While You Were In A Coma

Before I start with the story I would like to show two very beautiful fanarts that were sent to me from chapter seven. They are the artist intrepretation of the hospital bed scene. I hope you like them.

Harry/Hermione done by the very talented ginchan.

Harry/HermioneBed by the also talented Stigmass (here is the thread if you want to leave a review for the artist)

Thanks to the artist who did them. If any of you out there wants to make a fanart to complement my fic I would be so thankful. The only rule is that it has to be a H/Hr pic. So send them my way.

And now on with the show.

While you were in a coma

Hermione´s heavy eyelids were finally opened, after the thick rays of sunlight had basked in her face for several minutes. She stretched her arms high above her head, sinking more deeply into the sheets, enjoying the feeling of sleepiness still lingering in her body. She hadn´t slept in days, and she was content to finally relax.

She hugged the sheets tightly against her body, as she replayed the images she had dreamed, which were still clinging to her conscious mind. She remembered walking alone through a corridor; the walls were invisible, as her hands seemed to be placed in midair. The floor was uneven and even though she could see that her feet were bare, she couldn´t feel the texture of what she was walking on. Suddenly a bright light invaded the corridor, blinding her sight. Her hand rose to her eyes to cover the light hitting her directly, but between her fingers she could distinguish a person standing in front of her, the brash light prevented her from actually seeing who it was. They stood in complete silence for long minutes, before the figure started to move away, slowly at first and then gained speed. Hermione was still standing, she couldn´t move, and was screaming Don´t go! Please! She didn´t remember what happened next, or how it ended.

But something else was clear in her head; it didn´t seem as a dream, for she could not recall any image, just sensations. An idea stuck in her mind that she had been hugging something very tightly, something whose warmth extended all through her body.

Then something strange grabbed her attention, her bed was uncharacteristically messy. She had always been a calm sleeper, and her sheets stayed in place when she woke up, but right now, her sheets and covers were wildly strewn. She dismissed it rapidly, as the thought of Harry came to her mind. How she had made peace with him, of the promise they had made, but mostly, she thought about him. How kind he was for staying with her, how sweet his action was to read with her, how soft his voice sounded. When had his voiced changed? Last night his raspy voice seemed to flow seamlessly through the air. No longer a squeaky kids voice, but a lower more mature tone.

Hermione realized the description she was bestowing upon Harry´s voice and stopped herself from continuing, but she let out a content sigh before she could realize it.

"Hermione are you awake?" said a voice from the other side of the drape that surrounded her four-poster bed.

Hermione was startled, she felt like a little girl being caught doing something she wasn´t supposed to. "Yes Lavender," she responded pulling on the curtains, to see an already dressed up Lavender.

"Good morning then," Lavender greeted, offering Hermione an uncertain smile before she walked to her vanity to brush her hair.

"Good morning," Hermione replied swinging her legs off the bed.

Lavender seemed to hesitate, looking at her reflection on the vanity mirror, before she responded. "So you finally got a goodnight sleep?"

"Yes...I finally got some issues off my mind..." Hermione answered.

"Hmm," Lavender responded going back to priming herself up.

"Lavender..." Hermione started shyly, even though they had shared the same bedroom for five years now, she wasn´t very comfortable talking with her. "Thanks for talking to Harry...and for helping him to come and see me."

Lavender glanced briefly at Hermione. "Yes...well...I was worried."

"Thank you," Hermione repeated smiling, slightly touched by her actions.

Lavender turned to her fully. "You are welcome," she gave a short breath before continuing. "Harry said he was going to be right back."

At that statement Hermione reached for her watch, which was on her night table, to the right of Hogwarts: A History, to look at the time. It was already eleven o´clock in the morning; she had overslept. "Oh don´t tell me Harry came looking for me early in the morning?" Hermione exclaimed, groaning for missing Harry. He probably came to check up on her when she was still asleep.

Lavender stared directly at Hermione. "You don´t have to pretend with me Hermione; I know Harry spent the night in your bed..." she said rather dryly.

To say that Hermione was dumbfounded at this news was an understatement. "Wh...wha..." she couldn´t utter a question.

Lavender sat up from her seat and went to her trunk; she appeared to be looking for something. "I saw both of you asleep in your bed when I came back...you were lucky I returned first...I closed the curtains so neither one of the girls saw you...otherwise..."

