Disclaimer: All hail Jo Rowling for giving us Harry and his world.
Come What May
Chapter Four
Harry shook Hermione gently, trying to get that blank, senseless stare out of her eyes, but it was no use. Wherever Hermione was, she wasn't there. And Harry had a sinking feeling that she wouldn't be anywhere close for awhile.
Tonks and Lupin came pounding up the stairs, closely followed by Ginny and Ron and Mrs. Weasley. When Mrs. Weasley saw Hermione, she gave a shriek and positively bounded into the room, literally flinging Harry aside as she took in Hermione's appearance.
Hermione had scratch marks all over her face from where she clawed herself, seeing it in her mind's eye as Greyback's work. Her arm was coated in blood, and the cut was deep, though not deep enough to be fatal.
"Hermione, sweetie, talk to me. Hermione? Come on, talk to me, wake up," Mrs. Weasley coaxed, shaking her softly.
Hermione didn't move or blink. She just sat there, limp and lifeless.
Lupin stepped in and peered straight into her eyes. He brought a hand before her eyes and snapped his fingers. There was no reaction.
He turned to Tonks. "Go into the kitchen and bring me the first aid kit. She needs something on this cut."
Tonks sprinted out of the room.
Lupin turned back to Hermione and in one movement, lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the bed, setting her down carefully.
Tonks came careening back into the room, carrying a metal tin. Lupin took it from her and opened it before pulling out a bottle of some purple liquid, which he dabbed onto a cotton swab and began running it over Hermione's wound.
Hermione flinched, but seemed no closer to herself than before.
"Here," Mrs. Weasley said, pulling out her wand. "Tergeo!"
The drying blood disappeared from her arm.
Lupin pulled out his wand and muttered something under his breath. Instantly, the deep cut sealed itself, leaving only a faint line that would heal up as a scar.
"Molly, I'm not as good with these healing charms as you. I'd do the scratches on her face, but I think you'd leave less scarring."
Mrs. Weasley stepped around Lupin to sit down next to Hermione on the bed. She gave a small sniff before taking the purple liquid and the cotton swabs from Lupin and began cleaning off Hermione's face.
The others stood back in silence. Ginny was crying quietly, while Harry held her close. Ron had that white, pasty look about him again.
Lupin moved back to stand next to Tonks. She looked shocked and frightened.
"What's wrong with her, Remus? Why didn't we see this?"
Lupin took up her hand and held it close to his heart. "I don't know what's wrong with her, but I don't think it's normal. I have my suspicions, but I won't say anything just yet. Give me some time to figure it out, and I'll tell you as soon as I do. She'll be okay. She'll snap out of this. . .trance thing she's in. She will, you just watch."
Three days went by, and still there was no change in Hermione. She wouldn't eat anything, when she slept, she moaned and cried, often waking up sobbing, but wouldn't respond to the others when they tried calling her name or talking to her. They all took turns watching her, making sure she couldn't do anything like sneak out of her room and do some more damage. Someone watched over her during the day, and then someone else would take over at night.
Another three days went past. Still, there was no change. They all started to worry slightly more than they already were. They were to return to Hogwarts in a little over a week. What if she didn't wake up from this trance-like state she was in? What would Harry and Ron and Ginny do without her? And more importantly, what would the school do without the Head Girl?
The three teens noticed over the past week that Lupin had been disappearing to the library in the house more often than not, oftentimes spending the whole day there, and sometimes well into the night. He had started going off food as well, but Harry knew it was something to do with Hermione's condition, and not due to some bizarre circumstance.
One morning, two days before they were due back to school, Lupin came into the kitchen looking utterly exhausted. He collapsed at the table and pulled every bit of food within reach towards him and began eating with gusto. He gave no explanation to his behavior in the least, that is, until Tonks decided to ask him what was going on.
"Erm, Remus? Um, are you okay?"
Lupin looked up from the scrambled eggs he was shoveling in. "I might have found something as to why Hermione's acting the way she is. I've been up all night looking for more information. Give me another few hours, and I think I should be able to crack it."
The others looked up. Mrs. Weasley paused, a bagel in her mouth and bitten into. Harry froze with his goblet of pumpkin juice halfway to his mouth. Ron looked perplexed.
"You think it's a spell or something?" he inquired curiously.
Lupin gave a shrug. "Can't say more about it until I get a few more hours in of research. I've nearly got it cracked, but just to be on the safe side, I've got to get back up there and look up something. I'll tell you all when I've figured it out. I'm going back up."
Without further ado, he grabbed his goblet of pumpkin juice and charged back upstairs to the library. The others looked taken aback for a moment, but went back to their breakfasts, slightly more cheerful than they were a few minutes ago.
Tonks was shaking her head. "The man needs to learn where to draw the bloody line. Honestly, you'd think he'd been working like this all his life! There are other things to take into consideration, like showering. I don't think he's had one in about two days. Couldn't you tell?"
