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RETURN

CHAPTER FIVE-SLIDING

We all met in the Great Hall for breakfast the following morning. Before we dug into the food, Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"I have some sad news," he said, solemnly.

Whispers went around and everyone was watching him apprehensively and curiously.

"The Christmas Dance has been canceled," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Why?" a Ravenclaw girl asked.

I saw Dumbledore glance toward Parvati before continuing.

"Not enough room. But, each house will be allowed to have their own party in their common rooms," he continued.

Ron looked at me with a bewildered expression on his face.

"Not enough room? Is he mad? The entire Great Hall is like the size of the Quidditch pitch!" Ron said.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you see? Something happened with Parvati that caused the dance to be canceled. Dumbledore looked at her before he replied," I said.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked me.

I nodded.

"Well, at least we still get to party!" Ron cried.

"Look at the bright side...you won't have to ask a girl," Harry said.

Ron scowled at him.

"Would you please leave me alone about that?"

"Why? It's fun to tease you," Harry said, pretending to be hurt.

Ron scowled again.

"Fine. We'll stop," Harry said, earnestly.

Ron brightened again and continued to eat.

I was extremely anxious about going to class. When breakfast was over and everyone went off to his or her classes, I hugged my book tightly against my chest. Harry came up behind me and linked arms with me.

"Stop worrying," he said.

"I can't," I replied.

As we trudged up to the roof, a bunch of Hufflepuffs were coming down the stairs.

"Careful up there. There's patches of ice everywhere!" a boy said.

"Thanks," Ron called after them. "Blimey, why would you have class where it's icy?"

"I have no idea," Harry said.

By now, I was nervous.

We reached the roof. The roof was covered in a thick sheet of ice. The telescopes had icicles hanging off the ends. Professor Sinistra was waiting patiently for the class. Malfoy slid and fell flat on his face.

The Gryffindor's burst out laughing.

Malfoy scrambled to his feet, only to slip again. He tried to give the Gryffindor's a scowl, but the scowl was interrupted by annoyance each time he slipped.

"Professor? Why are we up here on ice?" Neville asked, carefully making his way over to a telescope.

"To study the sky in the daylight. Today, we're going to map the Little and Big Dipper," she replied.

"That's a blunt answer," Ron muttered.

I slid and ended up landing on my rear end.

Harry stood over me and extended his hand. I took it. We ended up falling backward, with me landing on top of Harry. We laughed.

"Gross," Malfoy said.

Ron threw him a loathing look.

We finally managed to get to our feet and over to a telescope.

In the middle of the lesson, Harry leaned over the edge of the roof and peered down at the grounds.

"Hey, take a look at this. Parvati's with Dumbledore," he said.

We all carefully peered down.

Sure enough, Parvati was standing below us with Professor Dumbledore.

"Wonder what's going on?" Ron mused as he and I returned to our telescopes.

"I don't know..." Harry mused.

"Harry, come back to the telescope," I replied.

"No, wait a second...Parvati's giving him something..." Harry replied leaning closer.

It happened in a split second. Harry's feet slipped.

"HARRRRYYY!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Harry went headfirst over the edge of the roof.

Ron and I rushed to the edge.

The girls screamed and were crying.

I saw Harry crash through the roof of Greenhouse 3. I stood shaking violently.

"Everyone back down stairs!" Professor Sinistra said in a shaky voice. She looked extremely pale and sick.

Ron had to pry my fingers off the edge of the roof and he helped me downstairs.

Against Professor Dumbledore's request, Ron and I went with Professor Sprout, Professor Snape and Dumbledore himself, to Greenhouse 3. When we entered the Greenhouse, there was one of the wooden beams leaning diagonally against the wall. There was glass everywhere. Several of the plants' clay pot bottoms were smashed and some plants were on their sides. But what I couldn't believe was the figure lying on his back in the middle of the floor.

Harry was lying on his back. His leg was bent at an odd angle and his left arm was draped over his stomach. The right arm was stretched out. His head was turned to the side and a small pool of blood was pooling around his mouth.

His glasses lay broken next to his head. He was dead.

"Good Lord," Professor Sprout said, quietly.

I felt myself shaking more. I felt a scream rising in my throat. I vented it out.

"Take her up to Madam Pomfrey," Professor Dumbledore said as Ron wrapped his arms around me and steered me out of the Greenhouse.

Madam Pomfrey gave me a dreamless sleep potion.

