'You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice - I dare say the Basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment
May 30th 1993
Hermione felt her arms hit the bed with a thump. Her whole body ached. She wouldn't say she was in pain, just uncomfortable and sore. She wondered why absentmindedly, her eyes already open and staring at the vaulted ceiling above her. Now she thought about her eyes they felt very dry, like they had been open for a long time. She shut them and took in a deep breath. Then it came back to her, she could see it so clearly now, a huge pair of bulbous yellow eyes, reflected in a tiny hand mirror. She yelled out loud and sat up very quickly, her head pounding and spinning.
"Miss Granger, it's all right, you're safe now," said a voice somewhere close. The person laid a hand on her arm.
Hermione jerked her head around to see Madam Pomfrey leaning over her, she set up a few pillows so Hermione could sit back comfortably and with a gentle firmness, pushed her back into them.
"I was petrified?" Hermione asked, absent mindedly rubbing her neck, which felt stiff.
"Yes my dear" Madam Pompfrey answered. She poured Hermione a glass of water from a jug on her bedside table and held it out "now drink this in small sips"
Hermione brought the glass to her lips. Her brain felt sluggish and everything was muddled up. There was something niggling at her though, something important that she knew she had to do. Suddenly it came to her and she sat bolt upright again, spilling some of the water over herself.
"Madam Pomfrey where's Professor McGonagall!" Hermione shrieked frantically "I have to see her, I need to speak to her, I know what it is – the monster!"
Madam Pomfrey looked worried "Miss Granger please try to calm down, tell me what you mean." And she tried pushing her back into her bed.
"I worked it all out, it's a Basilisk! Please get Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore or someone before anybody else gets hurt. Please!" Hermione's voice had grown shrill – why couldn't she understand!
Just as Madam Pomfrey opened her mouth to reply, the hospital doors flew open and Ginny entered, accompanied by Mr and Mrs Weasley.
"Miss Weasley!" Madam Pomfrey cried, jumping up from beside Hermione's bed and hurrying over "You're alive, oh thank heavens! Come and sit down … come, come"
Hermione was left alone and utterly confused. Why on earth were Mr and Mrs Weasley here and what had happened to Ginny to worry Madam Pomfrey so much. Hermione turned to look at the beds beside her. Justin Finch-Fletchly, Colin Creevey and the prefect Hermione had stopped were sitting up in their own beds, looking around in bewilderment.
"Madam Pomfrey!" Hermione called across the room. She and the Weasley party looked up at her. "Please I have to see Professor McGonagall. You're not understanding!"
Tears began to leak out of the corners of Hermione's eyes in frustration. Nobody seemed to be listening to her. Mrs Weasley bit her lip and looked like she wanted to come over but Ginny was nuzzled against her very tightly, looking pale and terrified.
"Miss Granger you've got to try to calm down" said Madam Pomfrey from across the room "everything's going to be … oh thank Merlin, Minerva!"
Hermione whipped her head around to see Professor McGonagall striding into the hospital wing. Hermione didn't think she'd ever been more pleased to see anyone in her entire life. She swung her legs out of the bed and called out "Professor!" wiping tears from her face as she did so.
"Miss Granger get back into that bed this instant!" scolded Professor McGonagall, walking quickly over to her.
"Please Professor, I know what the monster is – it's a Basilisk. We need to do something before more people get hurt!" Hermione shouted.
Professor McGonagall stopped dead and stared at her. Hermione had not meant to shout but she needed to make someone understand. She began to feel dizzy but she ignored it, steadying herself with her hand.
"How in the world did you know?" asked Professor McGonagall, hurrying over and perching on the end of Hermione's bed.
Hermione had begun to feel sick and she swung her legs back onto the bed and leaned back slightly, trying to control her breathing.
"It's Harry, he's been hearing a voice all year but Ron and I haven't been able to hear it." Hermione began in a rush "Then I realised Harry can speak Parsletonge so he could be hearing a snake that Ron and I couldn't understand. So I went to the library and I read about the Basilisk, everything fitted. The age and the spiders. And nobody had died because nobody had looked at it properly. So then I…" Hermione tailed off and looked down at her hand. It was empty "The page has gone, somebody found it … You already know!" Hermione yelped, looking up at her Professor.
Professor McGonagall stared at her in amazement. "yes I already know, but I need you to tell me what you found out and how you found it out to me, and slower please"
Hermione took a deep breath. "I found the book in the library that explained all about Basilisks and everything started to click. They kill with their eyes but nobody saw it properly. Mrs Norris saw a reflection in the water, Colin saw it through his camera and Justin saw it through Nearly Headless Nick. It all made sense. Then I wondered how it was getting through the school because Harry had been hearing the voice inside the walls and I realised it must be the plumping, it was going through the pipes! So I ripped the page out of the book and scribbled about the pipes on it and I knew I needed to find you or someone so I could tell you what I'd found out. I started to go to the Quidditch pitch but then I realised Harry had heard the voice today … that day. I knew I could get attacked because I'm muggle-born so I used this little mirror I had to look around corners. I stopped the girl I found, the prefect, and made her look with me in the mirror and then…" Hermione took a great shuddering breath, tears starting to spill from her eyes again "But Professor did Harry and Ron work it all out. The page in my hand is gone. What's happened!"
Professor McGonagall was gazing at her in amazement, and Hermione wasn't sure but she was fairy certain she could see a faint glimmer in her Professor's eyes. She took told of one of Hermione's arms and said in a slightly thick voice "Miss Granger you've been so brave. But you can calm down, it's all alright now. The Basilisk is dead. I let Mr Weasley and Mr Potter visit you earlier today for the first time, they must have found your note then."