Hermione couldn´t hear the rest of Lavender´s statement, the meaning of her words engraved in her mind. Harry had slept here...here in her dorm room...here in her bed...Now she understood why her sheets were so messy, but most importantly now she understood the feeling she had, about hugging something...Oh my God! Her mind screamed and she gave a short jump standing up from her bed. Did she gulp hug Harry?! In her sleep!! Her face felt as if she was in a hundred degree oven, but before she could register why, she needed to get this clear. "Lavender...no...umm...I...didn´t..."

Lavender turned from her trunk and cut-off her sentence. "Look, you don´t have to say anything to me, okay? I understand, Harry is your friend and he tried to help you..."

"But..."

"And after all he did help you, didn´t he? You finally got some sleep," Lavender continued picking up her robe and walking to the door. She stopped before she walked out. "Like I told you before, Harry said he would be right back, and if you could wait for him."

And with that she left the room, without letting Hermione explain, as if she could explain. Then she remembered the last words Lavender had spoken, Harry was coming back, and she looked like she just woken up, which she just did, but her mind wasn´t in any state to deal with simplicities. She jumped to the vanity, picking up the brush Lavender had been using, and proceeded to try and calm the jungle of her hair. She looked at her reflection and was very surprised, she looked too thin to be allowed, the pronounced dark circles below her eyes denounced her lack of sleep, and she was so pale she looked like one of Nearly Headless Nick´s ghost friends. What angered her most was her hair, a single week without brushing it correctly and it had returned to the bushy state of her early years. She gritted her teeth as she tried to brush away the knots in her hair, she´d better hurry up, Harry could return at any time and he would see her in this state and...she stopped, looking at the brush and her hand and let it go as if it was on fire. So? Her mind reasoned, as if Harry hadn´t seen her in worse state, and even if he hadn´t, he was her friend, what would he care how she looked?

She stood up, slightly confused about her actions, and slowly backed away from the vanity, until she was again sitting in her bed. There was a knock on a door, interrupting the cross fire of thoughts that were fighting within her mind. She turned towards the noise and watched mutely as Harry entered her dorm room, completely ignoring the exaggerated manner her heart began to thump. He had his back to her, and he seemed to be having trouble balancing something in his hands and trying to close the door at the same time. "Good morning," he greeted brightly. "I bumped into Lavender right now and she told me you had woken up. Did you sleep well?"

Hermione rubbed her eyes forcefully, trying to concentrate on the conversation; she turned to Harry, as she finally got a glimpse at was he was carrying. "What´s that?" she asked, ignoring Harry´s question.

"Oh...well since you didn´t wake up in time for breakfast, I thought that I would bring some breakfast to you," he said, rather shyly, as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and walked to her bed.

Hermione was touched once again for his thoughtfulness. "Harry, you didn´t..."

"Oh no! Hermione, no you don´t," Harry interrupted her, thinking she was going to refuse the food. "You haven´t been eating, Lavender has told me so," he detailed as he gave her the tray. "And besides, I had a great deal of trouble in making you breakfast. Those house-elves didn´t want to let me cook. It got to such an extreme that I had to threaten them that I´d start giving away socks if they didn´t leave me alone."

Hermione smiled at Harry, laughing a little at his attempt of a joke, but she sobered up very quickly as she looked down at the steaming plate of fried eggs and four sausages, what appeared to be a blueberry cupcake was on a smaller plate, all complemented with a big glass of pumpkin juice. "You made this?"

Harry shrugged again as he sat down on her bed. "Well, I´m not exactly a chef, all Aunt Petunia made me do, was check that the bacon wasn´t burned. But I picked up some things, along the way. Of course I didn´t make the muffin; Dobby sent it to you."

"That was sweet of him," she said as the small smile still lingered on her lips. She was about to thank him, but something else was bothering her. "Umm...Harry...can I ask you something?" It was clear in her mind what she needed to know, but she couldn´t word the question.

Harry must have seen her hesitation, because he cut her right off. "Look Hermione, I´m sorry if I slept here in your bed last night..." Hermione was surprised at how he knew exactly what she was about to ask, "It´s just that...well...you fell asleep...and you...well you..." He wasn´t sure if he should say about how her arm just draped over his waist, and didn´t let go of him all night, but at the end he decided against it, "I also feel asleep."

"Oh..." Hermione wasn´t sure what she expected to hear, but somewhere within her heart, she had hoped that the reason Harry had stayed would be something completely different.

