Chapter 10

Over the next few days Hermione visited Harry and Ginny in the Hospital Wing, Ron hadn't been at all according to Ginny and he hadn't said a word to Hermione. Ginny hadn't left the Hospital Wing even for classes, on the Monday after the attack Professor McGonagall tried to make her go to her classes but Ginny was determined and had won the fight when Dumbledore told McGonagall that she could stay.

"So, has Malfoy told you what curse he used yet?" Ginny asked Dumbledore who had come to visit after lunch. Hermione was also there for she had brought Ginny some food from the kitchens.

"I'm afraid not, but we are now going to try a different approach. That way he has no choice, I'm sure you've heard of Veritaserum?" asked Dumbledore looking down at Harry sadly

"Yeah, Harry told us that you used it on Couch Jr. when you found out he was the one behind putting Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire" said Hermione

"Yes. Well we are going to try it that way. I wish there was another way, I do not like the idea of forcing a student to tell the truth. Everyone has their secrets that should not be discovered" Dumbledore said before turning around and walking towards the door, he turned around and looked at Harry one last time before leaving the Wing.

"I'm sorry Ginny, but I have to go to class. I'll come up after dinner with some food for you, OK?" asked Hermione standing up, Ginny nodded and Hermione left. After dinner Hermione started towards the Hospital Wing when she met Dumbledore, he hadn't noticed her but was walking very fast towards Snape's office. He turned a corner and was gone, Hermione continued to the Wing but at a faster pace. When she entered ran to Ginny

"I think Dumbledore's got it. As I was coming up he walked right beside me but didn't notice. He was walking really fast towards Snape's office" Ginny looked up and had a slight smile on her face,

"So Harry might wake up tonight?" she asked excitedly

"Hopefully" said Hermione, as she said this the Hospital Wing door opened and Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall walked in

"Are you sure Albus? This will wake him?" asked McGonagall

"I'm quite sure, Mr Malfoy was under the influence of Veritaserum. He had no choice to tell the truth, he told me the curse he used and I discovered the potion to reverse it"

"What did the curse do headmaster?" asked Snape

"It has caused Harry to be having his worst nightmares, however in the dream they are worse than what really happened. Such as at the Ministry not only did Sirius die but everyone he loves, he was left with no one and that would be the worst for him as that would leave him full of hopelessness Also he believes it is all real. When he awakes he may believe this is just a dream, he will take a few days to adjust, but hopefully he wasn't in it for too long, if so he might never recover" said Dumbledore

"But he has to recover!" said Ginny loudly, "He just has to!" she looked down at the boy who saved her life in her first year, her brothers best friend, the boy who had lost so much in his life, the boy she loved. She might never see his smile, or the shine in his brilliant green eyes ever again. She didn't care that he didn't love her back as long as he was alive and OK. Tears began to fall down her face as she looked down at him.

"We will not know unless we awaken him" said Dumbledore, he bent over Harry and opened his mouth. He then poured a vibrant green liquid into Harry's mouth and then closed it. He stood up and everyone looked down at Harry and waited. A few minutes later Harry began to open his eyes. When they were fully opened he looked around at where he was and then looked up at the people in front of him. His mouth dropped open and his eye widened, he rubbed his eyes and put his glasses on. When everyone was fully focused he stared in awe at the people in front of him.

"Where am I? Who are you?!" he asked loudly. He looked at his bedside table and picked up his wand, he pointed it at them and said, "Tell me who you are?!"

"Harry, I am Professor Dumbledore. Do you remember me?" he asked stepping forward slightly

"You can 't be! You're dead!" Harry yelled, he then turned to Hermione and Ginny and his eyes started to water, "All of you, everyone. Voldemort killed you!"

"Harry that was a dream. You were under a curse" said Hermione, "Remember? We went into Hogsmeade to visit George and the joke shop? Malfoy started insulting us and then you insulted his father. He cursed you Harry, please understand that this is real life now. We're not all dead" Harry looked at her and lowered his wand slightly

"I remember Malfoy attacking me, but once he did Voldemort came into the village and killed everyone. He captured me and forced me to become a Death Eater. He attempted to put me under the Imperius Curse, but I fought it off. He then found Ron and said he would kill him if I didn't become a Death Eater. Ron told me not to do it and I hesitated. Voldemort then tortured him and then tried to possess me, but this time he didn't feel any pain . I don't know how, but when I was possessed he forced the Mark onto my left arm. With the Mark on me, he was able to control me. He made me kill Ron and then go to the Burrow and kill everyone there" sobbed Harry, "Is this another one of Voldemort's spells? To make me believe everyone's alive and then when I do believe, he'll pull me back into reality?"

