Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs solely to the rightful author. I am making no profits out of this.

AN: This story had been corrected by my lovely beta Sarah Liz B.

Chapter 3

The next morning begins with a shining sun, not a cloud to be seen. It promises a nice day, the first one in weeks. Ginny is busy making breakfast when Ron comes into the kitchen, yawning.

"Good morning Ron." Ginny smiles and puts a steaming cup of coffee before him.

"Morning," he mumbles back, taking some toast and jam.

Not long after him, Harry comes in the kitchen.

"Morning," he says while taking a cup of coffee for himself.

"Hermione not awake yet?" asks Ginny, a little worried.

Ron shakes his head and yawns. "Nope, still sleeping."

Ginny doesn't answer but looks at her toast with a determined look.

"Alright, what are you thinking Ginny?" asks Harry. Ron is too busy eating his toast to notice anything going on.

"I think she should go see a nurse," Ginny starts. Harry starts shaking his head. "It's too dangerous." He pours some milk on his cereal.

"She's not well, Harry! And she has been like that for a while now. You can't let this happen. What if it kills her?" Ginny says indignantly.

Ron looks up, surprised, and casts a worried glance at Harry, who has gone pale.

"Would it kill her?" asks Ron, worried.

Ginny rolls her eyes and huffs indignantly. "I don't know! But we have to be careful. She sleeps a lot lately and still looks tired. And don't forget her pounding head or her feeling the room spin." For extra emphasis she looks at Harry first and then at Ron.

Harry still looks pale and looks now at his cornflakes, mushing them up a bit more.

"We have to get her some medical help," Ron says, convinced. Harry looks up at Ron and then nods his head. "But she is on the Wanted list. We have to be careful."

"I'll go with her. It will be safer if there are Order members with her and Kingsley Shackelbolt is also free today. He can go too. We can protect her. I doubt there will be many Death Eaters walking around in St. Mungo's."

Everybody looks up, surprised to see Lupin. Nobody has heard him come in, so nobody knows how long he has been standing there.

First there is silence and then Harry speaks. "You're not going to protest?"

Lupin shakes his head. "Ginny is right. She is not looking well but besides, it's nothing for Hermione to still be in bed this hour."

Harry nods his head. "Thank you Remus," he says quietly.

Lupin walks behind Harry and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You're welcome, Harry."

XXX

In St. Mungo's, where the walls are white and the ceilings are high, Hermione is tapping her foot impatiently in the waiting room. Next to her, Ginny is casually flipping through a magazine, seeming to read it intensely. Kingsley Shackelbolt and Remus Lupin are in the foyer. During the war, St. Mungo's stayed put and has hardly any damage. It seems that the dark side has left the hospital as it is, seeing no real risk in it, only benefits. Hermione really doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. She feels well today. She isn't feeling dizzy or sleepy at all, but Ginny, and even Ron, had still insisted. Hermione is irritated above all else. Irritated because they organized everything behind her back and without her consent, so she really has had no say in the matter.

Ginny puts the magazine down and looks at the annoyed girl next to her.

"You're mad."

Hermione crosses her arms and mutters. "No, I'm not."

The scene is very comic so Ginny can't help herself but laugh, which makes Hermione look at her through narrow eyes.

"No?" Ginny asks laughing.

Hermione recognizes her mistake and clutches her arms even tighter against her ribs. "I'm irritated," she explains.

Ginny stops laughing and sighs. "We're just worried about you."

"I know," Hermione admits. "But I have a bad feeling." She whispers in a voice that is too low for anyone to hear.

Ginny, who thinks she has muttered something about the waiting time, ignores Hermione and picks up another magazine. She knows that she is best left alone when she is in a mood like this.

Lupin and Shackelbolt, who have been watching the two girls, now look back in the hallway, just in time to see a boy with black hair round the next corner in a hurry.

XXXXX

Blaise Zabini walks past the waiting room in St. Mungo's and stops in shock. Near the entrance, two Order members are watching two girls talk to each other. His eyes wander to the girl with the wavy blonde hair and blue eyes.

