Hermione and Theo both had to be forced awake with a sonorous charm the next morning when breakfast was served and they still hadn't risen, their bodies having been completely exhausted the night before.

Madam Pomfrey couldn't have looked the patients over herself, opting to send the regular potions over with a levitating charm instead since had she seen either patient she would have likely had something to say about their sleeping positions. Hermione was curled up in a ball, taking no care at all -since none was now needed- to keep as still as possible so as not to aggravate her wounds - which now resembled year old scars. Her hair was as wild as it ever was, being able to move had resulted in a very deep sleep where she had unconsciously tossed and turned so much that she now resembled the lioness she was supposed to be.

Theo had taken the opportunity to sleep on his stomach, the leg brace had been thrown earlier in the night and he slept soundly with his knee permanently bent, the ability to do so reliving a heavy burden both physically and mentally.

As they woke, groggy and tired with hazy eyesight, dry mouths and empty stomachs, the first thing either of them did was check to see if the night before had been real or not. Hermione lifted her shirt and, just as the night before, she was met with faded pink scars. She ran her fingers over them slowly, one at a time before turning to Theo to see he was hitting his knee with a heavy book and a look of pure joy on his face when he realised he could feel it and it hurt.

"It was real. I can't believe it. It wasn't a dream it was real." He almost sang as he stopped hurting himself and smiled up at her.

Hermione took in the sight, his messy hair and crumpled pyjamas - though no more so than her own - making him look much younger than his almost seventeen years. It was cute but in a sweet, brotherly way. "It was real" she agreed with a smile of her own as he reached for the potion on his bedside table and drank it down, presumably to keep away the migraines she hadn't been able to heal.

Hermione bit her lip at the sight, a disappointed and worried frown marring her face "Theo I'm so-"

"Don't you even dare apologise 'Mione! I swear to Salazar if you even think about it I might have to hex you." He interrupted her with a fiery stare and harsh tone suggesting he wasn't even remotely joking.

"I just wish I could have found something to help the migraines." She sighed before turning to the pumpkin juice the elves had left for her.

"I know you do but, 'Mione, seriously, you did more for me than anyone else could. You didn't give up like the healer did. You just - you did a lot more than you think, believe me." He said as he thought about the love magic she had had to use. "The migraines aren't going to go. I've accepted that. You need to accept that. Accept that maybe you can't fix everything all the time."

"I'm starting to think you don't even know me at all" Hermione joked with a sniffle before the pair started on their breakfast.

oOoOoOo

After a long and drawn out breakfast where the two sat, with a muffliato charm surrounding them so as not to be heard, Hermione and Theo discussed the best possible way to get around the fact that their injuries were now healed. They needed an excuse but sadly came up empty of anything useful. When Madam Pomfrey approached Theo's bed later on that morning ready to check him over as she usually did, the first thing she noticed was his bent leg that was absolutely not settled in between a hideously orange contraption. She stopped abruptly at the foot of his bed, drawing in a sharp breath before asking "Mr Nott, where is the leg brace, and why is it not secured in position as I left it" her tone lacking the harsh qualities both students knew she was trying to muster and instead laced with sheer confusion at the sight before her.

"Took it off" Theo answered matter of factly.

"I see that. Would you care to explain why?" She said tersely.

"Didn't think I needed it anymore"

Madam Pomfrey really was not a witch the students would normally mess around with, she looked Theo right in the eye and asked "And why is that?" It was clear the Mediwitch was losing her patience with him at this point.

Theo, deciding the best thing to do in this situation was to show the mediwitch why he didn't need the leg brace, swung both legs off of the edge of the bed and stood up before taking a couple of steps forward. He was much more balanced this morning and his feet moved just as they were supposed to though it was evident there was still some stiffness there from having not moved it in so long. Hermione watched as he stood up slowly and carefully, watched him take a first tentative step, watched his face contort into what could only be described as apprehension right before he put any weight on either of feet because, yes he had stood up the night before, yes he had taken a few steps and yes they were very wobbly steps but they were steps. It was better than nothing. She could see he was worried it might not happen again this morning despite everything they had been through the night before. She could see the sheer relief wave over him when he didn't immediately stumble or fall and watched his confidence grow as he took a few more steps forgoing to take the care and time he had gone through for those first ones. Hermione smiled as she watched Theo's face light up in glee at the simple action.

