Disclaimer:
J.K. Rowling is the owner of Harry Potter. Stories she has written and characters that she created are not mine. I don't take credit for any of her work. I do thank her for providing such a wonderful universe to dream about and write in.
Harry Potter and the Shadow of Evil
By: Starwin
Chapter 14 – Out of Body, Out of Mind
The fat lady swung closed behind Hermione, she was still looking at the white charm in her hand. She knew it was made from bone, human bone. Hermione couldn't believe what she was looking at. She couldn't believe that Snape had given her such a thing.
Hermione was so distracted with the charm in her hand that she didn't notice all the people that had packed the common room.
"Hermione," Ginny said. Hermione jumped only now see how many people were around her. Hermione closed her hand quickly to hide the charm from view. Ginny's face was pink and she looked distressed. "A group of first-years say that Harry is in the hospital wing and that you brought him in. Oooh what's wrong Hermione? Is Harry okay?" The whole of Gryffindor tower was down in the common room and all their eyes seemed to be fixed on Hermione.
"Not now," Hermione said as she began to push her way past everyone. Angry voices rose up around her as she squeezed between the mob of students to the girls' stairs. She didn't have time for this, she had to hurry. Hermione knew that at any moment Dumbledore would be putting up an Ethereal Shield around Harry and when that happened they would have no chance to help him.
Hermione was at the bottom of the stairs when a hand caught her wrist. It was Ron, his face looked pained.
"Look," Ron said uneasily. Hermione already knew what this was about, Ron was an open book, projecting his thoughts. "I'm sorry about, you know, the letter."
"It's okay, don't worry about it," Hermione said roughly she tried to pull her hand away but Ron didn't let go.
"I really didn't mean it," Ron pressed on. He hadn't gotten the message. Hermione sighed, sometimes Ron was thicker than Goyle.
"Ronald," Hermione said kindly. Ron looked up at her in surprise. "Not now," Hermione hissed and she pulled her hand free and marched up the stairs.
Hermione reached the sixth floor quickly and rushed down the hall to her room. No one else was inside. That was good because the magical charm she was about to use was illegal. Well, not always. Specially trained Aurors could use it some times, in extreme cases, but their actions were closely monitored.
Hermione knew the task she was about to perform wasn't just illegal it was incredibly dangers, especially with the teachers doing what they were about to do. Being caught was the least of her problems. If she couldn't help Harry quickly enough there was the very real possibility that she would die.
Hermione put the charm around her neck. She had to do this quickly there wasn't any more time to waste. Hermione took the charm in her hand preparing to activate it.
A loud knock came at the door and Hermione jumped. Charm still in her hand she moved to the door, her heart was pounding against her ribs. It couldn't be Ministry of Magic officials here to arrest her, no that was impossible. It was most likely just more students coming to see if she was okay or to ask about Harry.
It would be best to send them away, if she didn't answer they might think that something was wrong and fetch a teacher.
Hermione opened the door and was shocked to see Ginny and Ron standing outside.
"Ginny!" Hermione cried stepping backwards. Not waiting to be invited in Ginny marched into the room pulling Ron behind her.
"Hermione," Ginny said her face was still red. "What happened to Harry? You can tell us, there's no one else around now!"
"Ginny you can let go, you're crushing my wrist," Ron complained. Ginny shot him a daggered look and Ron went silent. There wasn't time. Hermione knew that if she tried to send them away they would just be back or wouldn't leave at all.
Hermione moved around them, closed and locked the door. She released the chamr she had been crushing in her hand and Ginny's eyes went wide.
"Hermione that isn't a…" Ginny began, Hermione nodded quickly before Ginny could finish.
"I don't have time to explain, we have to help Harry." Hermione put the chain around Ron and Ginny's necks.
"Oy!" Ron cried as Ginny pulled him roughly down against the floor. "What is this thing?" Hermione ignored him. This was a bad idea. Ginny was smart, she knew what the charm was, which meant she most likely knew what was about to happen. But Ron, though his heart would be in the right place, Hermione had serious doubts that it was a good idea to bring him along. But she didn't have a choice, they didn't have anymore time.
