Snape looked at the two dunderheads whose faces radiated with hope.

He thought about the glimpse of the violent emotions Ronald Weasley had all but assaulted him with.

He smirked inwardly. Granger and Potter were in for a surprise.


Hermione felt… light. Not light-headed but light, like she had shed her flesh body to become pure mist. For a second, she had trouble remembering what she had been doing, then she snapped back to reality. She had cast Legilimens on Ron's prone body, along with Harry, which meant…

She opened her eyes.

To her surprise, she wasn't trapped by thorns and vines this time. She was simply sitting on one of the dead branches that composed Ron's mindscape.

The young woman had researched Occlumency as soon as Harry had begun taking lessons with Snape. She was no practical expert – she didn't have anyone to test the efficiency of her own mental shields – but she knew a bit of terminology.

The mindscape was, basically, the way a mind was shaped. Its owner could visualise it and modify it at will, and the most skilled of Occlumens could make theirs resemble something akin to a black hole: an inky abyss that never let anything out… or in.

However, when a person was unconscious – or in a coma, she thought in despair – their mindscape escaped their control and shaped itself according to their personal history. Traumas, childhood fears, accidents, nightmares... Hermione looked over the forest of humongous brambles. For some reason she had expected spiders to emerge, but perhaps Ron's… outer layer of protection had formed itself even before his phobia had appeared.

Most of her knowledge was theoretical. She didn't even know if those spiky briars were supposed to act as protection. Actually, if there was anything that protected Ron's mind in this forest, it was the raging fire that could erupt at any moment…

She paused in her reflexions. Where was the fire, anyway?

And where was Harry?

This thought snapped her right back to her senses.

Harry! She had to find him! She had entered Ron's mindscape right alongside him, after all!

"Harry? HARRY!" she began screaming.

What if they had been separated? What if he hadn't performed the spell correctly? What if he had been taken to another protective layer? What if he had been found by the guarding fire? What if they were at opposite corners of Ron's mind?

Her brain slowed down a second. Were there even corners in a mind?

Luckily, Hermione was saved from digging herself deeper in panic by the sound of her brother-figure answering her call.

"Down there, Hermione! You can jump, it's fine!"

Jump?! No, thank you. She was very comfortable on that big branch. Its thorns were rather nice-looking now that she looked closely. Very… sharp and… pointy. Fascinating. They didn't resemble any plants that she knew of. She wondered if they were just a product of Ron's own imagination or if he was knowledgeable enough in Herbology for his mind to summon an actual vegetal species to enact as its defence.

"Hermione, just jump, damn it!" Harry's voice snapped, becoming angrier.

Harry could take any tone of voice, she wouldn't jump! She would stay there! Maybe she'd find a way to climb down but she refused to jump!

"I told you you could jump!" a very exasperated Harry said. After a moment of silence, he added "I'll just leave you up there and find Ron myself, then!"

Something stirred within Hermione. Ron… Yes… It was for Ron, wasn't it?

Could she really jump?

She peeked down. Tangled branches with sharp thorns seemed to be pointing accusingly at her, as if they were waiting for her fall, to pierce her skin and rip her apart. She could spot Harry's pale silhouette down there… very far down there…

If she closed her eyes… maybe…? No, no she couldn't, not with her eyes closed, not with her eyes open, no no no no –

Suddenly she felt herself slip.

She opened terrified wide brown eyes and a piercing scream resounded in the forest of dead briar as Hermione tumbled forward.

But instead of pummelling down like a normal human being – which meant with all the elegance and lightness of a stone brick – she found her fall to be gentle and smooth, the menacing thorns seemed like they were moving away from her, and when she finally reached the ground, she could swear she had seen glimmering embers swirl around her as she landed.

Harry was looking at her impatiently, his mouth in a thin line, his eyes narrowed. She knew she was at fault for keeping them stuck there for a few precious minutes, with her reticence to get down. But really, how could she have known there was some sort of magic spell to slow her fall?

Harry turned away from her and began walking, and she was tempted to chide him for being immature until she saw just where he was heading.

The ground of the bramble forest was dark and almost invisible but for a silvery, sinewy thread that seemed to pulsate beneath her feet. At the very end of this vein of light was a big wooden door, that very much resembled the Burrow's main entrance.