Madam Pomfrey stared at the boy before her in shock, her jaw hanging just the slightest and her eyes wide at the sight. She knew magic, for Merlin's sake she wasn't exactly a spring higgogriff these days. She had attended Hogwarts herself at eleven, she had devoted her time to helping others even as a child. Being a mediwitch was all she had wanted to do and so as soon as she could she would help in this very hospital wing and the second she graduated she was furthering her education in healing. She knew magic. She knew healing magic but this, this looked like something else. Felt like something else. Something she had never come across before. It felt good and rare and light. And it infuriated her no end.

"It's still a bit stiff of course but I can feel everything again" she heard him murmur away happily.

"But, how?"

"I don't know, leprechauns?" Theo asked cheekily.

"The closest thing you'll get to a leprechaun Mr Nott is Mr Finnegan and I can assure you there is nothing lucky about that boy" She shot back, having little patience for such ridiculousness.

"Faeries then" Theo retorted as he sat back on the bed, leaving his feet firmly planted on the cold hard tiles of the floor.

"Unlikely" the mediwitch replied as she started to run diagnostics over his being.

"Maybe it was just a delayed reaction? Maybe whatever you or the healer did just worked slower than you expected?" He offered weakly, he was starting to run low on ideas and knew Hermione would be subjected to the same thing in a few minutes.

Madam Pomfrey finished the diagnostics with a flourish of her wand before checking his head once again "I think the leprechaun would be more likely" she scoffed. Apparently the healer having not left the best impression.

When she was done after giving him a complete check up and was sure that nothing was amiss other than the obvious head injury, Madam Pomfrey documented her work thoroughly. Explaining that she had no idea why her patient was miraculously better and able to walk again was a difficult task though and it took a short while to get that all down.

Eventually she turned to Hermione and upon seeing the full vials next to her bed rose one inquisitive eyebrow at the younger witch with a stern look on her face that would rival McGonagall's, and said, in the calmest voice she could muster on this already very strange morning "It's not like you to forget a potion Miss Granger."

"I didn't forget" Hermione replied weakly.

"Then why haven't you taken it, dear?" The mediwitch asked.

"I'm not in any pain. Well, I am but it's not constant pain like it was. It's more of a stabbing pain that comes and goes. I don't need the potion for that. I'll manage." Hermione tried to explain.

"The pain has lessened?" The mediwitch asked, she probably ought to be surprised but in all honesty she doubted anything else could surprise her again this morning. She was wrong.

"Considerably" Hermione replied as she chewed her lower lip anxiously.

"And the salve? Have you been putting it on just as I explained? Please lift up your shirt so I can check the healing progress" Madam Pomfrey insisted as she walked towards her bed, wandlessly flicking her wrist to close the curtains in an effort to retain Hermione's modesty.

Hermione slowly lifted her shirt over her head like she had done for the past couple of days and lay there, still chewing her bottom lip as the mediwitch examined her without uttering a single word. When she finished, gesturing for Hermione to redress herself and watching intensely as she did so, amazed at the ease in which she was able to perform the task considering how the simple action had been such a difficulty for her the day before. Madam Pomfrey opened up the curtains, stood between both beds, took a deep breath and asked "What did you do?"

"Leprechauns?" Theo offered up again.

"Mr Nott, on Merlin's grave himself I swear if you mention leprechauns just once more..." She warned him.

"He's...he's not entirely lying" Hermione choked out anxiously.

"Miss Granger?" Madam Pomfrey asked, wanting clarification.

"I mean, obviously we don't think it was leprechauns" She added quickly before glaring at Theo "Not really, but we don't know what it was or why. We woke up like this. We both woke much later than usual and really tired and most of our pain was gone. When I looked at the cuts to put on my salve I just had pink scars and when Theo tried to stretch he felt his toes and leg move." Hermione continued.

"If this is true" Madam Pomfrey began as she looked between both students again "then why didn't either of you call for me?" She asked.

"In all honesty we were really shocked and a bit worried that we couldn't explain any of it" Hermione sighed and she put on her best nervous looking smile. "It doesn't exactly make a lot of sense and it's not like we're completely fixed, I'll have scars for a while-probably forever- and I imagine the pain that goes with them. Theo will have his migraines."