With her left thumb Hermione pressed the triangle in the center of the charm. It became warm and started to glow with a bright white light. The white glow became larger and larger until at last it enveloped the three of them.
Hermione felt light as a feather, the same feeling she'd had on Avalon with the flight charms. But this was no flight charm. Hermione looked down, below them, leaning against each other was herself, Ron and Ginny all of them had their eyes closed. Hermione was still holding the charm in her left hand, her thumb pressed against the triangle.
"What… what's going on!" Ron cried in alarm. "Hermione are we dead!" Ron was panicked.
"No," Hermione said. "We're ethereal. Mental projections of our mind except that we aren't connected to our bodies anymore. In a way we are like ghost. We don't have much time, any moment Dumbledore will be putting up an ethereal shield around Harry. Once that happens we wouldn't be able to enter Harry's mind to help him fight off Voldemort." Ginny nodded, Ron looked pale or at least the ethereal equivalent. Ethereal projections had no color, not white or black but simply no color.
Hermione turned in the air and moved quickly through one of the walls emerging outside of the Gryffindor tower. Ron and Ginny followed after. Ginny looked determined, Hermione knew she would do what ever it took to help Harry. It was the same feeling Hermione felt.
Ron looked like he would much rather have stayed in bed and not gotten dragged along.
Hermione spotted the roof of the hospital wing and soared down threw it. Dumbledore was placing a third silver disk on Harry's chest. Professors Snape and McGonagall stood on either side their wands outstretched. Solaris stood at the foot of the bed his wings open and curved around all of them like he was some kind of hospital curtain.
Hermione looked back at Ginny and Ron who were floating a few feet behind her. Hermione took a deep breath and plunged downward crashing full speed into Harry's head.
---
Hermione felt solid again. Her left thumb was still pressed tightly against her forefinger like she was pinching something.
Ron and Ginny appeared a moment latter.
"That was insane!" Ron cried. "That was totally and completely crazy!"
"What do we do now?" Ginny asked, she had drawn her wand. Hermione didn't know exactly what to do now.
"We should find Harry, this is his mind, he should be able to tell us where to go," Hermione said uncertainly.
"Oh yeah that'll be easy," said Ron sacristy as he motioned around. They were in one of the massive stairways of Hogwarts but not all the stairs went upwards, some went sideways, others upside down. Some stairs even curved off into infinity and then looped around back on themselves. "Where do you think we should start looking?"
Ron had a point, now that they where here Hermione didn't have a clue where to start looking.
"We need to find the dream that Harry is having." Ginny said. "Memories don't contain the person remembering them because they see the memory through their own eyes. But if we find a dream, Harry should be in it." Hermione nodded that made sense with what she knew about Legilimancy.
"Hang on," Ron said looking between the two girls, "Ginny what do you know about this stuff? I mean Hermione knows everything but..." Ginny whirled on her brother.
"Excuse me?" Ginny cried angrily. "Are you implying that I don't know anything?" If the situation wasn't so desperate Hermione might have found this funny but she did not. The last thing they needed at the moment was to be arguing among themselves. "For you information I have studied dreamology and psycho-cognitive imagery as well as mental intrusion and Legilimancy."
Hermione was surprised, Ginny had studied all that? Those were the major fields for wizards wanting to become magic psychologist. Even Hermione hadn't looked extensively into all of them. Hermione knew that Ginny was smarter than most people, like Harry and Ron, gave her credit for, but Hermione never knew she had studied so much on those particular subjects. It didn't really seem like the sort of thing Ginny would be interested in.
"There," Ginny said pointing to a passageway that seemed to have no stairs leading to it. "That's the way we need to go."
"But how do you know, it looks like all the rest!" Ron said looking around.
"It would take to long to explain," Ginny said looking at Hermione for support. Hermione took a deep breath. Ron was right it did look like all the other passages out of this maze of stairs. Was Ginny just guessing?
Ginny's eyes looked pained as she waited for Hermione to say something.