The next morning when I woke up, Ron and Neville were sitting by my bed.

Everything from yesterday came flooding back. I burst into hysterical tears.

I drew my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them under the white sheet and blanket.

I pressed my face into my knees and sobbed hysterically.

I heard the hospital wing door opening.

"She's awake," a voice said, softly.

I slowly raised my eyes. It was Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall, followed by Professor Sprout.

They crowded around my cot.

"We want you to know that we understand if you want to take a few days off from classes," Professor McGonagall said, gently and kindly.

I just continued to sob.

"What happened?" Professor Dumbledore asked, gently as he sat down on the edge of my cot.

"Professor Robbins told us of a vision she had. She said that Harry would fall. Hermione didn't believe it. Harry was leaning over the edge of the roof looking at you and Parvati and he leaned too far over and his feet slipped on the ice," Ron said, swallowing.

His voice was uneven and shaky. I knew he was fighting back tears as well.

"I understand why Hermione wouldn't believe it," Professor Dumbledore said, kindly. "But blaming herself isn't the answer."

I looked at him through my tears.

"If I had made him stay off the roof, he would still be alive!" I shouted as tears streamed down my cheeks.

"You had no way of knowing. That vision could've turned out to be false," Professor Sprout said, gently.

"IT'S STILL MY FAULT!" I screamed. "NOW I'VE LOST SOMEONE I LOVED MORE THAN LIFE!"

Professor Dumbledore didn't flinch.

"This is in no way your fault. It's mine," he said, quietly.

Ron and I looked at him.

"How is it your fault?" Ron asked, shakily.

"I suggested that Professor Sinistra use the roof. I should have waited until the ice melted. It was basically like sending students to a skating rink, only more dangerous," he replied.

There was a glimmer of tears in his blue eyes.

"And I should tell you what's going on with Parvati," he said, quietly. "Had I done so earlier, Harry would not have been so interested in seeing what was going on."

Professor McGonagall sat down beside me and stroked my hair. To my surprise, Professor Snape seemed upset and shaken as well.

Professor Dumbledore took a deep breath.

"You see, Parvati just received word that her father was killed at his office party. They were having a dance for Christmas as well. A muggle held them hostage and her father tried to help a pregnant woman there, but the muggle shot him. She asked me if we could not have the party this year because it reminds her so much of what happened with her father. That's why the dance was canceled,"

"What about when we saw you..." Ron's voice trailed off as he choked back tears.

He was losing the battle to keep himself under control.

"I was giving Parvati a letter to take to Hagrid. She told me that talking to him is helping her deal with the loss," Professor Dumbledore said, gently.

Professor McGonagall continued to stroke my hair.

"This is especially hard since it's Christmas time," Professor Dumbledore leaned close.

"I don't think Harry would want you to blame yourself." He said, kindly and quietly.

I just pressed my face back into my thighs and sobbed. I heard Ron sobbing as well.

"Would you like another potion, Miss Granger?" Professor Snape asked in a soft voice.

I've never heard him talk in that kind of tone before.

"Yes. But I doubt it will help," I sobbed.

"Let her get some rest. We'll check on her later," Professor Dumbledore said as he patted me on the knee before he and Professor Sprout got to their feet. They left.

A short while later, Professor Snape returned with another Dreamless Sleep Potion.

Neville gave me a hug before he left. He looked sick as well. He also gave Ron a hug as well.

The next day, I tried to get back to a normal routine, but it wasn't easy. I went to class, but had a hard time concentrating. The rest of the school knew and offered their condolences.

To my absolute shock, Professor Snape allowed me to take a nap during class. Maybe Professor Dumbledore had told him to let me. I didn't know, but I was grateful.

While Ron was doing his potion, I crossed my arms on top of the desk and put my head down. Soon, I drifted off to sleep.

Again, I saw Harry leaning over the edge of the roof...I saw myself yelling at him to get back to his telescope. I saw him falling. I screamed.

I woke up screaming in the middle of Potions class. I had knocked over my books and then fell to the floor.

"Miss Granger, are you alright?" Professor Snape demanded.

Near tears, and aware of everyone watching me, I quickly gathered my things and just hurried out of the dungeon.

I had an idea. It was crazy, and I knew I could get into big trouble, but I didn't care.

I went to the library and found the book I was looking for under the RESTRICTED AND DANGEROUS section. The book was called POTIONS FOR THE DECEASED.

I flipped through it until I found the potion I was looking for. It was called the Return Potion.

