Harry was running up to Mandy, when all of a sudden she was mumbling something, and just.... collapsed. At first, he figured that she was having another premonition, but she wasn't moving the slightest bit; she remained motionless on the floor. Wasn't she in pain last time she had a premonition? Yet, she wasn't showing any signs of well - anything, now. This couldn't be good. Luckily, Ron and Hermione were not far behind him; Hermione would know what to do.

"Ron! Hermione! Hurry!" He called back to them.

Moments later, Ron and Hermione arrived, but were less concerned then Harry.

"I'm sure it's just another premonition," Ron said, conclusively.

"Hmm... Possibly, but maybe we should go get Dumbledore just in case," Hermione replied, determining what would be the probable solution to this problem in her head.

"I don't think it's just another premonition, Ron, I mean she's been out for the last five minutes, she hasn't moved or anything. She would've at least moved by now; most likely she would've woken up," Harry said, uneasily.

"Harry's right," Hermione said firmly, "Listen, Ron, go back and get Dumbledore. We'll stay here with Mandy."

"But," Ron started in protest, "we don't even know. Besides, we are supposed to be going back to the Common Room!"

Hermione looked at Ron lamely. "We both know that you are just unsure of whether or not to trust this new girl, as are we all. Honestly though, that doesn't mean we shouldn't help her."

Ron sighed; he knew there was no fighting Hermione. So, reluctantly, he went off in search of Dumbledore to help Mandy.

"Now, Harry, you have to tell me exactly what you saw... considering, well, I really didn't see anything that happened," Hermione instructed.

"Well, er... uh..." Harry was quite caught off guard in this situation. "I don't know, it was really weird, she just kind of mumbled some words and collapsed."

"Hmm..." Hermione said, concentrating hard upon the ground where Mandy lay.

Harry wished that Dumbledore would come soon, because apparently Hermione had no more idea of what happened than he did, although she liked to think she did.

Eventually, after five more minutes of waiting, and Mandy still not moving the slightest bit, Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Ron appeared on the scene.

"Hermione, Harry, what happened here?" Dumbledore asked, with a slight sense of urgency.

"Well," Hermione began, "after we left your office, we began to go back to the Common Room like you said, when Harry noticed that Mandy was only slightly down the corridor herself, and went to go talk to her. Then, according to him, she suddenly mumbled something and just, well, collapsed."

"I see," Dumbledore replied, a sense of emergency flickering in his eyes. "Professor McGonagall, I need you to go get Madam Pomfrey immediately. Tell her that a student has fallen unconscious in the corridors." Professor McGonagall nodded to Dumbledore, and then fled in a mission to go find Madam Pomfrey.

"As for you three," he said, turning towards the trio, "you should be going back to your dormitories, this is not of your concern."

The three nodded back, and started off to their Common Room although they wished they could follow Dumbledore.

"Harry, did you hear anything that she was saying?" Hermione asked curiously.

"No," Harry said, slightly disappointed, "I was too far away at the time."

There was an awkward silence; they each seemed to be thinking their own thoughts on what to do.

"So Harry..." Ron said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" Harry asked.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking right about now?" Ron asked.

"Probably," Harry responded, "does it involve a certain gift from my father?"

"How'd you know?" Ron asked in mock surprise.

Hermione turned around to face them. "Oh guys! You are not going to..."

"Who says we aren't?" Ron interrupted her, slightly defensive.

"You would be breaking the rules!" she cried shrilly.

"Hermione! We have broken so many rules so far, I don't think one more would make a difference!" Ron exclaimed.

"Fine," she huffed disgustedly, angry at being defeated.

"And you promise you won't tell?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Not as long as you promise to start acting more like a Prefect," she said, aggravated.

"Thanks 'Mione!" Ron said happily, quickly kissing her on the cheek.

Harry couldn't believe what he just saw; he stood there with his feet glued to the floor, his mouth open in shock. He looked towards Hermione and saw that she was doing the exact same thing.

Being lost in the moment, Ron didn't realize what he just did; that is, until he looked from Harry to Hermione. All the color in his face had drained, and he remained there mimicking the other two's expressions. "I... I..." he began to stutter. "I... I..." he tried again without getting very far; he darted off to the Common Room being completely embarrassed of what he just did.

Ron had left Harry and Hermione in an awkward position, both confused on what had just happened and why.

"So..." Harry said, trying to shake off the shock, "I think I should um... you know... go after him.... uh... bye."

