumbledore softly. "In fact they are Miss Granger's memories. She was keeping them stored in a cardboard box under her bed."

"Blimey, that's the strangest thing since she had that time turner!" said Weasley bluntly. "What would she do that for?"

It was with dread that it slowly dawned upon Cormac what Hermione must have done. He didn't believe that it could be possible, but Hermione was so intelligent that she could make it work…almost. She'd made herself ill trying to forget about Weasley. It was only because of this spell, this memory charm that she had ever taken any interest in him at all. He looked away from the vials to watch Hermione. All his hopes were dashed. Feeling stupid for ever believing that she would love him back, Cormac kept quiet about his revelation.

Harry had come to the same conclusion, however, and he was happy to voice his thought aloud. "She removed all her memories of you, Ron."

Weasley looked aghast. "WHAT? Why?" he asked stupidly.

It was Dumbledore who patted his student's shoulder with a reassuring hand. "The heart of a teenage girl is a confusing thing, Mr Weasley. I think the best way to find out the answer to that particular question would be to ask her."

"Will she be okay Professor?" Harry asked, daring to utter the words no one else could.

The old wizard smiled at the boys reassuringly. "Once I put all the memories back she should be back to her old self. By this time tomorrow she should be able to have visitors. She'll have a headache for her troubles, but the damage shouldn't last."

With the headmaster's reassuring words ringing in their ears they were shooed from the hospital wing. The two younger boys began to talk in secretive whispers, but Cormac's head was too full of thoughts to try to decipher what they were saying to one another, because with every step he took he couldn't help but come more resolutely to the conclusion that Hermione had never really cared about him, and never really would.

If it had taken a memory charm for Hermione just to want to spend time with him, there really was no hope for this relationship. Cormac was sure that once she woke up she wouldn't want to see him ever again, not after she remembered just how in love she was with Weasley.

"Oi, McLaggen!" the redhead shouted to him once he reached the portrait hole. Cormac hadn't realised how far his steps had fallen behind theirs whilst he was musing; he rushed to catch up. "Sorry for accusing you of hurting Hermione earlier," Ron said in all seriousness. "And thank you so much for taking her to the hospital wing; if you hadn't been there she could be a lot worse off by now."

"It's no problem," Cormac muttered. He didn't feel that it was his place to correct Weasley's obvious misconception that he had just happened upon Hermione, and Potter didn't seem to want to either. Not tonight.

"Well, see you around then." With a hearty shake of his hand Weasley vanished inside the common room, and Cormac was left alone in the empty corridor to wallow.


Author's Notes:
Yet again, my apologies for the delay in updating. Exam season I feel is a valid excuse. Thank you all so much for your kind reviews and words of encouragement!