Hermione ran down the corridor, her heart beating fast. Let him be okay, she thought, scared.
"Hermione!" she saw Luna's face, but her vision had gone blurry. All she wanted to do was see Ron. What was wrong with him? She felt Noel's hands on her shoulders and she tensed up, tears falling down her face.
"How long has he been here? Why haven't you guys said anything until now?" she found herself saying, her anger rising. She wiped her tears from her face, looking around for Harry.
"Where's Harry? Is Ron in that room? Where's my daughter?" she felt her body begin to shake.
"Honey, calm down, please."
"How do you expect me to calm DOWN?!" she snapped, tearing away from him. She stormed into the nearby door, shocked to see how dark and quiet it was. She closed the door behind her, not wanting to be disturbed. She slowly walked toward the bed in the corner, a machine beeping by the bed post. Her hands trembled, and she stuffed them in her coat, scared she was going to faint.
Ron was in a coma, Harry had said. He'd been like that for a week.
"Ron?"
.
The machine beeped after her.
She felt the wand underneath her coat, and she reached for it, for support. Her tears came down faster as she saw Ron's expressionless face resting against his pillow.
This is all my fault, she thought, holding her breath. She closed her eyes, trying to collect herself.
No, you didn't do anything. Ron went into a comma, and it's not your fault.
She opened her eyes and felt guilty for her conscience. Maybe this was karma for him. This was how he was going to pay for all the hurt he had given her. She bit her bottom lip, and fell down to her knees.
"Hermione,"
Harry walked in the room, closing the door behind him. He had his wand out, and his face was serious. She turned around, surprised.
"What are you doing?" she asked, standing up.
"There's something not right with him, Hermione. I haven't told the others, but it's not safe to be around him right now." Harry said, walking over to her. "Especially us."
"What do you mean?" she asked, "This isn't funny, Harry."
"I think someone is possessing him." Harry said, looking over his shoulder. He murmured a spell and Hermione heard the door lock itself.
"Harry, are you serious?" she asked, feeling her skin go cold. "Oh, my, Ron…"
Harry grabbed her elbow and led her to a nearby chair, and she took a seat, feeling her knees weak.
"How do you know?" she asked, looking up at him. Harry had large bags under his eyes and looked as if he hadn't shaved in days. He paced in front of her, opening his mouth to say something, and closing it again, as if he couldn't find the right words.
"Harry?"
He stopped and looked at Ron, who lay sleeping in the near bed. "I saw someone in him, when he collapsed."
Hermione knew all too well where he was going with this. "You can't be serious, Harry..."
Harry took off his glasses and massaged his eyes. "I'm tired, Hermione. You have no idea how much sleep I've lost trying to figure it out. I thought we had got rid of him, but I can't mistake the eyes I saw right before Ron fell. "
Hermione gripped her wand a little tighter, her adolescent fears returning. "You can't possible mean- what exactly happened? How did he end up like this?"
"We were at my café, and he seemed to be arguing with himself, holding his head and yelling. My children were alarmed, and had started screaming. It was bad. I tried to calm him down and it's when his face changed. His eyes were red, slit like, and his face was smirking at me. That's how I knew. And that's when Ron collapsed."
Hermione turned to look at Ron, and felt her tears roll down her cheek again. "How do you think he became like this? When did he have time to go into Ron? I thought he was dead!"
"I'm trying to figure that out, but I need your help. I don't want to involve Luna, nor do I want to alarm Ron's family." Harry said, setting his glasses back.
"I have Katrina to worry about, And Noel." She said. She knew she was being selfish, but this wasn't her problem anymore. They weren't kids without responsibilities to be off chasing some old wizard. "I don't have a spouse to take care of my baby."
"Aren't you getting married to Noel? Can't he look after her?" Harry blurted, a little surprise. "This is RON we are talking about. And this can affect ALL OF US."
Hermione stood up, angry. "Katrina is not Noel's responsibility. You are running on a hunch here. What if nothing is wrong with him except that he's in a coma?"
Harry stepped in front of her, frowning at her through his glasses. "Whatever Ron did to you is his problem. It's done. You've moved on. The guy has apologized over and over. If I'm right, we could lose Ron. Don't you care about that at all?"
Hermione stood her ground, understanding that he was right, but she couldn't help but be difficult. She slapped him across the face, panting.
"How dare you say that to me? You with your PERFECT life, your perfect little family. The boy who lived. Give me a break Harry." She said, instantly regretting it. She saw his shocked expression, and he shook his head, pointing his wand at the door. It unlocked.
"Leave." He said softly, which hurt Hermione even more. She wanted to approach him and apologize, but she stormed out, not looking back.