While You Were In A Coma

While you were in a coma

Harry woke up from a restless sleep. He stretched, still lying in his bed. He hadn't been able to sleep last night, tossing and turning agitatedly; his mind was still racing, alive with feelings he'd never had before, emotions he'd never experienced before. It was an hour before he heard Ron come to bed; Harry had stayed extra quiet to give the impression that he was already asleep. He didn't fancy any type of confrontation with his friend.

Harry shifted on his bed and settled himself into another position. It had taken him hours to actually fall asleep, and then came those dreams. Harry sat up; he didn't want to dwell on thoughts of the person who'd occupied said dreams. He extended his hand blindly to his night table and snatched his glasses. He inhaled deeply, preparing to leave the security of his warm bed and face Ron.

Harry flung aside the curtain that enclosed his four-poster bed and shoved his feet into his night slippers. As he stood up, he heard the faint snoring of his roommates and turned to Ron's bed, only to find it empty.

"That's weird!" Harry exclaimed, louder than he'd intended. Ron was never a morning person, and, judging from the way the faint morning sunrays seeped through the window, it still had to be pretty early. Harry searched the nightstand for his watch to learn the exact time, but refrained abruptly, remembering his watch had been useless since the second task at the Triwizard Tournament.

"Umm," came a muffled voice from a neighbouring bed, "Harry, is that you?"

"Yes, sorry for waking you up, Neville," Harry apologized quickly.

"It's okay. Ron was the one who woke me up. Don't you two realize that it's Saturday?" Neville grumbled, before turning his back on Harry.

"Do you know what time he left?" Harry inquired, lowering his voice; he didn't want to wake up any other friends.

"About fifteen minutes ago," Neville mumbled sleepily.

"Thanks, Neville," Harry replied, heading for his trunk in search of clean clothes. When Neville didn't answer back, Harry figured he had gone back to sleep. Harry quietly headed to the bathroom, planning to take a quick shower before going down to find Ron.

It took Harry ten minutes to head down to the common room, only to find Ginny poring over a book.

"Good morning, Ginny," Harry greeted, heading towards her.

Ginny immediately flushed. "Oh! Good morning, Harry," she responded with a shy smile.

"Have you seen Ron this morning?" he asked, getting right to the point.

"He left with Hermione about ten minutes ago," she answered, sitting up and fixing her flaming hair. By the look of her face, however, Harry could tell something else was bothering her. "They seemed to be fighting again...that's why Hermione insisted they go discuss it elsewhere," she spoke, concern etched into her face. Harry didn't know how to react in front of Ginny, so he kept quiet. "After yesterday's fight, with all of the Gryffindors as audience, I don't blame her," she added, searching for more conversation with Harry.

"You saw them?" he asked, hoping she hadn't witnessed what had happened afterwards.

"No, I was already at the dormitories, but Pavarti was kind enough to inform those of us who weren't present," Ginny declared sarcastically.

Harry felt his face grow hot again. Had Pavarti seen anything else? Had she spread the word about that, too? But Ginny was acting normally. No, perhaps Pavarti had left right after Ron and Hermione had finished arguing. Harry let out a relaxed breath as he mentally reached that re-assuring conclusion. But anyway, what was the problem? He had just cleaned Hermione's cheek after all; there was nothing wrong with that. However, what he couldn't understand is why he got a warm, almost tingly feeling in his body, just remembering the incident.

"Well thanks Ginny, I'll head out to find them," Harry said, standing up walking towards the portrait hole.

"Oh...ok Harry," Ginny spoke, her voice heavy with disappointment. "I'll see you at breakfast!" Ginny shouted after Harry.

So Ron and Hermione were fighting again. Well...Harry felt...he felt...actually, he didn't want to know how he felt. He just wanted to talk to his friends. Harry went searching around the castle; he swung by the Great Hall, and even the library, but they were nowhere to be found. Where could they be? He continued to walk aimlessly about the almost empty halls, when he heard soft, feeble echoes of Hermione's voice. It was too soft to understand what she was saying, but it was obvious by her tone that she was troubled. Harry hurried to catch up to where the voice was coming from, until he finally saw Ron and Hermione walking about twenty-feet in front of him. He was about to shout out to them, but the argument between them started out again, and Harry was curious to find out the reason for their fight.

"Ron, you are being ridiculous," Hermione argued, her voice strong.