He can't believe it. She is really here, and with only two members of the Order and the Weasley girl guarding her. He doesn't ponder how it is possible she is here or how it is possible that she is in company with Order members. This is going to be easy. But he needs to hurry. Quickly he walks away to the Floo point, already scheming a plan in his head.

XXXX

It feels like hours to Hermione, that she has been sitting the waiting room. She hates waiting, especially in a hospital, so she stands up and walks around the waiting room a bit, then taking a step out into the hallway.

"Don't go far Hermione," Remus warns her.

"Yeah, because otherwise the Death Eaters will jump out of the nurse post and murder me," is her sarcastic reply.

"It's a possibility," comments Kingsley dryly.

As if on cue, a red spell buzzes past Kingsley.

Hermione stares in shock at the corner where suddenly five Death Eaters have appeared. Kingsley and Remus immediately go into defence mode and fire a few spells at the Death Eaters.

Remus takes Hermione by her hand and pulls her behind a wall that Kingsley and Ginny are creating for her. But she is Hermione Granger… Naberrie and no one can make her huddle into a corner during a fight.

She already has her wand in her hand and is about to send a spell buzzing a Death Eaters way when Remus gives her another shove. Surprised by it, she almost loses her balance and inevitably she takes a few steps back. Spell after spell buzz past her head and, trying to defend herself –without getting pushed away by Remus- she takes a few more steps backwards.

Finding a hole in the wall of people in front of her she prepares herself to fire a spell, but suddenly a red spell is fired through that same hole, right past Hermione's ear. Shocked by it she takes another two steps back, finding it irritating that she can't defend herself properly. Her dizziness has appeared again –though she'd said she was fine- and the room is spinning before her eyes again. She kept retreating, blinking her eyes and hoping the spinning will go away. She is still stepping backwards, not seeing where she is heading but looking at the fight before her. This is her mistake. The Order members and Ginny are busy fighting with the five Death Eaters, so they don't notice that Hermione is missing.

She takes more steps when another spell, this time a purple one, flies past. She jumps and screams but it's muffled by a hand. A mouth by her ear whispers, "Don't be afraid, Sophia. Everything is going to be alright."

She could swear she recognizes that voice but she can't place it. She is so afraid of what they might do with her that she doesn't realise that he is calling her Sophia and not Hermione. The hand is still on her mouth and the other is holding her close to him. "Now, come quietly with me."

She is breathing franticly and waiting for the moment that he will take his hand from her mouth, but the person behind her is smarter than that. He takes her arm in his free hand and turns her around, making sure her mouth is still covered. Hermione looks up, surprised, at Blaise Zabini. She tries to get loose, but he has a strong grip on her arm.

He pushes her to the wall and keeps her mouth covered. Hermione is sweating and still panting hard. Her heart races up when he takes his wand and points it at her. She curses her mysterious illness for feeling so helpless.

Looking as pale as a ghost, her blue eyes wide, she looks into his crystal blue eyes. They are much lighter than hers.

"Silencio," he mutters, a white glow spreading from his wand.

He takes his hand from her mouth and takes both of her arms. Hermione, relieved, lets in a breath of air before gasping in surprise when Blaise drags her with him. Struggling in vain due to his strength, she takes one more look behind her where Remus, Kingsley and Ginny are still fighting, not noticing she is being dragged away.

He pulls her out of the hospital, now empty of anyone who can help her. Once outside, he turns her to him and says, "It's time to get out of here."

Hermione pales even more. They are going to Apparate. For some unknown reason she hates co-apparition, she always has but never has she wondered why. Hermione thinks that it may have been due to something that had happened before she had gotten 'amnesia'. It is no wonder that she is surprised when Blaise pulls her close, much closer than normally required for Apparition. An arm is placed just below her shoulder blades, the other on her head, pulling it to his chest.

"Do not worry. I am excellent in Apparition. There's only one person you could feel safer with."

Wondering why he would care and how he would know, she disapparates with him, without leaving even the smallest trace.

XXXX

Hermione's friends are completely stumped as to where she has been taken and by whom.

Not Shacklebolt, Lupin or Ginny had seen anything. She is just gone. Disappeared and they fear the worst.