Hermione felt herself slowly gaining consciousness as a low murmur filled her ears. Her hair fell in her face as she stirred; Hermione pricked her ears, listening. Remus…, Hermione acknowledged as she recognized each voice. Harry. Moody. But someone closed Ron's bedroom door and the murmur stopped abruptly. Hermione slowly sat up to see Mrs. Weasley, looking more elderly than ever, wringing out a small towel and placing it on Ron's forehead. When she saw Hermione she tried to smile but only managed a sort of strained grimace.
"Why don't you go back to sleep, dear? It's still quite early," she said in a low voice that shook slightly.
"No…no. I'm fine," Hermione whispered, wiping sleep from her eyes. She stretched her sore back and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "How long has Remus been back?"
"What?" Mrs. Weasley asked quickly. "No, they're not back yet. No, I would have heard them, dear." But before Hermione could answer the door opened and Mad-Eye, Remus, Bill, Charlie and Harry shuffled inside. Hermione stood up quickly; Mrs. Weasley rounded on Remus and Moody immediately.
"Well? What happened?" she said sharply. Remus looked away; Moody looked at his feet. Behind them Bill and Charlie exchanged glances and Harry looked pale. "Remus?" When Lupin spoke, he neither looked at Mrs. Weasley nor Hermione.
"He…he was gone. There were signs of an evident struggle; I-it's our guess that he was murdered. By You-Know-Who," he said very quietly. Mrs. Weasley sobs seemed to echo throughout the house, filling every gap and corner. Hermione did not cry; she felt as if all her tears were gone and she was empty. Besides that, Hermione almost expected and she hated herself for knowing Malfoy would be right. Bill held his mother as she wept into his shoulder, Charlie holding her hand tightly.
"So that's it, then?" Mrs. Weasley choked out. "Ron'll die?" An eerie silence followed her words. After a moment Bill led her away and out of the room, followed closely by Charlie. Remus sighed deeply and stood in front of Ron's bed, staring at him with empty eyes. Hermione vaguely acknowledged Harry putting his arm around her in a very comforting way.
"I don't know what we can do," Harry said in a very quiet, hoarse voice. His hands shook a little. "Remus doesn't even know what they've done to him. I'm afraid…that Mrs. Weasley may have guessed right. Ron may die." Hermione closed her eyes as if it would block out what Harry had said. Ron may die.
"Remus?" Hermione asked tentatively. He looked up at her, the gray in his hair standing out clearly, his wrinkles evident. "You haven't heard of a spell called the Maior Curatio, have you?" Remus frowned a little.
"Well, yes, it's a legend. But that's all. It's not real, Hermione."
"What did it do?"
"Legend tells us," Remus began, putting emphasis on the word 'legend', "that it was a healing spell. The words Maior Curatio themselves basically translate into 'greatest cure.' The spell could only be used by a soul mate on their soul mate. Of course, if it happened that one performed the spell on one other than their soul mate, both the spell caster and the victim would die. That's one of the reasons it's so ridiculous. How could you be sure it was your soul mate? It's just a fairy tale, after all, though. I don't think it wise to put much faith in such a tale, do you?" Remus added at the look of Hermione's set face.
"But…but Remus," she said, a note of pleading in her voice. "They said the Chamber of Secret was just a legend, didn't they? But Harry, Ron and I," her voice broke slightly. "We found out it was real. It was true! This could be true, too! Don't you think we could try? For…for Ron's sake? Couldn't we give it a chance?" Remus looked at Hermione's face with a mixture of pity and sadness.
"But…who's Ron's soul mate Hermione?" he asked, looking at Ron instead of her.
"Hermione is." It was Harry who spoke now from the far corner of the room. He was looking at Hermione with a kind of fierce pride and admiration; he wasn't smiling, though. He had the grace to look grim for Ron's sake. "Hermione is," he said in a quieter voice than before. He stood up and crossed the room to the door. Remus didn't speak, only continued to watch Ron.
"Where are you going?" Hermione asked Harry. She wanted him to stay, to keep her company. He was such a beacon of hope for Ron; he was like her morale. He managed a grim smile.
"Where you always went for answers: the library. I'm going to find out about Maior Curatio. And then Ron will be alright," he said. Hermione saw tears welling up in his eyes behind the glare of his glasses; he quickly turned from her and left, leaving a hope for Ron's well being stirring within Hermione's heart.
A/N: sorry for the sappy ending/short chapter. i'll try to update soon. leave one.