"I don't think I am!" Ron defended, his ears acquiring the characteristic red tone when he is angry.

"Yes, you are...what you're implying...that's ludicrous," she said, her voice shaking slightly, and her anxiety was evident through her body language.

"Are you telling me the truth?" Ron asked, suddenly stopping and turning to Hermione. He grabbed Hermione by the arm, stopping her too.

"Yes!" she spoke with force as she met Ron's gaze. "What you're accusing me of...it can never be..." Harry noticed a change in her voice as he approached them surreptitiously, hiding behind a pillar. "...It can...it can... never be true..." this time Harry barely heard Hermione as she lowered her head, her words trailing off.

Ron seemed to be gathering strength as he grabbed Hermione with both arms, "Then prove it to me, Hermione," Ron pronounced.

"Isn't the fact that I'm with you proof enough?" Hermione countered, lifting her eyes, ready to counter-argue the determination in Ron's eyes.

"Hermione, we've been together for two months..." Ron started, his voice steady, "...and in that period of time, you haven't once..."

"Ok...I know," Hermione stopped him, lifting her hand. Overwhelming dread and guilt built up insider her, for she already knew what he was going to say. "Ok..." she said softly, and Harry's heart began to race. Hermione turned, searching for anyone who might be watching them. Harry had barely enough time to get back behind the pillar. He returned his attention once again to them, nervously anticipating what was coming next.

Hermione was taking deep breaths; preparing. She watched nervously as Ron began to slowly approach her, his eyes never leaving her face. She clutched her hands tightly; her nails were leaving bright marks on her soft skin. She screwed her eyes shut, pursed her lips securely together and stiffened completely as Ron's arms wrapped around her.

Harry was having trouble fighting the two powerful forces that were trying to take control over him. One was trying to make Harry turn around and leave his friends so that they could have a private moment. However, the stronger, much more insisting force wanted to burst into a run to stop what Ron was intending to do. Harry was full of anxiety as he watched Ron inch closer to Hermione; his hands were clutching the pillar so tightly, it felt the pillar would crumble underneath his fingers. "NO!" His mind screamed in desperation.

"Oh, dear God! Can't you be a bit more considerate? People can lose their breakfast at such a repelling sight," the cold, sneering voice of Draco interrupted rudely, stopping Ron not a moment too soon. Draco's cronies, Goyle and Crabbe, sniggered stupidly.

"Sod off, Malfoy," Ron spat, fuming with anger. Harry, though, was so grateful for Malfoy's interruption he could kiss Malfoy. Well...almost.

Malfoy and company waltzed away, happy at having ruined Ron's moment, and Harry decided to run to Ron and Hermione before Ron could proceed.

"Hey guys," he greeted cheerfully.

"Good morning Harry," responded Hermione, her entire body relaxing from her tense stance.

"Yeah," Ron answered, still angry.

"Have you two had breakfast yet?" Harry asked.

"No," answered Hermione, blushing lightly, shooting a brief, sideways glance at Ron.

"So...should we go then?" Harry pressed, wanting to get to a more public surrounding as quickly as possible.

"Of course, let's go," Hermione declared, starting to walk swiftly to the Great Hall; Harry and Ron trailed behind her.

***

Between worrying about Ron, and witnessing what could have been a horrible sight, Harry had forgotten that today was a Hogsmeade weekend. All of the Gryffindor students from third year and above were in the common room, preparing to leave for another great trip. Harry was sitting rather uncomfortably on a sofa; he was very preoccupied, carefully thinking what to do. He was seriously considering missing out on the trio this time, especially since the whole time they'd been there, Ron hadn't once let go of Hermione's hand. Hermione kept glancing at him from time to time, and Harry couldn't help wondering if it was because of the pity she felt about leaving him alone while she and Ron chose to go off together.

"Well come on everybody, Honeydukes awaits us," Ron called out excitedly as the crowd began to walk out.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione called.

"Actually, I'm not sure if I'm coming," Harry replied, standing up.

Hermione released herself from Ron. "What do you mean? You have to go," she answered, her brows creasing.

"But..." Harry lost his resolve; he couldn't stand having Hermione close. "I don't wish to be a third wheel..." he trailed off. Harry spoke truthfully under Hermione's powerful gaze.

"Nonsense!" Ron exclaimed, before Hermione could respond. "You can go with Ginny..."

"Ron!!" Hermione reprimanded, then added, "Harry, you can never be a third wheel." She grabbed his hand and smiled sweetly.

