Disclaimer: I only own the order these words are in – everything else belongs to JKR :)
September 1, 1977
3rd Person POV:
The Marauders stared at the injured girl as the Headmaster levitated her to the Hospital Wing with Professor McGonagall following him. After a minute of silence, the students went back to eating, but this time, they were talking about the mysterious young woman. James and Sirius made their way back to their seats, but after taking one look at Sirius' and Peter's faces, all four Marauder's decided to head back to the common room.
As soon as the boys got there, they all collapsed onto the couch. James was the first to speak, "What the bloody hell was that?"
"I don't know, mate." Sirius shrugged, "hopefully, she'll be alright."
Peter spoke up, "We should go see her tomorrow." The woman looked like she had been tortured – did the Dark Lord have anything to do with her?
"Genius, Pete!" James grinned, "We'll go during lunch!" The other boys nodded in agreement and they all made their way upstairs to get ready for bed, all four minds on the mysterious girl.
Hogwarts ~ The Hospital Wing
3rd Person POV:
In the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey was casting a diagnosis charm on her latest patient as the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall looked on worriedly. Poppy stared at the results for a moment before Minerva spoke up, "Will she live?"
The Matron looked up, "Most likely. The knife that she was stabbed with was serrated and dipped in poison, but I managed to extract all the poison from her body and heal the wound."
"What were her other injuries?" Questioned the concerned Headmaster.
"Multiple fractured and broken ribs, mild concussion, mildly punctured lung, poorly healed slicing hex, bruises and cuts everywhere, and..." Poppy trailed off for a moment, "the poor girl is suffering from intense aftereffects of a prolonged Cruciatus."
"Is there anything else?" Asked Minerva anxiously, hoping to God there wasn't.
Poppy took a deep breath before gently picking up the girl's lower left arm and vanishing the bandages that were there. The other two adults gasped in shock when they saw the word 'MUDBLOOD' carved into her skin, "I tried to heal it, but the cuts just got deeper," murmured Poppy, "I think it was dark magic. She'll have to wear the bandages until it heals by itself...If it does."
"Merlin," whispered Minerva in shock, "Who could do that to someone? Especially someone so young..." She trailed off in horror.
"I don't know, Minerva," answered Albus gravely, "Poppy, do you know how old she is?"
Without looking up, Madame Pomfrey replied, "I don't know for sure, but I'd say anywhere from 17 to 21."
Albus nodded, "How long will she have to stay here for?"
"Somewhere between a week or two, I'd say, as long as she rests and takes all the medicine she needs on time."
"Alright," Albus said, "if she is alright for now, we ought to go to bed. After all, classes start tomorrow. Oh, and Poppy?"
Poppy glanced up, "Yes?"
"Please inform me as soon as she wakes up."
"Of course, Albus."
The three adults bid one another good night and made their way to their beds, each worrying and wondering about the wounded young woman.
September 2, 1977
Hogwarts ~ Gryffindor 7th Year Boys' Dorm
3rd Person POV:
"Levicorpus!" Cried James, pointing his wand at Sirius, who was refusing to get up. Sirius hung from the ceiling, still half asleep, before James let him down roughly.
"Aaaah!" Screamed Sirius, still not quite used to James' routine for waking him up, even though it had been used for almost four years.
"C'mon, Sirius! Hurry up! We're already late for breakfast, and if we miss breakfast, we'll half to eat lunch, and if we have to eat lunch, we can't go see that girl in the Hospital Wing, and if we can't visit the girl, then we won't know who she is!" Peter finished in one breath.
Remus laughed as he came out of the bathroom just in time to hear the end of Peter's tirade, "They won't miss breakfast, don't worry."
At Peter's skeptical look, Sirius grinned and jumped out of his bed, "Remus's right, Pete!" Peter pointedly looked at his watch as Sirius flung open the bathroom door dramatically, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"
The trio laughed as Sirius waltzed into the bathroom to get ready for the day.
After 20 minutes of pampering (which was very quick for Sirius), Sirius strode out and struck a pose, "Voila!" Remus rolled his eyes at his friend's antics, and James chuckled as they ("Finally," as Peter put it) made their way to breakfast.