"Alright," Hermione said at last. "Let's go!" Ron looked as though he still had his doubts but he didn't say anything. They reached he end of their stairway. Here it took an abrupt 90 degree turn and plummeted down into the mass of crisscrossing stairs below.
"How do we get there," asked Ron. "I can't see any path that…" without warning Ginny leapt from the end of the stairs. There was a long moment where Ginny floated in the air and both Ron and Hermione held their breath as they waited for her to reach the pinnacle of the jump and then drop suddenly downwards.
But the moment never came, Ginny soared the 40 feet to the ledge and landed softly upon it. Ron looked flabbergasted. Hermione let her breath out uneasily.
"It's a leap of faith," Ginny said from the other side. "You just have to believe you can make it and you will." Ron screwed up his face, took a few steps back and then, running full tilt, launched himself across. He made it but only just. His body crashed into the ledge his arms holding on as his body dangled over the parapet below. Ginny took hold of her brother and helped pull him up as he scrambled to get onto the ledge.
Hermione watched uneasily. It was an impossible jump. She knew it was impossible even after watching two people make it.
"Come on Hermione," Ginny shouted, "just believe it is possible and you will be able to make it." Hermione took another deep breath. She could do this. She had to do this, to help Harry. Hermione took a few steps back. The gap between the stairs and the ledge seemed to become bigger. Hermione ran as fast as she could and leapt from the edge. The moment her feet left the stairs she knew that she wouldn't make it.
The world began to tumble as she fell spinning out of control. Stairs rushed past her. Hermione felt a scream escape her throat. She toppled around in the air having just enough time to see another set of stairs rushing up at her, she covered her face as she slammed into them.
---
Ginny watched horror struck as Hermione plummeted into the stairs below. She hit them with impossible speed and bounced rolling limply down the rest of the stairs before falling off them and vanishing into the never ending drop below.
"Ginny," Ron said breathless and panicked. He was breathing fast his voice was uneven.
Ginny didn't know. It was just a dream but in ethereal form many things in the mind became real. Ginny knew that it was very possible that she had just watched Hermione die falling more then two hundred feet to her death. She also knew that Hermione might be perfectly fine, but it didn't seem to matter how many times Ginny told herself that. The image of Hermione falling and crashing into the stairs below was too horrific to simply force from her thoughts.
"We have to keep moving," Ginny croaked. "Harry still needs our help. Hermione will be fine, it's just a dream." Ron nodded uneasily. Ginny didn't mention the other problem that now existed. Without Hermione, they had no way to leave Harry's mind.
---
Ron and Ginny continued to wander through Harry's mind. There were strange images in pictures on the walls. Some were paintings from the castle that had no faces. Others were windows into parts of memories.
Ginny tried to think back to all the things she had learned about the human mind. Mind diving, as it was most commonly referred too, was illegal except in extreme instances so actual information about it was very hard to find.
From what she knew the fact that they could see so much in Harry's mind meant that he was losing control of it. That Harry could no longer safeguard his thoughts from others or even himself.
Without some kind of control the memories would start mixing with each other. Thoughts, images and personalities would become intermingled. Everything that made Harry who he was would become a giant mess and Harry would be lost inside it.
The hallway ended at a highly polished dark wooden door. It hand a shinning silver handle. The door looked out of place in comparison to what was going on around them.
A scream erupted from one of the paintings and the wall it had been hanging on collapsed a troll meandered out into the hallway. It had the face of a man with turban wrapped round its head.
Ron looked at Ginny in shock. The troll looked at them then stupidly it turned and began to wonder off down the hallway.
"Blimey," Ron said watching the troll as it walked away. "I don't remember Quirral looking like that." Ginny didn't bother to ask who Quirral was, instead she turned back to the door. This door was out of place. Ginny couldn't explain it, she just knew this door didn't belong.
Ginny took hold of the handle and pushed the door open.
On the other side was a sitting room. There was a desk at one end and two very large couches in the center, separated by a dark wood coffee table. Books lined the walls on tall book cases and lavish paintings hung every now and then between them.
