AN: Sorry for the lengthy delay. Thank you for your kindness and patience. I took a new job in the fall (that I love), but I had to take some time to get situated. Now, that first semester is behind me, I am hopeful that I can get back into my regular updating schedule. Thanks for sticking it out with me. This chapter is a bit different than the rest, but it is a scene that we need for the overall story. Hopefully, you are good with it!

The Professor's Widow

Chapter Ten

Harry's in Danger

Last time on "The Professor's Widow.."

His legs began to lift him from the chair. A line about to be crossed, when instantly the room tinged green as green flames filled the floo with a floo call. The fire drew into the image of a fiery face and a man's voice called out, "Hermione, Hermione, are you there?" The voice yelled behind him, "No, I tried her house first." Then back into the floo louder, "Hermione?" Ron Weasley's head filled the flames. His voice pleading and urgent.

She quickly rushed towards the fireplace, "I'm here. I'm here."

"It's Harry, you need to come now."

Begin Chapter Ten

Whatever intoxicated buzz had been trickling across her skin dissolved away, and Hermione sobered instantly. She fled through the floo without so much as a, "farewell," to Severus or any additional questions to Ron.

It wasn't until she stepped through the magical path way that she began. "What's happened," she cried frantically. She took in her surroundings to find herself in a waiting room at St. Mungo's. More questions were beginning to swell, but the chaotic flutter and tizzy of the room silenced her before she could ask.

She took in the scene.

Around the room, a blonde woman was shouting desperately into another floo on the opposite wall. Her tone was shrill and clearly stressed.

Across an aisle between the back of two plush sofas, she watched Ginny Potter pacing anxiously with her pinky fingernail being gnawed at my her front teeth.

Snapping her out of it, Ron gripped her tightly on her shoulders and looked her firmly in the eyes, "You're going to need to be calm, Hermione. Everyone is going to need your strength right now."

Hermione forced the bile back down her throat and nodded, "I can keep it together. Just tell me-" she paused, "Is he alive?"

Ron's face was so grim that she couldn't tell what news he was going to share. "He's alive, but it doesn't look good. We need to be prepared." His last statement was hushed and barely audible.

For a brief moment her world seemed to dissolve; there was a grayness. Slowly the light returned, and she forced herself to take deep pacing breaths. Her wits began to pull together.

Directly and without inflection, she asked, "Ron, I need for you to tell me what has happened."

But it was just then that a set of redheads burst into the waiting room from yet another floo. They were all on Ginny, hugging and consoling her in an instant. Noticeably missing was Molly. Ron got pulled away, and Hermione felt her stomach tying itself in knots.

Charlie was talking loudly to Ginny, "Mum's with the kids. She's got them. You don't need to fret about the babes. They're probably filled with lollies right now."

Arthur was hugging Lavender Weasley, and Hermione stood towards the back watching the family that she was once so certain she would be a part of.

She scooted in closer to the circle around Ginny. Voices talking over one another were all basically asking the same question, "what happened?"

Ginny was fighting through tears to explain to her family what had happened to her beloved husband. "I-I, don't really know." She stuttered, "he-he fell into the kitchen from the sky. There was just so much blood, and there were symbols carved into his skin. He was barely breathing. I just don't know." She broke down into tears and whatever else she might have said was incomprehensible.

Hermione knew something of the project that Harry had been working on. He had come to her for a couple of runes translations and to look over some ancient potions recipes that could only have been considered black magic. She had sworn an oath to him to keep the secret. And with her own rather large pile of work, she hadn't gotten too worried about Harry's latest escapade.

Stepping back out and towards the patient rooms, Hermione slipped away from the hustle of the crowd. She knew her way around the hospital better than most. She had taken on the responsibility of supplying most of the level 1 and 2 healing potions for the facility. Her bank vault had grown substantially thanks to her hard work. With so much commotion in the waiting area, it went wholly unnoticed when she tiptoed towards the ward that Harry Potter would most likely be in.

As she drew closer to the room, she could feel a great number of things: she could feel the hospital wards trying to keep her away from the patient space, and she could simultaneously feel an immense amount of darkness billowing from the area. There was no doubt in her mind that her oldest friend was in grave danger. The magic felt old and unrefined. It was prickling at her skin in a strange, indescribable way.

She shuddered and drew her wand. It swished and flicked in a series of complex motions while she recited a set of incantations quietly. The complex protection spells she summoned had created a cool barrier against her skin. No longer could she feel the sting of dark magic or the wards.

Hermione carefully opened the door to the ward and peered into the room. Her intellect kicked in, and she became the Scientific observer that had won her the title of Science Fair Champion in Primary School. Her emotions were completely turned off; now, she was a woman ruled by facts and observations.

There in the center of what could only be described as a mess of pure panic and chaos was Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, who at the moment, looked like that title might be taken away from him any moment.

The symbols were archaic, but her brain was processing on hyperspeed. Clearly, this language was from an early magic time, before wandlore and schooling existed the way it did in the modern era. It was similar in a way to the runes she had translated for him, but the symbols were older and different still. Harry's body was convulsing, and his skin had a white sheen like all the blood was nearly gone.