This had to be the way to Ron's consciousness!

Hermione gasped in joy and ran to Harry's side. Her companion gave her a slightly smug smirk and she rolled her eyes. Fine, fine… But she was afraid of heights after all! She was pretty sure her own unconscious mindscape's protection would involve cliffs or an out-of-control broomstick.

Now that she thought about it, this little adventure seemed like an excellent opportunity for her to learn more about Occlumency, and Legilimency as well. She could write an extra-credit paper about this! Or even a book! And of course, give Ron the credit he deserved for her discoveries! She'd need to apologize to him. Let bygones be bygones… Well, not entirely. He was dating Lavender after all. But she wouldn't isolate him anymore. Once he'd wake up she'd go back to being his friend, even if that was all she'd ever be.

She didn't have time to be depressed by the thought, though, because Harry opened the door.

The two friends found themselves in a room that reminded them a lot of the Great Hall, down to the enchanted ceiling that showed clear blue skies. Harry spied the three hoops of a Quidditch pitch sprouting from the stone walls and found himself smiling. A bright orange carpet with various golden patterns covered the entire floor, on which were scattered a grand variety of articles: a chessboard on which a few pieces paced lazily; some closed books; two dragon figurines batting their wings at each other; a pile of Mrs Weasley's sweaters (none of them maroon, Harry noted); a Quaffle and a broom and other Quidditch articles stuck in a corner; various decks of cards (he recognized a few Chocolate Frogs ones)…

And, at the end of the room, three big inviting sofas, one of which was turned towards a giant fireplace in which purred a comfortable fire. And of course, laying in said sofa…

"Ron!" Hermione cried out in relief.

What a relieving sight, to see their best mate sprawled lazily across the cushions, one long leg tucked underneath the other, his head propped up on the back of his hand as his elbow sank into the couch! How good it was to see him turn his head, seeing his long thin nose, his cheeks dotted with so many familiar freckles, his beaming smile, his sparkling blue eyes, stray ginger locks falling over them, giving him this raggedy look that was so purely Ron. He looked so well and warm, so safe and cosy in this room within his mind, that Harry almost yawned at the sight.

"Hey! I was wondering when you'd show up."

Harry let himself fall in one of the seats, sighing with joy, and Ron welcomed him with a grin. Hermione was shuffling around, biting her lips, obviously uncomfortable, knowing the last time Ron had attempted to speak to her, she had treated him with cold cruelty, worse than she would have treated Malfoy. Ron tilted his head to the side, gave a nod towards the last unoccupied sofa, and finally Hermione allowed herself to relax. It all seemed forgiven.

"So you've been waiting for us?" Harry asked. Apparently, Ron did want to get out of this magical coma business as much as his friends wanted him to.

"Yup. Figured you'd find me pretty easily. You always do." He yawned and stretched, before burrowing deeper within his cushions. Hermione was irresistibly reminded of Crookshanks, and she wondered whether Ron would purr if she were to scratch his hair… As tempting as it was, she had to focus on the mission first.

"What do you mean, we always do?" she asked, the statement having caught her attention.

"Well, I'm always thinking about you two", Ron answered with a lazy smile. "Of course you're bound to show up all the time."

She frowned. The way he was speaking seemed… weird, for some reason. Harry had begun to chat away with his best friend, as if everything was normal and they were in the Gryffindor common room instead of the redhead's mindscape.

"Ron, do you know what is happening to you right now?"

Harry was a bit taken aback by her question. As for Ron, he just shot her a curious glance.

"I'm asleep and dreaming."

"Not exactly", she said primly. "You are currently in a state called a magical coma –"

Harry groaned and rolled his eyes. Well, yes, she could have been more delicate, but time was of the essence, after all. However, Ron cut her before she could launch herself in more explanations.

"Yeah, I know, Hermione. I'm just asleep."

"A coma isn't simply sleeping!" she interjected as she felt her hair bristle as it always did when she got angry. "This is very serious, Ron, we need to bring you back to consciousness –"

"I am conscious! I know I'm sleeping. And I also know that this", he said, gesturing the great, ceiling-lacking room, "is a dream."

Harry was apparently starting to catch on because his crossed arms unfolded and he rested his elbows on his knees, something he had a tendency to do when he was pondering his words. "Ron, you think we're part of your dream?"

