"There must be consequences."
"She was defending herself. The Priori Incantatem has proven it."
"I cannot allow ordinary students to engage in dueling."
"Ordinary students, Dolores? In comparison to your precious Squad members, I presume?", McGonagall managed to keep her voice down, but their discussion echoed through the room nonetheless. Hermione dared not to open her eyes. The soft scent of fresh linen suggested she was lying in a bed in the infirmary, which made perfect sense. Someone had taken her clothes, leaving her to wear a thin nightgown, two sizes larger than her measures.
"... no foreseeable circumstances could warrant such an excessive use of force as Mr Nott has endured -"
"The circumstances weren't foreseeable, they were given", her head of house talked across Umbridge again.
"Miss Granger cannot be excused from responsibility."
"She wasn't even conscious when we found them."
"But her wand clearly shows to have cast appropriate binding charms on Miss Weasley -"
"That was me", Ginnys voice joined the discussion.
Hermione could not resist to open her eyes, only to discover that Umbridge, McGonagall, a withered old witch she did not know at all and Percy Weasley had been interrupted by blind and bald Ginny. They stood in a semi-circle, Umbridge posing as the lowest point in the circuit, in a niche reserved for another injured student. The bed behind them was not prepared with sheets, but had been stripped of blankets and cushions, leaving a bare mattress, if just cleaned thoroughly from the remains of a very messy, bloody procedure. Blind Ginny could not have noticed from holding to the cold metal frame, nor did she react to Percys labored breathing, the only indicator of dismay in his stiff posture.
"Well, as much as I understand your wish to exculpate Miss Granger, considering your – disability -, you can hardly have applied the binding properly", Umbridge dismissed her.
"I have", blind Ginny insisted, "I took the wand from her hand, looked for the source of -"
"Looked for? What do you mean by that?"
" - the source of smell and simply tended the wounds magically", Ginny continued, ignoring Umbridges snort.
"Those topics are reserved for N.E.W.T students in defensive magic, Miss Weasley, far beyond the requirements of a fourth year, according to our curriculum -"
"This is hardly about accelerated learning processes", McGonagall mumbled to herself.
"I disagree, Minerva", Umbridge said, "Miss Granger must be held responsible for her improper use of magic, since its products can hardly be blamed for their way to come into existence", she gave blind Ginny a nasty look, which the latter gratefully missed.
"Technically, we're not dealing with improper use of magic", the unknown witch wheezed. She had remarkable symmetrical features, giving an impression of an uninteresting person, and her monotone voice would have made it hard to listen attentively. Even the black blazer looked like a deep shade of grey on her. "Miss Granger has not cast a spell in the presence of muggles or other wandless creatures, nor has she used magic for humiliating, indecent or otherwise harmful purposes."
"But conjuring and its subforms must only be taught to students with progressed magical education, and the rate of decay in the products of her magic prove -"
"Rate of decay?", blind Ginny inquired, "Decay of what?"
None of them answered her. It was hard to tell from the distance between then, but Hermione could have sworn to watch McGonagall bite her lip. Her heart rate reached dangerous numbers again. Head spinning, Hermione buried her face in the pillows. The breaking of the stool in the common room and dissolution of their blankets gave her a vivid, horrible idea what kind of decay they were talking about.
"Every children learns not to use magic which is too advanced for them", Umbridge stated firmly like a woman wishing to get the matter settled.
Hermione found herself unable to resist the urge to watch them.
"But we must consider her muggle upbringing, headmistress." Not the boring witch had spoken, but Percy. "My parents kept their wands out of reach until we were old enough to realize their danger. One cannot expect from muggle parents to teach their daughter sticking to a curriculum they've never even heard of. Let alone see reason for its restrictions."
Judging from her frown, his line of argument was not at all to her taste, but McGonagall must have come to the same conclusion as Hermione: If it worked to convince Umbridge not to expel her, she would have him talk her into it.
"I cannot confer with the Minister", Umbridge refused to give in just yet, "and tell him that Miss Granger dueled with the descendants of some of our most well-established families and got away with detention."
"Accepting responsibility does not necessarily mean punishment", Percy pointed out.
An unsettling moaning sound reached their ears. Madam Pomfrey rushed to its origin, potions ready in hand. Percy clenched tightly to the rolls of parchment and his wand, apparently in charge of protocol. The sound of his sister, howling in pain until Madam Pomfrey had administered sufficient analgesia, must have been hard for him to bear. Blind Ginny folded her arms, frightened and miserable at the sound, and at a signal from her brother, rushed over to him and got his arms laid tightly around her.
Madam Pomfrey stepped into their midst soon after the moaning had subsided. "The rate of decay seems to accelerate", she said, "Miss Weaslely will have to stay at the infirmary, I am afraid."
"Which one?", blind Ginny requested from her brothers hug.
"All of you", Madam Pomfrey replied. "I will need some assistance in their care, Minerva."
"Severus will be -"
" - unavailable, Professor", Umbridge cut across her, "Since he has to prepare his students for their exams. He cannot shoulder any more responsibility. The consequences for Miss Granger is clear then", she announced, voice sweet as ever, dangerously confident. "She will assist you in caring for Miss Weasley, until the matter is – settled."
