As Hermione walked into the living room, wiping her face dry and trying to hide the fact that something had gone wrong, all faces turned to her at once.
"Hermione, what's wrong?"
"What's all the fuss upstairs for?"
"Hermione- were you- crying?" Apparently, her efforts had been useless. She collapsed into the nearest easy chair, burying her head in her hands for a moment before looking up at last.
"Hermione, tell us something!" said Ron, getting up from his game of Exploding Snaps and coming up to question her. In as brave a way as she could muster, she replied,
"Well, it's nothing much really- " she stared at the twins and Ginny as she paused her sentence. George at last said,
"Oh, I get it. Ginny? Kindly leave?" he shoved her into the kitchen and forced the door shut, amid many protests and punches. "Now. How do you soundproof these things?" Ginny burst through the door in a moment, however, and persuaded Hermione,
"Go on..." She sighed and replied,
"Well, I suppose you all will find out anyway...now Ginny, dear, and none of you get worried...it's Tonks, you see. She simply won't come to--" this was met with the same reaction that was found upstairs, and after they quieted, she went on, "she hasn't...died"...she cringed at the word before continuing. "It's just that...she's went away, as Remus said...he could tell somehow..."
"Unconscious?" pondered Fred. "She had a spell of that back at the Burrow, it's probably just caught up with her again-"
"No." snapped Hermione shortly. She took a breath, and then before speaking again, stared at Ginny. The girl put her hands on her hips and said,
"Hermione, now I know you know I'm mature enough to handle this...and I care about Tonks just as much as you do. Go on."
"Ginny...it's not that at all...it's the matter that..." she sighed. "Fine. They think it has to do with...You-Know-Who." Gasps resounded at the instant.
"WHAT?"
"No. It isn't. That's foolish. What would He want with her?" Hermione, suddenly jumping up from her chair, screamed,
"Wait! Where is Harry!" Ginny trembled as Fred took her arm and told Hermione,
"He left not more than fifteen minutes ago...he said he'd gone up to bed; that he was tired...quite unlike him for this early at night, if you ask me...Tonks said the same thing, come to think of it..."
Without saying a word more, Hermione flew up the stairs, Ron following close behind, a bit baffled, but trusting his friend knew what she was doing. She grabbed the doorknob to Harry's room, and found it was locked.
"Alohamora!" she screamed, tapping her wand madly at the door. "ALOHAMORA!" She was desperate now, banging on the door with all her might. "Oh, Harry, are you in there? Harry, it's us, please, open up!" By now, the whole group was around her, Fred, George, and Ginny, wondering just what had possessed Hermione, and Remus and Sirius donning looks on their faces that were quite like Hermione's. They, too, understanding, rushed to the door, and began to knock furiously. Mrs. Weasley was completely in tears now, and after a good five minutes of pounding the door, Hermione fumed at the two men,
"It's no bloody use! He's in there, same as her. There's no way the door will open." Sirius bared his teeth.
"We need to get in there. I need to get in there. Hermione..." he suddenly became a bit more gentle as he asked her,
"How did you know he was the same way? That was a brilliant thought...if only we could get to him now..."
"She uses her head, that's how", said Remus, leaning on the door. She could see the connection right away.
"That's not all of it," said Ron suddenly. "She must have known Harry was in trouble...one of the great things about her is she can tell...when one of her friends is in trouble." Hermione tried to smile, but found that the situation at hand was more pressing than his flattering.
"Well, something needs to be done, that's for certain...", said Bill suddenly, appearing from downstairs.
"Bill! We had no idea where you'd been to!" said George, giving his brother a questioning look.
"...And luckily, I know exactly what to do--well, how to open the door, for starters." He was pushed to the door by the crowd and then he went on to say, "I was walking down the hall to my room earlier on, when, as I passed Harry's door, I heard him yelling at something. It was just loud enough that I could hear it from right outside the door. So, naturally, I wanted to know what was going on...I went on inside, and as soon as I came in, he enchanted the door to permanently shut it...(he was not in his right mind, I'll have you know...), and, after struggling with himself for a few moments, he just fell over and was out. It was the most frightening thing, let me just say...I had no idea what to do for him! I figured I should come out and get help, but the spell was for a two-way lock in. Now, using what I'd picked up from Muggle Studies back in the day, I searched my pockets for a pin just the right size...I picked the door lock...apparently wizard charms have no effect on doors..." At this Mr. Weasley nodded intently..."Anyway, so that's how I got out...and how we can get back in. But really, there's not much I can see to do for him right now...all I'd say is to just wait on it."
"Well go on then, open the door!" Fred pushed him to the door. There was some muttering to be heard as Bill picked at the door handle. Then, a creak, a turn, and the door swung open, revealing Harry turned at his side away from them, silent and still as Tonks had been.
"Wait just a minute!" said Mr. Weasley. "There's no need for all of us to go in- Sirius, perhaps you should go...the rest of us...just go downstairs." This was met with protests as well-
"Mr. Weasley, we're just as worried and anxious as anyone...please let us see him..."
"Dad, we've been through much more than this, we can handle anything- "
"Ron...don't...", tried Sirius all of a sudden, hollowness in his voice. Pushing his dad out of the way, Ron rushed at his side and immediately saw his best friend in the most frightening state- his eyes were rolled to the back of his head, his face was drained and white, and his scar glowed a crimson red as it singed and seared.
