Anti-Litigation Charm: JKR and her publishers own all the characters,
I'm just playing with them. This applies to all chapters.
Author's Notes: Hermione's thoughts are in italics. I hope I've explained everything sufficiently. I think I did. Please read and review, or I'll stop writing!
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Chapter 2
Several hours later, Hermione woke to a commotion coming from the main infirmary. She stretched her neck and turned to see what was happening. Nothing was visible as the door was closed, so she got up and opened it, remembering that she was supposed to help with anyone else brought in.
She walked out to see a male body on a stretcher and red hair. Oh no, not red hair. Picking up her pace, she hurried over to the stretcher, only to see a lot of blood. Not Ron too, I can't loose two of them. She thought as she turned toward Madame Pomfrey.
"What can I do to help?" Hermione asked, trying to keep her emotions from bubbling to the surface.
Madame Pomfrey had her wand out and was taking Ron's vitals as she looked up and said, "Just a moment, Hermione, let me figure out what's wrong with him."
Just what I need, more of nothing to do. Please let me be okay, please. If Ron looks like this, then where's Harry? What condition is he in? I can't think of that right now, I'll go crazy. Just focus on Ron, what does he need?
Hermione was ripped from her thoughts by Madame Pomfrey speaking to her. "Hermione, it looks as though Mr. Weasley will be fine. They were only surface wounds and it appears he fainted after seeing his own blood. I'll give him a potion to speed the healing, he should be awake soon." She turned toward the storeroom leaving Hermione alone with Ron.
Potions, that's what Sev and I do together, we make potions. I can still make them, but he can't. Hermione thought as she broke down in tears again. At least Ron is okay, he'll be fine in a little while, but where's Harry? Will Ron go back out and fight? I should be out there fighting, those boys and their stupid chivalry. They always think they have to protect me, but they don't. I can take care of myself. I'm smart and fairly powerful, and I think very well on my feet. I could help out there, I really could. But there's a baby to think about now, I need to protect it and that can't be done on a battlefield.
"It?" Did I just refer to my child as an "it?" That's a bit impersonal. I think for the time I'll call him a "him." I would love to have a little boy who looks just like Sev. Hermione's thoughts were once again interrupted, but this time it was a commotion in the corridor. She turned around and headed to the main infirmary door, but was stopped by Professor Dumbledore who was followed by none other than Harry Potter.
"HARRY!" Hermione shrieked as she saw her best friend. She threw her arms around him and hugged him as hard as she could. He hugged her right back and let out a long sigh. It had been a very long day and right now all he wanted to do was make sure his friends were doing well and get some well-deserved sleep. He waited a few more minutes and pried himself away from Hermione.
"Hey, 'Mione, how are Ron and Snape doing?" He asked.
"Ron's sleeping, but he'll be okay, it was all superficial. Severus isn't doing so well, he hit his head and went into a coma. There's nothing magical or muggle that can be done for him, he just needs to heal on his own, but Madame Pomfrey isn't hopeful that he will make it." Hermione said in a flat tone, her emotions zapped by this point.
"Oh, 'Mione, I'm so sorry. I know how much you've come to care for him. If you need anything, just ask, okay?" Harry replied while giving her another hug.
"I'll let you know. I'm going to go sit with Sev now. You look like hell. Why don't you look in on Ron, take a shower and go to sleep. You can tell me everything that happened tomorrow." Hermione said as she turned back toward the door.
"Alright, see you tomorrow." Harry yelled after her.
Hermione walked into Severus's room, hoping beyond hope for him to be awake. But she was wrong; he was still lying in the same position as when she left. His breathing still even and shallow. She picked up his hand again and began her vigil. She laid her head down and slowly the sound of his heart beating lulled her into a deep sleep.
The next morning dawned more hope for Hermione. Severus seemed better, at least to her. His breathing was becoming more deep and relaxed. Just after she woke, Professor Dumbledore entered the room to relieve Hermione of her bedside vigil. At first she protested, but he won, as he always did. Hermione left and went down to her rooms near the dungeons.
Once there, she took a relaxing bath and put on fresh clothes. Within half an hour, she was back in the infirmary where she once again found Professor Dumbledore.
"Hello again Hermione, I trust your bath went very well, you look much better. But I am afraid there has been no change in Severus's condition." Her face fell; once again loosing the hope she was trying so hard to keep. Dumbledore patted her on the shoulder and suggested they check on Ron.