Harry smiled back, mesmerized by Hermione's smile, and with her hand on his, he couldn't concentrate on anything else. He tightened his grip around her hand as an overwhelming desire of wanting to touch her shot through him.

"Yes, well...move it then," Ron interrupted, grabbing Hermione's other hand and pulling her through portrait. Harry touched his cheeks to test just how hot they were before following his friends out.

***

Two hours later, Harry realised his assumption had been right. He did feel like the third wheel, as Ron kept trying to kiss Hermione the whole time, and she kept refusing every single time. Harry was angry with himself for having these horrible feelings inside him. His blood had this strange way of feeling like it was boiling every time Ron attracted Hermione to him. Yet, why was Harry even getting involved in this? It was their relationship, and he didn't care what they did.

"Oh, don't you give me those lies Harry," Hermione spoke, her voice strong.

"What?" Harry asked nervously. Had he spoken out loud?

"Don't you dare say that you don't want to go to the Three Broomsticks with us," Hermione continued, not noticing when Harry let out a relieved breath, "you've had a craving for Butterbeer for days."

"Harry, look!" Ron exclaimed, pointing to the new Quidditch store that had recently opened in Hogsmeade. "They have new Chudley Cannon memorabilia," he said excitedly, before running to the store window.

"As if he doesn't had enough orange stuff covering his room," Hermione scoffed.

"Don't let him hear you say that," Harry said, feigning seriousness.

"Oh, what will he do? Break up with me?" Hermione asked sarcastically.

"I wish," Harry snorted, before he knew what he had said.

"What?" Hermione asked, immediately turning to face Harry.

Harry was avoiding her eyes. What had he just said? While he was thinking up what to say, an eerie feeling of icy, glacial coldness enveloped him, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He remembered this feeling; this cold that had made him feel a void inside; yes, it was the same eeriness he'd sensed in Diagon Alley. He was startled; his senses came alive, and he inspected his surroundings. Right then, he saw a suspicious man moving through the shadows; uneasy, Harry focused his attention at the darting movements of the man; he looked eerily familiar. Then it came to him. Wormtail. That filthy little--Harry's eyes narrowed, he was attempting to control the anger, but it was no use. His temper flared, and he was taking short, gasps of air.

"Harry? Harry!" Hermione was calling. At first she'd been angry because Harry hadn't answered her question, but then when he had frozen in a sort of trance, she'd gotten worried. "Are you alright? What's wrong?" she grabbed him by the shoulders, desperate to get an answer.

"Wormtail," he breathed, still shocked.

"What? Where?" she asked, concernedly, shifting her gaze in the direction Harry's thumb was directed, unconsciously scooting closer to him in the process.

"Well, as always I don't have enough money to buy at least a cheering mini-doll," Ron called, making his way back to where the two of them were standing. "Hey, what's up with you two?"

"I'm going after him," Harry stated decidedly, and began walking.

"Your absolutely are not," Hermione replied, grabbing his arm.

"Hermione, let me go," Harry insisted, struggling to wrench her firm grip.

"What's going on?" Ron exclaimed, fed off with the obvious lack of attention.

"Harry spotted Wormtail and, foolishly, wants to go after him," Hermione explained, continuing, "and just what do you think you are going to do, huh, Harry?" she asked, her voice changing.

"I don't know yet," Harry responded.

"Now, that's a great plan," Hermione replied sarcastically, her voice laced with anger.

"I have to follow him," Harry said, determined to keep his resolve.

"Harry, no!" Hermione had softened her tone, almost begging him not to go.

"Don't you understand? I was the one responsible for Wormtail escaping to go to Voldemort," Harry reasoned to her, and Ron and Hermione flinched at the sound of the name.

"Harry...you-you spared a life...that's very honourable," Hermione said, her voice quivering.

"Regardless of whom it was..." Ron put in.

"I shouldn't have done it, if it wasn't for me, Voldemort wouldn't have risen anew. Now I have to go after him!"

"I am going with you," Hermione replied quickly.

"NO!" Harry and Ron shouted at the same time, startling Hermione.

"And why not?" she asked, indignantly.

"Don't you realize that if you come with me, the prediction could come true...what if--" Harry started.

"What if the prediction has nothing to do with the three of us? What if the three that professor Trelawney spoke of are you, Wormtail and...You-Know-Who..." Hermione trailed off, her voice quivering. "What if the one that falls in darkness is you?" Hermione exclaimed, finally voicing the real fear that had been tormenting her the whole time.

