I awoke to a warm cozy feeling. I took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. It felt like Grawp had sat on my ribs. I took a quick assessment of the rest of my body, still keeping my eyes closed. Nothing else felt broken. I was bruised, but nothing felt seriously damaged. A blanket was lying over my body, and it felt immensely soft next to my poor skin. I took another deep breath and was about to open my eyes when a flood of memories hit me, causing me to gasp in horror. Something, or someone, clutched my hand and that gave me the courage to jerk my eyes open.
I scanned the room around me - what I could see of it - and was incredibly relieved to discover that I was in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. I was safe. We must have gotten out…
"Hermione?" a faint voice questioned.
I tilted my head towards the sound, and took in a deep breath of surprise at the handsome face that stared back at me. "George?" I croaked, shocked at how terrible my voice sounded. He gripped my hand tighter, his familiar lopsided grin spreading across his face.
He lifted his head, and without taking his eyes off of mine yelled to someone on the other side of the curtains. "She's awake!" He lowered his head, and his eyes grew concerned. "Hermione, are you alright? Does anything hurt?"
I tried to sit up, wanting nothing more than to give him a hug, but I fell back against the bed as my ribs swelled up in pain. My vision grew fuzzy for a moment as the room spun around me and I had to take a deep breath to steady it. George gripped my hand tighter, helping steady me on the bed. His smile had disappeared and he looked terribly worried.
"Hermione?" a voice called from behind George at the same time I could hear the gentle padding of feet heading towards me.
Ron spoke again, not giving me a chance to respond. "Open the bloody curtains. I want to see her!"
"Yes, please move mine too," Luna sounded from the other side. The curtains at the foot of my bed burst open and Harry stood there, grinning down at me. A hand appeared between Ron's curtains and tugged them open, revealingRon, Fred, and Angelina. Harry opened Luna's curtains, grinning still. Luna's face was fairly scratched up, but she looked perfectly fine. Ron had bandages all over the place, but he was grinning widely. Harry had a few scratches, but looked remarkably alright.
Neville came over to us, appearing around Luna's bed, helping a limping Ginny. He had a few scratchesand his nose was slightly swollen, but he looked remarkably well. Ginny looked great, except for her ankle.
"Are you feeling all right Hermione?" George questioned again.
I smiled widely at him, feeling as though I was on cloud nine. All my friends were all right, how could I be anything but great? "I'm fine, George," I said, squeezing his hand in mine. Neville helped Ginny to sit down at the foot of my bed. He sat down on the other side and Harry sat on Ron's bed.
"What happened?" I asked, feeling as though I would explode if I didn't get some answers.
George grinned and was about to answer but Harry beat him to it. His previously sparkling eyes grew cloudy with tears and his grin dropped into an expression of shame. "I'm so sorry Hermione, it was my fault," he began, his voice breaking with guilt.
"What?" I asked, genuinely confused.
"We shouldn't have gone. You were right… It was a trick. We almost lost you. If you hadn't silenced him that spell would have killed you! And Sirius almost, and Neville, and Ron…" he said, his green eyes bright with unshed tears. Had I been that bad? That close to death? What about Sirius, and Ron and Neville? What happened?
"Harry you oaf, you're scaring her," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "The DA's fine Hermione, as you can see." He indicated everyone. "I got a bunch of welts from the brains, Luna got a concussion, Ginny snapped her ankle, Neville broke his nose and got crucioed, spraining his ankle in the process, and you got hit by one nasty Bludger of a curse." He was grinning so happily that I was instantly put at ease.
"Brains?" I questioned, sensing an interesting story.
"Yeah!" Fred said, laughing. "This git actually thought it was a good idea to summon a tank full of brains!" He was laughing harder now and Ron actually joined him.
Everyone else was laughing softly as well, if not from the fact that it had been a funny memory, it was from relief. I turned my eyes from theirs, seeking out George's reassuring blue ones.
"How did you get in the ministry?" I asked softly. He smiled reassuringly, a ghost of pain flashing through his eyes as he squeezed my hand.
"I got your message and Fred and I instantly apparated to the Order. Moody, Remus, Kingsley, Tonks and Sirius were the only ones there, so we took them and headed to the ministry immediately.