"Of course Professor, I'd like to see my friend." Hermione said as she walked toward Ron's bed. It was surrounded by a curtain, which they pulled back to reveal a now clean Harry sitting by Ron's bed. He looked up and smiled when he saw Dumbledore and Hermione. Hermione looked over to Ron who opened his eyes as he heard them approach.
"Oh Ron, thank goodness you're awake. We were so worried about you! You gave us such a scare. How are you feeling?" Hermione asked.
Ron looked to Hermione and Dumbledore and back to Harry as he finally asked, "So what happened after I was hurt? Did You-Know-Who get away?"
Professor Dumbledore raised his hand is his usual shushing gesture and said, "Calm down, Mr. Weasley, Harry, here, will explain it all in due time. But to make a long story short, I do not think we will be hearing from Voldemort anytime soon."
"Yeah, it took several hours of dueling and I really don't completely understand what happened, but he ended up burning right in front of me. My best guess is that he was so tired that he couldn't block my spells anymore. I did a simple fire spell and poof, he was gone. Where he had stood moments before, there was only a robe and ashes. I didn't see a spirit like in first year, so I think he may be gone, but where there's a will there's a way with Voldemort. If there's any way for him to come back he will. We need to keep our eyes open and not be blind with celebration." Harry explained.
"Oh Harry, I'm so glad everything went well. I still can't believe you guys didn't include me in the plans, I could have helped, you know!" Hermione exclaimed, getting more worked up by the moment.
"'Mione, we wanted to protect you. Maybe we were wrong, but we think of you as a sister and with that comes feelings and a need to protect. We needed to make the world safe for you, Ginny and everyone else who is important to us. I knew with the professors helping us that we didn't need your knowledge, so there just was no reason to include you. Snape also said he wanted to protect you, he said something about you being so innocent about the ways of the world and wanting to preserve that. It was all for the best, 'Mione, really, we won." Harry replied.
"Oh." Was all Hermione had to say in response. Her distressed feelings about Severus's current condition were bubbling up again and she did not want to get emotional in front of her friends right now. They had just put their lives on the line for her and the rest of the wizarding world. She owed it to them to support them in their happy mood. While she was not in a celebrating mood, she would at least keep her spirits up in front of them to help their healing in what they had witnessed.
Once Hermione composed herself, she turned back to Harry and Ron, found her voice and asked, "So what happened to Severus then? Were you two there?"
"I think I'll take this one, Harry." Ron said. "As you already know, Hermione, Severus's Dark Mark flared up at dinner, that's when he left. What you didn't know was that Harry and I were under the Invisibility Cloak, hanging onto the back of Snape's coat as he apparated. We arrived without being spotted. There were five other Death Eaters there, along with Voldemort. We felt good at that point about our chances, especially since we could take at least two down by surprise."
"Well, Voldemort called Snape up to him and started telling him how disappointed he was that there was no new intel from Hogwarts. We started to get worried, Voldemort was totally irrational. He was rambling on and on about traitors, trust and muggle lovers. He tried to put Crucio on Snape, but missed and it hit the ground instead. Then he got even worse and accused Snape of slipping him something. He was completely paranoid. He fired another curse at Snape, we couldn't hear what one. It went wrong too and sent Snape flying backward. We snuck over to Snape where he was lying and activated a Portkey on him. He then came back to Hogwarts." Ron continued.
"Once Snape disappeared, Voldemort realized something else was going on. We put a quick binding spell on two Death Eaters, took off the Invisibility Cloak and dueled with the rest. Voldemort was still rambling on, but this time about Harry and how much he wanted to kill him. It was down to one last Death Eater and Voldemort. I took the Death Eater, Harry went to Voldemort. You already heard what Harry did, I didn't get to do much. I got thrown back, almost like Snape. But it wasn't as bad, obviously. I just landed in a bush, and got cut up. But the Portkey I had on me was charmed to apparate me if I became unconscious, so bam, I ended up at the front gates. That's all I know." Ron finished his story.
"Well, that's a lot to digest. I think I'll go check on Severus now. I'll see you guys later." Hermione said and headed toward Severus's bed.
Hope floats when you need it and Hermione needed it then. Still no change in Severus. When or if he would wake up was up to him. Was he strong enough to come back to her?
