Disclaimer: It all belongs to JK Rowling.
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Chapter 5
Malfoy was long gone by the time she awoke the next morning. She did not even hear him leave. Like the day before, his bed and side of the room was once again made up to its pristine state. Rubbing her eyes blearily, she caught side of a bottle and a note on her side table. Picking the note up, she saw the message:
Drink up, Granger.
There's a good girl.
She narrowed her eyes at the bottle of Pain-free potion irately before taking it and tipping the whole of it into her mouth. To her surprise, it actually tasted…pleasant. Like chocolate syrup mixed with mint. She wondered who made the potions now that Snape was gone.
Sliding down her bed, she walked out of the dungeons, wandering around the castle with no aim in mind. That soon proved to be a mistake, however, as every single part of the castle somehow reminded her of Harry and Ron.
Those were the classrooms where Harry had Malfoy had gotten into another one of their duels, causing a spell to hit her and making her two front teeth grow tremendously.
Those were the halls they had sauntered through, the three of them chuckling and laughing at the day's events.
That was the girl's toilet where Harry and Ron had saved her from the troll.
That was the corner where she and Ron had stolen behind for a quick snog before classes began.
The Room of Requirement where they held their DA meetings.
The entrance to the kitchens she had forced out of Fred and George, where she had dragged Harry along to intimidate the House Elves with her knitted caps.
The library where they had carried out endless research sessions.
The classroom where she and Harry had practiced his 'Accio' charm for the Triwizard's Tournament.
She suddenly realized that she had ended up at the entrance of the infirmary, another spot of broken bones and oddly fond memories. Biting her lip, she came to a decision and walked tentatively in.
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The infirmary was silent and still, the only sounds being the intermittent snoring of the occupants and the rustling of the blankets. She soon saw to her dismay that Malfoy had been right. The occupants of the infirmary were in a bad way, each and every one of them. She winced as the saw the angry burns on Tonk's features, and widened her eyes in shock as she saw that Dean Thomas's entire leg had indeed been sawed off, blood still soaking his bandages for some reason. Her footsteps made clipped noises on the linoleum floor, and as she reached the end of the long room she heard a weird sort of muttering. Walking closer nervously, afraid of what she'd find, she soon caught sight of Ginny, squirming against invisible bindings holding her to the bed. She gasped at the state Ginny was in. Her face and arms were clawed with scratch marks and bruises, her skin was pale, dotted with droplets of sweat and her lips were a strange purple colour. Like the colour of a bruise, thought Hermione. But worse of all were her eyes. She realized with a jolt that they were almost identical to those of Harry when…when he was dead. There was nothing of Ginny in them. She could now hear her mutterings more clearly.
"Enemies of the Heir beware! Ha ha, ha ha ha. Mudbloods will be next to go. Mudbloods…mudbloods are filthy scum…ha ha ha…Harry…sweet stupid Harry…we must kill all mudbloods, let me kill them! Let me kill them! Let me skewer them like a sausage, yes, yes. Lovely, dirty, red blood, spurting out, spraying all over, yes, how lovely…ha ha...let me go to my dark lord…I need my dark lord!
The last few sentences were said with such yearning that Hermione was disgusted and horrified. Swallowing her bile, she called out, "Ginny? It's Hermione. You remember? We're best friends."
Ginny's head shot towards her with such speed that Hermione was startled. She was reminded of a snake, one that was ready and willing to strike.
"Mudblood!" shrieked Ginny. "Dirty, filthy mudblood! You deserve to die! You soil our ground!"
"No…" Hermione sputtered. "No…no…don't you remember me Ginny? No. Muggleborns are not filthy. You never thought that before. Remember Ginny? Remember?"
Ginny let out an eerie cackle. "Oh yes I remember you, you stupid mudblood. You believed all the while that I was your friend. You and Harry and Ron. Like I could ever be friends with someone as foul as you!"
She looked left and right furtively before snapping her head back at her and hissing, "Yes. I betrayed you all! I pretended to be friends with you while inside my hands itched to squeeze your neck, mudblood, to see you pop like a cherry seed popping out of its flesh! Oh and Harry, he was such a sweet boy, wasn't he? He believed me! He believed his sweet, kind, Ginny." she said this in a lilting singsong. "I wished I'd seen the look on his face when he saw I had betrayed him. When I performed the greatest deed I could for my master!" she laughed gleefully. "Stupid mudblood bitch. I wish I were free of these bindings! Then I would kill you right now! Right where you stand!"
Ginny squirmed against her bonds with a new ferocity, causing Hermione to back away warily.
"You cannot escape forever!" Ginny shouted, straining at the bonds, "He will come for you. My master will come. He will come for you all! Ha ha ha! Yes he will! The school will be littered with dead bodies! Like Harry and Ron, yes! Ha ha!"
Hermione ran out of the infirmary, the sound of Ginny's spine chilling cackling echoing in the room after her.
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After what seemed like an age, Hermione finally caught sight of the doors to the Great Hall and walked in unsteadily. Though she had been warned by Malfoy, the reality of what had happened to Ginny had still shaken her. She truly was gone. Hermione thought desolately. She might as well now be added to the death toll. Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, she reached out for a roll, and gave a slight smile when she saw Neville come to join her. Her smile soon gave way to a worried look however, when she saw his troubled and upset expression.
"Hermione…something's happened…they've attacked St. Mungo's!"
"What?" cried Hermione, "Who?"
"The Death Eaters. They've…" his expression turned bleak, and he whispered fearfully, "I don't know what's happened to my mum and dad."
"Oh no Neville…" Her heart went out to him.
"It was just this morning and, well, Moody led the charge of Aurors defending St. Mungo's. The Death Eaters have been repelled, but no one knows how many were hurt…or worse." He swallowed nervously. "They say that even Moody was quite badly injured."
He looked to her imploringly. "What should we do, Hermione?"
She tensed at his words. She gradually become conscious of the fact that several pairs of eyes at the table were looking to her as well, all seeming to want her to make some kind of decision; looking to her as though she were the leader, the one to save them all.
"N…Neville…" she stuttered, "What do you mean, what should we do? I can't…"
"But you're the only one left Hermione!" Neville burst out. The other pairs of eyes shot worried glances at her. What…but she couldn't…she could not…not…she could not beat him, she thought wildly. She would lead them all to their deaths! Like Harry and Ron…lifeless eyes and dead bodies. Every single one of them, blank unseeing eyes…no…NO, she would not lead them to their deaths. She stood up abruptly, chair scraping the floor. "I'm…I'm sorry but I can't…"
For the second time that day Hermione ran as if fleeing for her very life.
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People soon stopped asking Hermione Granger for advice. She had none to give them. They stopped looking to her for a leader, and the blank stare she gave them all but frightened them away. Hermione was just so…tired. It was so much easier to forget it all, to withdraw into the shell of her body. She could not help them, she tried to reason to herself logically, and so she should just stay out of their way.
And so Hermione Granger went about her own business, as if there was no one else in her world, while a looming darkness approached Hogwarts, and Draco Malfoy searched for the girl who was not there.
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