Author's Note: I'm very, very sorry that I couldn't get this up sooner! I've been very busy! I apologize again!
CHAPTER NINE
ELIXER
She fell.
Hermione's eyes snapped open as her back hit the hard floor of the dormitory. She let out a muffled yell, quickly shutting her mouth, not wanting to wake anyone.
She turned over and sat up slowly, unnerved. The floor seemed cold as her hand rested on it, tensely. She noticed that she felt cold all over... but she was sweating.
Hermione reached up to her forehead and wiped her face with the back of her hand. She shakily pulled her hair back behind her ears and looked around.
The girls' dormitory looked just as it should. All of its occupants were apparently fast asleep; the room around her was in its usual orderly fashion.
Hermione turned her head around and stared at her own mess of a bed. It was the only the out of the ordinary. All her covers were tangled up and half of them fell to the floor. Her pillows were in the wrong spot—hanging on the verge of tumbling off—damp with sweat. Her mattress was wrinkled in bunches because she had been tossing and turning.
The dull throb on her hands and arms reminded her of the nightmare that had woken her. Afraid of what she was going to see, Hermione turned her hands over so that the palms were visible and slowly peered down at them. They were shaking and lined with sweat, but there was no blood, no bruises.
Hermione held her hands in her lap and bit her lip. She stared down at the floor.
The darkness... the redness....
The presence of overpowering evil....
Hermione put a fist to her mouth and whimpered.
The dream... it had been so real... too real. Did it mean anything?
Hermione felt a tingling sensation at her nose, the feeling of grief. She felt the stiffness in her face and the tears that began to well up at her eyes.
She blinked and two streamed down her cheeks, hot on her face. She quickly reached up and sustained them.
Hermione noticed that she was shaking almost uncontrollably. She was also very tense. Her muscles had seized up and now hurt from her efforts to not cry.
Hermione relaxed a bit and put her hands around her shoulders, hugging herself. As she blinked, more tears came, but she did not attempt to cease them. It felt better to rid of them: rid of the pain....
She closed her eyes and sobbed quietly to herself, vainly trying to calm down. She felt the fear that she had stumbled upon in the dream.... She felt it crawl up her spine and onto her neck, making her shudder. Hermione put her hand up to her neck. The touch of her cold hands made her open her eyes.
Red light... the color of the moon....
Her eyes shifted and she looked at the moonlight streaming steadily into the room. It was white....
"Good," she whispered quietly.
She slowly let go of her shoulders and got up. She was still trembling subtly. Quickly, she made her way to the door, her feet barely touching the cold floor. She looked around at her sleeping roommates before quietly slipping out.
Hermione silently walked down the stairs, only partly aware of where she was. The other part of her was still trapped in the dream... with no way out....
She made her way down the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione looked around for any signs of Harry returning. When she didn't see any, she sullenly went and opened the portrait hole a crack and peeked out into the dark corridors. The torches at the end of the hallway shone dully, barely casting light over the gray rocks. Beside that, there was nothing.
Hermione sighed apprehensively.
What's taking him so long? She wondered.
She left the portrait hole ajar so that Harry wouldn't have any trouble when he did return. Then, taking one last look out, she went to the nearest chair and sank down into it. Hermione felt energy-less. The dream had taken too much energy... and it was still draining her with the mere memory of it....
That dream again....
Hermione blinked. It was only a nightmare.... Nothing to worry and fret over....
But under her thoughts, a question bubbled up:
Is it just a nightmare?...
* * *
Harry ran through the chamber, barely aware of his pounding heart. He had to get back into the school. Something sinister had happened.... He knew it.... He felt it like a cold hand around the back of his neck, penetrating eyes staring through him....
"Oh, no!" Harry yelled.
How was he going to get out of the chamber this time? In his second year, Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore's phoenix, had flown them out....
Harry stopped running although he felt very insecure about standing still. He quickly looked around him, turning in circles, squinting into unknown shadows....