As soon as they got their schedules and finished their hurried breakfast, they headed to their first classes of the day.
Hogwarts ~ The Hospital Wing
3rd Person POV:
As soon as they got out of Transfiguration, the four boys hurried to the Hospital Wing. After Remus checked that Madame Pomfrey was in her office, the Marauders crept in. They tip-toed towards the only occupied bed in the room. The bed was in the far corner of the quiet, pristine wing. The girl was lying in what the Marauders called "Moony's bed," and, for a long moment, the four boys just stood by her bed and stared at her. There were bruises and cuts all over her face and her arm was heavily bandaged. Everything else was covered up by the thin hospital blanket.
"Merlin..." Breathed Remus, unsure of what to say.
"It looks even worse up close," said Sirius, and James gave him a look that said, 'You insensitive git.'
Peter sat down next to her and looked at the young woman closely, "Guys, look at that cut on her neck."
James peered at what Peter was pointing to and his eyes widened, "It looks like a knife was held there."
"What the fuck?!" Exploded Sirius, "Look at her! She's our age!" The thought of someone going through what the girl had gone through horrified Sirius.
Remus gave him a warning look, but the damage was already done.
The girl began screaming and thrashing about in her sleep. The four boys slowly backed away in horror as Madame Pomfrey hurried out of her office to tend to her patient. When she saw the Marauders, she clucked her tongue in annoyance, but immediately turned to the girl on the bed.
She cast some spells on her and turned to James, "Mr. Potter, go get the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall." James nodded and quickly scurried out of the wing to go find the Professors.
The other three boys remained, staring in shock as the girl began to calm down. At their questioning gazes, the matron said, "She's waking up and most likely had a nightmare."
Remus nodded and opened his mouth to apologize for waking the girl up, but Madame Pomfrey simply sighed, "The Headmaster will deal with you boys."
"Yes, ma'am," Peter said quietly.
As the three other boys were waiting, they watched while Madame Pomfrey attended to the girl. A minute later the girl's eyes opened, and she shot up, gasping for breath. She looked around frantically as the boys watched her with piqued interest, and Madame Pomfrey trying to get her to lay back down. As soon as she spotted Remus, who was sitting in the chair next to her bed, she gasped in horror.
"Miss," the matron pleaded, "please lay back down so I can tend to your injuries."
The girl, who had just realized that Madame Pomfrey was also there, opened her mouth in shock, "Wh-what's going on? Is this some sick prank? Because I'll tell you right now, it's not funny!" At that very moment, the doors burst open to reveal the Headmaster and a very out of breath James. When the girl saw James, she immediately relaxed and cried out, "Harry! What's going on?"
"I-I'm not Harry," confusion written all over James' face, "I'm James."
"I-I..." She stammered, "That's impossible!"
"I'm afraid not, dear," replied Dumbledore, seating himself on the bed adjacent to hers.
However, instead of calming down like they expected her to, she merely shrieked in what could only have been described as complete confusion and shock, "You're dead! How - When - What's going on?!"
"Miss, I need you to tell me your name," Dumbledore quietly said.
"What? You know my name!"
"I'm afraid not," Madame Pomfrey gently interrupted, "none of us know your name."
"Hermione Granger! Who else would I be?! Who else could I be?! Have you all gone daft?"
The three boys and the matron gasped, shocked that anyone would talk to Albus Dumbledore in such a manner. The Headmaster's twinkling eyes widened slightly in surprise at the way she had spoken to him, and he quietly replied, "No, Miss, I do not think I have gone daft, unless you are aware of something that I am not. And I do not know who else you could be because I have never seen nor heard of a Miss Hermione Granger before. No offence meant, of course."
"I-I," what could only have been realization dawned on the young woman's tired face and she whispered, "I am very sorry sir, but could I-could I perhaps speak to you alone?"
The Headmaster's eyes twinkled, and he smiled, nodding at the other occupants of the wing to leave, "Of course, dear."
A/N: How was it? Review please :)