There was no one in the room and there didn't seem to be another door out. Ginny took a step into the room and felt sudden unbearable pain. She let out a scream and pulled back. When she had tried to step into the room it had felt like her skin had been set on fire.
"What!" Ron cried taking Ginny's shoulders, "What's wrong?" The pain was fading. It was a pain she had first felt a long time ago, a pain she was no stranger to. Ginny felt cold. This pain was one of the reasons she had begun the study of dreams and mind, so that she would never have to feel it again in her nightmares.
"This isn't part of Harry's mind," Ginny said stepping away from the room. She quickly closed the door. The feeling of cold was subsiding.
"What do you mean, course it part of his mind," Ron said confused. "What else could it be?"
"Tom's mind," Ginny said.
"Tom?" Ron asked stupidly, "you mean, him!" Ginny was disappointed with her brother, he was still afraid to say Voldemort's name.
"Yes," Ginny said stepping turning away from the door, she had her arms wrapped around her. Ginny looked back down the hallway. "That was part of Voldemort's mind we almost stepped into." Why was there a door into Voldemort's mind here in Harry? Ginny didn't have time to find a reason. How long had they been here, thirty minutes an hour? Time didn't have a physical meaning in a dream but Ginny knew that if they stayed from their bodies too long they would not be able to return.
That was one of the reasons becoming ethereal was so dangerous. Without the mind the body cannot survive. If they didn't help Harry soon they would be ethereal forever.
But where should they go now. All the signs had pointed to this mental passage. For a moment Ginny felt a panic. Maybe she had read them wrong and this was the passage to Tom's mind. Had her thoughts betrayed her? Had she really wanted to come see Tom again instead of helping Harry?
It was a dark thought. A thought she hadn't had to fight against for almost two years. There was still a part of her, deep down, that had feeling for Tom. It disgusted her. She had tried to learn to destroy it through her studies but had not been successful. The only option she'd had was to repress the dark impulse.
But the more she thought about it the more it seemed to make sense. Her mind had betrayed her in the moment when Harry needed her help the most.
Except that she had seen Harry go down this passage when they started. That meant that this was the way he subconsusly wanted them to go.
"This should be where Harry is," Ginny said at last. "I don't understand why he isn't here! I don't know where we should go now." Ginny felt herself starting to cry. She had failed Hermione and let her die. She had failed Harry, was he to have the same fate? And what about her and Ron, they were trapped here forever. The dark spot in her mind felt like it was growing and instead of being able to focus the only thing she could see were images of Tom.
"Ginny, look at this!" Ron exclaimed. He was standing by the hole in the wall the troll had made. Ginny whipped her eye and moved over to look through the hole. She forced the thoughts away.
Across the green field of grass was a tall house. Ginny recognized it, it was their house, the Burrow.
"This is really, really, weird!" Ron said as he put his hand through the hole in the stone wall.
This was it, they were getting closer!
"Come on!" Ginny said grabbing Ron by the arm. She pulled him along behind her as she dashed through the hole in the wall. The Burrow was different then Ginny remembered it. The house appeared more rounded and the larger than it actually was.
Ginny pushed the front door open. There was no one inside. The inside of the house looked similar but it was not the same. Random objects like chairs and tea kettles seemed larger. It had not been bright outside but the windows glowed with warm yellow light.
"I don't remember our house looking like this," Ron said as he looked around.
"This is the way Harry remembers it," Ginny said. She spotted the clock on the wall that told where everyone was. All of the hands were scattered about its face but instead of the words that normal appeared on the clock there were strange squiggly lines. Ginny also noticed that there were two extra hands on the clock. On one of the hands was Hermione's face and on the other Harry's. Both extra hands pointed to the top of clock. Even though the words weren't there Ginny knew the clock well enough to know what the hands should be pointing at, Mortal Peril.
Ginny took a deep breath. It was a memory, not even a dream, it didn't mean anything, did it? Ginny had studied dreams for almost four years and still meanings of things in her own dreams escaped her.
