When the bell rang for classes, Hermione still hadn't emerged from her bed and while the floor was dry, there was a smell of damp in the seventh year girls' dormitory. It was through pure luck that Parvati had forgotten her Divination textbooks and had returned to the room with Lavender in tow.

There were already at the doorway to rush to class when Parvati stopped. "Did you see Hermione at breakfast today? It looks like her curtains are still drawn."

"No, but have you met her? She's never missed a class in her life."

"She's also always made her bed before leaving." Parvati reasoned. "And I could have sworn that I heard her wandering around in the middle of the night."

"It smells like something died in here."

Lavender stormed over to Hermione's bed. "Oi! Hermione! Are you in there?"

There was no reply, and Parvati came to stand beside her friend. "Hermione?"

The two looked at each other before cautiously drawing the curtains open. There lay Hermione, the smell of damp stronger now. Parvati shook her shoulder. "Hermione?"

"Hermione!" Lavender called louder. "You need to wake up!"

Hermione stayed still.

"Is she breathing?" Parvati asked. She was fidgeting anxiously with her robes. "Should we get someone?"

"She's probably just slept in." Claimed Lavender, but she didn't seem convinced. She untucked the duvet from her roommate with some difficulty, pulling it from beneath her heavy form. "She's ice cold."

Parvati choked on a sob. "She is breathing though - look! I can see her chest moving!"

"We need to get Professor McGonagall."

They ran to the transfiguration classroom, and within moments of interrupting the first class of the day, had Minerva McGonagall running ahead of them in her Animagus form. Parvati and Lavender were out of breath when they joined her, finding their head of house already bent over Hermione and casting a series of charms over her. She tutted, and brought forth her Patronus to warn Poppy.

"Professor?" asked Parvati. "Is she going to be okay?"

The stern teacher looked at the two as if she hadn't realised they were there, and her face softened. "I'm going to take her to the hospital wing. You may be excused from your morning lessons if you wish, but I suggest you go and see Madam Pomfrey at lunchtime, so she can check up on you before the afternoon sessions. If you need someone to speak to, I shall be in my office during second period, once Miss Granger is settled in the hospital wing."

The two girls nodded, and slowly left the tower, determinedly not looking behind them to see McGonagall levitating Hermione to the hospital wing.

The dark haired woman had tears glistening in her eyes as she met Poppy Pomfrey already waiting at the door to the hospital wing.

"What happened Minerva?"

"I'm-I'm not sure…" the usually confident scottish woman frowned and placed a hand on top of Hermione's as she lowered her onto the bed. Poppy immediately began her evaluation, and Minerva hurried to tell her what she's gathered from her own diagnostics.

"She's unconscious, and likely has been for some time. She has respiratory depression and thus some deoxygenation, particularly in her extremities."

Poppy nodded and felt the girl's hands, and then her feet. "Has she taken any medication? Anything that I haven't prescribed for her?"

Minerva frowned. "I don't think so. Has she been prescribed anything this term?"

"Not from me," Madam Pomfrey replied crisply. "However she may have her own medications from her time away from the school. Anything she has, I need to know about. I advise you to check her dormitory."

When she turned her full attention back to the girl in the bed, Minerva knew she was dismissed, and left the room in a hurry, passing Professors Dumbledore and Snape on her way. The two men were moving powerfully towards their student, no signs of trepidation or concern. They waited for the mediwitch to finish her diagnostics, and to set her monitoring alarms above the bed before they interrupted.

Dumbledore spoke quietly while Severus glowered. "Any idea what has caused this, Poppy?"

"I have some idea, Albus, but you're not going to like it. She has respiratory depression and is almost comatose. The only causes I've seen similar to this are due to illicit substances."

"I assure you," Dumbledore offered. "No one in Hogwarts would have access to that level of recreational drugs, and Miss Granger is the least likely student to partake."