Hermione didn´t know what else to say, she was scolding herself for thinking anything else of Harry´s friendly intentions. A heavy silence fell in the room, and their eyes didn´t meet. Hermione was trying to say something to break the uncomfortable moment, when a strange object caught her attention. It was on the corner of the tray Harry had brought, inside a small glass vase. It had a long green stem, actually it appeared to be an ordinary rose, what was particularly strange was its petals, which had the texture and color of a piece of parchment, it even smelled like it. "Harry? What´s this?" she asked, while handling the flower in her hand.

Harry flushed slightly when he saw what she was holding. "Well...it´s supposed to be a rose..." he cleared his throat while he fidgeted on his spot. "That´s what we have been seeing with Professor McGonagall, how to transfigure a sheet of parchment into a flower...obviously I still haven´t perfected it."

Hermione smiled, her first happy smile in a week. "Well then, we´ll just have to practice more, don´t you think?"

Harry also smiled, happy to see that smile again in Hermione´s lips. "Yes, of course, you can talk, Miss I-always-get-perfect-scores-in-Transfiguration."

"Well if you stick with me you can also turn into Mr. I-will-get-high-scores-in-Transfiguration," Hermione chided.

"Hey! What happened to `perfect scores´?" Harry asked playfully.

"I can´t promise miracles!" Hermione responded mock-angrily.

They shared a small laugh, as the tense atmosphere melted away. "So are you going to eat your eggs or what? Go on, before it gets cold," Harry prodded, bending his leg beneath him, so he could sit over it.

Hermione grabbed her fork and picked at the eggs; when she was about to take a bite she looked at Harry. "What about you? Aren´t you going to eat?"

The slight flush returned to Harry´s cheeks, as he scratched the back of his head. "Actually...I already did. Originally there were eight sausages on your plate."

Hermione looked down at her plate, to the four pieces arranged neatly on her plate and laughed; a more embarrassed laugh joined her eventually.

***

Four hours later, Harry and Hermione were standing still on the same spot they had been for more than ten minutes, staring directly at the big wooden door in front of them.

"You should think that this would come natural for us," Harry spoke, while blowing air through his teeth.

"I know. It would seem that we are the only students who have been at this hospital wing, in one way or another, every single year of their academic career," Hermione put in, as she shuffled her feet, her legs getting numb of standing in the same spot for such a long time.

When both of them had started talking, they found out that neither one had actually gone to visit Ron. Something was stopping them, plain guilt. Harry had come closest to seeing him, making it half way to his bed. Hermione had only come to the same spot she was standing in right now. They finally decided, that now that they had fixed the guilt that was in them, they would go and visit him together. Five minutes later and they were still standing.

Harry had his arms tightly placed at his sides, but his fingers were twirling rapidly. Since they had stood there, Harry had an idea, but he was still thinking of acting upon it. All he wanted was to stretch his arm, just enough to capture Hermione´s hand in his. He just wanted to give her strength that´s all. This was the mantra he had been repeating all this time.

Hermione was getting more and more nervous. Neither of them was moving and she didn´t want to be the one to start. What was getting her more anxious was the fact that she could feel Harry giving her sidelong glances. She needed a little push to start this long journey. She dropped her head and risked a glance at Harry, she saw the velocity at which his fingers were moving and wished so much to take his hand, just to make her feel strong. At that moment she saw his arm moving, extending closer to her own hand. Hermione gulped hard, before she moved her own hand to meet his.

And just as their fingers brushed. "Ahh!!"

"Ahhh!!!" Harry and Hermione screamed in unison, after they were noisily interrupted; they jumped a few inches in the air, and moved a step apart from one another.

Madam Pomfrey had one hand on her chest; while she was fanning her face with her other hand. "Dear God, what are you two doing here, just standing...you scared me..." she was hardly able to speak, grasping for air. She had just opened the door of the wing, looking at some notes and she hadn´t noticed them until it was too late.

"We´re sorry Madam Pomfrey...we just came to see Ron, but-" Hermione started to explain but was interrupted by Madam Pomfrey, who just made gestures in the air with her hand and pushed both of them inside.

She immediately walked away, murmuring angrily, "Just standing there...some people are so occupied...we don´t pay attention..."

Harry and Hermione shared a glance before they took notice that they were already inside the hospital wing. "Well, I guess she helped us with our initiative problem," Harry said dryly, as he jerked his head in the direction of Ron´s bed.

Hermione nodded, understanding the sign. They slowly moved through the rows of beds, not making eye contact, the memory of what they were thinking still fresh in their minds. They finally made it to his bed, and their hearts sunk almost simultaneously. He was surrounded with complicated medical charms that seemed to be monitoring his life signals. His face was still white, and Harry thought his hair wasn´t as red as other times.