"Oh Harry! No this is real! Voldemort hasn't killed anyone in the village and you haven't killed anyone. You don't have the Mark! How can we make you believe us?" asked Ginny, tears falling down her cheeks

"It will only take time Miss Weasley. You cannot force him to believe, Harry look at your arm and you will see no Mark. I hope you will feel better soon. Miss Weasley, Miss Granger? Would you like to stay with Harry, or would you like to attend your classes?" asked Dumbledore

"Could I stay?" asked Ginny

"Of course, Miss Granger?" Hermione nodded without looking away from Harry, Dumbledore and the other teachers left and Madame Pomfrey went into her office. Now with only two people in front of him, Harry directed his wand at Hermione and Ginny with a cold expression on his face

"Harry?" asked Ginny slowly, "Please lower your wand, we aren't going to hurt you. Please believe we're real! We aren't dead, why won't you believe us?!"

"I want to! But I can't! If I believe you're real and it turns out this is one of Voldemort's ways to weaken me then I go back and all of you are dead! I can't lose all of you again!" said Harry, his hand was shaking but his wand was still pointing at Hermione and Ginny

"Harry please! What can we do to make you believe us?" asked Hermione

"If this is one of Voldemort's tricks to make me believe you're all alive then where's Ron?" asked Harry looking around the Hospital Wing quickly but then looking back at Hermione

"He's in your dorm, he's still not talking to anyone" said Hermione

"That's it!" said Ginny, "Voldemort didn't know about Ron not talking to anyone, and he didn't know about Hermione and George so how can this be a dream? Ask us some questions Harry, that Voldemort wouldn't know about" Harry just looked at her but didn't say anything for a few moments.

"OK. Hermione? In our second year who did Ron and I turn into when we took Polyjuice Potion, and who did you try and turn into?" Harry asked Hermione

"You turned into Goyle, and Ron transformed into Crabbe because we wanted to ask Malfoy questions about the Chamber of Secrets. He seemed the perfect candidate because he hates muggle-borns and all the muggle-borns were being petrified. I tried turning into Millicent Bulstrode but the hair wasn't actually hers, it was a cats. So, I couldn't go because Polyjuice potion isn't meant for animals. I was in the Hospital Wing for a few days" said Hermione easily, "Oh and we made the potion in the girls bathroom, the one no one goes in because Monaing Myrtle's in there" added Hermione

"OK, that sounds right. How about you Ginny? Voldemort knows about how you used to like me, but what about this summer. Who did you hate being at the Burrow and what did you call her?"

"Oh Phlegm? Oh God! Fleur Delacour, she was there because she was getting to know our family because she's engaged to Bill. She was so annoying and I called her Phlegm. Ron fancies her, and her little sister, Gabrielle fancies you Harry. You should have read some of her letters. 'Is Harry there yet?', 'I just read a book that reminded me of Harry' blah blah blah...reminds me of when I was 11, but she's like 13 or something!" said Ginny

"Alright, so Voldemort wouldn't know any of that Harry. You have to believe us now" said Hermione, Harry looked at Hermione then at Ginny and slowly lowered his wand.

"I do" he said giving a nervous, but reassuring smile. Hermione then jumped up and hugged him

"I've wanted to do that since you woke up! I was so scared that you would never wake up! and then Dumbledore said you might have been unconscious too long to be OK! Don't ever do that to me again Harry James Potter!" said Hermione playfully slapping Harry on the arm

"I'm sorry 'Mione, but I couldn't help it! You wait 'til I see Malfoy! He put me through all that pain of thinking I lost everyone and gave into Voldemort just because I insulted his father! My insults were really compliments, I could have said things a lot worse, and truer" said Harry

"Sorry harry, but I gotta go owl George, and everyone, then I have to go finish McGonagall's essay that's due tomorrow. Oh my God it's due tomorrow and I'm only half way done! Sorry Harry, gotta run" said Hermione before picking up her bag and running out the Hospital Wing