A cry came from up stairs. Ginny looked at Ron, he'd already pulled his wand out. Quickly the two of them moved to the stairs. Ron took the lead moving two steps at a time The stairs were far longer than they should be continuing far past where the house should have ended. Finally the reached a doorway at the top of the stairs.
"This shouldn't be here," Ron said. He was right this staircase should open up on to a landing. Harry had to be through this door. Ginny held her wand at the ready and nodded at her older brother. Ron's face tightened, he took the door handle and pushed it open.
On the other side was a hallway. Portraits hung on the white wall. To the left was a door that looked like it led outside and to the right was a kitchen. Ron moved out into the hallway his wand level ready to attack. Ginny moved out after him and looked around. They had come out of a small door, a cupboard door, underneath a staircase. Ginny had never seen this house before.
Sobbing was coming from the direction of the kitchen and shouting from the direction of the sobbing. Ron moved towards the sounds, Ginny followed close on his heels. They emerged into a kitchen that was connected with a living room.
A fat man was standing in the center of the living room he was shouting at a boy on the floor. A women had her face in her hands, she was sitting on one of the couches, sobbing. Ginny rushed forward her wand outstretched and Ron at her side.
"That's enough!" Ginny said angrily. The fat man stopped shouting. The boy on the floor looked up at the two new comers. He was small, lank and had unruly black hair. His clothing was very baggy and one of the lenses of his glasses had been broken. There was blood coming down from one of his nostrils. His face was a mixture of panic and fear.
"You leave Harry alone!" Ginny shouted at the back of the fat man. Ginny's wand was shaking with rage now. Slowly the fat man turned around to face Ginny and Ron. Ginny gasped as she saw his face. It was a face she had seen many times before. A face she had seen only a few moments ago. It was the face that haunted her all her first year and almost every night since. It was the face of Tom Riddle.
Ginny felt her panic in her chest.
"I see you have finally made it, Gin," Tom said in a polite voice. He took a step towards Ginny and like he was stepping out of some sticky substance the body of Tom Riddle separated from the Fat man. The 16 year-old Tom Riddle stood facing Ginny and Ron well the fat man moved in on Harry and lifted him from the floor in two massive hands.
"I was hopping I would see you again, Gin," Tom said stepping closer raising a long white finger he touched the side of her face. Ginny shivered at his touch but she couldn't pull away. It was the cold feeling that embraced her nightmares and even though it frightened her, the dark part of her mind seemed to take satisfaction in Tom's touch. "It has been a longtime since I've seen you, Gin, and you've only grown more beautiful."
Ginny was too panicked to move. Her brain had stopped working all the horrible moments from her first-year that she had tried to repress were flooding back. She could remember in vivid detail the things she and Tom had done. There was a smile that was trying to force its way onto her mouth.
Tom's hand was suddenly slapped away. Tom's head jerked to the side in surprise and anger.
"Don't you touch my sister," Ron snarled. The panic that had gripped Ginny still lingered, her mind was fuzzy. Ron's wand pointed directly at Tom's heart.
"And don't call my sister Gin!" Ron shouted. Fire suddenly erupted from the end of his wand and struck Tom in the chest. The women who had been sobbing began to scream as Tom's skin began to burn away.
---
Still on fire young version of Voldemort toppled backward into the fat man. The fire spread from one to the other and both became a ball of flame. The fat man dropped Harry onto the floor. The fire began to spread, seeping out along the carpet and up the walls. The women was touched by the flame and became engulfed in it.
Ron leapt the flames and lifted Harry onto his back then leapt back over the growing fire.
"We have to get out of here!" Ron shouted at Ginny over the roar of the fire. Ginny didn't respond. Her eyes were glazed over. Ron took Ginny and pulled her from the room.
The fire was everywhere, it was burning the walls and the portraits of the fat child upon them. Ron tried the handle on the cupboard under the stairs but it didn't open. The only other door that hadn't been touched by the flames was the front door. Ron pulled Ginny along behind him as he rushed to it. Harry felt heavy on Ron's back and Ginny didn't seem to know what was going on. It was like she was asleep.
