Chapter 4

'This is so boring,' Hermione thought as she lay aimlessly in her hospital bed. As far as she could tell it was some time round noon seeing that she had just had lunch; pumpkin soup. She was blind and deaf, not incapable of taste for goodness sake. Unfortunately she had to be hand fed by Ron which would have been alright if he hadn't slopped it down her front.

Madam Pomfrey had come in to collect the tray after she had finished but the boys insisted that she be introduced to Hermione. The meeting was short, Hermione quickly recognising her clothing more than her features.

After cleaning her up a little, she left the two boys and Hermione to do what they pleased. Neither boy knew what to do so they sat and talked amongst themselves while Hermione sat and thought.

'Oh O,' she thought. 'I gotta go, I really gotta go!' She had been putting it off for the last half hour but now the urge was too great. She needed to get to the toilet now and was now thanking her lucky stars that she had taken the boys to the Disability Week function last Christmas, she just hoped that they actually took some of the workshops in.

"Ron, look, Hermione's trying to say something," said Harry, his head jumping up from the foot of her bed.

"What…I can't hear anything?" he replied, his head coming out of his Quidditch magazine.

Reaching forward Harry placed a hand on her arm in assurance that he was there and paying attention. Her hands stopped waving and formed the first letter.

"What is she doing?" Ron asked.

"Finger spelling you git," he said, "watch. Look, the letter 'T'."

"That's an … a, e, i, o… 'O'," added Ron as she pointed to her left-hand ring finger.

"'I'," pointed out Harry, "That's a…um…a…"

"'A'?" queried Ron.

"No… 'L'."

"Hey we're getting good at this."

"Keep watching," Harry said shushing him. "'E'… 'T'."

"What does that spell?" Ron asked as she began again.

"'T'… 'O' … 'I' … 'L' … 'E' … 'T' "

"Toilet," concluded Ron, a goofy smile planted across his face until the realisation dawned on him, "toilet."

Jumping to his feet he helped Hermione stand. "Come on, give me a hand with her," Harry said placing an arm under Hermione's shoulder before her legs threatened to give way as she stood. Jumping out of his chair, Ron dashed around the end of the bed, taking Hermione's other side. Together the trio made their way out of the screens towards the girl's bathroom.

"You take her in," Harry said turning to Ron.

"Why me?" he asked.

"Because she likes you better. Anyway you're not afraid of nudity; you basically live on top of on another at your house. You even told me so yourself that you have walked in your brothers. No offence," he added hastily.

"None taken," said the other wizard with a shrug. "But I still don't see why it has to be me. In case you haven't noticed, I live with one sister and a heap of brothers."

"And that is more than me. How many females have you seen naked?" he retorted. Before Ron could respond, the forgotten Hermione made her presence known, wondering why they had stopped.

"Fine then. Only because you had such a sheltered childhood," he grumbled as he took Hermione by the arm and led her to the door, leaving Harry outside.

ooOOoo

Later that evening after Hermione had eaten her mashed vegetables and meat, the boys left for tea and bed, leaving Hermione alone once again.

Before Madam Pomfrey turned out the lights, she gave Hermione a draft to help her sleep and tucked her in, telling her it was time to sleep a peaceful sleep, but Hermione's sleep was anything but peaceful.

ooOOoo

In the dungeons below, the Professor finally packed up his work on the Restorative Potion for the girl several floors above. So far he had readied the base as he had planned and set it to simmer overnight. In the morning he would add the last of the ingredients and allow them to dissolve completely before they draft could be administered.

Closing and warding his door he stepped into his personal Chambers. Unlike most of the schooling population though, they were not located in the dungeons, but the second floor. A rarely used door allowed access to the floor while he mainly used the entrance adjacent to his office. Magically connected of course.

Unbuttoning his robes with a flick of a wrist, he tossed it in the hamper. The soft clattering of wood on stone caught his attention. Rolling across his stone floor was Hermione's wand. He had forgotten to return it. Picking it up, he fingered the fine wood, admiring the craftsmanship of it. Removing his wand and other objects from the pocket on his frock coat, he removed it and placed it with the cloak. Setting the wand down on his bedside table, he made a mental note of returning it the following day before turning for a shower.

ooOOoo

Over the next few days the boys visited Hermione regularly, whenever they had a spare moment, bringing her sweets on several occasions which she was thankful for. Each day Madam Pomfrey would bathe her, which was always a battle of the wills. Never a day went by that Hermione willing undressed for her. She was very conscious of her body and self, feeling too exposed to want to undress in this state. After bathing, she would curl up under her blankets and try not to cry. She would eat small amounts at meal times. Meals were the only indication of the time of day. Although her portions started out small, she gradually ate more, gathering her strength. Losing her hearing severely affected Hermione's balance, therefore each day Madam Pomfrey would help her walk around the Wing, keeping her muscles active and her strength up.

The boys were learning finger spelling but it was tedious and slow. How she wished that there was someone to understand her full sign language capability and not just finger spelling.

After a day or so, Hermione was easily able to tell not only the presence of magic, but its intent. She could easily distinguish between Harry, Ron and Madam Pomfrey when they came calling. She had been visited by the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall, both of which gave off strong auras. The reason of her absence was soon common knowledge, she had taken ill and was isolated in the Hospital Wing, well, that is what Harry and Ron were telling everyone, keeping any details confidential, which was unusual for them.

ooOOoo

Monday morning Hermione awoke to a friendly presence, although she could not quite work out who it was. Moving about she tried to reach out to them, nearly falling out of bed before strong arms caught her and the strong aroma of spice and rain invaded her nose.

Lifting her back into the bed, she was handed back her wand and left alone once more to the deathly silence of her world.