"It's d-dead?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice.
"Yes. Mr Potter and Mr Weasley just arrived in the staff-room – they had gone down into the chamber of secrets"
"Was the entrance Moaning Mrytle's bathroom? I thought it could be but wasn't sure…?" Hermione asked, then, "wait they went into the chamber! Why? Are they okay?"
"You're right again, that was the entrance" Professor McGonagall nodded "and amazingly they're both unhurt. They went down there to save Ginny Weasley"
Hermione looked over at the young girl in one of the beds opposite her own. Her face was pale and traced with tear tracks. She was holding her mothers hand as she drank a mug of something steaming.
"But why would Ginny be in the chamber" Hermione asked quietly, looking back at Professor McGonagall. "She's a pure-blood"
Professor McGonagall shifted slightly closer to Hermione and dropped her voice.
"Now this is just for your ears, not anybody else. I'm only going to tell you this I'm sure Mr Potter and Mr Weasley will tell you anyway" Hermione too shifted slightly closer as to hear what was going to be said better "Miss Weasley has been writing in a diary all year, a diary which slowly began to posses her,"
"Not Tom Riddle's diary!" Hermione said, shocked.
Professor McGonagall looked flabbergasted "How in the name of Merlin do you already know that Miss Granger! I take it you didn't manage to work out who Tom Riddle is?"
Hermione shook her head.
"Tom Riddle was You-Know-Who's name when he was a pupil at this school"
Hermione's eyes grew as around as galleons and her mouth opened into a little 'o'
"Yes!" said Professor McGonagall nodding "The diary had been possessing Miss Weasley and making her open the Chamber, she had no idea what she was doing"
"So Tom Riddle opened the chamber originally and blamed it on Hagrid!" Hermione breathed, understanding flooding through her.
"That's right. The diary made Miss Weasley go into the chamber. When Potter and Weasley found out they used what they had learnt from your note to go after her." Professor McGonagall sat back "I'm sure you'll here the full story from them but I do know that they both made it out alive, unharmed and Potter managed to kill the Basilisk"
Hermione fell back into the pillows behind her. Relief was coursing through her veins and she wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time.
"So it's all over" she asked tentatively
"It's all over yes Miss Granger"
"How long have I been petrified?" Hermione asked, dreading the answer.
'It's been nearly a month. Now…" she stood up from Hermione's bed and smoothed her robes "I must go back to the Great Hall, there is a feast starting any moment and I'm sure you'll be able to join us soon" She began to walk away but after a few steps she turned back "You showed great intellect to work out the monster was a Basilisk Miss Granger and incredible bravery to try to tell people. I'll repeat what I said last year Miss Granger, I'm very proud to have you in my house" and with that she turned on her heel and left the room.
Hermione felt her heart swell with pride and she closed her eyes, trying to savour the feeling that everything was going to be alright.
"Hermione?" said a voice from beside her. Hermione looked to see the curly haired prefect speaking to her "I think … I think I owe you a thank you. By the sounds of it you saved my life today … or whatever day it was" she grinned and Hermione smiled back, blushing.
After this Madam Pomfrey bustled over and made all of the students who'd been petrified stand up slowly one at a time and she helped them wander about the room. At first people stumbled, unsteady on stiff joints but soon enough they could all walk absolutely fine and everyone had stopped feeling dizzy. Still it took a further half an hour for Madam Pomfrey to deem them well enough to join the feast. Leaving Ginny and Mr and Mrs Weasley alone the group traveled through the quiet, empty castle towards the Great Hall, Madam Pomfrey clutching a perfectly revived Mrs Norris. When they reached the oak doors all of them stood slightly nervously, wringing their hands and bobbling up and down, then Madam Pomfrey pushed the doors open.
For a short moment, complete silence greeted them before an explosion of noise began. Everyone was clapping, cheering and screaming at the sight of them and many people began to stand up but Hermione's eyes were only searching for two people. She spotted them quickly as Harry and Ron were the first to jump up from the Gryffindor table, looking around at the small group assembled at the door, their faces alight with happiness as they spotted her. Hermione hadn't planned it but one second she was standing in the doorway and next she was flying towards them screaming 'You solved it! You solved it'. Upon reaching them she them she threw her arms around their necks, drinking in their scents as fresh tears sprang to her eyes. She kept repeating 'you solved it' as she hugged them, not understanding the words of happiness and excitement they were shouting in her ears. They all laughed when she finally released them but before she could get another word in arms were enveloping her from behind. Parvati and Lavender were hugging her, cheering along with everyone in the hall and then Seamus, Dean and Neville were all patting her arms and tousling her hair, still whooping and cheering. All around her the friends of Colin, Justin and Penelope were hugging and shouting, and still others were clapping as they looked on at the returned students.
"You did it, I'm so proud of you!" Hermione squealed as she finally sat down between Harry and Ron.
"Couldn't have done it without you though!" Harry said, loading her plate full of food for her "You gave us all the answers with that book page"
Ron nodded along with Harry "Yeah we would have died without your help!" he laughed and tipped a great pile of peas onto her plate "We're glad you're okay though!"
Hermione looked at their faces, shining with happiness as they chatted and laughed. She looked around at the jubilant Great Hall. She didn't think she'd ever, or would ever again, be as happy as she was in this moment.
Such cheese but the ending of the second book is one of my favourites. That feast sounded amazing! So on the same day I publish this ending to Chamber of Secrets I've finished writing the Goblet of Fire portion! I'm so excited to share the chapters as they get more dramatic / angsty / romantic!
Please leave a review if you've got the time and give me any feedback that you have! xxx