The audible gulp of McGonagall overshadowed the witches approving nod and scratching of quill on parchment, bewitched by Percy, who was still half hugging blind Ginny.
"I presume you will want to tell the girl's parents?", the grey witch addressed him.
He quickly exchanged looks with McGonagall. "I'll have to discuss it with her head of house first."
"A reasonable step", she agreed.
"There's simply no way of this incident not entering Miss Grangers record", Umbridge declared, and none of them argued. "We're done here, then", Umbridge decided, "I'll update the Ministry on recent events." Without another word, she hurried to leave.
"Someone from Mungo's ophthalmology will be with you in the morning. I'll wait for you outside", the grey witch added, allowing herself a most pitiful look on Ginny.
"Thanks, Marfalda."
He huddled steps has just ceased when McGonagall spoke. "I don't think we should inform Arthur and Molly."
"Me too." Percy commanded the quill to retreat to the inner pockets of his jacket, then tucked his wand, putting his arms back around blind Ginny, who buried her face in his chest. "Ron should know. Better get an accurate description of events than hear about it in a – distorted – version from others."
"I'll see him first in the morning."
"Her ambition always was admirable, right from the start. Mum said she wished Fred and George would take a leaf from her book.", Percy nodded toward Hermiones bed, who managed to close her eyes just in time. "It will ruin her O.W.L.s"
"As long as it does not ruin her", McGonagall whispered. "We'll give the two of you some privacy. Poppy, what else did you wish to inform me about?"
"A minor concern, it can wait."
"No, straight ahead, please."
"When Miss Granger and the – please excuse my harsh phrasing, I don't treat them like that – products of her magic arrived here, we did not know the extend of their injuries. Standard procedure involves undressing them completely."
Explains the gown, Hermione thought. She heard them step away from Percy and Ginny, feeling a sudden rush of heat coloring her cheeks.
"When I put her robes on the chair, I coudn't help but notice this -", Madam Pomfrey had must be showing something to McGonagall, probably pulling it from the extended pocket of her apron, "- dropping from the inner pockets of them."
She found it impossible to interpret the silence between them. What had she been carrying that aroused suspicion? Harry did not want to get caught with the Marauder's Map he occasionally consulted, and certainly had his Invisibility cloak with him once in a while, but usually -
"You recognize this type of potion, don't you?", Madam Pomfrey uttered in a low, worried voice, and realization hit her with the force of a blasting spell: Snape's liquid version of Occlumency.
"I do", said McGonagall, voice dialed down as well. Another pause, beyond decoding without looking up at them. "It's still sealed", her head of house then croaked. Hermione did not follow her line of thought: What caused her concerned tone, a bit of anguish trailing off? "Is she -"
"No."
"Then put it back into her robes, Poppy."
"Certainly she needs some counseling on -", the nurse went off, but McGonagall talked over her.
"This wasn't meant for us to see", she stated firmly. "Miss Granger, despite her most grave mistakes tonight, has the right to keep some secrets from us. This certainly is one of them."
"Perhaps less invasive measures -"
" - don't meet the needs rooted in subconscious, exaggerated anxiety of a teenager. She might not have acquired it for herself, but for the needs of another student. Merlin's beard, I might have missed an extensive violence among our students, for which she ordered … damage control."
"It's not just any version of Repentum Gravidas", the nurse would not give up, "Potions like these have to be produced as clear blue liquid for several years now, so that they won't be confused with other substances and consumed accidentally."
"By children, for instance", McGonagall added, and Hermione pictured her with a smirk, but still did not catch up on what she perceived to be subtle irony. "This substance is – dark and ... grey, so how old is this potion? At least?"
"Fifteen years, give or take a few."
"Fifteen -?", her head of house echoed, "But weren't they introduced to public access only eight -"
"I'm allowed to hand them to students in emergency situations", Madam Pomfrey added, voice soothed with satisfaction that McGonagall now took her seriously, "The same bill introduced preemptive measures accessible to all witches asking for them, if they were sixteen or older."
"Leaves one source only to get this.", McGonagall replied, and from the change in her voice, Hermione concluded that she must be furious.
"Should I still hand it back to her?"
Another silence in which Hermione imagined McGonagalls temper to stay just below boiling point.
"Yes", she finally said. "Put it back in her robes."
"But Professor -"
"It's still none of our business. Miss Granger would have told me if there were any – indecencies - to be worried about."
"Students must be protected from relationships requiring such measures", Madam Pomfrey said, leaving no doubt that she considered this with personal relevance. "I will watch over her."
"That's your prerogative in here,"
The nurse obviously had achieved what she had had in mind, and excused herself. Hermione heard her tiptoe to the chair at the end of the bed and obediently stow the flacon back in her pockets. McGonagall hurried from the infirmary, to her office perhaps, updating Dumbledore on events.
Percy and blind Ginny soon withdrew to a bed between dressing screens, where she heard him read to her. The faint simmer of a candle vanished from the stone ceiling above them, before she heard him leave as well.