A/N: Remorseful Passion: Thanks a lot! (^_^) Hope you enjoy this chapter,
too! Please review!
Mery_Black: Hope you'll like this chapter even better than the last one! (^_^)
Chapter 11 - Facing Reality
"Wha...Where am I? Wha-what happened?" Hermione woke up, surprised by all the light. She couldn't see a thing, except, well...light.
"In the hospital wing." someone answered her softly. "We used the ring, remember?"
Hermione was confused. Ring? What ring? And who was talking to her? She tried to face the person, but all she saw were blurry images and lots of colors. She closed her eyes, trying to remember. Blue-gray eyes, soft lips kissing hers, a hand holding hers, someone conjuring a spell. A spell? What spell? Vador... No. Viamus. No. Vademus! Yes, that was it! Vademus! Suddenly, everything came into her mind: the fight with Ron, Viktor Krum, the flight, the hand-shaped stone, the Isle, Draco.
"Draco!" she exclaimed, opening her eyes.
"I'm here." Hermione felt someone taking hold of her hand. Slowly, everything went on clearer and clearer: she could finally see that the one talking to her was Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prefect, the one she used to despise, her ex-boyfriend, the one she loved...
"Are you all right?"
The old smirk appeared on the blonde's face. "Of course I am. I'm Draco Malfoy, after all, am I not?"
The girl smiled, closing her eyes once again and relaxing on the comfy bed. He was all right.
"Now...you must eat something, young miss! It's past noon!"
"Goodness! The classes! The professors! What will they say? Oh, no! I haven't turned in the essay to Professor Binns! What day is today? I'm out of time!" Hermione shouted desperately, much to Draco's amusement.
"Calm down! It's O.K.! You'll have enough time for lessons later! There are more important things to talk about now..." the boy turned a little pale as the thought crossed his mind.
Hermione turned sad and gazed out on the window. It wasn't snowing, though the Hogwarts grounds were covered with a plain white blanket.
"What day is today?" the girl repeated her previous question.
"The last day of the winter break." Draco answered absent-mindedly.
"WHAT?!" Hermione jumped out of her sheets, landing on her kness, on the top of the bed, in front of Draco.
"But I only got on the Isle yesterday!"
Draco's lips shaped into a bitter smile.
"Not actually. You see, you've been unconscious for almost three days now."
"But that doesn't explain all the time that's passed!"
"No, but in the Isle of Eternity time passes in a different way. Which is, it doesn't pass. Or, it does, actually, but much too slowly to be noticed."
Hermione was awestruck. It was incredible. But...
"My parents! They were expecting me home during vacation! They must be dead worried now!"
"No, they aren't. Dumbledore solved everything with a few letters and the explanation of you studying for a scholarship."
"Not bad. I like the excuse..." Hermione grinned, obviously satisfied. "Maybe I should actually do that, it's just ... I love this place too much!" the girl was suddenly much too happy. She realized that she was at Hogwarts, her 'home away from home', along with the one she loved.
"Minnie!" the door burst open, revealing a bright Ginny Weasley. "You're all right!" she exclaimed happily, giving a warm hug to her friend. "I've been worried sick about you! Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped you!"
"Slow, down, Gin, one reproach at a time, please."
"I'm not reproaching you anything, it's just that... by Merlin, I'm your best friend, why did you do that to me?!" Ginny burst in tears, embracing Hermione once again.
Slowly, everything settled down. Draco let the two friends talk in private, so Hermione told Ginny everything that had happened to her since the day she heard Professor Dumbledore and Professor Mcgonagall discussing.
"Thank goodness you're both all right now!"
"Yes... But what happened in the meanwhile? How about Harry and Ron? ...And everything?"
"Well, Ron was positively desperate about you, not knowing where you were and what had happened to you. Fortunately, me and Harry had the idea to go to Lupin and ask him if he could ...track you or anything. He used a Recent-Past-Reading Charm on the Marrauders Map, and so he was able to find out where you went to before you left the castle. Then we thought really hard trying to figure out who you could go to, and Harry had the idea to owl Krum. So... we found out."
Hermione sighed. "And what should I do now? What about the lessons?"
"You haven't lost much, so I reckon you'll catch up with the rest of your classmates very soon, being so smart and all..." Ginny grinned. "Everything will be O.K. from now on."
"I'm not so sure..." sighed Hermione once again, thinking about Draco and...Ron.
Later that day, Hermione was allowed to rejoin her fellow Gryffindors in their Common Room. As the Fat Lady's painting moved aside, revealing the immense red and gold room, the Gryffindors ran toward the girl, shouting as loud as they could "Welcome back, Hermione!". The first ones to greet her were, of course, the very enthusiastic Harry and Ginny, followed by a staring-to-the ground Ron.
"Lo-look, Mione, I-I didn't mean to hurt you, I-I'm very sorry!"
"It's all right, Ron, all bad things forgotten."
"I-I guess you... won't get back with me, will you? I-I mean a-as a couple, you know..." Ron went as red as he could.
"I'm sorry, Ron..." Hermione gave him a really sad look.
Ron nodded. He was expecting this answer.
"Hey, you two! Cheer up, already!" shouted Seamus Finnigan, who was approaching to them, carrying two significantly big bottles of Butterbeer.
The "welcome back" party continued cheerfully until after twelve o'clock, when Sir Nick had to make them go each to their rooms, because they were causing too much noise.
However, Hermione couldn't sleep, so by three o'clock in the morning she sneaked out of the Gryffindor Tower. For half an hour she walked aimlessly through the castle, until - not much to her surprise - she walked into Draco.