With all his might Ron pulled the front door open. The wood around the hinges cracked and splintered and the door came free from the wall. Ron took a step outside and stopped.
If Ron had thought that this place was strange before he was fairly sure that up until this moment everything had been perfectly normal. He had no idea what he was seeing now. There was no lawn, in fact no ground at all outside the house. They stood on a small piece of concrete attached to the house but much beyond that was nothing. A huge starless sky surrounded them.
The fire from the burning house jumped up into the sky. Cracks appeared and different moving images started to emerge. Some of them Ron recognized others he did not.
From above them there was a cracking noise and a chunk of the sky zoomed past them. The images began to cross over into one another. Peoples faces merged together and buildings became a combination of places.
Ron had a bad feeling about this. Ginny still stood next to him, her eyes were glazed over, she didn't seem to be seeing any of this. Harry was limp on his back and Ron didn't have any clue where Hermione was or how they were supposed to escape.
There was a boom and one of the images I the sky exploded outwards. Parts of the image flew and collided with other images. Colors began to mix. Ron couldn't identify anything in most of the images anymore.
"Impedimento!" a voice shouted from some place below. Ron looked down over the edge of the concrete square he was standing on. Far below standing in one of the memories was Hermione, her wand out. She turned to another image and shot a spell out. As the spell impacted with the memory it slowed and colors and images began to form shapes again. The memory grew smaller and sunk back into the night sky.
"Impedimento!" a similar but different voice shouted from higher and off to Ron's right. Standing on what looked like the end of a staircase was Hermione, her wand out firing spells up into the night sky. Ron turned and looked back down at where Hermione had just been. Hermione was still standing below him too.
"Impedimento!" shouts were now coming from ever direction. There seemed to be hundreds of Hermiones all shooting spells into the night sky.
Ron felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder. He turned, there was another Hermione standing behind him but she looked different than he remembered her. The house had burned to the ground and only piles of ash remained.
Hermione's face looked pale and her eyes unfocused. Hermione held her hand up Ron could see that her thumb and forefinger were pressed together.
Ron had no idea what was going on. Hermione pulled her fingers apart. The world jerked forward. Everything vanished and Ron was left in blackness for a moment. The walls of Hermione's room began to come back into view.
---
The three of them were sitting on the floor. Hermione was leaning heavily against Ron's shoulder. Ginny haphazardly pulled the silver chain off from around her neck. She got to her feet swaying as she stumbled towards the door to the room.
Ginny was only able to take a few steps before she collapsed in a heap to the floor. Ron in a panic for his sister tried to get up to help her but didn't think to remove the silver chain from around his neck. Ron let out a cough as the chain strangled his throat and he toppled back down against Hermione.
Ron pulled the chain off rubbing his sore neck and gently lay Hermione down against the floor. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow.
Ron was starting to panic. He moved to Ginny and shook her roughly but she did not respond. Ron could think of only one thing. He had to get them to the hospital wing.
Ron put his arm around Hermione and lifted her. She wasn't very heavy but she was still a bit hard for Ron to carry with just one arm. With his other arm Ron supported Ginny in much the same fashion. Neither girl seemed concuss. Half dragging them to the door Ron moved slowly supporting both Ginny and Hermione.
It was a battle to open the door but as last Ron managed it. There were more then a few girls out in the hall. Some of them looked surprised others looked horror shocked. They were all trying to talk at once. But the pounding of blood in Ron's ears made it impossible for him to hear what they were saying.
Ron struggled down the stairs almost falling once, but his determination kept him on his feet. He had to help his friend and his sister. He didn't know how badly they might be injured. The common room still had many students in it, as Ron appeared the talking all but stopped.
Someone was shouting but Ron couldn't tell who. People were making a path for Ron. Ron felt someone lifting Ginny off his arm, it was Neville. Ron let go as Neville took Ginny to carry. A group of Gryffindors followed them out into the hallway. Ron turned.
"Everyone, stay here," Ron said hoarsely. Some of the students nodded but others continued to argue. Ron knew he didn't have time for this. Turning he continued towards the hospital wing. There was angry shouting coming from behind him but no one except for Neville followed.