Healers were shouting loudly in all directions and waving their wands in swirls of light and color at dizzying speeds. Occasionally, one would try something that would blast them backwards across the room and the Healer would fly undignified into a stone wall.

A team of healers were magic-ing blood into his system as quickly as it was flowing out because the cuts and deep wounds would not close. They were rotating in and out like a delicate dance, but the blood continued to soak the sheets and splash onto the floor.

Hermione closed her eyes to block out the images.

She allowed her brain to spin and twist its way through the library of knowledge in her mind. In her studies and research, she had allowed herself to consume knowledge of many types.

Seconds passed her by.

The time seemed to crawl.

A shout rang out, "we are losing him."

Magical sirens and alarms were blaring.

She forced herself to dig deeper, to think harder, and there she stumbled onto a series of thoughts that no one else would be insane enough to try.

Additionally, it was unlikely that many of the Healers would be remotely familiar with the magic she was about to perform. It was old, dark, uncontrollable, and this choice undoubtedly came with a great personal risk… but when had such a thing ever stopped Hermione Granger?

She walked to the massive huddle of Healers like she belonged, and no one gave her a second glance. (Likely because she was Hermione Granger, but also, because of the sheer volume of insanity and witchcraft filling the room.)

Instead of pointing her wand at Harry, she pointed it at herself and uttered what was without the darkest magic Hermione Granger had ever performed. She channeled her magical core in a way that she had never tested, and she released her consciousness into the spellwork. Her mouth and hands began to move without her permission as the magic began to pull in from beneath her feet. She was allowing her body to act as a conduit to an ancient magical form in the Earth. It was an extremely dangerous and potentially volatile idea.

Magic began to pool into her body from an unseen source below her. Then, her wand fell unceremoniously on the bloodsoaked floor with a clang while her hands themselves began to shine lights and shimmers into and onto Harry's graying form.

The energy projecting from her began to encase him. It lifted his body inches from the bed and bathed him in a deep rich glow. The symbols (while not dissolving) began to close and pucker into deep, red scars. This seemed to staunch the loss of blood pouring from him. The convulsions slowed and halted, and finally, his form began to take the magic fully from Hermione until it was no longer pouring from her- but now rather emanating from him.

How long this whole magical transference took, Hermione could not be certain of. Hermione Granger wasn't even certain if she was conscious. Someone, something else was in control.

The mass of Healers around Harry and began to lower their wands sometime during this whole process, and many of them were staring at Hermione with gaping mouths.

During her spellwork, physical changes had taken place to Hermione's physical form. Her hair grew quickly and wildly into very long tresses that touched the floor. The veins in her body and face could now be seen through her very translucent skin, and it was unclear if she looked like a monster or a thing of beauty.

No one spoke.

The silence stretched on as the final bits of whatever Hermione had summoned left her and encased Harry completely.

His coloring had pinked up and the magical displays in the room began to show that his vitals were stabilizing until they were fully stable

With all eyes on her looking for an explanation, Hermione opened her mouth to speak. She fully intended to explain what she had just done to the room, but as tried to talk, the voice that came from her body was not her own.

"Tell no one what you have seen. Healer Wallace, you will tell the family that you stabilized the boy with a series of potions and complex spellwork with the team. Each of your spells together worked. I was never here." Her voice was deep and gravelly and very much not her own.

It was like her words had been a combination of an Obilivate and an Imperius all without the wand work or the spell.

The healers turned their eyes from her and began to once again bustle around Harry, while Healer Wallace confirmed some vitals with another Healer and began to walk out towards the waiting room. She was basically invisible at this point and found herself regaining control of her form. She seemed unnoticed by the others in the room.

As she finally felt able to move of her own volition, Hermione slid out of the patient ward and into a supply room that she knew to be just around the corner.

She pulled the door shut and fell to the ground in a heap.

Her body ached and throbbed in all directions. She felt like she had been run over by the Knight Bus. The hair that touched the ground in the Patient Ward had soaked up blood and was squishing beneath her. Her wand was somehow in its holster beneath her robes, but how it had found its way back she had no recollection of.

She began to sob and sob uncontrollably. Her whole body racking itself up and down in big heaves.

The door to her sanctuary opened, and hooded figure stepped inside.

He lowered himself to the ground, and she fell into his arms - knowing without needing to see his face that Severus Snape now held her.

He patted her head and rocked her slightly until the worst of it had passed.

She inhaled deeply and sat up, pulling away from him. "How did you find me?"

"Shh- there will be time for that later. Let's get you home and cleaned up. It will do you no good for anyone to find you in this state."

He stood and recovered his face with the traveling cloak. He looked about the supply closet. "I didn't bring an extra robe. Didn't know we would both need to sneak out."

Hermione put her hand up and reached into her pocket to reveal a beaded bag. From the depths, she pulled a similar traveling cloak to his and covered herself. They did a quick check of the hallway and walked in the opposite direction of the waiting room full of Weasley's.

Finding an empty waiting room two corridors down, they each grabbed and handful of floo powder.

"Spinner's End!"

AN: Well, my dears, how did you like that? A bit of commotion in our already commotion-filled story. Let me know by leaving a review. :)