Hermione grabbed his clammy hand and breath deeply. "We are sorry," she said in a small, soft voice.

"For what happened to you..." Harry put in, grabbing Ron´s wrist.

"...for leaving you alone..." Hermione.

"...for not being able to protect you..." Harry.

"...for you having to jump in to save us..." Hermione.

"...for not knowing what they did to you..." Harry.

"...for not coming earlier," Hermione finished, cleaning the small tears from her eyes.

"We were trapped in our own guilt and didn´t think of anything else," Harry spoke summoning strength.

"But that will change from now on..." Hermione said, giving a significant gaze at Harry.

"Yes, we´ll do whatever we have to do, to help you out of this..." Harry continued, his voice getting raspy, his hand moving down to grab hold of Ron´s.

Hermione looked directly at Harry, and at the same time they reached across the bed for their hands. "We promise..." Harry and Hermione said in unison, as their hands linked the three. After that, Harry and Hermione seemed less pressured and nervous, and just spent the duration of the visiting hours talking to their friend.

***

The Great Hall looked unusually full to be a Hogsmeade weekend, Hermione noticed as she sat right next to Harry at the Gryffindor table for dinner that night. All of the students, even the Slytherins, turned to Harry and Hermione as soon as they entered the Great Hall. Since the night of Ron´s incident the mood of the entire school population had shifted, they were more quiet and nervous as they walked through the halls of Hogwarts. They were all taking extreme precautions, since that terrible night of the Triwizard Tournament, when Cedric died; the realization that they weren´t completely safe from the Dark forces had dawned on them. And know this, a Hogwarts student attacked right at Hogsmeade; they weren´t taking Ron´s accident well, even those who didn´t know him. Not counting the Slytherins of course.

Harry and Hermione had just been discussing how they had become the center of attention, once again, as they were assaulted by questions, and good-natured comments, when Ginny came in and sat forcefully in front of Harry. Her discontent was obvious in her features.

Ginny Weasley was not a happy camper. Obviously the towering problem that consumed her was her brother´s health. Ginny had always been closer to Ron, not just because of their close age, but because he was more of a friend than her other brothers; although that didn´t stop him from overprotecting her. The fact that Ron was now lying in a cold hospital bed, and that no-one, not even Dumbledore, knew what was wrong with him, was tearing her apart. But right now, the reason why she was so angry was because of Harry. Some tiny speck of her heart, had hoped that this tragedy could help to bring her closer to Harry. Since he would be as destroyed as she was, they could console one another. But since that day, all Harry did was walk through the halls in a zombie-like state, completely ignoring her when she would try to calm him at nights at the Gryffindor common room. And today, that he finally seemed to get some consciousness back to his face and eyes, he didn´t seem to separate from Hermione.

"Ginny are you okay?" Hermione asked, as she saw how Ginny wasn´t making any advancement to get some food. Hermione felt terrible for Ginny, the fourth-year student was obviously upset about what had happened.

Of course Ginny gave a long breath. She could never be resentful against Hermione, after all she was Ron´s girlfriend and she was just as sad as her. And Harry was only doing this, because Hermione was his best friend. "Yes...don´t worry, please," Ginny answered softly, as she grabbed a goblet and filled it with pumpkin juice.

Just then Dumbledore stood up from his seat and clapped his hands a few times to get the attention of the students. When the entire hall went silent he started, "It´s been a tiring week. Unfortunate events have occurred so close to us, that we can´t ignore them anymore. We have already sent owls to your families, assuring them of your safety. Because of last week´s incident, further Hogsmeade weekends have been cancelled," just some scarce groans were heard. "Of course this doesn´t mean that all fun activities are forbidden," Dumbledore made a pause, enough to glance around the four tables. Harry couldn´t help a small smile, Dumbledore always like to make his speeches interesting. "The faculty and I have decided to implement a few festivities in hope of elevating school morale," he continued getting total attention of every single head inside the Great Hall. "Referring to the academic side," at this Harry felt Hermione scoot a little closer to the table, "extracurricular classes will be offered every week, ranging from muggle sword fighting, to ballroom dancing; a list will appear at your common rooms with all of the activities offered."

Several small conversations spread around the room, mainly about what they wish they were offering and what could they take. "Are they going to give us extra credit?" was Hermione´s doubt.

