Harry was high above the pitches, looking for the snitch, when his broom gave a jerk, and he slipped slightly. His broom flew forwards, picking up speed and made sharp turns round and round. And to Hermione's horror, she could see that Harry had no control of the broom. She searched the players, all of whom were staring and pointing at Harry, when she saw her. Hermione gulped and flew forwards, accelerating faster and faster and faster, until she barrelled into the girl, causing the jinx to stop its effect. There were gasps of horror; it was too late, Harry had fallen off the broom. Seeing this, Hermione pushed forwards once again, arms outstretched. She was sure that she wouldn't make it. She yelled and made the broom speed up, fervently praying as the limp figure descended at an almighty speed towards the ground.
She could see some of the other team members going towards Harry as well, but they were too far away.
She crashed into Harry, and wrapped her arms around him, frantically trying to stay seated on the broom. He was barely conscious, his body kept slipping because Hermione's arms did not have enough strength, and the broom was headed straight for a tree! With great difficulty, Hermione leaned to her right and manoeuvred the broom to turn slightly, and she closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Harry as they crashed through its bristles. The branches stung and cut her face and she yelped in pain. Once out of the tree, Hermione leaned forwards, putting Harry's weight towards the front of the broom so that it dipped downwards, and the broom sped towards the ground. Unfortunately, it was going at such a high speed, Hermione only had a few seconds to react.
She clutched Harry's body to herself and once they were close enough to the ground, she threw herself off, with Harry on top of her, onto the grass. The wind was knocked out of her when Harry's weight pushed down on her and she felt her ribcage protesting violently. The broom crashed into the ground with a sickening crack, and she turned her head to see a pulverised and very damaged broomstick.
Harry must have fallen unconscious, because his weight on her chest and stomach increased, and caused her huge difficulties in breathing. Her back screamed in pain and her arms barely listened to her as she gasped for air and used them to roll Harry off her body. She saw people approaching and stood up shakily. It was the Gryffindor team. Ron had turned a deadly sheet of white at the sight of Harry.
"Is he-is he—"
"Harry's alive. Somebody, take him to Madam Pomfrey." Hermione said.
There was a bit of scuffling behind her as two sixth-year boys lifted Harry up and carried him to the Hospital Wing, shooting uncertain looks at Hermione. Hermione then focused her eyes on the culprit and whipped out her wand, charging towards the young team member.
"You!" She yelled. "You traitorous b—"
"Hermione! That's Ginny!" Ron yelled.
"I know it is. And she's the one who's been trying to kill Harry all year, and would have succeeded, if she hadn't made so many mistakes."
"Hermione, you've had a blow to the head, you're not thinking straight." Ron said pleadingly.
Ginny had an expression of horror and confusion on her face, and people looked from her to the furious glare of Hermione Granger. Who did they trust more?
"Oh no, Ron. Think about it. It had to be a Gryffindor, since the person had managed to get into Harry's room, and it had to be someone that Harry trusted enough to let them sit on his bed, because your wand has to touch the object that you want to explode."
"But anyone could have put the hex on the pillow and switched it for Harry's!" Ron said.
"Yes, but how many people know about the Map, Ron? How many people know about the cloak? And it couldn't have been anyone below Sixth-year, because the potion you were brewing is NEWT stuff, no one below sixth year would have known that belladonna would cause that specific potion to become fatal. And when you told me it was a girl who wore red nail-varnish. I was such an idiot not to see it sooner." Hermione said, clapping her hand over her eyes in despair. "Ginny Weasley is the only one that fits all of those descriptions."
"How can you prove that it was me? It could have been someone else!" Ginny said.
"Oh, you're a very accomplished actress, Ginny. How shocked I was when I saw my own face peering down at me, condemning me and Harry. That's when I realised… Accio Polyjuice Potion!" Hermione said.
A small vial appeared out of Ginny Weasley's breast pocket, and she tried to force it to stay, but it tore through Ginny's hands and Hermione caught it.