Harry quickly dashed off to follow Ron to the boys' dormitories, leaving Hermione still standing there, completely shocked.

When Harry got to the Common Room, he found Ron sitting on the Gryffindor couch with the blankest of expressions. He was gaping, it was as if he was about to say something, but the words couldn't come out.

"Took you long enough," Harry said, slightly out of breath.

"W-what?" Ron stammered.

"Took you long enough," Harry repeated, "but come on... we need to go see what happened. I'll go get the Invisibility Cloak and be back in a minute."

He ran up to his dormitory, pulled out a trunk from underneath his bed, and grabbed the Invisibility Cloak. When he got back down to the Common Room, he found Ron in the same position he had left him, and let out a cry of exasperation.

"Ron," he said, slightly annoyed, "come on, we have to go, we don't have much time before they leave."

Without a word, Ron got up, and just followed Harry out of the portrait and into the corridors.

Luckily enough, they had not encountered any problems on their journey to Madam Pomfrey's office, although they had come quite close. Peeves had just happened to be strolling the same corridors Harry and Ron were using that night; they would've gone a different way, but that's where they left Hermione, and well, Harry didn't think it was a good idea to pass by her with Ron. So, they went a separate way, and ended up almost being the victim of Peeves.

Harry and Ron were walking down the corridors, when all of a sudden, Ron tripped on one of the edges of the cloak and in return not only let the cloak slip off them for a bit, but also dropped his wand. If the sound didn't make things bad, the fact that Peeves was around the corner made things even worse. Peeves, hearing the sound, had coming whizzing around the corner, hoping to find his prey. Harry on the other hand, thinking quickly, picked up Ron's wand and his Invisibility Cloak and dashed into the nearest classroom.

Fortunately, he had gotten in there just in the nick of time. Unfortunately, this didn't stop Peeves from being suspicious about one of the nearest classroom doors slamming. By the time Peeves had floated into the classroom that Harry and Ron were staying in, Harry had already had the Invisibility Cloak safely over them. Peeves began to soar all around the classroom, calling out taunts.

"Oooooh, naughty, naughty little students we are," Peeves cried gleefully, "who is hiding from Peeves?"

He continued to search all over the area, getting closer and closer to Harry and Ron.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are you naughty little students... Peevesey will find you eventually," he cackled. He grinned and continued to sweep over the area.

"Oooooh, naughty, naughty little students we are," Peeves repeated, "I will be back for you... I will be waiting." With those last threats, Peeves swept out of the classroom, and back into the corridors.

After about five minutes of waiting to make sure Peeves had really left, Ron took the chance to talk again.

"Phew, mate," Ron said, "That was close!"

"Yes, it was," Harry responded, "If you don't stop growing, I'm going to start taking these trips with the Invisibility Cloak by myself."

Ron looked at Harry as if he wouldn't dare, and then after looking at Harry's stern face, he began to curse his height underneath his breath.

After that, they did not get in any further trouble, for Harry and Ron had finally arrived at Madam Pomfrey's office, and just in time as well.

They silently opened the door, crept inside, and hid in the corner so they wouldn't be in anybody's way. They stood there as silent as they could, and strained to listen to the conversation going on between Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, and Professor McGonagall.

"So what's the prognosis for Mandy?" Dumbledore asked Madam Pomfrey solemnly.

"Well," Madam Pomfrey sighed, "from what I can tell - I believe she is in a coma."

Harry's face went wan, his mouth opened in shock, and he began to slip to the ground involuntarily. Ron felt Harry slowly sliding to the ground, and immediately gripped his arm to hold him up. Ron cast Harry a worried look, and put his finger on his lips to indicate Harry should be quiet.

Dumbledore sighed. "I was afraid that the walls of Hogwarts wouldn't be enough to protect Mandy, we'll just have to hope she overcomes this."

"Do you mean..." Professor McGonagall trailed off, staring anxiously at Mandy and then at Dumbledore.

"Yes, Minerva," Dumbledore looked at Mandy, "Mandy has the chance to survive as any other witch or wizard does now; her fate depends upon the strength of her mind. Even her training could not have prepared her for this."

Professor McGonagall looked somberly at Mandy. "Shame," she announced, "she's been here for only one day and has already fallen ill."

"You are aware what this means, Minerva?"

"Yes," she replied gravely, "I do."