"She has definetly toned down her study habits a bit, but she's still our Hermione who needs to write more than the assigned amount" laughed Ginny, Harry also laughed

"Ginny?" he asked slowly after they were finished laughing, Ginny looked up at him, "After seeing what happened in that vison or dream or whatever you want to call it, I've been wanting to tell you something"

"What is it Harry?" asked Ginny

"This vision, or dream thing I had made me realize something. Everyone I loved died and I felt horrible for it. For every death I felt different. For Ron I had lost my best friend, my brother. Hermione, I lost my sister, Mrs Weasley I lost my mother, everyone was like family. But you, when you died, it was something completely different. I felt horrible, not just the shock of it but that I had lost someone closer than my brother's younger sister, my friend. But I liked you more than that. I realized that I had strong feelings for you, and now that it turned out that that dream thing wasn't real, I thought I ought to tell you so that I don't ever regret not telling you.

"However we can't be together. The reason you were killed in my dream/vision was not because you were Ron's sister, but because Voldemort thought that we were closer than friends. He used that against me, and I can't let that happen. So, we can't be together, I don't want anyone to know because if word gets around the school, then it could get to Voldemort. Any one of these students could be subjected to torture for information, or any of them could be Death Eaters. You know Malfoy, his dad is in prison because I put him there. Malfoy would do anything to get back at me,just like in the village. I don't want you to be killed because of my feelings toward you. I love you but I can't be with you.

"You have a life ahead of you, you can marry any man you want and any man would want to marry you. But me? All I have is a future where Voldemort is going to try and kill me, or his Death Eaters are going to try and kill everyone around me until I surrender. Even if I kill Voldemort, there will always be his followers that would want revenge" Harry had been looking down at his legs the whole time he was talking but had to look up into Ginny's eyes to see if there was any give-away to how she was feeling.

"Harry, I love you too. I always have ever since I saw you, ever since you saved my life. At first when I first saw you on your way to Hogwarts, it was an infatuation with the 'boy who lived' but then when you saved my life, I saw how you were a caring and wonderful person. Then as time went by I started to see that I loved you, not just infatuated by you. Then, when I thought you would never like me back, I started to look at other guys and became more relaxed around you. But I never ever gave up on you, and I never plan to. I always hoped that you would love me back, and I know you will never allow it but I will say it. I want to be with you no matter what. I don't care if Death Eaters or Voldemort himself comes after me, as long as I'm with you I'm happy" as Ginny said this last sentence Harry started shaking his head.

"No! I can't lose you again! I care, whether or not you die! Or even tortured, that would be my fault. We cannot be together, I'm sorry Ginny but I can't. Please don't try and make me change my mind. You can be mad at me all you want, you can stop talking to me, you can hex me,jinx me, hit me, kick me, do anything you want, but please just don't try to make me change my mind" said Harry looking deep into Ginny's eyes

"Ok Harry, I do really want to be with you, but if we can't be together then I'll wait. I'll wait until you kill Voldemort, and if that takes a hundred years, I'll still be waiting" said Ginny

"What if I fail and don't kill him, and he kills me?" asked Harry, Ginny glared at him through her sad eyes

"The I will kill Voldemort and any Death Eater that gets in my way, and then kill myself!" said Ginny, Harry looked at her but didn't say anything, he knew that Ginny would argue with him until she got her way.

"So how long have I got to stay in here?" asked Harry, changing the subject

"Until Madame Pomfrey lets you out" replied Ginny.

Meanwhile in the Joke shop in Diagon Alley Angelina was sitting on the counter with Fred and George beside her and they were all laughing.

"Yeah, that kid was so stupid! It said on the label do not use on self! Yet he did it!" laughed Angelina

"Yeah, the children these days are getting stupider and stupider"

"FRED!" gasped Angelina

"What? It's true! Have you seen the kids that come in here now a days? I don't think any of us were that stupid or Harry, or Hermione..Ron maybe, but that's because he's Ron" said Fred, "Oh look an owl. I wonder who its from" An owl flew through the window and landed next to George

"It's from Hermione!" said George with a big smile on his face, Fred rolled his eyes but before he could say anything Angelina hit him on the arm. As George read down his smile began to fade.

