In a matter of minutes, Hermione had gone from perfectly sane to completely bonkers.
Ron, who now had tears flowing from his cheeks, sat down as two Healers took his still-screaming Hermione away from him. He bowed his head into his hands and thought of the last few moments.
She had come out of her hospital room, running at Ron, and flinging her arms around him, asking where she was and what had happened. When Ron tried to explain, she had gone into a sudden hallucination and yelled at him to stay back. He and the Healers had tried to restrain her, but she still seemed to think Ron was someone who wanted to harm her.
Now, Ron sat with his fingers gripping his hair vaguely aware of Harry questioning Hermione's Healer next to him.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Harry, his voice etched with worry and Ron could sense he was expecting the worst.
"It's not good," said the Healer, which made Ron emit a small moan behind his palms. "This second hallucination she's experienced tells us that she's developed a certain brain injury due to the torture from the Cruciatus Curse she's endured throughout her life. You said she was tortured when she was eighteen?"
"Yeah, about two years ago."
"We're not sure, but we think that experience could've added to the damage along with the torture caused by Will Booker."
Harry inhaled shakily, and Ron felt fresh, hot tears pouring down his face as well as rage boiling within him toward Bellatrix Lestrange and Will Booker. He stood up and faced the Healer with Harry, preparing to hear the worst.
"What's going to happen to her?" asked Ron. "What are you going to do to make her right again?"
His voice had turned accusatory, but the Healer only looked at him with hopeless, apologetic sorrow. "We've never seen anything like this. Usually, a witch or wizard is emotionally and physically scarred from the Cruciatus Curse, or they go insane from the endurance. It's never in between, and the hallucinations are the strangest part of this case.
"This is very Dark magic that has driven Miss Granger to this point. There's no cure for Dark magic, ever. We can give her a daily potion to keep her in check and we will do all we can, but… she may be like this forever."
Ron staggered back as if the Healer had just slapped him. What could he possibly mean by that? "I can't accept that," said Ron through gritted teeth. He pointed toward Hermione's room and raised his voice just in the slightest. "That woman in there helped save your arse – everyone's arse – in the biggest war known to the wizarding world, she came up with all the plans, and you tell me you can do nothing for her in return when she needs you most? She's about to lose her mind!"
"Mr. Weasley!" the Healer said harshly, his face now set hard. "There is nothing anyone can do for anyone who endures such tortures, wizarding or muggle! Mental illness is not like physical, we can't just cast a spell and she will be better! This is very Dark magic, and Dark magic cannot be cured!"
Something inside of Ron snapped at the Healer's willingness to fight back, and he was very aware that everyone in the waiting room was now staring, but he didn't care. "I'VE HAD IT! I DON'T CARE! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE ANY OF THIS! SHE'S SUFFERED MORE THAN ANYONE IN THIS ROOM AND YOU TELL ME SHE CAN'T BE CURED?"
The Healer had lost his patience at this point and waved over two other Healers, who grabbed Ron by the arms and half-carried, half-dragged him out of the waiting room.
Ron continued to rage, and was vaguely aware that Harry had stayed to talk to Hermione's Healer. Ron began to scream Hermione's name, only in the hope that she would somehow hear him.
"HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"
But at this point, Ron didn't know if Hermione could hear him as she did at Malfoy Manor, or if she was enduring another frightening hallucination.
And Ron realized with a jolt of comprehension, as the Healers threw him out of the doors to St. Mungo's, that he too had gone painfully insane.