Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Harry Potter for the millionth time.

A/N: I updated pretty fast... becaus ethis part was already written, but I've got a crazy busy schedule, so until December I might be on the DL, but i will updatew when I can. :) As you probably assumed, Harry's view is left out... so here you go.

Chapter7 -Strong-willed Students and Unanswered Questions

They were standing in the crowded St. Mungo's waiting room; it seemed as if everyone who attended Hogwarts plus their entire family was there. Save the Slytherins-turned-death-eaters, who obviously couldn't show they're faces, never mind care about the losses they caused. Despite how crowded it was, it must have been magically expanded to fit these people, and countless more were flooding through the window. It seemed so surreal to Hermione, like everything was happening around her, like she was invisible, the feeling wracked every nerve in her body.

She couldn't stand it, just waiting there watching everyone worry over their own loved ones, meanwhile, Harry the one who had saved them all, was off in some lonely room on the verge of death. It felt so unfair, but she wouldn't show her upset feeling on the outside. To everyone, but her own mind, she was fine, her face showed no emotion whatsoever, but her insides were churning with hurt, mentally and physically.

She glanced at Ron, he seemed to be in a state of denial, he was staring into nowhere talking to no one in particular. Then her eyes flickered on Ginny, she wasn't as lost as Ron, but close to it. Her eyes showed unbearable pain and sadness, she looked like she was using every once of her Gryffindor strength not to burst into tears. Hermione also remembered that their entire family had been fighting and their current status was still unknown.

Eventually, feeling as if her legs would collapse beneath her, Hermione plopped down on the floor, all the seniors or badly injured filled the chairs. She saw all the injured people in those chairs and realized this was the best of them, the hospital had taken everyone that needed immediate healing and left the others for later, these were the others.

From her seated position, she glanced around the room, searching for friends. She saw none, but still there were plenty of people out of her range of vision, then something hit her, Dumbledore! He was nowhere to be seen, even in a place as crowded as this; you could always find him, but not this time. Panic flooded her, could he have been hit? Was he dead? She felt at a loss and slid herself over to sit by Ron and Ginny. She stared at them inquiringly; barely able to form words, her mouth felt dry and rough, like it was coated with sandpaper. "Have…. Have… you seen…"

"Dumbledore." Ron finished for her. She looked surprised so he continued.

"I just noticed the same thing… do you think he's..." Ron trailed off.

All Hermione did was shrug her shoulders, she didn't know what else to do. No Dumbledore was almost as bad as no Harry, and that cut deep into her heart as it was. She sat staring into space for the longest time. Until, something shook her from her thoughts, A St. Mungo's Healer came from a door, and posted a large sign over the check-in desk. Hermione walked up to it,

Attention!

We will soon be posting lists of our sad losses in alphabetical order. Any special circumstances will not be revealed. Please be patient, this is a hard time for everyone.

God Bless You.

"Oh." She whispered to herself, she wasn't sure if she wanted to see that list, even though she knew neither Harry nor Dumbledore would be on it.

Hermione sadly shook her head and returned to her spot on the floor to break the bad news to Ron and Ginny. They had no time to react because just then screaming was heard from the other side of the room

Ron honestly couldn't care what was going on around him; he almost didn't care about the hundreds of other losses that had happened, he cared about Harry and his family, which was almost the same. He sat, glad he at least had Ginny by his side. Of all his family, excluding his parents, he would suffer greatest without Ginny, they were close and Ron lived off her life as much as his own.

Ron looked at Hermione, she seemed too anxious to sit down, but he saw her gingerly sit on the floor. She was looking around the room until her eyes went wide with shock, he knew she just realized Dumbledore's absence and stopped her before she could really ask about it. He had no idea himself and he didn't want to think of what the answer could be.

When Ron saw the sign posted by the healer, his stomach turned in knots, he had expected that they wouldn't reveal the fate of Harry and Dumbledore on that list but the rest of his family would be there, or hopefully not be there he added. The suspense was killing him (almost literally), it was eating away at his heart as if he had already lost everyone.

He was hurt, there was a bloody slash on his leg and he had countless bruises, but waiting for the fate of his best friend, the leader of light and good power and not to mention his family was unbearable. He was almost jittery, but trying to put his personal turmoil aside, he looked at Ginny. Despite her looks, he didn't think she was getting on well. She was pale, and for all he knew could have a fatal injury like internal bleeding.

He pulled up next to her and wrapped his long arm around her, in hopes of comfort. His idea was ruined by a scream across the large room, it echoed like the shrill of a dying person. Being taller than most he stood up and saw people moving away from something he couldn't see. He turned back around to find, in those few seconds, Ginny was gone.

The second Ginny had entered St. Mungo's she had zoned out; she was in horrible pain from a lacerate by her stomach and a spell had pushed her head into a stone wall which resulted in it throbbing now. She had sat on a chair, and refused to show her pain so others could be treated, she needed to be strong, for everyone and she wouldn't show any weaknesses.

She was glad she was one of the few to have salvaged a chair, she would have passed out standing and this way she could keep her injuries a secret and try to keep her mind off of it. She was making imaginary shapes on the wall, trying to forget the events of the night. Only she had noticed when Dumbledore fell, and she wouldn't tell anyone until she knew exactly what happened. Besides she knew Ron and Hermione would freak out.

She saw Ron and Hermione talking, wishing she had the energy or will power to join them, but in the current situation she preferred to be alone and think about everything that has happened. Her thoughts were swirling like a tornado; she wished she had a personal pensive right now.

When she saw the healer post the sign, she knew the list would only bring bad news. She wished with all her heart she wouldn't find any of her family on it, but just as much she wished she knew about Harry, he was just as much family as any of her brothers. She glanced at Ron and knew the anticipation was slowly gnawing at his insides as well. He seemed to read her mind because soon, he was beside her.

As protective and safe as his arm felt, she wished it were gone, she wanted to be left to her own remorse and pain, furthermore, his arm was right over the excruciatingly painful gash in her side, luckily she had remembered a spell that had temporarily stopped the bleeding and no one noticed. The scream that broke her thoughts brought chilling bad memories to her; she was back in the Chamber of Secrets. Tom Riddle was over her, casting some strange spell and then everything went black, she snapped back to reality and saw the people around scrambling for a look at what was going on, and she made a decision.

As Ron stood up to catch a glimpse of the sudden chaos, she resolved that she was going to be the savior, not the save-e. She abruptly stood up causing a suddenly sharp pain in her side which momentarily blinded her with burning tears, unnoticed by everyone around her she slipped off into a white door; Emergencies Only. She raced down the white, asylum-like hallway with her heartin her throat and her mind set.

A/N: So, what do you think, I tried to really change it up from person to person, is it working? Please give me all your opinions, good and bad. Because I'm so busy I never had time to get a beta, and if I did I wouldn't have time to give it to them and then submit or the wait would be forever. So, please excuse tiny grammar/spelling/anything else errors. Review! I love to know your reading!

Also, I know this is a cliffy, and to be honest I'm not even sure myself where exactly this will be going, but I have a vague idea. So, please keep reading! And again I recommend the stories of CassandraTrelawney and kr1st1na! They're wonderful! Remember, REVIEW:)