"At first I was worried we were too late, but then we heard the commotion. We managed to round all the Death Eaters up, but we were too late to save the prophecy…" He trailed off, looking worried.
"Is everyone else alright?" I asked, worry gripping me.
"Yeah, we all got out fine. Remus twisted his ankle, Tonks got a concussion, Sirius broke an arm and got hit by some dark curse, but the rest of us were fine. We moved them to St. Mungo's. They'll be fine, just a few potions needed," Fred answered quickly, putting those fears at ease.
"You-Know-Who showed up." Ginny said softly, glancing at Harry with obvious concern.
"Yeah, he tried to kill me, but Dumbledore got him," Harry said. He tried to smile but it came out as more of a grimace. "The minister saw him before he left, though. He knows he's back now."
"The prophecy?" I asked after a moment.
"Destroyed," Harry said softly, glancing at Neville. I could tell he didn't want to talk about it. A sense of relief washed over me, and for the first time the real horrorof what had happened washed over me, and I had a strong urge to cry. Tears stung my eyes and I fought to keep them back.
"Here, drink this," Madame Pomfrey demanded, appearing out of nowhere. I took the steaming goblet and swallowed its vile contents. Why couldn't potions taste good? She eyed everyone while I drank.
"No more than three visitors!" she exclaimed, glaring at everyone. I chuckled softly at that when Harry answered her.
"Umm, Luna and Ron are still in your custody. I'm visiting Ron with Fred and Angelina."
"Yeah," Neville said quickly, helping Ginny up. "Ginny and I are visiting Luna." They walked over to her bed while Harry moved to Ron's. Madame Pomfrey raised her eyebrows and counted us again.
"Oh, well, still." She grabbed the mug and turned to leave, shutting the curtains as she left, looking distinctly flustered.
That just left George and me alone. The tears I had been fighting returned and I began to cry, the tears I'd held back all evening finally breaking free. I raised my arms towards George, leaning up to grab him but George was quicker. He pulled me to his chest in a tight, protective hug, and I just hugged him back. My tears fell relentlessly, wetting his shirt as he pulled me closer. He moved from the chair he'd been sitting in and moved next to me on the bed, holding me tightly and tenderly at the same time.
The feeling of his arms around me brought another rush of feelings and I cried even harder, so relieved to have him back. He was really here. He'd saved me, probably helped save all of us. I didn't think we would have made it much longer. I couldn't believe he was back, that we were safe. We all were safe. Having his arms around me felt right, I felt safe.
George had to leave the next day; Madame Pomfrey kicked him out. So it was now just me and Ron left in the Hospital Wing. Neville and Ginny had been fixed almost immediately, Luna had been kept an extra day for observation, but she'd been released that morning. I spent most of the day chatting with Ron about what we were going to do over the summer break. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley didn't want Ron, Ginny, or I to stay at Grimmauld Place - she was blaming the whole Ministry crusade on our knowing too much. Like that was going to help. Now that the cat was out of the bag about the whole Voldemort being back thing, we were all going to be working even harder to find out information. Dumbledore had made it a point to tell Harry that he had to go back to the Dursleys for at least a short while, even though Sirius was desperate to have him stay with him.
That brought up another problem. Sirius was now a free man, so where would he live? He hated Grimmauld Place. He didn't want to stay there, and who could really blame him? So for now he was living in a small apartment with Remus. He was thrilled at the company, and the two friends were quickly mending.
Right then, though, I was reading the Daily Prophet to Ron, Harry, Ginny, Luna, Angelina and Neville. The first part of the paper had been talking about how Voldemort was back, and that we needed to be on the lookout. It also bore the news that Dumbledore was reinstated as the Headmaster.
The part I was interested in, though, didn't come until the second page. "Boy Who Lived," I read aloud, a small wry smile quirking my lips up. I looked over the top of my paper and caught Harry's eyes. "There you are, Harry, I knew they'd drag you into it somehow."
"He's the 'boy who lived' again now, though, isn't he?" Ron said darkly, scowling on the bed. "Not such a deluded show-off any more, eh?"