Dumbledore waited a few minutes before continuing. "Also, this Halloween we are going to celebrate a bit differently, with a Masquerade ball, its little kinks and rules will also be posted in your common rooms," this news received several squeals, mostly from girls. "And if all goes well, we will repeat last years Yule Ball events," Dumbledore finished with the announcements, cheers flooded the air, girls made plans, boys glanced at their crushes and the gloom that appeared to be hovering over all of Hogwarts was lifted. Dumbledore was still standing, his familiar knowing smile in his lips. "And now let us continue eating."

"It seems very exciting," Ginny commented as she reached for a drumstick.

"I know. What kind of classes do you think they´ll offer?" Hermione asked getting that spark in her eyes. Harry couldn´t stop from snorting a laugh at Hermione´s response. "What?" she asked turning to Harry. "What´s so funny?"

"No comment," Harry responded still laughing, and looking at her. They didn´t seem to notice how they kept looking at each other even though they had finished talking.

Ginny never consider herself a jealous person. She had always received enough attention from her parents, and didn´t felt left out by the male dominance of sons in the family. Since her crush towards Harry, she never had felt anything remotely resembling jealousy, not even when he took Pavarti to the Yule Ball. She knew he didn´t actually like her; she was just the only girl in Gryffindor left to ask. But now, as she watched the strange connection Harry and Hermione were having as they were talking, how their gazes were still held even though they weren´t speaking, she was experimenting her first pang of jealousy. That´s why when that familiar voice was heard; she was actually a little relieved.

"So Granger? Are you still weeping for the terrible loss of your little Weasel?" asked Draco Malfoy as he approached the Gryffindor table from behind Ginny. "I was tempted to actually invite you to our `good riddance´ party in honor of Weasley, but of course it is at the Slytherin´s common room and no dirty Mudbloods are allowed."

"Why don´t you go to your own table and rot," Harry answered, barely containing his anger.

"How witty of you, Potter. I would think that you would be someone who actually wanted to attend the party, after all, now that the Weasel is gone, you have free-" Draco continued, but he was abruptly interrupted.

"OH, SHUT UP!" Ginny screamed as she rapidly stood up from her chair and faced a surprised Draco. She was never one for confrontation, she preferred to avoid them as much as possible, but this entire week had been horrible, her nerves were raw and she was fed up with Draco´s lame insults.

"Since when did you grow a back bone she-Weasel?" Draco asked taken aback at her reaction. Harry and Hermione shared his look of astonishment.

Ginny ignored his comment and continued. "The only reason why you are being such a bastard is because you are jealous."

"Jealous? Of what?" Draco countered, with a superiority rivaled only by his father.

"Jealous of Ron. Of how everyone is sad, or concerned for him. Because some way or another the students, and even the teachers feel his absence, but if it would have been you..." she stopped, impressed with this level of adrenaline flowing through her veins. In the spur of the moment she grabbed her goblet and splashed Draco with pumpkin juice right in his face. "Not even your mother would miss you, you stupid, egotistical..."

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, she was flabbergasted at the reaction of the youngest Weasley. Although she knew her comments were true, she had never seen Ginny actually talk back to Malfoy.

Ginny stopped to realize that almost everyone had looked at what she had done. It had felt so good to let out some of her frustration and anger at Draco, that she didn´t totally grasp what she was doing. Feeling every eye upon her, she spun on her heel and walked out of the Great Hall.

Hermione saw Ginny walk away, as Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors laughed out loud at a pumpkin-juice soaked Draco. It wasn´t long after the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs joined in the laughter, to see the prideful Slytherin so wet. Draco was fuming as he briskly walked out with long strides, not looking back.

Harry was still laughing when Hermione pocked him to get his attention. "I don´t think Ginny is feeling very well," she said softly to Harry.

Harry, with his hand still clutching his stomach from so much laughing, turned to her. "I don´t know, what she did was priceless, did you see-" Harry cut himself off when he saw the concern written on Hermione´s face. "Do you want to go talk to her?" he asked as he controlled his agitated body.

Hermione turned to the door and her gaze stuck there for a while. "No, I think we´d better give her some time to calm down. But we should talk to her eventually," she opinioned as Harry nodded in approval. "All of the professors saw what she did," she exclaimed as her eyes wondered to an angry-looking Snape. "This is going to cost many points off of Gryffindor."

"Maybe. But I think they are worth it," Harry proclaimed, as the heads of the rest of the Gryffindor boys nodded in agreement.

TO BE CONTINUED...