"You collected my hair from the bathroom, didn't you Ginny? I shed so much hair after having a shower, anyone could have just taken some hair and used it. Ginny's very good at Potions as well, so I'm not surprised that she can brew a Polyjuice Potion in her fifth year. When I realised this earlier on, I knew what to do. Since I knew that Ginny would have to return to lessons, she would not have had time to heal her wounds, so I fought her and punched her in the eye and left a cut on her cheek. Finite incantem."
Hermione's wand was aimed at Ginny's face, and the glamour charm disappeared. As Hermione had said, Ginny had a nice black bruise and a healing cut on her cheek. Ginny looked flabbergasted, but not as flabbergasted as Ron.
"You've got it wrong! That vial isn't mine, and I walked into the door this morning! Are you going to listen to this-this traitor?" Ginny said.
"Ginny, that was another thing that gave you away. The real traitor would have wanted to make sure nobody would suspect her, and so she would have slandered the framed person and acting as though she despised You-Know-Who. And, that night that Harry and Ron were talking to me by the fire, why did you automatically assume they were talking about Order stuff? They haven't been inducted yet, and wouldn't know a lot. The only reason would be that you wanted to hear what was being planned – every single detail, not like the rest of us who just wanted to know some bits, to be treated like adults. What really made everything clicked was the fact that whenever you were around Harry, he did not feel any staring eyes. And, when he was pushed off the stairs, he said he thought that someone was under his cloak, but if he was on his way to dinner, meaning that he had just come from his room, so he would have noticed if the cloak was missing from under his bed. And he had returned to get the map, and the cloak, I assume was probably still there. And since the person was using his cloak, therefore, one can assume that the culprit had acted without a cloak that time, and so it could have only been Neville or Ginny. Now which one of these two do you actually think is capable of brewing a Polyjuice Potion, go into the girls' showers pick my hairs from the drain, pushing friends off stairs and poisoning them?"
People stared at Ginny in horror, and she was shaking by now.
"It wasn't me! I swear!"
"What did he offer you, Ginny? Power? Wealth? Or the ability to surpass your brothers? I was not the one who betrayed Harry, you did. You betrayed him, you betrayed your brother, and you betrayed me. You betrayed Snape to Him! How many innocent people have died because of your actions, Ginny? How many of your friends are you willing to sacrifice just to bow down and grovel at the feet of a monster?" Hermione was enraged now.
Her hand trembled with anger. Just then, somebody stood between the two, and Hermione looked up.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione said.
"Give me the vial, Miss Granger."
"Yes, Professor."
Hermione gave him the vial and he turned to Ginny.
"Now, Miss Weasley, if you are innocent, this will not be a Polyjuice Potion, correct?"
Ginny nodded hesitantly.
"So, just drink it, and let us see what it is."
Ginny backed away, but the Gryffindor team had cornered her, so she had no choice but to drink the potion. Within seconds, all the spectators gasped. In the place of Ginny Weasley was a spitting image of Hermione Granger. Ginny looked down to the ground, in shame.
"I bet you were the one who told them. You were the reliable source." Hermione spat. "I bet that you convinced Snape to wait somewhere on the grounds for the next time his mark burnt, and watch for me. But instead, you appeared, and he saw my face, instead of yours. You probably tipped Lavender off and made her curious about my belongings, and planted the mask under my bed, and Lavender would have brought it straight to Professor Dumbledore."
"You weren't supposed to survive." Ginny said quietly. "Lucius was supposed to kill you, and then I'd be rid of your foul shadow. That's all you are – a shadow. I didn't care about my brothers, I was better than them, but it was you! Because of you, I was always pushed to the side, ignored. I hate you. And the Dark Lord had sensed this even in my first year, that I felt jealous of your achievements. He promised me your death in return for my loyalty."
Ginny's eyes were burning now.