"Come on... come on!" he whispered urgently.
His very stillness was wrong for he was wasting time.... It was almost like the seconds on a clock were ticking away in his ears, magnified a thousand times.
Then, a small crawlspace at the darkest corner of the chamber caught his eyes. Without thinking, Harry ran to it, knelt down, and went in.
* * *
There were footsteps. The sound of the nightlife quieted again, but this time... in fear, not submission. They knew when evil was among them....
The glittering stone faded and lost its glow. Everything seemed to have stopped, even the wind.
A twig snapped and a shadow loomed out of the darkness, approaching the rock. When it reached the white stone, the figure bent over and extended a long, bony finger towards a footprint left behind from someone who had recently been there. The loose sand moved slightly at the touch.
"Harry Potter..." a voice said softly, coldly.
The finger withdrew.
A small laugh escaped the figure of evil. The laugh grew louder. It became a cackle that even the night seemed to cringe away from.
The enigma of a person thought darkly to himself.
He had let the Potter boy live to witness the destruction of his own future.... He would die, soon enough, but this was a cruel game where everyone that didn't know the rules would become mere pieces to be toyed with before being tossed away as useless. And the Dark was winning the game, for only they knew the plans. And the plan was working.... Hogwarts would belong as one of their pieces soon enough, and nothing would be able to stop the evil....
A cruel smile formed on the figure's face and he let out another long cackle. The forest seemed to shake. It seemed to shake with a mix of fear and hate for the laugh that echoed above the treetops. It seemed to shake with a certain fury to it as the figure thought to himself again.
Fire will burn. Scorching even the ashes of things already consumed. Fire will blaze through the night, lighting only the pathway of destruction. We shall conquer with flames!
Red eyes glowed from the darkness.
Evil will conquer....
* * *
"Ouch!" Harry let out a muffled yell.
He had run into a solid surface with his forehead. Harry moved back slightly and massaged the small throb on his head. Then, he looked at what he had run into.
A wall stood before him. He looked up and saw that the crawlspace had opened into a small, narrow cell. But, although the space was small, the walls extended upward so much that Harry suspected them of reaching the heavens. The faintest glow at the top caught his eye and suddenly, Harry realized that the cell did indeed open up into the sky. There was a larger patch of darkish blue to his right and a tiny patch of blue/black to the left. The glow was coming from the larger patch.
The moon... he thought. So, the patches must be openings.
Then, his gaze lowered to a few feet above him and to his surprise, he saw a 3 dimensional snake shaped out of the wall.
Harry got closer to the wall and stood up. It was very tight with all the walls surrounding him. And straight ahead, at eye level, was the snake that protruded from the barrier he had run into.
The serpent was very small, about the width of his thumb and the length of his middle finger, but only half of its body was carved out. It was curved at the head so that only one side of its face was showing. On the visible side, a small red gem represented the eye.
Harry marveled at the snake, and then (craning his neck), the height of the walls with the two holes that revealed the sky at the top.
But, he knew that he had to get back so his eyes once again met the serpent's.
"Open..." Harry hissed.
The wall moved upward.
Although Harry had been anticipating a great rumble, it never came. Only a small hiss came when the wall stopped, revealing another crawlspace that severely sloped upward.
Harry knelt down once more and looked up into the darkness of the new passageway. Then, slowly, he entered.
* * *
Andeline walked in the dimly lit corridors. She peered around. Something felt wrong. It had felt wrong ever since she had seen someone sneaking around by the Forbidden Forest. And although she did not know for certain that it was "someone", she felt that it was.
Had something happened? She hoped that it hadn't, but she knew for a fact that most of her hunches came true.... But, if something had happened... she knew that there was nothing that they could do about it.
What happens will have gone by and all we can do is cope with it... she thought.
Andeline stopped in the middle of the barren hallway. She knew for a fact that the past could not be changed....
