A/N: mrs. skywalker, I believe this chapter answers your fear... or rather decreases it if not getting rid of it all together. DarkPegasiKnight, thanks, nice to know I have her in character. I was worried about that. encantada, thank you for your grammatical corrections, it is appreciated. I had totally forgot about the whole prophecy rememberance thing. I might be able to fix that, though! ;) And thanks to all other reviewers!

Chapter 3 – Reality's Awakening

Hermione tried to turn her head, but it pained her shoulders. She wanted to raise her hand and put a ginger touch to her neck which throbbed at the back, but she couldn't lift her arm.

"No... Ron."

"What's that, dear?" It was the female voice again. She was now for sure talking to Hermione. She put a hand on Hermione's forehead as though checking her temperature.

"Ron." Her voice was still so very weak. Only an octave louder than a quill scratching paper as someone wrote.

"It'll be fine, honey," said the female. "Here, take this and get some sleep... I'm sure you'll wake up feeling much better."

Yet again, something was being poured into Hermione's mouth. She swallowed, recognizing the taste of the liquid. It was Sleeping Draught. She had been made take it in her first year when she was administered some by Madam Pomfrey. She had had to take it after helping Harry get past the all the obstacles to the Mirror of Erised where he fought Voldemort.

Hermione knew then that she must be in good care. She could hear again, and she knew what was wrong. Though it wouldn't be wrong for long because she was in good hands that would care for her. She would be back to normal in no time, at least she hoped so.

"Ouch, Harry, that's my foot," Ron groaned as he and Harry sneaked down the seventh floor corridor.

The sun was setting in the background, and they had been looking for Hermione for more than half the day now. Hope on finding her was diminishing quickly so they had formulated a new plan. Spying on McGonagall and the other teachers to find out where she might be seemed to be the only option they could come up with.

So far, things in the plan were going good. They had Harry's cloak and map, they were on their way to McGonagall's office, and then trouble struck.

"Mr. Potter. Mr. Weasley," McGonagall called from behind them.

"Hello, Headmistress," Harry said quickly in an attempt to cover their plan as he yanked off the cloak. For a minute, he wondered if her glasses were magical so as to see through the cloak.

"How did she see us?" Ron questioned out of the corner of his mouth to Harry.

"I saw your feet moving down the hallway. Your cloak isn't useful unless you cover all of yourselves. Where are you two going? I've been looking for you all day," she informed sternly.

"Really? What for?" Ron asked.

"Well, Mr. Weasley, it would seem that Miss Granger has come up missing, and I would like to speak with you. I wanted to see if she had mentioned anything to you two," McGonagall replied.

"Oh," Harry and Ron sighed in unison, relief taking over both their faces.

"Come with me then," McGonagall said finally as she led them away to the second floor where her office awaited them.

The walk there was silent as Harry concocted another plan in the back of his mind. But for right now, maybe he should concentrate on McGonagall and what she might ask them once they got to her office. They had just stepped on the spiraling staircase and were drawing nearer and nearer to the office door.

Ron imagined Hermione making this same journey earlier that day. He could just see her image walking before him, gracefully standing as the staircase did the ascending for her. They came to the door, and Ron saw her image raise her delicate fist and knock gently.

He imagined the door opening for her as McGonagall let Harry and him in. He looked to McGonagall who was now sitting in the desk and imagined that she wasn't there as Hermione was snatched up by some invisible source. He watched in his mind's eye as she struggled not to be pulled under the Invisibility cloak they were wearing.

"Please take a seat," McGonagall directed politely as she gestured to the two chairs in front of her desk.

Ron wasn't really listening, just following Harry's lead as he continued to imagine Hermione's kidnapping. Someone dragging her out of the castle as she struggled helplessly, maybe even without a voice because of a Silencing Charm. Would she have screamed for him if she could have? 'Certainly! Who else?' Ron thought solemnly.

He continued to play the picture out in his mind. The assailant dragging her into the Forbidden Forest to the point where they were in grave danger of being attack by some wild animal of the magic world. He saw trees pulling at the cloak until it finally came off, and he saw Voldemort's face as Harry had described it in their fourth year. Thin, white, and gaunt with blazing red eyes and slits for nostrils.

He imagined Hermione screaming soundlessly at the horror which was still dragging her into the forest. He didn't know it, but his one hand was reaching out for her. His other hand was clenched into a fist, the nails on his fingers digging into his palm.

"Ron?"

Ron snapped from his terrible day dream and saw Harry staring at him in a worried way. McGonagall sat there looking confused, yet slightly interested by Ron's actions.

"Mr. Weasley?"

"Hermione," Ron sighed as he hung his head. "What's happened to her?"

"I was just asking Mr. Potter that," McGonagall said gently. "Do you have something to add?"

"I- we," Ron corrected as he gestured to himself and Harry, "think that Hermione was kidnapped."

