"Won-Won!"

Hermione blinked and looked over at Harry. "Did she call him wonton?"

Harry looked incredibly embarrassed on Ron's behalf and shook his head helplessly.

"Hey… Lavender," said Ron, grimacing.

"Why aren't you wearing the necklace I got you? You received it, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I have it right here," he said, reaching into his bag with a resigned look and bringing out a gold heart that had "My Sweetheart" plastered across it.

Had she been drinking anything, Hermione might have spat it out. She figured if she laughed, Lavender might turn on her, so she left them to their snogging. At least they appeared to enjoy that more than each other's talking.

She left with a small nod to Harry who looked like he wanted to shrivel up and die.

Upon leaving the study room, she found Char and Marietta.

"Char!" she waved her down. "Er, hi. I've been wanting to talk to you."

"You have?"

"Yeah," Hermione fidgeted with her necklace. "I thought… well… I'm sorry I didn't announce I was alive sooner. I thought it safer to remain in hiding until I could get back to school."

"I get it."

"So, you're not upset?"

"Why do you think I'm upset?"

"Well, you've been avoiding me and people tend to avoid others when they're angry," Hermione looked at Marietta. "Right?"

"Usually, but Cho's not upset with you."

"Then what's the problem? I thought we were going to talk about…" she waved her hands between them. "You know…"

Char bit her lip and looked at Marietta. "I'll meet you in the Common Room."

When Marietta left, Hermione and Char walked over to a nook and leaned against opposite walls so they could see each other fully.

"Thinking you were dead was horrible," said Char. "It was the worst I think I've ever felt. Will it always be like this with you?"

"I won't sugar-coat it, Char," said Hermione. "It will. My bad luck could be a near death experience again. Look, we don't have to be super serious. Can't we just… casually date?"

"What about Cedric? I read the papers, you'll have him back soon."

"He's not coming back."

"What?"

"If he was, he would be here by now," said Hermione. "I fear I won't ever see him again." She rolled her lips and shook her head. "I'm not looking to replace him. I like you as you are, Char. I want to date you and keep sword-fighting with you, but I completely understand if you don't want to date me. I can compartmentalize my feelings. I won't make things weird. I'm not even sure I know how to be a proper girlfriend anyway, so friends would be easier."

Char tucked her hair back. "Okay. Let's just… let's just take it one day at a time? We can tell people and be exclusive, but if either of us feels like it isn't working, we should be allowed to step away without it interfering with sword-lessons."

Hermione nodded. "I think that's fair. We keep it casual, see where it goes and if we can even handle the shitstorm coming our way."

"Right."

Hermione held out her hand. "So… girlfriends?"

Char smiled and took it, squeezing gently. "Girlfriends. We're on for sword-training tomorrow, but perhaps we can have a study date this week."

"I'd like that." Hermione shouldered her bag. "Bell's about to toll, I gotta go."

"Alright, see you in the morning."

Hermione hurried along, finding Padma and Daphne so they could head to Potions together.

"Hey, have you talked to Char yet?" Padma asked.

"Yeah. We decided we're going to date, but keep it casual with the promise of no hard feelings if one of us feels overwhelmed and wants to break it off," said Hermione. "I like having everything out on the table. Even if there are hard feelings, at least we talked about it."

"Well, that's good," said Daphne. "A bit weird, but… hey, maybe when I finally start dating I could just lay things clear like that."

They entered the classroom and sat at their usual tables. Harry and Ron came in soon after, the latter donning a smeared lipstick stain on his cheek. Unlike Viktor, who donned his kisses with pride, Ron was trying to wipe this one away.

"Settle down, settle down, please!" said Professor Slughorn. "Quickly now, lots of work to get through this afternoon! Golpalott's Third Law… who can tell me—But Miss Sanchez y Granger can, of course!"

Hermione recited slowly for the benefit of the class, "Golpalott's Third Law states that the antidote for a blended poison will be equal to more than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components."

She didn't even understand it when she first read it, but Mom told her that it meant that an antidote was alchemical and would have a key ingredient that would transform the poison itself into a cure. Similar to when they brewed a non-lethal potion. Things like venom and skin and mushrooms would be toxic on their own, but the potion making process cancelled them out. Slughorn said as much in more complicated terms, so Hermione figured she could explain it to everyone during study group.

Hell, when they covered this topic at Castelobruxo, nearly everyone stayed behind after class to get more clarification.

