Disclaimer: I do not in any way claim to own, nor did I create, Harry Potter or any related material. All of my credit goes to J.K. Rowling and her publishers.
The motionless, sleeping body of Hermione Granger began to stir, a day after her fainting spell. Harry and Ron, both of whom had been waiting restlessly in chairs beside the Hospital Wing bed (even after Madam Pomfrey gave Hermione a particularly strong dreamless sleeping draught), started expectantly.
Ron, with an intentionally raised voice, started to Harry, "Oy! She will be awake soon!"
"Ron, do not wake her! Hermione is ill, er…I think," Harry added in exasperation with a hint of questioning as to the cause of Hermione's sudden weakness. The boys had not been privy to any information regarding the cause of Hermione's passing out. Of course, no one, excluding Hermione herself, has any more knowledge than Harry and Ron.
Suddenly, Hermione opened her honey brown eyes, finally out of slumber's clutching grasps. Both Ron and Harry, in an instant of shyness, did not utter a word as she gently lifted herself to a sitting position in bed, but simply stared. As she let out a heavy-eyed yawn, she rubbed her eyes slowly to clear her vision. Not until this moment did Hermione realize she was in the Hospital Wing!
"What is going on here?!" Hermione spoke urgently demanding a reply from either Harry or Ron, "Why I am in the Hospital Wing? How long have I been here? Holy cricket, was I in a coma?!"
Ron started, but then trailing off, "Erm…the thing is…"
Harry filled in, "Um, do you remember what happened in the Common Room?"
However, Hermione never got a chance to reply to Harry's question, as Madam Pomfrey stepped in, shocked to hear in what her mind constituted a noisy din in her Hospital Wing, "Settle down! Boys! Leave at once! A racket in the Hospital Wing…tut, tut, you should be ashamed!"
The two Gryffindor boys just stared at her, perplexed. Harry, the first one out of the trance, got up out of his seat and nodded at Ron, who was not keen to leave just yet, to follow. As they started out of the door, just in earshot, Hermione could hear Ron grumbling about "obsessive nurses".
Regaining her composure, Madam Pomfrey smiled indulgently to Hermione, "A good sleep dear?"
Hermione nodded and nervously fingered at her nightgown, wondering how she had gotten into it. She was beginning to feel extremely ill at ease; Hermione did not know if she was indeed ill, if Madam Pomfrey had determined that Hermione's eating habits had been less than satisfactory, or if nobody knew anything about her condition at all. Inside her head, as a contingency plan, Hermione begin to mold ideas to conceal her new habits: drink lots of water before being weighed, coins in her dressing gown pocket, lies, etc. The good thing, she kept reassuring herself, is that I have not lost a lot of weight yet from this new habit. Madam Pomfrey could not possibly suspect me, and I do not have a problem!
Because Hermione was lost in thought, she did not respond to Madam Pomfrey's original question. "Ahem, dear. Are you alright? Do you perhaps need a bit more sleep?" Madam Pomfrey then inquired.
"No, but thank you. I am really quite fine," Hermione replied with false cheer dripping from her voice.
"Well, dear. You were extremely dehydrated, which probably caused you to pass out. In the future, be sure to consume more liquids. You young people always amaze me, flitting about to classes with no thought of your health! They work all of you too hard, I say!" Madam Pomfrey sniffed.
Hermione exhaled in relief to hear this. Dehydration! Her secret was safe. The whole ordeal had sure given her a real scare. Now, she wondered, I hope I have not missed any important work! I mustn't fall behind! I must be at the top of my class. Naturally.
However, as Hermione once again absorbed herself into a deep contemplation, Albus Dumbledore entered the room.
"Madam Pomfrey, my dear, may I steal away Miss Granger to my office?"
Author's note: Okay, I changed my mind. I will be splitting up my extremely long chapter into this short passage and a long chapter. I really attempt to make these chapters flow, and I saw this a wonderful, hopefully suspenseful moment to stop.
I will make an effort to have Chapter Twelve online by Saturday, however, I will be caught up with ballet rehearsals and performances for the rest of the week. It will be a stretch to update for the weekend, but I will try! The pace will pick up dramatically from here, and you can expect romance soon (no slash, of course). So, faithful readers, I urge you to expect the unexpected.
As always, a huge "thank you" for all of you who reviewed Chapter Ten! I am always striving to improve, so please aid me with that by placing any comments now! (Note: I will put some of my formatting critiques I have received into practice in future writings, but because I am already into the middle of this, I will not change the formatting. Thank you.)
Now, review! And have a wonderful week!