Ron caught her eye and grinned. Everyone else cracked up as they went about finishing their food and clearing up the kitchen.
Mrs. Weasley turned halfway through washing up some breakfast dishes.
"You three, Fred and George sent a note wanting to know how Hermione was doing. I haven't written them back yet, so if you will, someone please write them back and fill them in on what's happening."
Ginny stood up. "I'll do it. Do you need any help in here?"
Mrs. Weasley excused her, then turned to the other two.
"I hate to ask this boys, but I haven't done any school shopping whatsoever. Do you think you could go to Diagon Alley today for me and get all the supplies? I've arranged for Hagrid to meet up with you in the Leaky Cauldron."
Ron and Harry looked at each other. They hated to leave Hermione, but. . .
"We'll go. Just do us a favor, send something along if Lupin figures out what's wrong with Hermione, won't you?" Ron asked his mother.
"Of course I will, she's your best friend, what do you think I would do? Leave you out to dry? I should think not. Now, go upstairs and get dressed. And Harry, I'm to tell you from Minerva McGonagall, you're still to carry your Invisibility Cloak with you at all times, just in case. Got that?"
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley."
The boys trudged upstairs and got dressed. Harry dug out his Invisibility Cloak from his trunk and stowed it in his jacket pocket.
"Ready?" He asked Ron.
"Let's go," he said.
They both peeked in on Hermione before they went downstairs. Tonks was sitting with her, attempting to have a normal, entirely one-sided conversation.
"We're going to Diagon Alley to meet Hagrid for some shopping. Send us a word if there's any change," Ron told her.
Tonks nodded before carrying on her conversation with Hermione.
The boys walked downstairs and met Mrs. Weasley at the door.
"Now, I want both of you to keep your heads down and your eyes open. Got that? No mischief today. You're to go to Diagon Alley, get three sets of everything for yourselves and Ginny's things as well. I don't want any dallying or shortcuts, and I especially don't want you wandering off without Hagrid. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," they mumbled.
"Good." Mrs. Weasley said as stood on tiptoe to reach both of them and give them both a kiss on the cheek.
Harry and Ron walked out into the feeble summer sunlight. The day was overcast; clouds kept drifting over and casting them in shadow. It looked like rain more than anything, though the sun was trying to put up a decent fight.
"Let's go," Ron said before twisting away from Harry.
Harry did the same, and a few moments later, had reappeared outside the Leaky Cauldron. They stuck their hands in their pockets, grasping their wands, just as a precaution. The sign above them creaked in the light summer breeze.
They walked in and looked around for a sign of life. None was to be found, other than Tom, the barkeeper, behind the counter.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. Mr. Weasley. Good to see you chaps again. Can I help you with anything today?"
"No, thanks, Tom. We're just passing through, got to get on with school shopping. We'll see you later," Harry excused themselves as they walked towards the back door.
They opened the door and found themselves face to face with Hagrid.
"Good ter see yeh, mates," Hagrid said, ruffling their hair.
"Same to you, Hagrid," Ron said, wincing as Hagrid accidently cuffed him round the head.
"Well, come on, we ain't got all day. Got ter get you lads in and out, that was the agreement," Hagrid said, tapping the brick wall in front of them.
The archway appeared and they walked through, ignoring the cries of the shifty salesmen as they stepped through.
They certainly wasted no time at all getting through the shopping. As they had got new robes last summer, they were not inclined to go into Madam Malkin's. Ron pulled out the wad of school lists he carried in his pocket and consulted it.
"Right, well, we need to go to Flourish and Blotts, the apothecary, and I want to get Pigwidgeon another box of Owl Treats, it's about the only thing that will shut him up anymore," he said, running a finger down the list.
With Hagrid shuffling them from shop to shop, they managed to get the shopping done in next to no time. They hardly saw anyone they knew, although Harry did catch a glimpse of Cho Chang darting into Quality Quidditch Supplies.
"Well, have yeh got everything on yer lists?" Hagrid asked after they emerged from the Magical Menagerie.
"Think so, yeah," Ron said, again consulting the lists.
"I think we've got it all, Ron," Harry said from behind the pile of bags he was carrying.
Ron wasn't carrying anything.
"Right, let's go back ter the pub then," Hagrid said decisively.
He herded them back through the archway and into the pub again. Tom looked up when he heard them shuffle in.
"Oh, Mr. Potter!"
Harry rearranged some of the packages he was carrying so he could see Tom properly.
"Yeah Tom?"
"I believe you are friends with that Miss Granger, right?"
"Yes. What about her?"
"She was in here a few days ago, she bought all her supplies, well, she left them here for me to look after, and she said she couldn't get home first. Well, she said she'd come back, and she never did. So I was only thinking that maybe you could take them for her."