The night was dark but not in its usual serene way. Something was different, but not physically.... There was something wrong but nothing was spoken up about it.
Then, near the middle of the night, when the moonlight shone dully into the room, something rustled. The noise grew closer and closer, approaching with caution, then, quite rapidly.
Suddenly, someone rushed into the room.
"Get out! Hurry!"
A sizzle pierced the night and everything was lit up in a bright blaze of red, orange and yellow. The heat was unbearable as smoke rose steadily, filling the rooms like silent fingers searching and searching....
There was a scream and a thud.
The floor was hard against the hands. The surrounding was hot against the skin.
The flames spread rapidly around, enclosing the house. The fire blazed in the night....
The burnt smell rose into the nose, tickling the throat.
"Where are you?"
"Here!"
"I can't see!"
"Follow my voice!"
The door was seen through a haze of smoke. It drew nearer as the throat tightened.
"The fire is too fast! It's too fast!"
Into the hallway, breaths coming short.
The flames blazed with unbearable pain. Sweat streamed steadily down.
The crackling sound grew more urgent as the house buckled.
"Over here! Hurry!"
Then, from outside: "Morsmordre!"
Green light shone through the smoke and the eyes saw a figure of the Dark Lord.
"NO!"
"Andeline!"
She snapped back.
The dark corridors... the dim lights... she thought. That's where I am... not there....
She sighed and cast her eyes onto the floor as she slowly moved on. A subtle tremble ran over her spine and the silence grew. She turned a corner and saw that it led to a staircase that went down.
Andeline frowned and turned around. She needn't go down deeper into the school. She needn't go farther into the darkness.
Then-suddenly-two voices spoke from behind her.
She automatically shrank close to the walls, into the shadows. The voices neared, speaking rapidly in low tones. They belonged to the Potions master and Professor McGonagall.
"Severus... are you absolutely sure?"
"Minerva! How many times do I have to tell you? This may be our only chance!"
Their voices sounded urgent.
Andeline saw them come around the far end of the corridor she was on and turn at the staircase that was leading down.
"Why are we going to the dungeons?" The transfiguration teacher questioned.
"Some of my potions are..." his voice became mumbled and droned on as murmuring whispers.
Andeline paused, then peered into the hallway that held the staircase.
Where are they going? She thought.
Making up her mind to follow, the girl turned the corner and vanished into the depths of the oncoming darkness.
* * *
Harry noticed the small hiss from behind him. The wall must've closed after him.
His predictions about the new passageway were true.
The crawlspace went almost straight up in an angle and it didn't help that it was slightly slippery. Harry's hands had already lost their placing a few times.
There was a dim squeak as his right hand slipped a bit.
Although there wasn't any light and all he could see was the darkness that surrounded him, Harry was sure that this was a pipe. He wondered where it led.
After crawling up a short awhile, Harry found that the crawlspace was leveling out.
Almost there... I think... he told himself.
The tunnel was now flat. He stopped. The tunnel had stopped. He groped the wall in front of him for a handle or anything. It was still hard for him to see.
He turned his head upward to see if anything was there. The dullest light was streaming in from a crack.
The wall was now high enough for him to crouch so he lifted himself up a bit and knelt, hands raised to find a rough surface. It felt like a trapdoor.
Harry paused, then pushed lightly on the exit. It didn't move.
He pushed harder and felt a slight crunch of wood against floor.
He exerted more force but the trapdoor would not budge. It simply went to a certain height and stopped moving until it dropped again.
"Open. Come on...." Harry murmured to himself.
His arms hurt from pushing upward and from hanging in the air so long. Harry let them drop, the trapdoor along with them.
Now how am I supposed to get out? He asked himself.
Harry stared upward again, seeing the dull light. He fingered the cracks that ran along the cold stone floor/ceiling that the light streamed through. Harry narrowed his eyes, looking at the light. His fingers ran horizontally toward each other. He wondered where he was in the school. His fingers touched. He hesitated, then pushed upward again.
