After
a while Hermione ended up in a raptous conversation with Ginny, they
were both sitting cross legged on the floor whilst the others
involved themselves in conversations round Sirius.
"Well you
were up there so long I thought you were in a coma or something! I'm
so glad you're safe." Ginny said smiling at Hermione.
"Up
where? In that room?"
"Yeah, did you only wake up today?
I didn't know whether you where conscious but just wanted to have
time to yourself or something."
Hermione narrowed her
eyebrows,
"When you say, 'today' what do you mean? How long
have I been up there for?"
Ginny's eyes widened slightly,
"You don't know? It's been three days since you arrived back
here in Sirius' arms."
"Three days?!" Hermione
shook her head in disbelief.
So that's how so much of the
pain has gone. She thought to herself.
Ginny nodded, and then
looked nervous, she glanced down and then back up again and Hermione
noticed her wringing her hands. She spoke quietly.
"Hermione?
Please tell me. How did you escape?" Hermione nodded, she had
been expecting this.
"how much did Dumbledore tell
you?"
"Hardly anything, he sat us down, told us that you
had gone on an almost-suicidal mission but if you succeeded the
benefits would be great."
"He was right." Hermione
said without thinking, glancing at Sirius. She smiled and looked
down. "Just before last school year term ended I took a few
books out of the library for a bit of home reading. I found '50 ways
of setting a house elf free." in the right hand corner under a
load of cobwebbed covered books. However, when I picked it up there
was a small, scrappy old book with something scribbled on the
front."
Hermione scanned the room for a pen, then scribbled
something on the back of Ginny's hand.
'Il profeta'
Hermione began her tale again at Ginny's bemused
face,
"It means, 'prophecies' in Spanish. Anyway, I was
intrigued so I took it out along with my others. When I got home, I
opened it up to find it was all handwritten. The pages were worn and
the book was surprisingly heavy for one so small. I spent about a
week just translating the words so I could read it. One night, I
translated a part which nearly made my heart stop, it read:
"
The pain and torment that I felt in there was unbearable. I cannot
state the term, 'every day', as time had dissolved and seeped through
the walls which we were entrapped in. My soul was wrenched out of my
body, they stole it, its what they do. I wasn't breathing, I was even
denied that. Nausea was there with me constantly, there was nothing,
just agony, torture and suffering.
Then suddenly, light was lifted
into my aching existence, she rescued me, she had remembered me after
so long. She had come through the veil. Yet they did not claim her
soul as they did mine, she fought it, she shone like an immense
candle in the midst of black. she told me she had found our prophecy,
she knew she could rescue me because she had heard the prophecy tell
her so."
Anyway, I didn't read anymore just yet, I jumped up.
I knew this person had been into the same place Sirius was, I knew
it! And this person had escaped! This was the moment where I was
involved. One way or another. I had to know Sirius' prophecy. I had
to save him."