"It looks like the DA is keeping them at bay," Neville said pulling along side Ron. "What happened?" Neville asked.
"I don't know," Ron grunted as they turned down a hallway.
They were almost to the hospital wing when Ron heard a breath on his ear.
"wait," the voice said. Ron stopped and a second latter the door to the hospital wing opened and Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape hurried out.
"We must act quickly," Snape said, "the dark lord will be off guard. Now is our…" they turned around a hallway and Ron could no longer make out any of the words.
The hospital wing doors swung shut, Ron readjusted Hermione's weight across his shoulders and continued on to the hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey was not inside. Harry was laying on a bed not far down the row. Ron and Neville each found and empty bed and put the girls on them.
"I'll go find Madam Pomfrey," Neville said exasperated. All Ron could do was nod. He took Hermione's hand, it was cold and she didn't react.
"Please be okay 'mione," Ron whispered as he watched her. Madam Pomfrey emerged a moment latter trailing behind Neville.
"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she moved over to Ginny, who was closer, first.
"They just kind of collapsed," Ron said. He remembered Ginny saying that whatever it was they had done, it had been illegal. Ron looked down at the pendant around Hermione's neck. Ron clamped his hand over it and pulled it off stuffing it into his pocket.
"Well the poor dear has just over exerted herself, usually we get a lot of this latter in the year." Madam Pomfrey said as she examined Ginny. "A good nights sleep is all she needs to work it off." Madam Pomfrey moved around to Hermione and placed a hand on her forehead. Madam Pomfrey pulled the hand away quickly, there was shock in her eyes. She pulled out her wand and gently tapped Hermione on the forehead, the tip of the wand glowed purple.
"I, I don't know what's wrong," Madam Pomfrey said, her voice sounded somewhat panicked now. Madam Pomfrey turned and vanished into her office. Ron looked uneasily at Neville who was sitting next to Ginny. Neville looked unnerved. Ron couldn't blame him, three of his friends were now laying in hospital beds and he had no idea what had happened. Come to think of it Ron had been there and he had no idea what had happened.
Madam Pomfrey reappeared with a large book, she set it on the stand next to Hermione. She tried different things with her wand. Each attempt brought different colors and sounds but none seemed to be what Madam Pomfrey was looking for as she would flip to a new page of the book after each try.
"I think you should go back to your dormitories," Madam Pomfrey said when almost an hour had past. "I still can find nothing wrong with her, nothing that I have ever encountered. It would be best if you go get some sleep." Ron didn't move. He wasn't going to leave his friends here alone. Madam Pomfrey pursed her lip. "There isn't anything you can do for them here. Now unless you want me to call Professor McGonagall to escort you out…"
"I'm going to stay here," Ron said defiantly, "with my friends." Madam Pomfrey pursed her lip. "Very well then, Mr. Weasley, you may sit quietly over there," she indicated a chair on the other side of the room, "but you must be silent well I work." Ron nodded. He moved over to Neville.
"Go back to the common room and tell the rest of the Gryffindors everything is fine." Ron whispered. Neville nodded and then hurried out. Ron took a seat watching as Madam Pomfrey continued to try and diagnose Hermione without success.
Authors Notes:
File error…
Unable to load authors notes…
Loading random comments…
THERE IS NO FORK! Wait no, I found it…
Blue and Red are the same color…
I see some walls and some ceilings… NO, wait, one ceiling
sin cos cos sin 3.14159
I spy with my little eye something beginning with the letter 'H'
Okay now that's out of my system on to the authors notes!
A big thanks to the people still reading my story, I know some of you would like me to put up chapters much faster than I am but I swear that I am going as fast as is possible! Writing doesn't take me that long but proofing chapters takes me a while (usually 3+ days).
I have the next 3 chapters written but haven't proofed any of them yet. Tomorrow I will do my first proof of chapter 15, so it should be up by Thursday at the latest (shooting for Wednesday)
THANK YOU ALL for the great reviews! Taking the time to write your comments to me really does mean a great deal! Please keep the reviews coming!