"Sure thing, Tom," Ron said, stepping over to the bar to pick up all of Hermione's packages.
Somehow they managed to Disapparate back to Grimmauld Place laden with everything they were carrying. When they reappeared in front of number twelve, they dropped a few packages on the ground and spent a good ten minutes tracking everything down that had fallen out of the bags.
"That is the last, I repeat, the last time I go shopping for three people's school lists. If I ever get recruited to do this again, shoot me," Ron moaned as they stumbled into number twelve.
Mrs. Weasley appeared up from the kitchen as they dropped everything.
"Oh good, you're back. I was just starting to worry. Just leave everything there, we'll sort it out later. Come down and have some supper."
They walked into the kitchen to much excitement. Ginny and Tonks were sitting next to Lupin, apparently trying to coax him into something.
"What's going on?" Harry asked as they sat down.
"Remus has just figured out what's wrong with Hermione." Tonks said.
"And?" Ron said eagerly.
Everyone sat down at the table and turned to face Lupin.
"I had a feeling about what was wrong with her all along. I'm just glad that we've got the library upstairs to help us out. Otherwise I wouldn't have never found out as much as I did," Lupin started to explain.
"But you did figure it out, right?" Ginny asked impatiently.
"Yes, I did. It involves an extremely ancient, and extremely complex spell that only one so deeply immersed in the Dark Arts would know about. It's my belief that Lucius put the curse on the note he left for Hermione so that the moment she touched it, it would activate."
"So what is it?" Tonks asked.
"It is called Atrox Preteritus. The Horror of the Past curse."
"But what's it supposed to do?" Harry asked, confused.
"It's deeply involved. The curse can be cast upon a single object or the person in question. In this case, it was the note. It's supposed to cause the person it's cast on to relive the very worst moment in his or her life. In Hermione's case, it's her parents' deaths. It's also supposed to make the pain of the loss or situation too much to bear, so the victim of the curse feels obligated to hurt his or her self. Eventually, the curse becomes so involved, and the victim so immersed in the pain of reliving their worst moment, that either they will kill themselves, or die of depression. Or, in Hermione's case, she has shut herself off to the outside world. She refuses to deal with it, only because she is forced to relive it all over again."
"Oh, is that all?" Ron said, exasperated.
"Is there any way to stop it?" Mrs. Weasley asked, worried.
"We must keep talking to her. Let her know that she isn't alone in all this. In the meantime, there is a slight complication."
"What?" They all asked in unison.
"The curse also has a nasty habit of planting a voice inside the victim's head. Telling them to harm themselves. It's not necessarily Lucius's voice speaking to her, but it is a voice nonetheless, and it does tell her to hurt herself to get rid of the pain."
"Oh, that's just swell. So how the hell are we supposed to get her out of this one?" Ginny burst out.
"Ginny, language!" Mrs. Weasley reprimanded.
"Yeah, sorry Mum. Anyways, how are we supposed to get her out of this one?"
Lupin looked thoughtful. "From what I've read, the only true way that she could overcome this is by finding the one person that will complete her life. You see, the curse also makes you feel as though you've lost half your soul, so by the one person that will complete their life, they mean your soul mate."
Harry snorted in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me."
Lupin looked up. "No, not kidding. She will snap out of this trance like thing she's in, but she will be very depressed for a long time, until she finds that one person."
"Is there anything she can take for the depression?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking concerned.
"I believe there is a potion made now that is supposed to alleviate the worst symptoms of depression. The market is booming for one, after all," Lupin said, with a twitch of a smile.
"Where do you get it?" Ron asked.
"It is nearly impossible to find, but I think, with Tonks' connections with the Ministry, we should be able to get a hold of some."
Tonks looked up. "I take it you want me to go tonight?"
"The sooner the better, she could wake up at any time. And with the kids due back at Hogwarts the day after tomorrow, she needs it now. It might even wake her up from this trance if we give it to her now. And we all know how much she wanted to be Head Girl. She was looking forward to her last year at school. We need her back now." Lupin said.
Tonks stood up. "The sooner, the better then."
She disappeared up the stairs.
"You guys are going to have to keep a close watch on her once you get back to Hogwarts, you know," Lupin said after a few minutes of silence.
Harry, Ron, and Ginny nodded in agreement.
"Until she finds that one person, she's going to try everything in her power to hurt herself. You must make sure she gets no extra opportunities at school. It could prove disastrous."
"Like all this hell hasn't already been," Ron mumbled.
Harry and Ginny nodded. What they wouldn't give to have Hermione back and normal again. They missed her terribly. They just wanted things to go back to the way they were before Voldemort came out into the open again.
"I should go up now. It's my night to watch over her," Ginny said miserably, pushing herself up from the table.
The misery and pain Hermione was feeling was slowly spreading through the house, infecting them all. And until Atrox Preteritus was lifted, life as they knew it was going to prove difficult. For everyone.