"… and so," finished Slughorn, "I want each of you to come and take one of these phials from my desk. You are to create an antidote for the poison within it before the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don't forget your protective gloves!"

Hermione stood and strode over to Slughorn's desk. She plucked up a poison she recognized and brought it back to her desk. The others realized the lecture was over and the practical had begun, so they followed her lead.

"I hope you've been paying attention to the principles used in your book," she said to Harry. "They'll help you in this."

He sent her an annoyed look and tipped his garish pink potion into his cauldron.

Hermione left her neon yellow poison be and opened up her potions case. After all, ancient problems sometimes required modern solutions, that's what Señora Díaz said. And that meant abiding by poison control.

She placed a massive syringe with a long, thin tube attached onto her desk along with a bottle of black liquid. When it came to magical poisons, it was best to use activated charcoal.

Once those were set out, she closed her case and brought out a journal she had found amongst her things containing many useful spells. She couldn't remember where it came from and assumed it had come from Mr. Puckle's vault.

Ron and Harry started copying what Ernie Macmillan was doing (as he couldn't help but be loud) while Daphne was using magic to siphon the ingredients of her poison out of her cauldron to different vials.

Professor Slughorn was moving around the classroom as he usually did and seemed prepared to praise Harry as always until he saw the coagulated mixture. He pursed his lips then nodded approvingly at Daphne before looking at Hermione's empty cauldron.

"Miss Sanchez y Granger aren't you going to begin?" he asked.

"My solution is more of a demonstration," she said.

"Well, whatever you are about to demonstrate I'm sure will be satisfactory."

God, he could be condescending. Hermione smiled sweetly.

"May I use the lavatory?"

"Of course."

In the closest girl's lavatory she summoned Bob from her purse and opened the book to the correct page, which detailed simulating human anatomy. Nothing too realistic if she didn't want it to be. That would require something more… fleshy. It didn't take long for her to form the torso, head, and face similar to a CPR dummy. She made sure that it had a clear esophagus and stomach that could be seen by everyone.

She picked up the dummy and returned to class. Everyone looked up from their potions and jaws dropped.

"Where on Earth did you get that?" Professor Slughorn asked.

"Made it," she said and placed it by her desk. "It's important to my demonstration."

"Very well," he said.

"Isn't that Bob?" Harry asked her.

"Yeah. I'll put him back to rights after this demonstration."

Harry looked back down at his book, jumped to his feet, and dashed over to the cupboard.

"Two minutes!" Slughorn called.

Hermione used her time to read through her gastric lavage instructions one last time.

"Time's… UP!" said Slughorn. "Blaise, what do you have for me?"

As it turned out, Harry had grabbed a bezoar, which Slughorn seemed to find hilarious. Clever boy.

"You're just like your mother! Well, I can't fault you, a bezoar would certainly act as a cure to all these poisons!" He clapped him on the shoulder. "Of course, bezoars are difficult to come by so really it's better to learn actual antidotes."

He beamed and turned to Hermione. "Now, Miss Sanchez y Granger, I think we're all curious about your antidote."

"Yes, sir." Hermione cleared her throat. "Behold a man." She poured the vial of poison into Bob's mouth and gestured to the stomach that showed the liquid. "Bob has just ingested a poison. This poison would kill him in about twenty minutes. Very few poisons kill instantly, but when you don't know what you're up against, this is the best course of action. So, what we're going to do is take this tube and measure from his mouth to his stomach to ensure no excess or kinks. Then we're going to place a bite block in his mouth so he can't pinch the tube. We lubricate the tube — stay with me boys — and feed it down through the esophagus into his stomach." She showed them. A few people turned green and Daphne gagged involuntarily. "Now we're going to use this syringe and pull the poison out." She pulled on the end and all the yellow poison was pulled out into the syringe. She had to move the tube around to get all of it and dump excess poison into her cauldron. "Then we perform gastric aspiration to get those stubborn bits out. And finally we put in a slurry mix of activated charcoal to flush everything out of his system."

"Where did you learn this?" Professor Slughorn asked, fascinated.

"Castelobruxo," she said. "It's modeled after No-Maj poison control. They've only been following it for two years, but so far the statistics show a vast improvement in poison treatment and recovery."

She clamped the tube off before removing it.

"There," she said and patted the dummy's shoulder for show. "Don't you feel better, Bob?"