"Kidnapped, Mr. Weasley? By whom?" McGonagall was staring at him, her confusion only growing. He could feel her eyes on the top of his bowed head.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's followers," Ron answered. "The Death Eaters."

"I assure you, Mr. Weasley, that no one could have gotten into the castle. Let alone the Headmistress's office to kidnap Miss Granger," McGonagall dismissed.

Ron sighed and said no more as McGonagall turned to Harry who had asked if there was any clues to where Hermione might be. Ron wanted nothing more than to be able to see her at that moment, even if only just for a second. Just to know she was safe. Little did he know, she was all right. In fact, she was in some of the best care that could have been given.

"I forbid you to wake her," said the female voice that Hermione had heard a few times before within the short period of time that she had been able to hear. But this time it was angry.

"We must find out where she came from and who she is. The Headmaster wants to know," argued a familiar voice.

"Well, he can wait until she's feeling better... She's still paralyzed and her eardrums have only just healed. You saw her condition when Tom found her... You should know she needs to rest and get better before she's questioned about this, that, and the other," snapped the woman.

"Eona, I understand that, but we must know. The sooner we find out about her, the sooner we can help her more," sighed the familiar voice. This voice belonged to a male. An older male, but still it sounded a bit younger than it normally would to Hermione.

"Now, you listen to me, Albus," hissed Eona, "I'm Head Healer of Hogwarts hospital wing and I will make the call on who does what to a patient. And right now, I say no one is to bother her. Now shoo... go on!"

"Very well, Eona, have it your way," Albus relented, though there was a sneaky, devious tone about his voice.

'Albus? Why do I know that name?' Hermione was trying very hard to place that name with a face as she wondered why she recognized the voice and name. 'Albus... Albus? Dumbledore? Albus Dumbledore? Yes!'

Hermione tried to sit up, but she forgot in her rush of excitement about Dumbledore that she was paralyzed and she couldn't. She did manage to move her fingers, though. That was a good sign. If she was paralyzed from her neck down like she felt, moving her fingers meant there was hope for recovery.

She snapped them. Her middle finger snapping against her thumb as she the tips of the two fingers roughly rubbed across each other. The voices at the end of the ward stopped abruptly with an order from Eona.

"Shh! Do you hear that?"

"That snapping? Yes, I do," replied Albus.

"She's moving... she's snapping her fingers!"

Next thing, Hermione heard two sets of feet running toward her in a great hurry. Hermione wanted to smile, and she did as she felt her cheeks rise and her lips curl. She pushed herself further now. If she could snap her fingers, she could open her eyes.

Her eyes flinched and squinted until finally, they opened with a flutter. Things were blurry at first, but she blinked that away and then squinted into the bright white lights above her.

"She's awake," breathed Eona with happiness dripping from her voice. "My potion worked!"

Hermione looked toward the sound of the voice and was met with quite a shock. There was Dumbledore and some other woman in a nurse's uniform. They were both smiling, but there was something different. Shouldn't this nurse be Madam Pomfrey, who was this lady? Had Madam Pomfrey been replaced or something? And what was wrong with Dumbledore?

He looked different. His face wasn't as careworn and his hair wasn't as white, in fact it was auburn. Hermione felt fear course through her, replacing her excited and happy mood as the smile faded to an open mouth gape.

"Is everything all right?"

Hermione stared at the Dumbledore look-alike. She opened her mouth, but felt her throat go taught as she tried to speak. Tears stung the inside corners of her eyes and burned her dry, sleep-filled eyes. She didn't have time to speak as her bottom lip quivered and she let out a hiccuping sob that made her begin to cough and choke.

"You're upsetting her. Leave!"

Eona pushed Dumbledore from the bedside and put a glass of water to Hermione's mouth, tipping the water into her mouth as Hermione drank gratefully.

"Calm down, honey," Eona soothed, "Everything will be all right."

Hermione might have calmed down, but she didn't believe this woman. What was going on? Why did things look different? And she still wanted to know what had happened to put her in the position she was in now.

"Very well, then," McGonagall sighed as Harry finished telling her all that they knew about where Hermione could be. "You may go."

Harry and Ron rose silently and slowly, both feeling rather grave. They walked quietly to the door with their heads bowed, they weren't any closer to finding out what had happened to Hermione. They exited the office, pulling the door behind them, and they started down the spiraling stairs.

"Harry," Ron whispered.

"What?"

"Shh!" Ron waved his hand for Harry to step off the escalator-like staircase onto a ledge next to it.

Harry followed Ron, wondering what could be going on. Ron pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of Harry's bag and threw it over them.

"Ron," Harry whispered, "what are you doing?"

"Just be quiet," Ron directed as they went back up the stairs and waited on a landing at the top. They could hear McGonagall inside and they listened intently to bits and pieces of the conversation between her and someone else.

"... do you really think that's who it's about?"