A tingle sprang into his fingertips and the trapdoor made a crunching sound as it moved upward freely.
Baffled, Harry let it drop.
It creaked and crunched as it hit the floor again.
"How did...?" Harry muttered.
Think about your questions later. Just get out now... he thought.
Once again, Harry put his hands on the trapdoor and pushed upward. It moved up with a sudden jerk. As it opened, there was a squeak that told Harry it had been unused for a long time.
Then, there was a dull thump as the trapdoor fell to the floor, moving dust.
Harry peered out to where the crawlspace had led him. With a nervous tension, Harry realized that he was in the dungeons.
Harry put his hands on the dusty floor and slowly eased himself out of the tunnel. There wasn't a source of light in the room. A dim fire from the hallway lit part of the room. Its light was coming from around and under a door. Harry wondered how that same light had managed to get to where the trapdoor lay.
He picked up the trapdoor and lay it down flat again. Miraculously, it blended in with the floor, looking like one of the tile rocks the makers of Hogwarts had laid. Even the cracks blended in. Harry wondered how long this room had not been used.
Harry hurried to the door. He groped for a handle. There was none. Harry slid his hands over the hard surface of the door. It seemed to be made out of rock. He pushed against it. It didn't move an inch.
Harry let out a frustrated groan. How was it that he always seemed to be stuck in a problem?
He pushed at the barrier again, this time with more force. Again, the door didn't move.
Harry slammed into the door with his shoulder, only achieving a great ache on it. He stood back and rubbed the place on his shoulder that would certainly bruise the next day while looking around the room. He did not see anything. It was too dark.
A chill suddenly ran up his spine; his body felt cold.
"Professor?" A girl's voice spoke softly.
Shuffling sounded toward the door.
"What is it?"
"It's not true... is it? You didn't—"
"—Certainly not...."
"Father says that—"
"Dear, don't always believe what people say...." her voice -the professor's- sounded tired.
The girl's whispered with fear: "Will they not—"
"They can't kill me yet."
"Professor.... I trust that you did not what they accuse you of, but he—"
"Slytherin will always have a bad name. Trust that—your beliefs. They will not lead you wrong. Remember to never let anyone tell you otherwise."
Her voice cracked slightly. "Mother told me that."
"--And your mother told you that you were special. Don't let others tell you otherwise."
There was a pause where silence filled the air.
"You can't get out then?"
"No, Jemaline, I can't."
"Did you try the other door?"
"Of course...."
"But this is unfair! Why doesn't father believe me? You never preformed any Dark Magic!"
"It's okay. If I die—"
"You'll die a lie...."
"No, I won't. You know the truth."
"No one believes me though."
"They all know the truth and when I leave... I will haunt their conscience forever...."
The room lit up, the one Harry stood in, and in that second, he saw something.
"What?" Harry yelped in surprise.
He stumbled backwards, away from the door, where the conversation had been.... But... that was not possible... for one—the professor—was standing in the dungeon while the girl—Jemaline (apparently)—was outside in the hall.
But no one was here with Harry.
He grasped his forehead.
I am going crazy... he thought.
Then the lighted room once again flickered into his mind. There had been a door... at the other side of the room....
Harry took out his wand and muttered, "Lumos."
The familiar light came and illuminated the walls of the room. Indeed, Harry saw another door.
"Oh, my-gosh...." he said and hurried toward it.
The image had been true.
Harry took the invisibility cloak out of his pocket and fanned it out before him; then he slipped it on. He grabbed the doorknob with numb hands and turned it.
It turned freely.
Harry let out a sigh of relief as the door swung open into... Snape's old classroom!
The old room still had many potions in it: the one's that the professor couldn't take up into the Defense against dark Arts room. The beakers and bottles gleamed in the dull light produced by Harry's wand.