"Very much so," Bob replied.

Hermione screamed and covered her mouth with her hands.

"He's talking!" Daphne gasped.

"That's not all I can do. Look," said Bob before breaking out into an off-key tune.

Hermione picked up her book and flipped through it as Bob began moving around, much to everyone's shock and disgust.

"What was that spell?" Hermione whispered. "It was just supposed to be a simulation of human anatomy!"

She picked up her wand and shouted the counter spell. Bob wiggled and the clear stomach fell out, splattering the charcoal mixture to the floor. His mouth closed and his expression returned to the mean one he'd always had.

"Well, I've never had that happen in my class before," Professor Slughorn chuckled and cleaned the mess with a wave of his wand. "Class dismissed."

Hermione cleared her stuff and poked Bob with the tip of her wand. Seemed he wasn't alive anymore, so she shrank him down and put him away.

"You're getting weirder, Hermione," said Ron as they left class. "Why didn't you just put the bezoar on your desk like Harry did?"

She glared at him. "Lavender's looking for you, Won-Won."

He flushed red. "Where?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Got it, Harry!"

Seamus, Dean, and Neville came running up pushing a grocery trolley.

"Do I want to know?" Hermione sighed.

"Well, considering the prophecy I'm basically immortal," Harry said and climbed into the basket without finishing the thought. "Can we borrow your video camera?"

"Fine." Hermione took her camera bag out of her purse and handed it to Neville. "But if anything happens to my camera, I'll levi your corpus off the Astronomy Tower."

"Nia, may I get your help with something?" asked Blaise. "Daphne, you too."

"Sure."

Hermione, Daphne, Blaise, and Theo headed in one direction while the Gryffindors headed in the other. Padma promised to meet them at dinner and wandered off on her own. The four Slytherins headed towards the Room of Things. Blaise paced in front of the wall and a door appeared. Inside was the Lost and Found.

"What's all this about?" Hermione asked.

"Draco is up to something," said Blaise.

Daphne rolled her eyes. "You sound like Harry."

"Well, for once, Potter is right," said Theo, testing out the stability of a chair before sitting down in it. "Draco's been sneaking out and coming here. I followed him one night and Blaise worked out that he must be looking for something here, if he's been working closely with Borgin and Burkes."

"Makes sense," Daphne conceded. "I get why you asked me for help. Birds of a feather and all that, but why bring Nia into the mix?"

"Well, she's proved herself Slytherin," said Theo. "And she gave me a tampon the other month without question or an odd look, so… I think she's trustworthy and can keep a secret."

"I appreciate your faith in me," said Hermione, not mentioning that she hadn't thought twice about why Theo would need a tampon in the first place. "I promise, I won't tell Harry anything. He's got more important things to worry about. Hold on—" She swiped her hand to move a staircase on the other side of the castle— "And if Draco is up to something, perhaps we can make sure he doesn't hurt anyone he isn't supposed to in the process."

"Can you see anything in here?" asked Blaise.

She knew the answer, but she still took off her eyepatch and looked around just to show she tried.

"Mm… it's like looking through a kaleidoscope. There's so many things in here, I would have to sort through them individually. And Hogwarts can't sort it for us, it's too…" She waved her hands in lieu of a word… "a task for us to handle. This is literally a thousand years worth of garbage."

"What about when you merged with Hogwarts?" asked Daphne. "Could you do it again and maybe get a memory?"

"That could work…" Hermione pursed her lips and hummed. "I suppose… alright. Let's try it. I need something to lie down on and then I need to be hypnotized."

Blaise swept their wand and conjured a chaise for her.

"Nice," she said and laid down on it.

"I want to be an interior designer," they said. "I'm also interested in architecture, but there are no classes here for that."

"You know, if my cousins decide to take on apprentices, I might be able to arrange something," said Hermione. "Or are you more interested in a certain someone in line to be head of gem production?"

If Blaise was embarrassed, they did a very good job of hiding it. Instead, they bopped her on the head with a workbook from class. Hermione grinned and settled back.

"Okay, now I need to be hypnotized," she said. "Something spinning or pretty lights."

Daphne took off her necklace and held it over Hermione's eyes, spinning it in a circle while Blaise and Theo used their wands to send beams of color around it. Hermione watched the lights reflect off the Magen David and the room faded. Rather than stay in the Room of Things, she found herself in the Gryffindor Common Room. The Sixth Year Gryffindor boys were all standing around while everyone else was laughing. Neville was recording their shenanigans.

