Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else I wouldn't be writing here.

Sorry for taking so long! I kind of lost inspiration, but now it's back! We're almost done, just a little bit more… be patient please…

"Hermione!" he gasped, and then he got closer and kneeled in front of her. He cupped her almost non-existent cheeks and took a closer look. What he saw wasn't of his liking. "What have they done to you?" he asked.

"Well… I… don't… remember much…" she seemed to have trouble to speak. Her words were slurred. "They give me… drugs… tons of 'em"

"Why?" he wondered, it made no sense to him. Why would she need to be dosed?

"To keep me… at bay?" she didn't sound very sure. "Or to keep her at bay… yeah that must be it"

"What do you mean with keep her at bay? Who are you talking about?"

"You know… her…"

"I don't know, you need to tell me who she is"

"You do know… you've seen her before… and also after…"

"Hermione, stop speaking in riddles, I'm trying to figure this out and I can't do it if you don't make yourself clear!" he was getting desesperate, but this seemed to annoy her.

"You do know her! She's the one who's inside of me!" she yelled.

And then he remembered what she had told him the first time he had found her: "It's inside, I can feel it…take it away, please…it's inside…"

"Hermione, was she the one who made you do all those things? You know, the constant suicide attempts?"

"Yes! She's the one to blame!"

So he was right, his suspicions were true, she was being possessed by a spirit, apparently a female spirit.

"Why did she made you do that?" he asked. Why would she try to kill her if she needed her as a vessel?

"To get inside of me… she needed to enter my veins… take control through my blood…"

"But one time would have been enough to do that, but she tried three times, and suceeded two"

"The first ones were for that… but once she was already there… she needed to take control slowly…"

"And what about the third one?"

"She was going to kill me…"

"That makes no sense at all! Why would she want to kill you, if she is living through you?"

"I need to die so she can live…"

He didn't understand what she meant, but that didn't matter, because suddenly the whole room darkened and was swollen by shadows. He instinctively embraced her, trying to protect her from them. He had no idea that they had come from deep within her. And as soon as they came, they left. He separated from her and held her at arms length while making sure she was fine. He then noticed there where tears treatening to fall from her eyes.

"Harry… take me out of here"

She was right, it was too dangerous for her to stay there. The shadows had found her, she was an easy prey for them now, and the drugs they gave her only weakened her more and made it easier for the spirit to possess her. If he had only know how right he was about that last statement.

"Yes, this place isn't good for you, it's only making it worse"

Then he proceded to take off the jacket, making her able to move her arms again freely. She was absolutely elated about this, so she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him as tight as she could.

He pulled out his wand and pointed it right in front of him. He signaled her to stay behind him, and opened the door. The two bullies guarding it turned around to check everything was alright, but they couldn't do it because Harry had already stunned them. Hermione grabed his hand and he led her out of the room. The hospital was a blinding white maze white white bullies that served as guards. Harry didn't remember the way out.

"This way" she said, "we need to get back my wand"

"Where is it?"

"In the lobby, they keep all our stuff there"

"How do you know that?"

"They take us out for walks, and the only way to get to the gardens is through the lobby. I've seen that place, and they keep all our things in little spaces behind the counter."

"Oh, I see. And then what? I don't think the director will let us use his fireplace to scape"

"We'll cross the gardens. That's the only way in"

And the only way out…