"Who else...?"

"Ron," Harry hissed. "You know this is wrong. What if we're caught?"

"We won't be," Ron hissed back. "Now, be quiet."

"Hermione wouldn't like this."

"Well, Hermione's not here so she has nothing to say. Besides... she's missing and needs our help and doing this will help. So I think she'll excuse it this once," Ron retaliated.

Harry shook his head, but remained quiet as they listened to a new voice in the room now.

"They are alert, ma'am."

"Thank you, Filius. Now...," the rest of what McGonagall said was drown out though as they stairs began to move, rumbling a bit as they did.

"Who's coming?"

"I don't know," Harry whispered.

"It's Boot," Ron hissed. The Head Boy didn't look happy, in fact, he looked quite worried and sickly pale. Terry Boot opened the door, going in the room uninvited. Harry and Ron taking that opportunity to go in themselves while still under the cloak.

"Where's Hermione Granger?" Terry's voice was demanding, yet shaky, and McGonagall sighed as she tried to keep him calm.

As Harry and Ron stood listening, Harry noticed something. The portrait of Dumbledore was staring directly at them as was Fawkes. It unnerved him a bit as he turned away from the painting back to the Headmistress and the Head Boy.

"Dumbledore's looking right at us," Harry spoke quietly in Ron's ear.

"Can he see us?"

"I don't know... I think his glasses have some kind of magic on them to let him see through things like this even in his painting just like he had in real life," Harry whispered in response.

"Mr. Boot, I'm sorry to inform you that you must lead the prefect meeting on your own tonight," McGonagall informed.

"It seems that Miss Granger has come up missing," Flitwick added.

"We are working to find her now...," McGonagall finished as Terry went even more pale at hearing Hermione was missing. "If you or anyone else knows anything about where she might be, would you kindly tell us?" McGonagall's voice was heavy, grave in a sense. Terry nodded as he looked from one Professor to the other.

"I'll be sure to do that," Boot promised before turning on his heel and leaving.

McGonagall looked to Flitwick who seemed to be speechless. He had no idea of what to do about their current situation.

"Filius, would you please alert Hagrid to search the forest with Professors Vector, Sinistra, and Sprout?"

"Certainly," Flitwick said with a nod.

"I am going into the town to alert everyone that Miss Granger is missing and to be on the look-out for her."

"Yes, Headmistress," Flitwick said as he nodded.

"Thank you," McGonagall sighed as he turned and left, Harry and Ron following him out quickly.

McGonagall turned to Fawkes. He was in a tray below his perch, bald and wide-eyed with wonder. He was so helpless and innocent, and McGonagall knew that he could barely defend himself. McGonagall also knew that wherever Hermione was, she probably felt just like Fawkes was now, helpless in the change of events. But she had faith and hope that Hermione would defend herself and return to them in good health.

Hermione had slept throughout the night thanks to a Sleeping Draught given to her by the nurse. She had also given Hermione some more of another potion she had taken before, though Hermione didn't recognize it by taste like she did the Sleeping Draught.

Hermione awoke early the next morning as she heard a clock somewhere in the ward chime six. She sat up slowly and stretched before rubbing the sleep from her eyes. 'Wait! Did I just...? I just' Hermione thought in an unsure way as she looked down at her legs under the covers.

She ripped back the covers, exposing her feet. She wiggled her toes and grinned broadly. She could move. It was the most wonderful feeling to her. She wasn't paralyzed anymore.

Hermione jumped out of the bed and danced about the ward, twirling around and doing cartwheels. She felt like a kid again, and things couldn't get much better. So, they got worse when embarrassment came on the scene.

The ward door had opened, and Dumbledore had came in with a tall, dark haired boy who was pale, but very handsome. They were followed by the nurse, Eona, and upon seeing Hermione dancing, cartwheeling, and jumping around the ward, she gasped.

Hermione came to an abrupt stop as she heard the gasp and a chuckle. She stared wide-eyed as the nurse came rushing toward her, scolding her the whole time. Dumbledore's younger self stood there laughing on the other hand. The boy however, was looking anything but amused or concerned for that matter. Rather, he looked disbelieving at her antics.

"I see you are feeling much better, my dear," Dumbledore sighed as he finished his laughing.

"Yes, much better," Hermione spoke softly. She blushed and stared at the floor with her head bowed while she twisted her hands together behind her.

"Then maybe you wouldn't mind answering a few questions?"

"I suppose I wouldn't," Hermione sighed as she sat down on her bed.

"All right, then. Would you be so kind as to tell us who you are and how you got here?"

Hermione looked up in a shocked way as her mouth hung agape. She didn't know what to say. Something else seemed to bother her as well. The boy who was with Dumbledore was smirking at her distraught manner. Why was he smirking? And more importantly, who was he and why was he here with Dumbledore? And how was it that Dumbledore didn't know who she was?