"She's been away from school for quite some time, Headmaster, and there's no understanding the events that would have taken place while she was away. Instead of taking this slip as an affront to the school, you could either help Minerva to find a medical culprit, or provide your own deductions. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Poppy bustled into her office, opening and closing drawers in rapid sequence while Snape and Dumbledore looked at each other, and then at the girl.

"I suppose we should work on brewing an antidote of sorts."

"Don't you dare, Severus Snape!" Poppy snapped, placing a couple of worn files on the table next to them. "She is currently in a critical but stable condition. You can't go around guessing willy nilly."

"Well, we do need to do something, Poppy." Albus reasoned, although trailing off at the sight of her face.

"Both of you, bloody useless at healing! We need to see what Minerva finds in the girl's dormitory, and we need to check her files for any allergies or previous conditions. Do you want to make her worse, gentlemen?"

Both of them looked gobsmacked, and were only saved by the return of one feline McGonagall, vial held in mouth. She placed in beside the files on the table and rose into her human form.

"I found several of these, all empty, on her nightstand. Most of them had been placed into a box for reusing, however there were three on the table with the stoppers pulled out."

Poppy nodded. "Thank you, Minerva. Severus?"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey?"

"I will need you to brew me antidotes for dreamless sleep potion. The ones Miss Granger took must have been very potent, and I'd rather use a fresh antidote than the ones I have bottled."

The man inclined his head, and turned to leave. "It will take around two hours."

"Thank you, Severus."

"Wait a moment!" Minerva's voice was shrill. "Aren't we going to discuss how such a thing has happened right under our noses? This is the sort of thing that we should be able to prevent!"

Dumbledore sighed grimly. "I think we'd best hold this conversation in your office, Poppy."

"You'll have to wait a moment, Albus. Since it is the combination of the Valerian and Lavender that causes such a deadly sedation, we won't be able to wake her until the antidote is administered. For now, I shall begin her detox process."

"Detox?" Snape asked.

"Yes, detox," the mediwitch tutted. "From the looks of things, she's been taking this potion regularly - frequent sedation or overdose can cause-"

"Renal impairment." Severus finished for her. "Will removing toxins now help to heal later?"

"Yes, lad. But only a little, and her kidneys will recover wonderfully regardless. She's young and healthy. I'm more concerned about the withdrawal."

Dumbledore nodded, and spoke up as Poppy put her wand away and stood to her full height.

"On to your office, my dear?"

Three hours later, Hermione began to stir under the watchful eyes of both Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape. They gave her the potion only a small amount at a time, transferring it directly into her stomach. When Severus questioned this, Poppy was quick to inform him that 'to take orally' simply meant that it should be introduced to the body via the digestive tract. As the goal was for it to enter the stomach anyway, the method did not particularly matter. As it wasn't being sipped, and mixed with the patient's saliva, they had to go slow, making certain not to dump the whole contents of the large vial into her in one go.

For the next fifteen minutes, the two experts watched as Hermione's breathing improved, and a little colour came back to her. When she started to shift, groaning as she moved, Professor Snape took his leave, placing a neat scroll onto her table beside her water jug.

"Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey called. "That's it, dear. Let's try to wake you up a bit."

"Where… am… I?" Hermione croaked out. "What happened?"

"We'll discuss that later. Now, I'm going to raise the head of your bed slightly, so you can sit up. Is that alright?"

Hermione nodded, and felt her head and chest lift upwards until she was reclined at a 45 degree angle. She blinked rapidly, her vision foggy under the bright lights. Poppy hovered over her, tapping her wand on various charts above her bed. They contained glowing numbers that Hermione didn't have the energy to examine thoroughly. She was starting to close her eyes again when the healer finished.

"Right, dear, how are you feeling?"

"Tired," she replied. "All of my muscles are sore, and my throat feels like I've swallowed sandpaper."

"Well then, you're lucky," the older woman clucked. "Anything else?"

"Uh, my head hurts. And I'm feeling sweaty."