"Just pull it!" said Harry, bent over while Dean and Seamus tugged on the Knight's helmet stuck on his head.

"We are pulling!" said Dean.

"Guess Snape was right, Harry," said Seamus. "You do have a fat head."

Harry wagged a finger. "Ohh, when I get out of here, you're in big trouble!"

"I'll be up in our dorm," said Ron, spotting Lavender enter the Common Room. He ran up the stairs and picked his blanket up off the floor, finding a box of chocolates in red and gold wrapping.

"What if we use butter?" Neville suggested back in the Common Room. "Or soap? My gran used it once when Uncle Algie got his hand stuck in a jar."

Dean fetched a bar of soap, which he and Seamus started using around the neck of the helmet.

"It's kinda hard to get it in there," said Dean.

Harry pulled his head out of the helmet, grabbed the soap, and swiped it around the inside before sticking his head back in.

"Try again."

"Okay," said Seamus. "One… two…"

"Wait a second!" said Dean, shoving Harry. "You dick!"

Harry clutched his sides, laughing hysterically. Seamus, Dean, and Neville grabbed couch cushions to hit him with, chasing him up the stairs to their dorm. There they found Ron sitting in front of the window.

"You missed it Ron!" said Seamus. "Neville, show him."

"I don't know how to rewind this thing," said Neville. "I'm not even sure how to stop it from recording."

Ron didn't respond, just continuing to stare out the window humming to himself.

"Ron!" said Harry.

Their friend looked over his shoulder, but didn't seem to really see him.

"Not hungry."

"Well, good, we didn't ask if you were," said Harry.

"Harry, I can't stand it!" Ron cried desperately.

"What? Are you sick?" Harry looked at the others who were just as lost as he was.

Ron did look pale, which made his freckles stand out more. He also had a glazed look in his eye.

"I can't stop thinking about her!" he said hoarsely.

"Then why'd you run away from her?" asked Seamus.

"Ooh, maybe he's too overwhelmed by his feelings!" Dean laughed.

"If you start writing love poetry, I might have to start dunking your head in the toilets," said Neville, making the other guys, bar Ron, fall into giggles.

Ron moaned and buried his face in his hands. "She probably doesn't know I exist."

Harry frowned. "I'm pretty sure she knows you exist. She's snogging you isn't she?"

Now Ron looked confused. "Who are you talking about?"

"Who are you talking about?" asked Dean.

"Romilda Vane," said Ron softly, and he lit up like he just saw his first Quidditch game.

They stared at each other for almost a whole minute, before Harry said, "This is a joke, right? You're joking."

"I think . . . Harry, I think I love her," said Ron in a strangled voice.

"Okay," said Harry, walking up to Ron to get a better look at the glazed eyes and the pallid complexion, "okay . . . Say that again with a straight face."

"I love her," repeated Ron breathlessly. "Have you seen her hair, it's all black and shiny and silky . . . and her eyes? Her big dark eyes? And her—"

"This is really funny and everything," said Harry impatiently, "but cut it out, all right? Drop it."

"Yeah, Ron. This is a really weird joke," said Seamus.

Ron scowled and hurled the lid of the chocolate box at him. Seamus batted it away where it was caught by Harry.

"Oi! What was that for?"

"You insulted Romilda!" Ron yelled, swinging at him. "Calling her a joke when she's the love of my life!"

"Don't throw things at me!" said Seamus, swinging an arm back.

Harry kept staring at the lid while the two went at it like a pair of Muppets.

"Dean, use the levi spell," said Neville.

Dean nodded and cast it, lifting Ron into the air by his ankle. He checked on Seamus and Hermione saw a vision of them hiding in dark, safe corners. Too scared to even let anyone outside of Ginny and Luna know.

"Guys," said Harry. "I think Ron's been potioned."

He turned the lid around and Romilda Vane's face blew a kiss back at them. Hermione caught a vision of the girl concocting a potion in the girl's lavatory and brushing them onto a batch of chocolate cauldrons. She was actually there at this very moment, putting another one into mini-treacle tarts since her first round didn't work. Hermione twitched her hand and the pipes burst, dousing the girl and sweeping away her potion. She tuned back into the conversation the boys were having.

"Should we tell someone?" asked Neville. "We've got it recorded, right?"