Suddenly, two voices sounded from somewhere outside the dungeon. Harry scuttled away from the door, reaching behind himself to close it. The door swung in halfway, squeaking a bit. Harry was about to close it all the way when Professor Snape and McGonagall hurried in, carrying a torch. It would be too obvious if the door had swung in all by itself, so Harry left it alone and stood in the corner.
"It's not possible, Severus—"
"You saw him with your own eyes."
They seemed to be apprehensive, moving quickly down the dungeon while Snape reached out to collect some potions. Professor McGanagall's face was white with horror and Snape looked paler than usual.
The transfiguration teacher was about to speak up when she saw the door that Harry had entered from; it was still open a crack.
"Severus? I thought that the room next to your old one was off limits." Her voice sounded softly in the classroom.
He turned, eyes glaring at the door.
"It is," he said stiffly, cloak sweeping the floor as he neared it.
The professor's hand grabbed the door, swinging it open. He stuck his head into the next room, eyes peering around for intruders.
"It was locked.... How did..." he said slowly.
He turned around, eyes sweeping around his own room, as if looking for the one who opened the door.
"How could someone get in if it was locked?" Professor McGonagall questioned, approaching the open door.
Snape said dryly, "I don't know... or I would've told you!" His hand slammed the door shut. "We have more important matters to solve to right now...."
Severus Snape began to collect potions again; his hands passing some while the others, he clutched.
Harry saw him reach for a grayish one when Professor McGonagall asked, "What of the school? The students—"
"Minerva," Snape turned to look at her exasperatedly, "there hasn't been any other signs of what might have caused this. We cannot jump to conclusions, and the best thing to do now is to keep the school operating."
"But—"
"Look, we don't know what happened to Dumbledore. Apparently, there have been signs of the dark arts at Hogwarts, but I don't know what kind of a curse could make the headmaster... go into some kind of an unconsciousness that is we cannot wake. It's like a coma sort of thing... but I doubt any of us have any clue to how this happened.
"Even the Dark Lord himself was afraid of Dumbledore. How would the students react if they found out that their protection at Hogwarts had dispersed? You-Know-Who is sure to try and attack the school, but we needn't arouse panic beforehand. For a temporary time... we will keep quiet."
"Severus... you are sure that the Dark Lord will try and attack Hogwarts?" Professor McGonagall's voice seemed pained.
"People have been saying that. He has his strongest followers behind him now. Even if Dumbledore were still capable to fight back, You-Know-Who would've attacked anyway. Hogwart's is almost the only thing standing in his way to conquering the world. Now, without the headmaster... his way is clearer."
McGonagall sighed. "We should start making an evacuation plan. If You-Know-Who does attack with full force... we have to get the students to safety."
"Yes, Minerva. You think that I do not know that?"
Professor McGonagall fell silent as Professor Snape turned back to getting his potions. His eyes darted around the room quickly.
Perhaps he suspects me of being in here, Harry thought, holding his breath. His blood had run cold. Dumbledore is in some-sort of coma? How did that happen... how can it happen?
The transfiguration teacher fidgeted her hands restlessly while she watched professor Snape grab a reddish/purplish potion.
"What are you going to do, Severus? Will your potions wake the headmaster?"
"Perhaps they will. We will have to try in order to find out."
He reached over to grab a beaker full of gold liquid, but his elbow knocked over a bluish one.
CRASH.
The bottle containing the blue liquid broke and spilled all over the floor. The liquid oozed toward where Harry was.
Snape muttered under his breath and took out his wand.
"Repairo!" he said.
The broken bottle flew together like a puzzle being solved. Snape grabbed it and flicked his wand again. The bluish liquid on the floor floated up in a long stream and entered the repaired bottle.
Snape put it on the shelf and turned back to Professor McGonagall.
"Here, carry that for me will you?" he said, handing her several bottles of different colored liquids.