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Don't forget to review!!!! Thanks!!!
Author's Notes: Hermione's thoughts are in italics. I hope I've explained everything sufficiently. I think I did. Please read and review, or I'll stop writing!
####
Chapter 2
Several hours later, Hermione woke to a commotion coming from the main infirmary. She stretched her neck and turned to see what was happening. Nothing was visible as the door was closed, so she got up and opened it, remembering that she was supposed to help with anyone else brought in.
She walked out to see a male body on a stretcher and red hair. Oh no, not red hair. Picking up her pace, she hurried over to the stretcher, only to see a lot of blood. Not Ron too, I can't loose two of them. She thought as she turned toward Madame Pomfrey.
"What can I do to help?" Hermione asked, trying to keep her emotions from bubbling to the surface.
Madame Pomfrey had her wand out and was taking Ron's vitals as she looked up and said, "Just a moment, Hermione, let me figure out what's wrong with him."
Just what I need, more of nothing to do. Please let me be okay, please. If Ron looks like this, then where's Harry? What condition is he in? I can't think of that right now, I'll go crazy. Just focus on Ron, what does he need?
Hermione was ripped from her thoughts by Madame Pomfrey speaking to her. "Hermione, it looks as though Mr. Weasley will be fine. They were only surface wounds and it appears he fainted after seeing his own blood. I'll give him a potion to speed the healing, he should be awake soon." She turned toward the storeroom leaving Hermione alone with Ron.
Potions, that's what Sev and I do together, we make potions. I can still make them, but he can't. Hermione thought as she broke down in tears again. At least Ron is okay, he'll be fine in a little while, but where's Harry? Will Ron go back out and fight? I should be out there fighting, those boys and their stupid chivalry. They always think they have to protect me, but they don't. I can take care of myself. I'm smart and fairly powerful, and I think very well on my feet. I could help out there, I really could. But there's a baby to think about now, I need to protect it and that can't be done on a battlefield.
"It?" Did I just refer to my child as an "it?" That's a bit impersonal. I think for the time I'll call him a "him." I would love to have a little boy who looks just like Sev. Hermione's thoughts were once again interrupted, but this time it was a commotion in the corridor. She turned around and headed to the main infirmary door, but was stopped by Professor Dumbledore who was followed by none other than Harry Potter.
"HARRY!" Hermione shrieked as she saw her best friend. She threw her arms around him and hugged him as hard as she could. He hugged her right back and let out a long sigh. It had been a very long day and right now all he wanted to do was make sure his friends were doing well and get some well-deserved sleep. He waited a few more minutes and pried himself away from Hermione.
"Hey, 'Mione, how are Ron and Snape doing?" He asked.
"Ron's sleeping, but he'll be okay, it was all superficial. Severus isn't doing so well, he hit his head and went into a coma. There's nothing magical or muggle that can be done for him, he just needs to heal on his own, but Madame Pomfrey isn't hopeful that he will make it." Hermione said in a flat tone, her emotions zapped by this point.
"Oh, 'Mione, I'm so sorry. I know how much you've come to care for him. If you need anything, just ask, okay?" Harry replied while giving her another hug.
"I'll let you know. I'm going to go sit with Sev now. You look like hell. Why don't you look in on Ron, take a shower and go to sleep. You can tell me everything that happened tomorrow." Hermione said as she turned back toward the door.
"Alright, see you tomorrow." Harry yelled after her.
Hermione walked into Severus's room, hoping beyond hope for him to be awake. But she was wrong; he was still lying in the same position as when she left. His breathing still even and shallow. She picked up his hand again and began her vigil. She laid her head down and slowly the sound of his heart beating lulled her into a deep sleep.
The next morning dawned more hope for Hermione. Severus seemed better, at least to her. His breathing was becoming more deep and relaxed. Just after she woke, Professor Dumbledore entered the room to relieve Hermione of her bedside vigil. At first she protested, but he won, as he always did. Hermione left and went down to her rooms near the dungeons.
Once there, she took a relaxing bath and put on fresh clothes. Within half an hour, she was back in the infirmary where she once again found Professor Dumbledore.
"Hello again Hermione, I trust your bath went very well, you look much better. But I am afraid there has been no change in Severus's condition." Her face fell; once again loosing the hope she was trying so hard to keep. Dumbledore patted her on the shoulder and suggested they check on Ron.