"Yes, well I suppose that would be understandable" The mediwitch sighed before picking up each of their paperwork "I'm going to owl the head master and your head of houses to update them" she said as she walked off towards her office.

"You lied. You lied to a teacher" Theo grinned.

"Shut up, I've lied plenty over the years, hard not to when your best friend is the Chosen One. And besides, she's hardly a teacher."

"You still lied. And you were good at it. She believed you." He chanted.

"Yes, well, after you droning on about leprechauns and faeries I'm hardly surprised." Hermione scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

"Which was exactly my plan" Theo beamed before he lay back in the bed with his hands behind his head and a smile plastered across his face as if his day could not get any better just because he had witnessed her lie to a face of authority, for him.

oOoOoOo

Nothing else exciting happened for the rest of the day, classes had already started so Madam Pomfrey's Owls would have to wait until the teaching day was over. The mediwitch continued to check up on the two patients just as she normally would though this time her eyebrows were always twisted in puzzlement and a perplexed frown marred her face as the mere sight of the pair just drove her mind wild with the possibilities. Hermione had wondered aloud if she was sat in her office trying to figure it out. After that the mediwitch barely left her own sanctuary unless it was absolutely needed leaving Hermione to declare that yes, she was in fact trying to figure out their 'puzzle'. She had sent all the books back to the library the night before, or at least, all of the books except for the one that had actually helped. The cover and title were still charmed as just as Draco had done when he had dropped it off. Hermione had taken it upon herself to shrink the book, after all it was overly large and ridiculously heavy. She shrank it in size and weight, making it as small as a notebook. It was innocuous and with the new title she was able to carry it around with her easily without anyone being the wiser. She had vowed to make an anonymous donation to the library later on in return though knew that nobody would miss this particular book since it really shouldn't have even been there in the first place. She had never been thankful to an un-organised librarian in her life before now. It wasn't a feeling she wasn't very comfortable with having.

Draco, Luna, Harry, Ginny, Daphne and Blaise had all visited at some point in the day during their free periods or lunch breaks. The events of the night before had had to be explained to Ginny that morning when she saw Hermione and Theo for herself and realised something was off. After that the group would sit and make small talk, daring not to mention what had happened or how just in case Madam Pomfrey was listening in, muffliato charms couldn't be relied upon too heavily without added wards and there was no way they could ward the mediwitch out of the hospital wing, even the very thought was ridiculous. They played exploding snap, opened chocolate frog cards and would challenge each other to try the every flavour beans that had been left aside in the 'potentially vomit inducing' pile rather than the 'safe as brooms' pile that had barely last two minutes between the lot of them.

Madam Pomfrey had kept the wards up for the time being, deciding that until she spoke to the professors and they figured out how best to proceed they would be much better off as they were, safe in their beds. Leprechauns, faeries and all.

The last class on that Wednesday afternoon ended at four thirty with an hour break for the students and staff alike to unwind before the evening meal, though unfortunately for Hermione and Theo there would be no unwinding for them. They had spent the day sat together going through all the homework they had, Harry and Draco had both brought them stacks of essays that had been assigned in the classes they missed and with nothing else to do the pair had teamed up to work through everything in an effort to keep from dying of boredom or going insane.

When the Gryffindor and Slytherin head of house's turned up not long after the bell signified the end of the last class of the day, and a few minutes after that the headmaster himself, Hermione and Theo had already put aside their homework for the day though mainly because it was all already done.

Madam Pomfrey ushered the three professors into her office that was either warded spectacularly or she just threw up charms to stop either of the patients from hearing what she had to say.

Ten minutes later the four emerged, Madam Pomfrey looking slightly frazzled, her neat hair that was always in a tight twist and had never once looked out of place was starting to sag under the weight of the burden she was carrying and her mediwitch's hat was slightly off centre. Professor McGonagall wore her usual hard stare and Snape looked completely bored while their headmaster was almost clapping his hands and jumping up and down in sheer glee.

"I hear we owe the leprechauns a lovely basket of Honeydukes' finest" he commented wryly.

Theo laughed at the elderly man, smiled up at him and replied "I'm sure they would appreciate that. May I suggest we at least add something from the 'Pot of Gold' range?"