She took them while he gathered up the remaining in his arms and nodded his head toward the door.
Professor McGonagall walked swiftly toward it, managing to hold her few bottles and the torch. Snape followed out the door.
Harry watched then. Then, without thinking, he also exited out the door. He saw the professors' backs round a corner up the stairs and jogged quietly after them.
They made their way up the stairs, then down a few corridors. After walking a few minutes, Harry saw that they had reached the entrance to Dumbledore's office.
"Fruit Chews," professor Snape said.
The stone gargoyle turned to life and jumped out of the way. They went onto the moving staircase that took them up to the headmaster's office.
As they entered, Harry recognized it instantly. The circular room was filled with magnificent portraits of the past headmasters.
Harry did not have but a few seconds to look around for the professors ran into another room.
"Minerva. Hand me the little, green potion on the top of the others—yes, that one. Here give it—thank you."
"What are you doing?"
"Making the strongest Elixer that I know of...."
Snape took out the reddish/purple bottle Harry had seen him get and poured it into a larger bottle. He dropped a few drops of the green potion into the red liquid. It fizzed and hissed as it mixed together into a dark blue.
The professor went on brewing his potions for about another ten minutes or so, Harry watching apprehensively. Then, Snape heated it, adding herbs.
Finally, the professor said, "Done!" and poured some "elixir" into a small bottle.
"Let's go."
Again, they went to another room, but this time... it was filled with all the teachers of Hogwarts. Hagrid was taking up a lot of space, but no one seemed to mind. There were faces filled with a mixture of hope and fear, while others had doubt written in every line. Some of the teachers merely looked at Professor Snape with misgiving.
Snape hissed, "Move. Come on."
The teachers scattered as the Potions master pushed his way through them. Harry lingered by the door, afraid of getting bumped; it was not a time to arouse more suspicion.
As the teachers moved aside, Harry saw a bed by the wall. Then, with a sinking feeling, he saw that Professor Dumbledore was lying on it.
Snape dropped some of his potion into the Headmaster's mouth. Then, he slowly backed away, eyes never leaving Dumbledore's face.
The teachers all looked hopefully toward the bed. Nothing was happening. Harry fidgeted around; his skin tingled with anticipation.
Professor Sprout looked at Professor Snape. "How fast should it work?" she asked.
"From a few minutes to half and hour. If nothing has happened then... I doubt anything will happen at all," he answered.
But the time passed, loudly ticking in Harry's ears from the headmaster's wall clock that hung opposite the room.
Ten minutes....
Please... Harry thought.
Twenty minutes.
Come on....
Thirty minutes... the limit.
Nevertheless, Harry prayed that something would happen....
No one moved... not even breathing, as it seemed. The time ticked on further to thirty-five minutes. Forty minutes.... Finally, the teachers started to exit slowly.
Hagrid stayed by Dumbledore's side. He kept muttering, "Great man ye are...."
Snape turned to McGonagall's shocked, white face.
"Only a miracle can occur now...." Professor McGonagall whispered.
"We can hope...." Snape said. "We can always hope."
Professor McGonagall nodded solemnly at Snape, eyes cast down. Then, she turned to Hagrid.
"Come, Hagrid. Let him rest...."
The half-giant reluctantly allowed himself to be steered out the door. Snape... the last one in the room sighed to himself... then exited also... leaving Harry alone in the room.
Harry stood, rooted to his spot long after they had all gone. Then, he slowly made his way across the room to the bed. He looked down at the headmaster, biting his lip.
Dumbledore had his eyes closed. He was pale... very pale... like a ghost. Harry thought to himself that the professor looked dead....
"No," Harry voiced his thoughts. "Don't think like that."
As he stood there... subtle fear began to crawl toward him. It reached with silent hands at him... making his skin crawl. The cold fear neared him and he shivered, thinking of what would happen.
What Voldemort does attack? Harry asked himself. What can we do? We're mostly students... some of us are really young....