With all the ingredients, it should take three days to make. Most of the ingredients I could get from Snape's supply. Making sure Madam Pince wasn't looking I stuffed the book into my bag and left the library.

I suddenly felt a strange calm come over me as I went to Gryffindor's common room.

"Hermione? Are you okay? You left Potions quickly," Ron asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. Never been better. I've got an idea how to get Harry back," I said, sitting next to him.

The common room was quiet. Ginny was in a corner reading, but her eyes were blurry as if she really wasn't reading the words on the page.

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I ignored his last words and pulled out the book from my bag.

"Hermione! That's a really restricted book! You could get expelled if they find that on you!" Ron hissed his eyes wide.

"We can bring Harry back. Wouldn't that be great?" I asked.

"Yeah, but..." Ron's voice trailed off. "He's gone."

"See? He doesn't have to be! What do you say?" I asked.

Ron sighed.

"How long does it take to make?"

"Three days. I'll need to borrow the invisibility cloak. Most of the ingredients are in Snape's supply cabinet,"

Again, Ron sighed, but agreed to get the cloak for me.

Around midnight, with the cloak wrapped around me, I snuck into Snape's office. I picked out the ingredients and then hurried back to the Gryffindor tower. Once I was safely inside the common room, I slipped off the cloak and headed into the girl's dorm with a smile.

The next night, Ron helped me make the potion. We were making it back in the girl's bathroom. Moaning Myrtle was her usual self. We figured no one still used this bathroom.

The night after that, we added the ingredients. The book said the potion should be a light blue, almost iridescent and stirred 3 times clockwise and 5 times counter clockwise.

Finally, on the third night, it was ready.

"How are we supposed to give it to Harry?" Ron asked, as I filled a small tube up with the liquid.

"We've got to pour it into his mouth," I replied as Ron and I stood up and began walking out of the bathroom with the tube hidden in my robe.

"Like get him to drink it?" Ron asked, uncertainly.

"Yes," I said.

"I'm beginning to think that this might not be a good idea," Ron said, warily.

"Ron, Harry was taken from us. I loved him more than life. This is a second chance," I said.

"You're right," Ron said.

We snuck into the hospital wing where Harry's body was being kept. The curtains were drawn around a cot toward the back of the ward. We crept over to it and carefully pulled back the curtains.

I sucked in my breath momentarily. Harry's glasses had been fixed and were on. A bit of dried blood clung to his lower lip. His uniform was dirty and smudged with fertilizer and dirt. His face was strangely not cut from when he crashed through the roof of the greenhouse.

His arm was draped over his stomach and the other arm was lying at his side.

I felt tears forming in my eyes.

"Well, go ahead!" Ron said.

Taking a deep breath, I took the tube from underneath my robe and opened the cork. I leaned over Harry and tilted the edge of the tube to his lips. I began tipping the tube.

When the tube was empty, Ron and I stepped back a little bit.

"How long does it take to work?" Ron asked.

"According to the book, a few minutes," I replied.

We heard the door opening. Ron and I dove under Harry's cot. It was Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey.

"Poor Miss Granger. She's really not doing well. Professor Snape told me she woke up screaming from the nap and then just fled out of the class," Professor McGonagall said, sadly.

"Poor girl. She and Potter were extremely close," Madam Pomfrey said. "In their second year, when she was petrified, it seemed like he never wanted to leave her bedside."

I heard them talking as they left, closing the door behind them.

Ron and I crawled out from underneath the cot. As we stood up, we heard Harry taking in a breath. His chest began rising and falling. I gripped Ron's arm.

His eyes opened.

"Ron? Hermione? Where am I?" he asked, sitting up.

Not talking, I just threw my arms around him and hugged him. I buried my face into the curve of his shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably. I felt Harry hugging me back as well.

"You're in the hospital wing," Ron said, grinning through his tears.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"You fell off the roof and crashed through the Greenhouse's roof," Ron replied.

"Ouch," Harry said.

I still held onto him.

"Why is she hugging me like I've been gone for years?"

"Um, see, when you fell, you didn't make it," Ron said, slowly.

I finally pulled back from the embrace and kissed him. He was warm and solid.

Harry looked bewildered.

"You were killed, mate," Ron said. "Hermione found a potion to bring you back."

Harry grinned at me.

"That's my Hermione,"

Just then, Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall came back in. They came over to the cot and pulled back the curtains. Their jaws dropped.