"Ah now that is a range of chocolate one can never have too much of. Though I dare say there really are no sweets that one can never have too much of. Alas, tiny little cauldrons full of the smoothest, richest, salty caramel there is really is up there with lemon sherbets" the headmaster sighed happily as he described the chocolates in an almost dreamlike way that made everyone in the room besides Theo nervous.

"Albus!" Professor McGonagall reprimanded.

"The boy has good taste Minerva"

"Yes, well, it is not his tastes in chocolates that we are here to talk about, is it?" Her icy tone matching her posture. "Now then." She said simply when it became clear their headmaster was not going to further rile her up. "Do you care to explain yourselves?"

"I...um...Professor...I'm not sure what you mean exactly" Hermione replied as her nerves set in again.

Professor McGonagall was a strict, no nonsense woman who saw through lies as easily as glass. She had a sort of affinity for detecting lies. Specifically when one of the students under her own care was telling lies. She had taught them, counselled them, consoled them and brought them up as if they were her own. She knew when when Gryffindor's were lying. They were her cubs. Of course she knew. The Gryffindor head of house raised one very perfectly shaped eyebrow at the younger witch as if conveying in that tiny movement she that she knew whatever Hermione was saying was utter hogwash and that she was surprised that she was hearing such hogwash from this particular student.

Theo sensed the silent battle waging between the two women and decided to interrupt, knowing that under such scrutiny Hermione could likely cave. "It's true" he said with an added sigh purely for effect.

"We really did wake up like this" he was now slapping his leg almost absently though Hermione knew that it was intentional. His eyes narrowed slightly as one of his slaps stung a little more than he intended. Or he pretended. Either way he carried on.

"I can't explain it and 'Mione can't explain it and Merlin knows, if she can't explain something then...hey! Maybe it was Merlin?" He asked excitedly as his eyes lit up.

Hermione sat in the next bed as she watched him, sneaky she thought. Such an actor. So bloody dramatic. She rolled her eyes at his ridiculous notion before he turned to her and asked "Hey, Hermione, did you pray to Merlin that my leg would heal?" Almost innocently though the smirk could still be detected on his lips.

Hermione smiled back, knowing the game Theo was playing; the charming, idiotic fool who would succeed in diverting attention when needed. He always seemed quite apt at it, though if she were a betting woman she never would have thought it would work against the four adults that were facing them right now.

She would have lost that bet.

"I did Theo" she answered sombrely.

"And did you cry and beg for him to let your friend be okay?" There was a glint in his eyes matching his smirk now.

"I suppose there were some tears" she agreed reluctantly.

"Then it's settled. It must have been Merlin. Everyone knows he can't let a fellow Slytherin suffer and of course there's that thing about granting wishes" he finished with a satisfied smile as he turned back to their professors.

Professor McGonagall grit her teeth at his audacious nature while Dumbledore laughed haughtily, Madam Pomfrey finally let her exhausted body drop into a nearby chair and Snape continued to stand in the exact same spot, glaring at the two of them.

"What do we do?" The mediwitch asked after a few minutes of unbearable silence.

Apparently the answer to that question was to have Professor Snape subject both Hermione and Theo to as many diagnosis spells, charms and enchantments as possible to try and figure out what had happened, when and how. Theo was made to walk up and down the room repeatedly, each step gaining him confidence and elegance in his stride. Hermione had to reveal her completely healed and now year old scars before also being subjected to the same walking exercises Theo had been since she had been lay in bed just as long as him without walking.

It took until well after dinner was over for Professor Snape to finally holster his wand again, declaring that he couldn't find a single thing wrong on either of them except for the injuries to Theo's head. It was clear the man was infuriatingly frustrated at the turn of the events.

"What do we do?" Madam Pomfrey asked again.

"Discharge them Poppy, there's no need to have them taking up more space and time when they are clearly so very well. Besides, I'm sure we can all agree that they have missed far too many classes already." Professor McGonagall replied. "Send us a copy of their files when you're done. I'll see you both in class tomorrow" she added with a quick glance to the pair before walking towards the double doors.

Professor Snape barely nodded his agreement before he was following her out leaving just the headmaster behind.

"Well, I suppose I shall go and owl Honeydukes then" he smiled before picking up a sugar quill from Theo's table and following his colleagues.