"What is it?" asked Angelina frantically

"It's about Harry" answered George, he finished the letter and handed it to Fred

Dear George,

Harry woke up today. This may be a good thing, but Dumbledore discovered the counter curse from Malfoy and what happened to Harry. It must have been terrible for Harry because he was under a curse that put him in a coma and make him re-live his worst nightmares but with worse conclusions. He only told us what happened to him after Malfoy cursed him, in the dream Harry wasn't unconscious after the curse, he was fine, and then Voldemort came and killed everyone. Harry was captured and forced to kill Ron, and all of you at the Burrow!

We tried to make him believe this wasn't a trick of Voldemort's but it wouldn't work, after a few attempts we convinced him with Ron's situation in not talking to anyone and our relationship. This worked because Voldemort doesn't know of it. I'm afraid that Harry will be very upset for a long time and I was hoping that Dumbledore would let all of you come to Hogwarts to see him. He might not believe us fully, but if he sees you all then maybe he will become himself more. I left him with Ginny so I could write you, Mrs Weasley and everyone else a letter. I'm sure Dumbledore already sent one to your mum and everyone at the Order but I thought I would send one to her anyway to explain what Harry was like, Dumbledore didn't stay after seeing Harry awake.

Hoping to see you all soon at Christmas or before

Miss You!

Love Hermione

"Oh my God! That was Malfoy that did that to him? Where the HELL did he learn that kind of spell? No one deserves that, not even your worst enemy! Making you believe everyone you love is dead and killing some of them yourself! So that's who on my list now? Bellatrix and Malfoy, why don't I just get the whole fucking Malfoy family! I mean Narcissa is Bellatrix's sister, Lucius is Narcissa's husband and Draco Malfoy is their son. So one happy family is going to end!" said Fred angrily

"Fred calm down!" said Angelina, "George? What's Dumbledore doing to punish Malfoy? He can't let this slide! Even if he doesn't he can't just give a detention or even a years detention, that would never cover it!"

"I know! Look I'll owl Hermione and get her to ask. Christmas isn't for another month, I think we should visit in the weekend. Only a couple of days, I'll be right back I'm going to reply to her" said George before walking away

"I will get that Son of a Bitch! His parents and his fucking aunt! I'm even going to try and find the other Death Eaters who attacked you! So help me god!" said Fred furiously

"I know, but Fred please calm down. Let's just visit harry and see how he's feeling" said Angelina before giving him a kiss and walking away.

The next few days passed with Hermione visiting between classes and before and after breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ginny, however never left. Madame Pomfrey had asked her to leave a number of times but Ginny refused. When Professor McGonagall arrived Ginny still wouldn't leave. When threatened with a week's worth of detentions she replied

"Give me the detentions then! I'm not leaving the hospital wing until Harry does!" McGonagall gave up after that, but told her she could stay only on the condition that she got someone in her classes to give her the homework. Every night Ginny got caught up while Harry helped her as best he could. The teacher had all been fairly reasonable giving her a chapter of a book to read and practice a spell. Snape was the only one that gave her a lot of homework. He had assigned her two essays and to hand in a vile of a potion and to read three chapters of the book. She also had to be ready for testing to see how much she read from the book. When Ginny did this work Hermione visited and tried to help her as much, with Harry also attempting to help.

"So has Ron spoken to you yet?" asked Ginny while writing her essay out, Hermione looked at her

"Erm, no he hasn't but he is talking to everyone else. I have a feeling he might come and visit you soon Harry, but I doubt he'll do it while I'm here. Oh and also all the Weasley's are coming tomorrow. Including Aneglina" said Hermione

"All the Weasley's minus Percy. I bet Fleur'll come too" said Ginny without looking up. Hermione glanced at her and then at the door. When she looked at the door a small gasp escaped her lips

"What is it?" Harry asked warily, he picked up his wand and pointed it at the door. However he lowered it when he saw who was standing there

"Ron!" he shouted, he pulled his legs out of bed and felt like running at him

"Hi" answered Ron awkwardly. He started walking over slowly looking between Harry, Hermione and Ginny(who still hadn't looked up from her parchment) "I came to see how you were. Sorry I haven't come earlier"

"That's OK you're here now" said Harry happily, "You're OK! You're alive! You do not know how happy I am!"