"Once he defeats Potter and Dumbledore, I will have full power over everyone." Ginny began to laugh.
Dumbledore looked upon Ginny with a sad gaze. Two Aurors appeared behind the group and took Ginny away. And a heavy silence descended upon them. Professor Dumbledore turned around and bowed down to Hermione, to her surprise.
"I apologise, Miss Granger, I should—I should have known better than to accuse you without solid proof. Forgive an old man for his foolishness."
Hermione looked at him blankly.
"It was a mistake. People often do that from time to time. We're only human after all. Ginny fooled a lot of people. I've got my revenge. It's time to move on."
Hermione took one step when she breathed in sharply and collapsed, clutching her chest. There was something wrong… she still could not breathe properly.
"Hermione!"
"Ron…" Hermione smiled.
Then, she fell unconscious.
She woke up a week later, to be greeted by Harry, Ron, Phoebe, Will and a bunch of other Gryffindors and other Phinxgild students.
"One would think you'd gain something from such a long beauty sleep." Will joked.
"Oh, shut up, you!" Hermione said, punching him weakly on the shoulder.
"We really thought you had died." Phoebe said, hugging Hermione.
"Yeah, Harry gave us all a fright at breakfast that day. It was a actually quite funny." Snickers echoed throughout the room and Harry glared at Ron.
"What happened?" Hermione asked.
"Well, he… come on Harry! The girl did ask!" Harry was still glaring at Ron "Anyway, Harry was just eating breakfast normally, we were wondering where Ginny was, and suddenly, his piece of toast was halfway to his mouth when he literally toppled backwards from his seat at the table. You should have seen Snape's face! He looked like Christmas had come early! Anyway, Harry began rolling around on the floor and screaming and somehow rolled underneath the breakfast table, and then, he stopped. The whole hall was quiet, and then there was this loud thud."
"Let me guess, Harry whacked his head against the table." Hermione said.
The whole room burst into fits of giggles. Harry turned bright red.
"Yeah, and the whole of the Gryffindors started laughing, and the other houses joined in, even the Slytherins. Oh Merlin! What a great show- uh, breakfast that had been!"
"You were lucky Ron, I just didn't have enough breath to say your name. I think that Ginny was a bit over excited with the Cruciatus thing. I didn't think that it would work… strange." Hermione frowned.
"She's off again! Can't you take a break from thinking from time to time?" Will asked.
"Do you even know what the word 'to think' means?" Phoebe snorted. "I've never seen you do it."
Hermione smiled. It's great to have her friends back.
"Where are you guys staying?" Hermione asked.
"With the Slytherins." Phoebe replied.
"Yeah. They're quite a drab lot. They all think that Muggle-borns shouldn't be allowed to stay in the dungeons. I sorted that out." Will's eyes gleamed.
Hermione and Phoebe groaned together.
"What did you do this time?" they both asked at the same time.
"Nothing, of course." Will said with a very odd gleam in his eye.
"You know, I'm beginning to like the Slytherins better now that the Emeralds are around." Ron commented.
"Thanks." Will said.
"I think that comment excluded you, Will." Phoebe said, patting his head.
"Where will I go though?" Hermione asked.
Everyone fell silent.
"But you're a Gryffindor!" Ron exclaimed.
"No, she's an Emerald, Ron, remember, that day in the fire? We met Will and Phoebe, and they're Emeralds, so she'll probably be staying with the Slytherins."
"But that's like suicide! Malfoy would tear her apart for landing his father in Azkaban, again!"
"Malfoy won't be doing much for a while." Will said, whistling.
"What did you do?" Phoebe asked curiously.
"I discovered a neat little cupboard that kinda vanishes anything that goes into it, and he happened to be passing by, so I asked him whether he wanted to experimented on."
"Did you even wait for an answer?" Hermione asked.
He seemed to be in deep thought.
"I don't think I even asked him…" He mused.
Everyone burst into howls of laughter.