"I think I'd rather let Nia handle it," said Harry. "You know how she feels about this sort of thing."

"So, Madam Pomfrey then?" Dean suggested.

"I don't want to annoy her anymore than I already have," said Harry. "Besides, can you imagine if we ran into Romilda on the way?"

"Why not let him declare his undying love?" asked Seamus, rubbing the spot where Ron punched him. "It'd be funny, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, but this potion has been sitting in here for a couple months," said Harry. "Who knows how it might affect him. I mean… do you really want him to attack Romilda in front of everyone?"

The boys cringed and shuddered at the thought.

"We'll help you get him there," said Neville. "Scout ahead, make sure Romilda isn't along the way."

"Thanks." Harry looked at Ron and let him down. "You are absolutely right, Ron. We're being selfish! Here I was wanting Romilda all to myself when it's perfectly clear that you two are meant to be!"

"Right!" said Ron. "Glad you see things my way. I'd better go to her."

"Well, see, she's not here," said Dean.

"Yeah," said Seamus. "I heard from Parvati that she's in Slughorn's office."

"What on Earth would she be doing there?" asked Ron.

"Remedial lessons," said Harry. "Mmhm, yeah."

"Oh. I could take them with her!"

"That's right!" said Seamus, taking the Knight helmet from Harry and sticking it onto Ron's head.

"What's this for?"

"Romilda likes Knights," said Neville.

"Good thinking." Ron lifted the visor. "How do I look?"

Seamus slapped it back down.

"Never better," said Dean.

They made a very odd parade back down to the Common Room, pushing through the crowds of kids who were likely about to start heading to dinner.

"Won-Won!" Lavender called. "There you are."

"Hey, Lav, your eyeliner is smeared," said Dean before Ron could respond.

"Oh, thanks," she said, running to the girl's lavatory to fix it.

It was a trip getting Ron through the corridors as he kept trying to kiss anything vaguely human-shaped. Pillars, vases, suits of armor. He even smacked a kiss on Harry's cheek.

"Get off! Save it for Romilda." Harry smacked the visor back down.

"I'M COMING, ROMILDA!" Ron shouted gleefully.

"If it's alright, I'll stick with you," said Neville, holding up the camera. "Not sure if Nia will be at dinner and I don't fancy this getting ruined."

"Let us know how it goes," said Dean, walking away with Seamus while Neville knocked on the door.

Slughorn was still in his office and he looked at Harry with surprise.

"Harry, m'boy," he said. "Mr. Longbottom. I can't imagine you have any questions about the lesson today. I was just on my way to dinner."

"Sorry to bother you," said Harry, "but my friend Ron swallowed a love potion by mistake. You couldn't make him an antidote, could you? I'd take him to Madam Pomfrey, but you know . . . I don't want to bother her again."

"I'd have thought you could have whipped him up a remedy, Harry, an expert potioneer like you?" asked Slughorn.

"Er," said Harry, somewhat distracted by the fact that Ron was now elbowing him in the ribs in an attempt to force his way into the room, "well, I've never mixed an antidote for a love potion, sir, and by the time I get it right, Ron might've done something serious—"

Ron leaned heavily against Slughorn. "Hello darling… Fancy a drink?"

Professor Slughorn made an expression that would have been comical if the situation wasn't so serious.

"I see your point," he said. "Come along. I've got everything here."

Harry helped Ron sit down and pulled the helmet off his head, tossing it aside.

"Where's Romilda?" the latter asked, growing distressed. "You said we were going to see Romilda."

"She's on her way," said Harry.

"How do I look?" Ron asked.

"Very handsome," said Slughorn, handing him a cup filled with the potion. "Here, this will calm your nerves."

Ron slurped it down and his dreamy expression fell away. He sagged back into the couch and pressed a hand to his head.

"Ow…" he groaned. "My head."

"Thanks, Professor," said Harry with a relieved grin.

"I think this calls for a pick-me-up," said Slughorn, going over to a cabinet that glittered with bottles. "I've got butterbeer… I've got some elderberry wine… I know! How about a lovely oak-matured mead? I had intended to give it to Dumbledore for Christmas… ah well, can't miss what he never had." He brought the bottle down. Something wasn't right.

As he passed, Hermione touched the bottle and saw someone injecting it with poison through the porous cork and placing it back in Slughorn's possession to pass on to Dumbledore.

"DON'T!" she shrieked and her eyes flew open. "IT'S POISON!"

