A/N: Hey, it's me again with yet another chapter for your entertainment!

PrincessLuckyCML: lol, I am evil, I do like cliffhangers... anyway, you'll have to wait and see what will be of Harry, maybe next chapter, who knows? )

kutekelcie: I don't know what to make of Harry yet... Glad you're liking the story, keep reading and reviewing! )

Just off the record for a moment, hope you guys check my new story, it's a short but sweet ficlet... still new in the business, and any hints will be gladly recieved!

Well, enjoy!

Cheers!


"Hermione!" Hermione heard Ron cry out as soon as he saw her following Dumbledore, both coming in his direction.

"Ron! Ginny!" Hermione ran to meet her friends and enveloped them in a hug for a few seconds. "It's good to see you guys are OK" she said after they pulled apart.

"We were worried sick with Harry and you" said Ginny, sniffing.

"Yeah. We saw Harry being brouhgt here and apparently he was unconscious. Then we didn't know anything about you so we thought something happened to you too, and – "

"Ron, you're babbling…" said Hermoine, with a look of sympathy.

"Oh… sorry… It's just that Madam Pomfrey doesn't let anyone in there and just being here as time goes by, doing nothing, it makes me want to crawl up the walls!"

"Ron, everything's going to be fine. I'm perfectly fine and Harry's going to be fine as well, you'll see. He'll be out of there soon" Hermione said, more hoping than anything.

Just then Madam Pomfrey swung open the doors for the infirmary and invited Dumbledore to enter.

"Miss Granger will come with me too" Dumbledore said quietly, motioning Hermoine to follow him. While Madam Pomfrey just nodded and let them in, Ron and Ginny gave Hermione questioning looks.

"I'll be back soon. There's just something I have to do" she explained briefly, before disappearing behind the doors of the infirmary.

As soon as she entered, she caught sight of Harry's bed. He lay down neatly in a quiet slumber, but aside form his regular breathing Harry looked as good as dead. His face showed a blank expression and he didn't move an inch. He didn't aknowledge Hermione's presence, nor Dumbledore's or Madam Pomfrey's in the case.

"Harry…" Hermione whispered. She lay a hand on one of his and proceeded to caress his cheek with the other. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes and she muffled a few sobs. So peaceful, so quiet, yet so… dead. This is not my Harry… How am I ever going to bring him back?

"Headmaster, I have done everything I can" Hermione heard Madam Pomfrey say. "Only time can determine Harry's fate now."

"Thank you, Poppy. I'm sure Harry will appreciate your efforts" Dumbledore said.

"I hope he makes it." The nurse seemed on the verge of tears too.

He gently patted Madam Pomfrey in the back. "He will make it. Harry has always been a strong fellow."

Madam Pomfrey shook her head and wiped the first rebelious tear. "Poor boy…" She turned on her heels and walked away, as Dumbledore looked after her with a sympathetic look.

Hermione looked up at him once the nurse had gone to check on other pacients. "What am I to do now?"

"My dear, the answer is in yourself" Dumbledore simply replied.

Hermione frowned. In myself?What the-? "Professor… what do you mean?"

"Precisely what I said."

This wasn't going well. There's no time to play riddles, Headmaster! Merlin, why doesn't he tell me what to do and get on with it! "I don't understand. Do I have to give him blood or something like that?"

Dumbledore smiled but shook his head slowly. "It is something far simpler than that." And with that he left, leaving Hermione staring after him, frowning in confusion.

Hermione sat beside Harry's bed for a week, gently stroking his hair while trying to figure out what to do, only leaving for a few minutes to go to the toilet whenever she felt the urge to. Ron had also been allowed to enter the infirmary every once in a while, but only because he was the only one who could convince Hermione to eat something.

"Come on, Hermione, you know you have to eat something!" cried Ron in an exasperated and tired tone.

"I already told you, Ron, I'm not hungry! When I feel like eating, I'll eat!"

"And when will that be? Next century? Please, Hermione, eat something! You'll be ill if you don't!" Ron begged, and Hermione sensed he was on the verge of getting down on his knees.

Hermione huffed indignantly. "Can you stop worrying about me for just one second and stop bragging around?" Just as the words left her mouth she immediately regretted them. She had been edgy because she hadn't found the answer to Harry's problem yet and poor Ron, who was just trying to help, was having it all crush down on him.