The infirmary echoed the awkward silence that came, and alongside Madam Pomfrey, persuaded Dumbledore and McGonagall to leave.

Although the teachers had left, and Madam Pomfrey had gone inside her actual office, Harry and Ron remained where they were - still underneath the Invisibility Cloak.

Ron finally let go of Harry's arm, letting him slide down to the floor. "What was all that about, mate?" Ron asked, looking at Harry who was now sitting on the floor with his legs against his chest, and his face in his hands. "Mate, you ok?"

"Yeah," Harry muttered from beneath his hands, "fine. I just didn't think - I didn't think it would be this serious."

"Yeah, I guess," Ron replied, giving Harry a weird look. "Come on, we should get going back to the Common Room to tell Her - Herm - Her..."

Harry laughed weakly, and pulled himself back up to his feet. "Hermione."

"Yeah," Ron said, wearing an anxious expression, "her."

On their way back, they did not encounter anything that might cause them even a smidge of trouble. Fortunately enough, there was no encounter with Peeves either.

Nevertheless, there was still a slight delay from going into the portrait hole when they got there. Ron had suddenly lost all of his nerve outside the Fat Lady, and refused to go in.

"Um... Harry? You know what... I think... I think I'll stay out here for awhile," Ron said in a high-pitched voice, "all right? And you... you'll be a good mate and tell me when she leaves? Okay? Thanks."

"Ron," Harry replied, "stop being ridiculous. Besides, if you stay out here all night you will get caught by the teachers, or Filch, or somebody."

"Hmm... You're right," Ron said, "if I'm going to be out here all night I will get in trouble, won't I?" He paused. "So Harry, could you be a good mate and lend me the Invisibility Cloak for the night?"

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed, "You can't run away from her forever!"

"I could at least try, couldn't I?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Come on now, Ron, be serious," Harry said.

"I am," Ron replied, "I'm being quite serious."

Honestly, Ron would've stayed out there just as he said he would too. The only thing that changed his plans was when Harry threw him a dirty look, one of which gave him enough convincing to go inside.

Harry was the first one to walk in; as proven by the display outside, Ron wasn't feeling all that confident at the moment. From behind Harry, Ron quickly dashed to the nearest chair and picked up a random book to hide his face. Harry rolled his eyes. Just as expected, Hermione was to be found on the Gryffindor couch waiting for them. She stared tentatively over to the corner Ron was sitting in, wearing a conflicted face. Harry had wanted to tell Hermione what had happened, figuring that like always, she would have some sort of solution of explanation, but the moment was just too awkward.

"Ron..." Hermione said softly. She got up and began to walk over to the corner Ron was in, but it was to no avail, because the minute she got up, he ran straight away to the boy's dormitories. "Oh dear," she said, with a hint of sadness in her voice. She turned around to face Harry, looking down, wearing the same facial expression she wore when she had said 'Oh dear,' or so Harry presumed. Her eyes were swimming with tears, and she was wearing one of the most melancholy faces Harry had ever seen. "I think I'm going to go to bed," Hermione mumbled to Harry as she began to drag herself up the stairs, and into the girls' dormitories.

After Hermione left, Harry decided that it'd be best to just sleep in the Common Room for the night - he didn't want to have to deal with Ron just yet. He wished he could've talked to Hermione though, she almost always knew what to do. Yet again, he had a feeling he would have to figure this one out alone. Ron and Hermione would be preoccupied ignoring each other for a while, or at least Ron would, so naturally he wouldn't really get to talk to either of them. What made the situation even worse though was that he didn't really even know this girl, so he couldn't even really guess what made her collapse like that. Today was so strange, and it seemed to drag on forever.

Just in one day, Hogwarts had received a new student in October, a 6th year nonetheless, and in the same day, and he and his friends had found all about her, more than you would anyone else in one day, and then this same girl collapsed for mysterious reasons.

'There is something about her that she is hiding,' Harry thought.

There just had to be more then meets the eye. Honestly, no one just lets another person into their past as easily as she did; there just had to be something important she held back. He also couldn't help but think that these something's that she was holding back was what made her so mysterious, yet enchanting. That night, he lastly figured out that these something's would get them in a lot of trouble (like that was anything new and different,) but at the same time, make it all the worthwhile. The only way he was ever going to solve this problem was by talking to the source itself, which was, unfortunately unconscious. He really just wanted to talk to her, alone, for more reasons than one.