"Yeah" said Ron slowly, "why wouldn't I be alive?"

"It's a long story" said Hermione quietly

"Well I'm in for a long story" said Ron pulling out a chair and sitting down. For the next ten minutes Harry explained what happened when Malfoy cursed him and what the spell made him think and feel, "So what you're saying is that in this dream thing, everyone was dead and You-Know-Who captured me and tortured me. When you refused to kill me even though I told you to, you didn't, so he possessed you and forced the Dark Mark on you so he could control you to kill me and then my whole family?"

"Yeah that's more or less it" said Harry gravely, he didn't like remembering everything that happened in his dream

"Alright. Thanks!" said Ron happily

"Er, what? Why are you thanking me?" asked Harry, confused. It was then that Ginny finished her essay and handed it to Hermione and looked at her older brother and the boy she loved talking

"Well you refused to kill me even though you were being tortured. You refused to kill me even though we weren't talking. If I was you I would have killed me for being such a git!So what I'm saying is thanks for not killing me with your own free will even though it wasn't real" said Ron, Harry looked at him with a look of shock on his face

"Ron. Even if we were on the worst terms and we vowed never to talk to each other unless to cast a curse on one another I would never have killed you! No one deserves to die just because they were being a git. If that were it then everyone would be dead and Voldemort (Ron flinched at this) would have been killed LOADS of times!" said Harry

"I guess you're right. But. Yeah. Well I really want to apologize to all of you. Harry I'm sorry I haven't been talking to you just because I was upset and jealous. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. Sorry Ginny for also not talking to you for the same reasons" apologized Ron before turning to Hermione, "Hermione. I'm REALLY sorry for not talking to you. I should be happy that you're happy. You probably already know but I've liked you for a while and that's why I didn't like it. But still, that's not an excuse for not talking to you. However, I will vow that if George ever and I mean EVER hurts you I will curse him into oblivion and break his face!"

"Thanks Ron, but I'm sorry too. I should have told you, you were probably suspicious all summer, or angry at me not talking to you that much" said Hermione

"Don't be sorry. Just forget about it" shrugged Ron. Madame Pomfrey then came bustling out of her office and over to Harry. She looked him over and looked him over with her wand.

"Well Mr Potter. I have some good news for you, you can leave" she said before jumping out of Harry's way. Harry was so anxious to leave that he jumped out of bed before she had even finished saying leave.

"Thanks Madame Pomfrey. You do not know how good those 3 words are. 'you can leave'!" said Harry happily before garbbing his robes and changing behind a curtain. He came out a few minutes later dressed, "also good news for you too Ginny. You don't have to sleep in a chair anymore. Yay a comfortable four poster bed" he said happily shaking his arms in the air as if in celebration. Ginny, Hermione and Ron all laughed and exited the Hospital Wing.

That weekend all the Weasleys (minus Percy) and Angelina came and visited. The visit went well, hugs all round, Mrs Weasley gave the tightest hug. They stayed all Saturday and Ron and George teased Fred and Angelina while Ron and Fred teased George and Hermione. Now that Ron was talking to everyone he was laughing and smiling the whole day. When the day came to an end Mrs Weasley told Harry that his name was going on her clock.

"It won't make much of a difference since You-Know-Who's back. We've all been at 'mortal peril' since he came out into the open. But it will keep me sleeping at night if I don't worry about you too much" she said before giving a hug and stepping into the fireplace to Floo out.

Weeks passed where Harry got used to classes and discovered that Malfoy was getting detention every night of the year, kicked off the Slytherin Quidditch team, no longer allowed to go to Hogsmeade, and been under Common Room arrest(couldn't leave his Commong Room unless going to class, breakfast, lunch or dinner or to go to detention) all of the Gryffindor's, Ravenclaw's, and Hufflepuffs didn't think this was a fair enough punishment while the Slytherin's disagreed and thought it was too much. By the time anyone noticed it was time for the Christmas break. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were all going to the Burrow and were looking forward to it. harry and Ron were planning to play Quidditch or Wizard's chess when Hermione spent time with George. Hermione was finally not worrying about anything when she was George, not even Ron.

(A/N: Wow that was a long chapter..but I named it Xmas and I had to explain everything about Harry and the curse AND add Xmas in! Wow hope you like it! R&R)