Chapter 28
When Hermione woke up in the hospital wing, she felt refreshed and more herself then she did when she went to sleep. She smiled and stretched, wiggling her toes and let out a luxurious moan, feeling her muscles completely relaxed for the first time in what seemed like forever.
"Oh," she heard the no nonsense voice of Madam Pomfrey close by followed by brisk footsteps come closer and blinked her eyes open to see the matron standing by her bed. "Awake, are you? It's about time."
"What?" Hermione asked, blinking in confusion as she sat up, noticing the dimness of the room and realised the sun was near to setting.
"You've only slept for three days," Madam Pomfrey said. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd wake up at all."
"Three days!" Hermione cried, and threw the covers off, swinging her legs out of bed. "But Oliver promised!"
"Now, now," Madam Pomfrey said, holding out her hand in front of Hermione to stop the girl from getting up. "You just lay back there and let me have a look at you."
"But," Hermione protested.
"And besides," Madam Pomfrey interrupted. "It wasn't up to Mr Wood how long you stayed. There's no point in being upset with him."
Hermione opened her mouth about to protest again, but then sighed and sat back again.
"Now, first thing's first; Mr Wood and I spoke after you went to sleep. He told me what happened that started all of this. I know what that boy called you and while I don't approve of it, there's not much to be done other than let his head of house know about it. It's their choice on what to do with him after that. However, about you, we can do a couple things. How are you feeling now?"
"I feel..." Hermione began and paused, pondering the question. "Fine, I suppose. More relaxed than before anyway. Refreshed and more myself."
"That's good," Madam Pomfrey said. "Stay a moment," she said and headed to the back of the ward.
Hermione sighed and closed her eyes, settling back against the pillows on the bed.
A few minutes passed before she heard the woman's footsteps return and opened her eyes again to see her carrying a silver bowl and setting it on the table next to them. At Hermione's questioning look she held up a hand and moved to close the curtains and drew her wand, casting a silencing charm around the bed.
"This is a Pensieve," Madam Pomfrey said as she poured a clear liquid from a vial she pulled out of her robes into the large silver bowl.
"I've read about those," Hermione said, sitting up on the edge of the bed again, interest burning in her brown eyes. "I've never seen one before though."
"This is not usually something given to students, because it can be dangerous if used improperly. Memories can be lost completely if they're not stored correctly, do you understand?"
Hermione swallowed, a tight knot formed in her throat at the implications of such a device and the trust that the matron seemed to be putting in her if she even showed it to her, but she met the woman's eyes and nodded.
"Now, I want you to use thisonlyif you find you're having trouble sleeping; mainly if what that boy said to you plagues you again. After pouring the liquid into the Pensieve as I just did, you will focus your thoughtsonlyon the unwanted ones. I know that sounds horrible, but it is those that must be focused on so we can separate ourselves only from those we wish to forget. Understand?"
"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said.
"Good. Now, once you have those unwanted memories focused in your mind, you will lay the tip of your wand to your temple, and slowly draw it away as you think of letting those memories go. You must do this slowly because if you hurry, you can do yourself more harm than good."
"I understand," Hermione said.
"Alright then," Madam Pomfrey said. "Once you have drawn the memory away, it will appear as a gossamer thread on your wand tip. Hold it over the Pensieve, moving your wand slowly so that it doesn't become detached by accident before your wand is over the bowl. Once there, think about releasing the thought again, and it will float down into the liquid. This is a magical based liquid that prevents the decay of the memories. This is why the Pensieve can be dangerous. If this liquid is spilled with memories in it, those memories are lost. You can use magic on it though, using Wingardium Leviosa to move the liquid and its memory contents from the Pensieve back to a vial and shrink the Pensieve for storage."
Hermione swallowed once more, slightly nervous over the amount of trust that she was being given. "I'll take good care of it," she said resolutely.
Madam Pomfrey studied her for a moment and nodded. "Very well. No one, except perhaps Mr Wood, because he brought you here for this issue, may know of this. You should set your schedule accordingly so that you are alone — either your dorm mates are sleeping or absent from the room — to avoid questions. Is that clear?"
Hermione nodded again. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."
Madam Pomfrey nodded curtly. "If you're feeling unusually down and this doesn't seem to be helping, come and see me. Don't allow it to progress so far, understood?"
"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said.
"Very well, I will leave you to practise proper transport and storage of the device, when you feel competent, you may go." With that, the matron stood and cancelled the silencing charm and let herself out of the curtains, but let them fall behind her so that Hermione had some privacy.
Hermione practised in private for about five or ten minutes, making sure that she could transfer the magical liquid without spilling any of it. She even tried doing it by humming and singing softly to herself as a distraction from the activity to be sure she could do so under stress. Once she felt that she was ready, she shrank the Pensieve, putting it in the pocket of her robe on one side, and the sealed vial on the other. She then headed out of the infirmary and up to Gryffindor Tower.
When she got there, she headed up to her dorm and was relieved that no one was there. Opening her trunk, she pulled a storage box that she had picked up that year to store her potions vials in. Emptying the vials carefully on her bed, she closed the box and held her breath as she drew her wand.
"Geminio," she said quietly and was amazed and delighted when the spell worked. The box wavered slightly before a second exactly the same appeared next to it. She drew back as she was about to touch the boxes now on her bed as she remembered something she read about the spell. Holding out her wand again, she waved it over both boxes and murmured "Finite Incantatem."
Sighing in pleasure at the successful spell test, she gathered the vials she had put on her bed and put them back into one of the boxes. "One spell down, one to go," she said to herself as she put the vial box back in her trunk. Sitting on her bed next to the other one, she grabbed a quill from her bag along with a piece of parchment that she tore off and bottle of ink and scribbled 'memories' on the makeshift label before sticking it to the new box with a sticking charm.
Reaching into the pocket of her robe, she pulled out the vial of liquid for the Pensieve and put it inside. Next she reached into her trunk for her cauldron that she'd shrunk and restored it, pulling out the shrunken Pensieve, she restored it as well and grabbed two jumpers that she rarely wore. She wrapped up the Pensieve in one, and the box of the magical liquid in the other and placed them securely into her cauldron before shrinking them all. Now she just had to remember to take them out again before her Potions classes.
Making that mental note, she put the shrunken cauldron back into her trunk and closed the lid just as a paper dove flapped its way onto her night stand.
Smiling, she got up and opened the letter she knew was from Oliver.
22September 1992
Hermione,
I went to check on you at the hospital wing and found that you'd awakened and had already left. Hope you aren't too upset that you were there longer than anticipated. I mean, I told Madam Pomfrey you only wanted to sleep for the day, but well, they don't call her the Dragon Lady for nothing. She told me the potion didn't let you pick and choose how long you slept, that you slept as long as you needed to, and well, I guess you needed an extra two days.
Don't worry though, Harry got your homework for you. You can get it from him tonight after dinner. Speaking of dinner, if you're hungry, would you like to sit with me, Lee and the twins tonight? We've been really worried about you. Hope you're feeling better.
Oliver
Hermione smiled and grabbed her slightly torn parchment before scribbling her reply.
22September 1992
Oliver,
I would love to. See you at dinner.
Hermione
PS. This is for your eyes only. Madam Pomfrey gave me a Pensieve to use to help me get some sleep. She asked me to return if it doesn't help, but I have a feeling it will be just what I need. Thanks for all your help.
Drawing out her wand, she tapped it and it folded itself into a duplicate of the dove that she'd received, and she sent it back to Oliver before getting ready and heading down to dinner.