"Hermione," Harry was at lost of words; frankly, this idea comforted him a bit, since this could mean that neither she nor Ron could get hurt. "Look, everything will be okay, now you want to help me?" Hermione merely nodded. "Ok, then. Ron, you take Hermione and go and find help...if you need to, go up to the castle and tell a professor-" Harry continued.

"Harry, that will take us so much time...what if you need help?" Hermione interrupted.

"You are helping me, Hermione," Harry replied.

"NO! What you are doing, as always, is trying to save the rest of us, while putting yourself in more trouble," Hermione screamed, her eyes filling, "I don't care what you say, I'm going with you!"

"No, you are not! Something can happen to you," Harry replied, also getting angry.

"Something can happen to you, too!" she retorted.

"Don't you understand that if something happens to you, I...I..." Harry stopped himself from continuing, and grabbed her by her shoulders. His throat was dry and felt strangely narrow, and he swallowed hard as he made direct contact with Hermione's eyes. He was getting desperate, he knew Hermione was stubborn, but he was also determined to stop her from getting herself involved in this situation. His heart racing, he tried not to think of what he was about to say. He looked into her deep cinnamon brown eyes, which bore into his own emerald ones, and saw that they were filled with a mixture of anger and sorrow. His right hand left her shoulder, and slowly made its way to her cheek; he wanted to feel the softness of her skin again, just wanted simple contact with her. He was just a few inches from her cheek, when he balled up his hand and let it drop. "If anything happens to either you or Ron, I could never forgive myself," Harry whispered finally, desperately attempting to make his voice sound believable enough. He wasn't originally planning to say that at all, and the realization of this made his stomach sick with misery.

This time Hermione didn't have an answer. She simply lowered her head as she tried to control her sharp intakes of air. "Now, come on, Hermione," Harry continued, letting her shoulders go, "the faster you run to the castle, the faster you return," he added encouragingly.

Hermione lifted her head to look into his eyes. Her eyes silently pleaded to go with him. "Don't do anything foolish, please," Hermione spoke, her voice shaking and just a notch above a whisper.

"I won't, you know me," he said, trying to evoke a smile.

"It's precisely because I know you, that I am telling you to be careful," she said seriously. They remained quiet for a few seconds, neither one moving from their position. Harry knew very well that if he wanted to catch up to Wormtail he had to go right away, but something made him want to stay rooted to the same spot. He needed something; he wasn't sure what it was, but his body and heart knew that they required it before running out to a new adventure. Hermione's eyes were now piercing into his, radiating with a shocking intensity he had never felt from her before. As if she could read his eyes as easily as she did her schoolbooks, she threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms securely around his neck. Immediately, his entire body came alive, all of his muscles tensed up and relaxed at the speed of lightning. How could she do that? How could she read or sense exactly what he needed? Strangely her hug filled him with strength and...warmth. "Just promise me you won't do anything stupid, Harry. Promise me you are just going to see where he's hiding and then come here and wait for us to come with help," Hermione requested, still clinging to his neck.

Harry's arms were slowly moving to her waist, and he lightly placed them on either side. Not trusting himself to actually wrap his arms around her, he whispered, "I will."

"Tell me that you promise," Hermione begged, with desperation in her voice.

"I promise." Harry closed his eyes, and enjoyed the way her warm breath caressed his ear when she spoke.

Slowly, Hermione loosened her arms around his neck and let her arms fall to her sides. Harry took a step back, clenching his fist, "Well, I'll see you later."

Ron, who had been extremely quiet during the whole of Harry's chat with Hermione, walked slowly to him. He grabbed Hermione's hand, and said to Harry, "Be careful, mate. We'll hurry up to the castle."

Harry smiled weakly as he turned to the direction Wormtail had been, and started running. Hermione was still rooted to the same spot, as Ron was trying to tug her away. "Come on Hermione, we have to go," he pressed, and he finally succeeded in moving her a few inches.

Harry had already disappeared from Hermione's sight, but she knew that Harry was lying to her. She knew that he was going to try and face Wormtail. She could barely hear Ron's angry voice as he was pulled her forcefully towards the castle.

Ron's face was red from pulling Hermione like a sack of potatoes through the streets, but Hermione still kept looking in the direction Harry had run to. "Harry..." Hermione whispered, so softly that Ron himself couldn't decide whether he'd imagined it.