"Yes, they're very complimentary about you now, Harry," I said, scanning the article with annoyance. "A lone voice of truth . . . perceived as unbalanced, yet never wavered in his story . . . forced to bear ridicule and slander . . ." Hmmm, I notice they don't mention the fact that it was them doing all the ridiculing and slandering in the Prophet . . .You-Know-Who's Last Attempt to Take Over, pages two to four, What the Ministry Should Have Told Us, page five, Why Nobody Listened to Albus Dumbledore, pages six to eight, Exclusive Interview with Harry Potter, page nine . . . Well," I said annoyed, crumpling the newspaper and tossing it aside, "it's certainly given them lots to write about. And that interview with Harry isn't exclusive, it's the one that was in The Quibbler months ago . . ."
"Daddy sold it to them," Luna said, twirling her hair with her fingers as she read the Quibbler. She was sitting next to Ron and was idly rubbing the back of his hand as she read. "He got a very good price for it, too, so we're going to go on an expedition to Sweden this summer to see if we can catch a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
I was hardly listening to her. I was focused on the faint blush coloring Ron's cheeks at her simple touch. Yes, those two definitely liked each other.
"Flitwick's got rid of Fred and George's swamp," Ginny said suddenly, looking slightly sad. I knew how she felt; I loved looking at that swamp. It was a constant reminder that Umbridge hadn't been able to stop the greatest pranksters in Hogwarts.
"Yeah," Angelina said, flashing a brilliant smile. "He did it this morning. He left a tiny patch under the window that he roped off. He said it was brilliant magic." She laughed lightly, a sparkle in her eyes. "That made Fred and George's day."
I smiled softly at that, remembering the brief time I got to spend with him the other day. He had insisted on sending me a box full of Sugar Quills, and two beautiful bouquets of Buttercups. They were my favorite flower, and their bright petals helped make the room feel happier.
"'I s'pose Filch is happy, is he?" Rona asked, eating another chocolate frog Fred and George had gotten him, clearly the shop was doing well.
"Nope," Ginny answered. "He keeps saying Umbridge was the best thing that ever happened to Hogwarts . . ." I looked over to the bed Umbridge was lying on and had to fight the urge to jinx her. Dumbledore had fetched her from the Centaurs. She'd not spoken since her return - she just stared at the ceiling.
We contemplated her quietly, all secretly thinking that he should have left her with them. I still had nightmares of her. I could still see the faces of all my friends being tortured by her, still see the scars on their hands. That witch deserved to be tortured by the Centaurs. She deserved a Dementor's kiss.
Ron suddenly got a big grin and looked at us all, then he made a soft clip-clopping noise with his tongue. He'd discovered the effects of the noise last night, and had been entertaining himself (and myself, though I would never admit it) with it every hour or so since then.
At the sound of the noise Umbridge sat bolt upright, looking around wildly in panic.
"Anything wrong, Professor?" Madam Pomfrey asked from her office.
"No . . . No . . .No, I must have been dreaming . . ." Umbridge said, looking scared as she laid back down on her bed. We all broke down giggling, trying to muffle it as best we could.
Harry stared at her for a moment, a sad look filling his green eyes. He grew quiet and worried looking. He'd looked like that far too much the last few days. I had no idea what happened to him, but something had changed. He found out something that was not good, something that weighed heavily on him. I wished he would tell us what it was, but I wasn't about to push him. He'd tell us when he was ready.
"I've got to go guys," he said suddenly, turning back to us. "I promised Hagrid I'd stop by and see him…"
I nodded my head in understanding. "Okay," I said, patting his hand. He stood up and grabbed his bag, heading for the exit.
"Oh!" I called before he could leave. "Check in on his, umm… friend, for me will you?" Ron snorted at that while Harry nodded his head. I shot Ron a quick glare and thanked Harry. I didn't want to admit it, but I had really grown attached to Grawp. I still thought it was insane to bring him to Hogwarts, but then again, nothing about my school life here had ever been even slightly sane.
It wouldn't be Hogwarts if it was.
A/N: Thanks to a Ninja Goldfish for taking the time to beta this :D