Harry shifted around. He started toward the door... hoping beyond hope that the headmaster would awake....
* * *
Ron woke up suddenly. He felt very uneasy. Why?
Ron sat upright and looked around the dormitory.
Everything was alright. It looked the same as usual... just like it did every night.... Ron scanned the area in front of him... then turned to his side.
Wait it! He thought. His eyes wandered back to Harry's bed. Where's Harry?
Ron put his feet on the cold floor and got up. He made his way quietly to the door and went out. Then, he tiptoed downstairs.
Someone was already in the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Hermione!" Ron yelled.
She jumped, startled, and looked up. "Ron! What're you doing here?"
He stared at her. "What are you doing here?"
Hermione sighed. She looked shaken. "I woke up from a nightmare and couldn't fall back to sleep... so I came down here."
"Where's Harry" Ron questioned further.
"Um...." Hermione looked uneasily around her. "He went to the Chamber of Secrets...." she managed to say.
"What?" Ron practically shouted. "Without me?"
"We were going to tell you! I promise! It just... Dumbledore came for you and everything... and it slipped our minds! I'm sorry! I'm sure he is too! Really! Who wants to go to the Chamber of Secrets anyway?"
"Harry...." Ron scowled.
"Well..." Hermione muttered, "I actually made him...."
"What?" Ron yelled.
"Shhhh!" Hermione hissed.
"W-why'd you—"
"It's about a gem," she said rapidly. "Harry's been having dreams about it and we thought that he should check if it was still in the Chamber of Secrets."
"Oh... and how'd you start suspecting that it might be in the Chamber of Secrets?"
"It was Salazar Slytherin's. It's evil."
"And... where did you learn that? I doubt most people... even you... might know that."
At that, Hermione looked even guiltier as she confessed everything—but her nightmare. Ron, listened with his mouth open, gaping at her.
"And you never told me anything?"
"I'm sorry.... Everythings just been so hectic... and there was a period in time that you seemed to be mad at Harry and me."
"Well... you still should've told me anyway!"
"I'm sorry, Ron! Okay?"
"Alright," Ron said more calmly, "It's okay."
He didn't want to upset her even more.
Some nightmare she had.... She looks really nervous.... Ron thought.
"Do you have a watch?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah."
"What time is it?"
"4:36am."
Hermione groaned. She put her head on her right hand and said, "Where is he? I told him to come back soon! It shouldn't have taken him this long!"
"Calm down, Hermione.... I'm sure he's okay...."
She took a deep breath, eyes closed. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open.
"Did you hear that?" she asked.
"W-what?" Ron asked, startled. "Hear what?"
Hermione walked over to the portrait hole. It was open.... Ron was about to ask her why, but decided not to bother her with it.
"I thought that I heard—"
Silence.
Ron stood up and walked over to her.
"I am paranoid," she muttered, turning around.
Then, she heard the footsteps again.
"What is that?" she asked. "Harry?"
The portrait hole swung open wider. Hermione jumped to her feet. "Harry!"
Harry pulled off the invisibility cloak. Hermione ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"You're alright!" they said simultaneously, relief spreading over them.
Ron cleared his throat.
"Ron! You're awake!" Harry said, surprised.
"Yeah. Where were you? I think you had Hermione going a bit crazy over here."
Hermione let go of Harry. She glared at him. "Yeah! Do you know what I have been through?"
Harry drew in a deep breath.
Hermione stopped. Her accusing face turning into a worried one.
"Guys...." Harry said. "Something happened. There was a secret tunnel in the Chamber of Secrets... and I saw my mum...."
Ron and Hermione gaped at him.
"That's not it.... Dumbledore's in unconsciousness that even the professors could not break.... Like a coma...."
Author's reminder: All of this has future meaning…. I am apologizing right now for any delay that might occur in the future. I try to get these up sooner… but I'm very busy. Sorry! Please review J