Mery_Black: Hope you'll like this chapter even better than the last one! (^_^)
Chapter 11 - Facing Reality
"Wha...Where am I? Wha-what happened?" Hermione woke up, surprised by all the light. She couldn't see a thing, except, well...light.
"In the hospital wing." someone answered her softly. "We used the ring, remember?"
Hermione was confused. Ring? What ring? And who was talking to her? She tried to face the person, but all she saw were blurry images and lots of colors. She closed her eyes, trying to remember. Blue-gray eyes, soft lips kissing hers, a hand holding hers, someone conjuring a spell. A spell? What spell? Vador... No. Viamus. No. Vademus! Yes, that was it! Vademus! Suddenly, everything came into her mind: the fight with Ron, Viktor Krum, the flight, the hand-shaped stone, the Isle, Draco.
"Draco!" she exclaimed, opening her eyes.
"I'm here." Hermione felt someone taking hold of her hand. Slowly, everything went on clearer and clearer: she could finally see that the one talking to her was Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prefect, the one she used to despise, her ex-boyfriend, the one she loved...
"Are you all right?"
The old smirk appeared on the blonde's face. "Of course I am. I'm Draco Malfoy, after all, am I not?"
The girl smiled, closing her eyes once again and relaxing on the comfy bed. He was all right.
"Now...you must eat something, young miss! It's past noon!"
"Goodness! The classes! The professors! What will they say? Oh, no! I haven't turned in the essay to Professor Binns! What day is today? I'm out of time!" Hermione shouted desperately, much to Draco's amusement.
"Calm down! It's O.K.! You'll have enough time for lessons later! There are more important things to talk about now..." the boy turned a little pale as the thought crossed his mind.
Hermione turned sad and gazed out on the window. It wasn't snowing, though the Hogwarts grounds were covered with a plain white blanket.
"What day is today?" the girl repeated her previous question.
"The last day of the winter break." Draco answered absent-mindedly.
"WHAT?!" Hermione jumped out of her sheets, landing on her kness, on the top of the bed, in front of Draco.
"But I only got on the Isle yesterday!"
Draco's lips shaped into a bitter smile.
"Not actually. You see, you've been unconscious for almost three days now."
"But that doesn't explain all the time that's passed!"
"No, but in the Isle of Eternity time passes in a different way. Which is, it doesn't pass. Or, it does, actually, but much too slowly to be noticed."
Hermione was awestruck. It was incredible. But...
"My parents! They were expecting me home during vacation! They must be dead worried now!"
"No, they aren't. Dumbledore solved everything with a few letters and the explanation of you studying for a scholarship."
"Not bad. I like the excuse..." Hermione grinned, obviously satisfied. "Maybe I should actually do that, it's just ... I love this place too much!" the girl was suddenly much too happy. She realized that she was at Hogwarts, her 'home away from home', along with the one she loved.
"Minnie!" the door burst open, revealing a bright Ginny Weasley. "You're all right!" she exclaimed happily, giving a warm hug to her friend. "I've been worried sick about you! Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped you!"
"Slow, down, Gin, one reproach at a time, please."
"I'm not reproaching you anything, it's just that... by Merlin, I'm your best friend, why did you do that to me?!" Ginny burst in tears, embracing Hermione once again.
Slowly, everything settled down. Draco let the two friends talk in private, so Hermione told Ginny everything that had happened to her since the day she heard Professor Dumbledore and Professor Mcgonagall discussing.
"Thank goodness you're both all right now!"
"Yes... But what happened in the meanwhile? How about Harry and Ron? ...And everything?"
"Well, Ron was positively desperate about you, not knowing where you were and what had happened to you. Fortunately, me and Harry had the idea to go to Lupin and ask him if he could ...track you or anything. He used a Recent-Past-Reading Charm on the Marrauders Map, and so he was able to find out where you went to before you left the castle. Then we thought really hard trying to figure out who you could go to, and Harry had the idea to owl Krum. So... we found out."
Hermione sighed. "And what should I do now? What about the lessons?"
"You haven't lost much, so I reckon you'll catch up with the rest of your classmates very soon, being so smart and all..." Ginny grinned. "Everything will be O.K. from now on."
"I'm not so sure..." sighed Hermione once again, thinking about Draco and...Ron.
Later that day, Hermione was allowed to rejoin her fellow Gryffindors in their Common Room. As the Fat Lady's painting moved aside, revealing the immense red and gold room, the Gryffindors ran toward the girl, shouting as loud as they could "Welcome back, Hermione!". The first ones to greet her were, of course, the very enthusiastic Harry and Ginny, followed by a staring-to-the ground Ron.
"Lo-look, Mione, I-I didn't mean to hurt you, I-I'm very sorry!"
"It's all right, Ron, all bad things forgotten."
"I-I guess you... won't get back with me, will you? I-I mean a-as a couple, you know..." Ron went as red as he could.
"I'm sorry, Ron..." Hermione gave him a really sad look.
Ron nodded. He was expecting this answer.
"Hey, you two! Cheer up, already!" shouted Seamus Finnigan, who was approaching to them, carrying two significantly big bottles of Butterbeer.
The "welcome back" party continued cheerfully until after twelve o'clock, when Sir Nick had to make them go each to their rooms, because they were causing too much noise.
However, Hermione couldn't sleep, so by three o'clock in the morning she sneaked out of the Gryffindor Tower. For half an hour she walked aimlessly through the castle, until - not much to her surprise - she walked into Draco.