"Well of course", the redhead answered, throwing his palms slightly upwards. "I've been snoozing for I can't remember how long. I even had a dream about my uncles…"

Hermione tried to interrupt him with a "Ron!" but he didn't even seem to realize she was talking.

"… then again, it's been a while, I've had plenty of other dreams in the meantime, so maybe I was just thinking about Fred and George… Hey, maybe it's a Divination thingy and it means Fred'll grow a beard!" he laughed, as Harry and Hermione started to worry a little.

"Ron, you got to wake up, okay, I don't know how we're going to do this, but we're getting you out of here!" Harry urged, getting up from his seat.

"Harry, Harry, calm down! I told you. It's all a dream, and nothing's wrong! Nothing."

"Ron, this is not quite a dream", Hermione pleaded. "We are here to help you, and if you tell us what troubles you, we –"

"Nothing's wrong. There's nothing." Something in Ron's blue eyes shifted strangely. "It's nothing. It's me. Nothing."

"RON, LISTEN!" Hermione screeched, finally snapping. Her brown hair had doubled in volume, which gave the impression she was walking around wearing a deranged house cat on her head. The redhead smiled, almost adoringly, and looked at the girl with such tenderness that for a moment, she felt her anger cool down. However, she was not going to back down now. She had just found her friend again, maybe she could soften up a bit… But just a bit.

"Ronald, whether you like it or not, we're going to get you out of here, so you better follow without protesting", she said in the most McGonagall-esque voice she could muster. "You can't stay in here, away from reality, when there's so much trouble in the real world."

Ron cocked his head to the side, observing his friend curiously. His smile looked so sad all of a sudden… He buried his face in his hands. "It's not that easy, Hermione."

"What do you mean?!" she said angrily, losing patience and stomping her foot. Harry had crossed his arms again, starting to get a little miffed himself. Just what was Ron implying? They were coming here to rescue him! It was simple, really, he just needed to follow them!

"Listen, it's pretty bad in there", the redhead started with a weary sigh. "You can't just barge in and ask me to come back, y'see? Waking up isn't my priority right now."

Even though Dumbledore had already told him, Harry found himself gobsmacked. Hermione looked positively horrified. What the hell was Ron saying?

"It's just something I got to deal with. On my own. You'd better go before it all gets… bad." He spoke softly, pleadingly.

"That's it", Harry said with all his authority as prophesized Chosen One. "You're officially out of your mind and we're dragging you out, right now." Ron laughed at the unfortunate pun.

"Harry, really, I've got it. You should leave now, or…"

The rest of Ron's words were lost as the room started to tremble, which made Hermione shriek in surprise. The carpet suddenly was split apart by little cracks that lengthened very quickly.

"What is going on?!" the brightest witch of her age screamed, as the sofa on which she was previously sitting fell into the newly forming abyss. Harry had sat up immediately, looking all around him for an escape… And he noticed that the ceiling, scratch that, the sky was breaking like a TV screen, as the Quidditch hoops collapsed and the various items in the room followed Hermione's seat…

"I warned you, but you wouldn't listen", their best friend droned sadly as the cracks in the ground widened at an alarming speed. "Hope you don't have anything too urgent because it might take a while down here."

"Ron, what the hell?" bellowed Harry as the walls started to crumble while the redhead just stayed on his couch as if the world ending was a daily occurrence. It might be his mind and maybe he often dreamed of earthquakes, but his nonchalance was kind of scary at the moment.

"You're the ones who won't let me stay in my coma", Ron pointed out calmly while entire chunks of the room suddenly evaporated into thin air. "I really didn't want you to see… Well, I suppose I did, otherwise this wouldn't be happening… Blagh. Conscious and subconscious desires, what a pain, am I right?"

"What are you talking about?" Hermione shrieked as she tried to jump away from a collapsing bit of floor.

"You'll see", Ron said, as a sudden melancholy seemed to wash over him – none of his friends had ever witnessed him look like this before. He quickly regained his grin, however. "Oh, and don't worry, you can't die, it's all in my head anyway!"

And it was at this moment, with the two companions running for shelter as their friend observed curiously from his sofa, that the entire room simply vanished, taking everything it contained away… including Ron, leaving a very confused Harry and a distraught Hermione to stand in a place none of them were familiar with.