Surely, Ron looked genuinely hurt. "How can I not worry about you? Look at you! If you don't eat anything you'll be seriously ill! Is that what you want? To be ill, unable to help Harry in any way?" he yelled indignantly.

She winced. "I'm sorry…" She buried her face in her hands and started sobbing uncontrollably. "I haven't been myself lately. It's just that I can't believe it, Ron. I always thought that when he defeated Voldemort we would have a huge celebration and drink butterbeer until we dropped unconsicous and then we'd drink some more, all the while watching Fred and George's fireworks lighting the sky and dancing around the fire under the moonlight. I always imagined Harry coming to us with a big smile on his face, perfectly fine and healthy, not this… this…" Hermione was having a hard time finding the words that matched her state of mind "… this undead form… It's not fair! It's not fair! It's just not bloody fair!" She punched her leg hard and immediately winced in pain. "It… it hurts too much to see him like this, Ron…"

Ron's indignance immediately vanished and he rushed to hug Hermione, rocking her gently. "I know… It hurts me too, Hermione… Harry's my best mate and I too want to celebrate this victory with him and you and everyone, but now we have to fight on. Harry did his part, he defeated V-V-Voldemort… now this is our time to be strong for him. He deserves every bit of it."

Hermione only nodded, barely registering Ron's first 'Voldemort'. She also didn't notice he had broke their contact and had reached for a huge plate with food he'd brought from the kitchens.

"Come on, eat something. Starving yourself to death won't help" he said softly.

Finally, Hermione agreed. She took the plate from him, picked the food for hours, having only a few bites of pumpkin pie every now and then, but that was already a great achievement in itself, given her state, so Ron decided not to push it further.

However, Ron could not convince her to sleep. She had huge dark rings below her eyes and by the seventh day she couldn't get up from her chair in fear she would fall and never get up again. So she sat and waited for an answer to come – Dumbledore didn't allow her to have any contact with books whatsoever – while Ron felt helpless. She understood him, he didn't know what else he could do, and seeing his two best friends in almost vegetating states didn't help at all.

Oh, she knew how it was to feel helpless.

On the tenth night, however, the lack of sleep became overwhelming and Hermione couldn't help but fall into a deep slumber which lasted almost a whole day and was quite uneventful, except for one dream.

She was exactly in the same place she had been for the last days. She felt tired and Harry did nothing besides breathing in and out in a slow but regular rhythm. Everything was the same. She looked around and saw nothing different.

She looked down at Harry and gazed into his closed eyelids, hoping they would open soon. Suddenly she saw a water drop falling on top of Harry's blanket and felt an enourmous wave of grief and anger from failure. How could she, Hermione Granger, top witch in her class, fail?

Another drop. This one missed the target too, hitting Harry's chin. Argh! Work, damn it, work!

Yet another drop, and this time it hit the spot: Harry's forehead. Yes! Yes! Satisfaction was in order.

Hermione woke with a start and shot her head up so quickly that her neck protested with pain for a good half hour. The pain, however, was nothing compared to the awkwardness she felt. The dream had been so strange, yet so real…

Maybe this was the solution for Harry's problem! Suddenly her hope seemed to boost sky high. She jolted up from her seat, but her quest was soon interrupted as she crashed down on the hard stone floor. Her muscles were lazy from lack of use in the late times. Mumbling curses behind clenched teeth, she slowly forced her legs to take her to the nearest water source.

When she got back to Harry's side, she dipped a finger into the glass she had filled with water and eagerly aimed for Harry's forehead. With anticipation, she watched the drop fall and splash just like in the dream.

She waited.

Nothing.

She waited some more.

Nothing.

She waited even more.

Nothing.

An hour passed by and Hermione didn't take her eyes off Harry's forehead. However, nothing seemed to have happened, except for the fact that the drop had already evaporated.

She groaned loudly in frustration, leaning back on her chair again. The plan didn't work. What was going wrong? Sitting back on her chair, she let out a dejected sigh. It was just a dream, after all… Nothing more, just a dream…

Slowly, she found herself drifting off to slumber land again, Dumbledore's words very clear in her mind.

"My dear, the answer is in yourself"

"It is something far simpler than that."