She couldn't-she just couldn't leave Harry alone. Something could happen to him, what if Wormtail wasn't alone??? Oh, why had she left him go alone? Instantly, her mind was made up. She began wriggling her hand furiously, attempting to unfurl Ron's firm grip around it. She was using such a force she didn't even know existed within her, but after a few minutes of struggling, she was free; gasping for breath, she started running blindly in the general direction of which Harry had run off. She could barely hear Ron screaming her name, shouting at her to come back; it was merely noise to her ears; her own inner voice was screaming, "Harry!" much too loudly.

***

Harry didn't know if he was going in the right direction. He had lost so much time arguing with Hermione; he'd lost Wormtail's trail. He was in the outskirts of Hogsmeade, near the woods where Sirius had hidden years before. He finally stopped as he reached the patchy part of the woods, tightly clutching his wand, when Harry realized he'd lost Wormtail. "Damn it!" Harry screamed in anger. As soon as he spoke, a gush of icy cold breeze shot through him, and he shivered. Somehow, this cold atmosphere always came with a sense of emptiness.

"Expelliarmus!" a voice shouted behind him, and just as Harry was turning to face it, his wand flew out of his hand.

"Why must you be so predictable, Harry Potter?" sneered the man, exiting the large tree-covered area where he had been hiding. His voice was strange, almost as if regretting that he had found Harry.

"Wormtail," Harry breathed, anger rising up in his voice.

"You should have listened to your friend, and shouldn't have come after me," he continued, ignoring the fire blazing in Harry's eyes. Wormtail's wand extended towards him. Harry then understood that Wormtail had heard their discussion, and had probably been following him since Diagon Alley. "And now, I have to fulfill my mission," he said again; his tone of voice was now that of a conspirator.

"I should have let Sirius kill you," Harry whispered angrily, his stance not wavering under Wormtail's threat.

"But you didn't..." Wormtail retorted immediately, continuing, "and for that, I am great debt to you." Wormtail was trying to be calm, but his wand was trembling in his stubby hand.

"I don't want anything from you!" Harry shouted furiously, taking a step towards him. Wormtail recoiled, taking a few steps back, the fear starting to show in his eyes.

"My master doesn't want you to interfere in his plans. That is why he sent me to take care of you," Wormtail explained.

"I thought your master would at least be brave enough to come and destroy me himself," Harry defied, and sudden shudder crept through his body, but he didn't let on.

"He doesn't wish for certain wizards to discover him yet..." Wormtail began, and, as if wanting to reveal details, continued, "besides, I haven't been sent here to kill you."

Harry was confused; Wormtail had originally said that he was sent to 'take care of him' and now he was claiming he wasn't going to kill Harry? But before Harry could find the words to question Wormtail, he'd raised his wand, threatening to cast a spell.

"HARRY!!" Hermione's voice screamed as she came running quickly towards him, and standing in front of him.

"Hermione, get out of here!!" he screamed back to her, frantically trying to push her away.

"NO! I'm not leaving you!" she retorted, searching her robes for her wand, and maintaining her ground.

Harry saw with great desperation that Wormtail hadn't relented, and was still holding his wand high. Hermione, unfortunately, was still stubbornly standing in his way. What was she playing at? "Hermione!!!" Harry was now pleading, and was trying to push her behind him; that would black her a bit, at least.

"With this, I pay my debt..." Wormtail screamed; huge droplets of sweat running down his ugly face. "Ava..." he began muttering.

Desperately, Harry grabbed Hermione from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist, preparing to pull her out of the way. Time seemed to freeze and an indescribable amount of fear overtook Harry; he thought he was moving in slow motion, his head was buzzing from what could happen to Hermione if the spell hit her. His senses became distant; it was as if he no longer could hear Wormtail. Just as Harry willed his muscles to move, to try and push Hermione away with renewed fervour, Harry felt strong hands push him forcefully to one side. As Harry fell to the ground, he had just enough time to turn to see Ron take the spell full on. The impact threw Ron a few feet into the air before he hit the ground with a loud thud.

"RON!!!" Harry and Hermione screamed at the same time, before slamming to the cold, hard ground themselves. The last thing Harry felt was the intense, throbbing pain in his head, and Wormtail lamenting before darkness fell over him.

TO BE CONTINUED.