Blaise, Daphne, and Theo jumped, knocking over a stack of bric-a-brac. Hermione jumped to her feet and practically flew through the castle to get to Slughorn's office, using every passage she knew of. She kicked the door open and burst into the room in time to see Ron convulsing and foaming at the mouth on the floor.

He was turning blue and Slughorn and Neville were in shock as Harry fell to his knees with a bezoar in hand.

Their friend shuddered and went limp.

Hermione stared at the bottle in Slughorn's hand and felt her blood run cold.

"We need to get him to the hospital wing," she said.

"Nia," said Harry.

"Move it!" she shouted and Slughorn snapped out of it.

"Right," he said and conjured a cot.

Hermione followed them to the hospital wing.

"Er… Nia," said Neville, handing over her video camera. "I caught the whole thing. Will it help?"

"Probably," she said, putting it away. "At least, it will prove that the mead was poisoned when it was poured."

"How'd you know what was going on?" Neville asked.

"Remember that thing I did last year in the Room of Things?"

"Yeah?" He gasped. "Oh… she tells you things."

"That's right." She held a finger to her lips and he mimed zipping his.

"How did this happen?" Madam Pomfrey demanded when they entered.

Slughorn explained and Hermione turned around to go confront Draco. He was getting sloppy and was proving a danger to others. She wouldn't put up with it in her school. Everything seemed to go grey the more she focused on where Draco was. Everything else was closing off.

Hermione pushed open the door to Moaning Myrtle's new bathroom. Draco was standing there with his back to her. He noticed her and whirled around.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped, wiping tears from his face.

"It's a girl's bathroom."

She closed the door and the grey faded.

"I know what you did," she said. "You imperiused Madam Rosmerta through Blaise, didn't you? Passed that book to Char and told you what wine Slughorn bought so you could spike it with poison. She didn't remember after the imperius curse was broken and you didn't get the opportunity to go back and recast it. Did you?"

The blood drained from his face and he didn't even try to deny it.

"And I know why," she continued. "You were tasked with taking Dumbledore out. That's the task your mother wanted my help with."

"Why don't you just butt out!" he snapped. "God, Granger, can't you go five minutes without sticking your nose in other peoples' business?"

"What I can't figure out… is what that vanishing cabinet is for," she said. The words just tumbled out as she spoke them. This was Hogwarts' knowledge. Not hers.

Draco drew his wand and Hermione held up her hands. Technically she was never unarmed, but he didn't know that.

"IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!"

"You're sloppy, Draco," said Hermione, thinking quickly. "I still need your mother's help with those items. So…"

She stepped closer until she was a foot away.

"I will help you calmly and quietly take Albus Dumbledore out of the picture."

"I don't trust you," he snarled. "You'll take me to the authorities if I tell you anything."

"I won't," said Hermione. "But you can't do this by yourself. We can bring in friends. Blaise and Daphne will certainly want to help. Theo, too. They worry about you."

"Shut up! You're just so… good aren't you?!" he shouted.

"No. I'm nice. Big difference."

The door opened and Harry came in with his wand drawn.

"I followed you and heard shouting," he said, spotting Draco and glared. "What are you doing?!"

"Harry, go back outside," said Hermione. "I can handle this."

"Of course, perfect Potter is here," Draco spat.

"I won't let him hurt you."

"He's not going to hurt me, Harry."

"I will if the both of you don't back off!"

"Put the wand down, Malfoy!"

"Back off, Potter!"

"Boys! Calm down!"

As they shouted at each other, Hermione saw Harry raise his wand. She jumped between them and held out her hands, knocking Draco's wand arm aside.

"WAIT!"

"Sectumsempra!"

"Bombarda!"

The wall exploded. Hermione gasped and looked down at her chest which was blossoming with blood. It didn't seem to stop. She looked at the horror-stricken Harry, tears already flooding into his eyes.

"Harry!"

She fell over into a puddle created by the pipe Draco accidentally hit, her head spun and the room spun faster. The water turned red. Was that her blood? There was so much of that, wasn't there? Strangely, she couldn't feel the wounds.

"No…" Harry came into her line of sight. "Hermione… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! The book just said it was for enemies! I didn't mean to. I would never… I'm sorry."

She couldn't respond. She wanted to, but she could hardly raise her head. The last thing she heard were Harry and Draco's screams and shouts.