Poppy nodded. "You'll need to stay for observation tonight at the very least. Possibly longer, depending on how long it takes for your symptoms to pass."

"Why? Madam Pomfrey, I don't think I'm sick. I just took some Dreamless Sleep to get some rest last night, I should be fine to go back to my dormitory today."

"Absolutely not! Exactly how much Dreamless Sleep did you take last night, Miss Granger?"

Hermione paused. Shit. "I think, I think I may have taken a little extra by accident."

"By accident? And how exactly to you take three doses of a potent potion by accident?"

Poppy drew up a chair at Hermione's bedside and pulled the curtains across should anyone enter the infirmary.

"I guess I woke up, and didn't realise I'd already taken it," she lied quietly, looking at the wall instead of at her interrogator.

"Albus has explained everything, Miss Granger." Poppy's eyes turned to steel, and Hermione gulped down the sob that was threatening to break free. "And trust me when I say, we are going to help you here. But, you have to make sure that you do want to be helped. I will not condone numerous incidents like this."

Hermione nodded dumbly, a couple of stray tears leaking down her cheeks as Madam Pomfrey left her cubicle.

What, exactly, had the woman been told by Albus Dumbledore? The headmaster had agreed that only a select few people would know about what happened, and no one would know the specifics. She had no way of finding out what it was that the matron knew. Who else had he told? Were people talking about her behind her back?

Paranoia made her jump when the curtains were pulled aparts abruptly to show the smiling faces of Ginny and Neville.

"Hermione! You're awake!" Neville sang happily. "We were really worried about you!"

Ginevra mock-scowled. "And I had to finish my charms homework without your help, so thanks for that!"

Hermione let out a throaty chuckle. "That'll teach you for saving it until literally the last minute."

"Don't worry," Ginny grinned. "Flitwick is a sweetie. As long as you don't come bottom, you're fine. I'm certain that I've got that in the bag - I'm in the same class as Moira."

Hermione thumbed through her mental rolodex. "Hufflepuff girl? Good at Defence?"

"That's the one! Terrible at charms though."

Neville shook his head sadly. "Proves my Grandmother was wrong at any rate. If Moira can't do it, then it isn't a soft subject."

Hermione and Ginny exchanged a look that promised to discuss this later.

"So, wanna tell us what happened, Mione? You don't seem to have a cat tail this time…"

Neville looked embarrassed, but Hermione laughed. "Nope, no cat tail. Just a good old overdose!"

"Drugs!" Neville yelped.

"Just dreamless sleep, Neville. But a little too much, so I ended up in here."

Even though she had kept her tone light, she watched both of their faces for signs of suspicion or disapproval. When she saw neither, she relaxed a little more, and set her eyes on Neville. "So, what did I miss in Herbology?"

The next half hour passed quickly with Neville not only sharing his notes, but explaining them so that she'd be able to annotate her copy in a manner that she'd understand more than his own. It was warming, to see how two beautiful friends had replaced the two that she'd lost. They were just moving on to discussing Ginny's charms class when Madam Pomfrey popped her head back in to shoo the visitors out. They both promised to visit again if she wasn't released the next day, and then left Hermione feeling brighter than she had in some time.

It was as if the very air around her had been cleansed by this very odd experience.

When she reached for a glass of water, she spotted a scroll propped up against the jug and opened it to find possibly the best comment she'd ever received from one Severus Snape.

Your reasoning is sound, however you are still stuck in the 19th Century. What a shame - and here I thought you were wanting the world to progress? If you were to spend less time on house elves and potter, and more time to look in newer journals and less established works, you may find a lot more that warrants additional thought. These books you have referenced have been peer reviewed to death, and deserved to be locked in a basement somewhere.

That said, your inferences about the potion are correct. At this point of observation, it seems your classmates' potions will not even be edible. - S.S.

It really had been the most bizarre and wonderful afternoon.