"Of course Professor, I'd like to see my friend." Hermione said as she walked toward Ron's bed. It was surrounded by a curtain, which they pulled back to reveal a now clean Harry sitting by Ron's bed. He looked up and smiled when he saw Dumbledore and Hermione. Hermione looked over to Ron who opened his eyes as he heard them approach.
"Oh Ron, thank goodness you're awake. We were so worried about you! You gave us such a scare. How are you feeling?" Hermione asked.
Ron looked to Hermione and Dumbledore and back to Harry as he finally asked, "So what happened after I was hurt? Did You-Know-Who get away?"
Professor Dumbledore raised his hand is his usual shushing gesture and said, "Calm down, Mr. Weasley, Harry, here, will explain it all in due time. But to make a long story short, I do not think we will be hearing from Voldemort anytime soon."
"Yeah, it took several hours of dueling and I really don't completely understand what happened, but he ended up burning right in front of me. My best guess is that he was so tired that he couldn't block my spells anymore. I did a simple fire spell and poof, he was gone. Where he had stood moments before, there was only a robe and ashes. I didn't see a spirit like in first year, so I think he may be gone, but where there's a will there's a way with Voldemort. If there's any way for him to come back he will. We need to keep our eyes open and not be blind with celebration." Harry explained.
"Oh Harry, I'm so glad everything went well. I still can't believe you guys didn't include me in the plans, I could have helped, you know!" Hermione exclaimed, getting more worked up by the moment.
"'Mione, we wanted to protect you. Maybe we were wrong, but we think of you as a sister and with that comes feelings and a need to protect. We needed to make the world safe for you, Ginny and everyone else who is important to us. I knew with the professors helping us that we didn't need your knowledge, so there just was no reason to include you. Snape also said he wanted to protect you, he said something about you being so innocent about the ways of the world and wanting to preserve that. It was all for the best, 'Mione, really, we won." Harry replied.
"Oh." Was all Hermione had to say in response. Her distressed feelings about Severus's current condition were bubbling up again and she did not want to get emotional in front of her friends right now. They had just put their lives on the line for her and the rest of the wizarding world. She owed it to them to support them in their happy mood. While she was not in a celebrating mood, she would at least keep her spirits up in front of them to help their healing in what they had witnessed.
Once Hermione composed herself, she turned back to Harry and Ron, found her voice and asked, "So what happened to Severus then? Were you two there?"
"I think I'll take this one, Harry." Ron said. "As you already know, Hermione, Severus's Dark Mark flared up at dinner, that's when he left. What you didn't know was that Harry and I were under the Invisibility Cloak, hanging onto the back of Snape's coat as he apparated. We arrived without being spotted. There were five other Death Eaters there, along with Voldemort. We felt good at that point about our chances, especially since we could take at least two down by surprise."
"Well, Voldemort called Snape up to him and started telling him how disappointed he was that there was no new intel from Hogwarts. We started to get worried, Voldemort was totally irrational. He was rambling on and on about traitors, trust and muggle lovers. He tried to put Crucio on Snape, but missed and it hit the ground instead. Then he got even worse and accused Snape of slipping him something. He was completely paranoid. He fired another curse at Snape, we couldn't hear what one. It went wrong too and sent Snape flying backward. We snuck over to Snape where he was lying and activated a Portkey on him. He then came back to Hogwarts." Ron continued.
"Once Snape disappeared, Voldemort realized something else was going on. We put a quick binding spell on two Death Eaters, took off the Invisibility Cloak and dueled with the rest. Voldemort was still rambling on, but this time about Harry and how much he wanted to kill him. It was down to one last Death Eater and Voldemort. I took the Death Eater, Harry went to Voldemort. You already heard what Harry did, I didn't get to do much. I got thrown back, almost like Snape. But it wasn't as bad, obviously. I just landed in a bush, and got cut up. But the Portkey I had on me was charmed to apparate me if I became unconscious, so bam, I ended up at the front gates. That's all I know." Ron finished his story.
"Well, that's a lot to digest. I think I'll go check on Severus now. I'll see you guys later." Hermione said and headed toward Severus's bed.
Hope floats when you need it and Hermione needed it then. Still no change in Severus. When or if he would wake up was up to him. Was he strong enough to come back to her?
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Don't forget to review!!!! Thanks!!!