The Power Within

Chapter 3: Emotions Run High

Ginny Weasley looked on as Pig flew off into the sky. She had just finished yet another letter to Harry. Thinking back on her decision to share her past with him, she decided it best to wait until she was alone with him in person to do so. It would be a sensitive subject for both of them, so communicating it through a letter didn’t seem right. Instead, her letters included small matters dealing with life at Grimmauld Place and Ron and Hermione’s steadfast decision not to speak to one another. However, her letters always included the same bit stating that he could always talk to her about anything. Harry’s letters were similarly as boring, filled with descriptions of what the Dursley’s had him doing, and how slow his days were.

Things had been deadly quiet at Grimmauld Place for the past week. Mrs. Black’s portrait had been missing when the Weasleys had arrived. Remus said that after Sirius’ death he had come back, only to find that the portrait had fallen off the wall and was lying face down on the hallway floor. He had burned it, just as he knew Sirius would have had he ever been able to pry it off the wall. Kreacher had also packed up and shipped out, presumably because he was no longer had a master to serve. Molly, Arthur and Remus had shut themselves in the living room to work on a case for the hearing on the Burrow later that week. And to top it all off, Ron and Hermione were at separate ends of the house, avoiding each other at all costs. So it had been a welcome disturbance when Ginny heard Hermione’s delighted squeal echo up the stairs. Ginny ran down to the kitchen and found Hermione holding a roll of parchment. Ron was sitting at the table staring at her as if she had gone mad.

“Our O.W.L results are here, Ginny!” Hermione said when she saw Ginny standing at the foot of the stairs. “Oh, I don’t know if I can open it! I just know I scored a P in Ancient Runes!”

Ron looked at Ginny and rolled his eyes.

“She mixed up two words, so what! At least she didn’t accidentally describe her ugly divination examiner!” he said as he unrolled his parchment.

Hermione, who had given up on getting Ron to answer her about anything, feigned nonchalance. Her interest, however, was so overwhelming that it showed through her disinterested mask.

Ron was fooled by this though, and he ceremoniously held out the parchment before clearing his throat.

“Seven,” he said slowly and loudly.

Hermione’s mask faded and for a moment, she looked quite proud of what Ron had accomplished. Ron hadn’t seen the look, and proceeded to announce his results in further detail.

“An E in Charms, Transfiguration, Defense, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. An A in Astronomy and Potions. A P in Divination and a D in History of Magic. Works for me!” He said, casually tossing the roll onto the table.

“Seven out of nine is great, Ron! I hope I do that well,” Ginny said.

Hermione was still holding her unopened scroll, and was tapping it nervously against the palm of her other hand. Ron stared at her, awaiting her announcement.

Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap

Ron grunted.

Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Ta…

The tapping was interrupted by Ron, who had run over to Hermione, grabbed the roll out of her grasp and proceeded to tear open the seal.

“RONALD! GIVE THAT BACK!” Hermione yelled, trying to reach around his back to grab her results.

“Fancy that!” Ron began, holding the parchment up high, out of Hermione’s reach. “I would have never thought that mixing up two words would make the difference between a pass and a fail, but I guess I was wrong! And look at this! You failed Astronomy too!”

“I WHAT?” Hermione screamed, jumping up to reach the parchment that Ron was holding.

“Oh, I can’t go on! I’m a failure, I might as well die!” Ron said, imitating Hermione.

Hermione glared at him.

“You are too gullible sometimes, Hermione. You got all twelve, you can go back to being a know it all again!” He said with a sneer as he threw the parchment onto the table in front of her.

Hermione looked as if she was going to strike Ron again, but had decided against it. Instead, she snatched the letter off the table and stormed out of the room mumbling something that sounded oddly like, “Insufferable prat.”

Ginny couldn’t help but agree with Hermione’s all too perfect choice of words.

Ron, who had been staring at the doorway Hermione had gone through, snapped back to his senses and picked up an envelope that had been lying on the table, and held it out to Ginny.

“Your Hogwarts letter,” he said.

Ginny took the envelope in her hands and slowly turned it over, revealing the Hogwarts seal on the back. She ran a finger under it and the envelope popped open.

“This is it!” she thought. She had been waiting on this letter all summer, not knowing what to expect. She didn’t really want the badge, but she was afraid of what not getting it would do to her mother.

She slowly pulled out the letter, ears on alert, listening for a tiny “THUNK” that would be caused by the badge falling deeper into the envelope; none came. She opened the letter only to find the same message she had been receiving for years, a school supply list, and no mention of becoming Prefect. She released the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. She was relieved that she didn’t have the badge; she never really had wanted it. Fred and George would be ecstatic when they found out; they would feign tears and clap her on the back, congratulating her on becoming just like them. Her mother, on the other hand, would be upset. Molly Weasley had always seen Ginny as a reflection of herself, she hoped that Ginny would go on to accomplish all the things she never had. Ginny sighed; at least Fred and George would be on her side

“So?” Ron asked.

“So what? I didn’t get it.,” she said as she threw her letter down next to Ron’s results.

“Oh, be happy. You don’t want to chase after first years all the time, dealing with all their petty problems. Besides, you can follow in Fred and George’s footsteps now, just like you’ve always wanted, you rebel!” he said, elbowing her in the ribs.

Ginny laughed. As quickly as Ron could irritate you, he sure knew how to make you forget he ever had just as quickly.

Ginny walked over to the sink and grabbed a glass that had been sitting in the drain, waiting to be put away, and she filled it with ice cold water from the tap. She leaned against the counter, sipping the water slowly. She decided that she would continue in Fred and George’s footsteps. She would smuggle in Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes and sell them, no matter what the cost. Of course, she wouldn’t give up completely on her studies like Fred and George had done. She would ask Hermione to help her study for O.W.L’s - surely receiving good scores would help her mother forget that she hadn’t been handed the badge.

She heard voices in the hallway and looked up to see her mother, father and Remus entering the kitchen. Remus clapped Ron on the back,

“Seven O.W.L.s I hear! Very nice! You’ll do well in your N.E.W.T level classes I’m sure,” he said.

Arthur laid a hand on Ron’s shoulder.

“I never doubted you!”

Molly clasped her hands, looking at Ron proudly.

“First Prefect, and now seven out of nine O.W.L s. What are you going to accomplish next?” she crooned, but then turned her attention promptly to Ginny.

“Well, let’s see it then!” she said.

Ginny froze, and then slowly set the glass down on the counter behind her.

“Mum, I hate to do this to you; I know you have always expected me to carry on the tradition of nearly every Weasley getting the badge…”

“But you didn’t get it did you?” Molly asked sadly.

Ginny shook her head.

“Well, that’s a shock! What could you possibly have done wrong to keep you from receiving it?”

Molly stood there shaking her head from side to side, looking like she was going to cry.

“I can only think of one thing!” Ginny screamed suddenly. Honestly, why did her mother have to act so distraught, it wasn’t as if she had chosen not to receive the badge. “Dumbledore doesn’t pick prefects that have been possessed by Voldemort!” Ginny felt like dying. Why did every thing she ever did in life have to boil down to what had happened her first year, when she had been a foolish, naïve and stupid little girl. She felt sobs rising within her throat, and hot tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She covered her face with her hands and ran from the room and up the stairs.

Ginny threw herself on her bed and cried until her eyes had run out of tears and her throat burnt raw from her sobs. She sniffled. This situation usually happened about once a year, maybe twice. Some incident would bring all the events and feelings from her first year crashing back to her like a tidal wave crashing onto shore. The helplessness, the pain, the fear and mostly the shame and embarrassment. Sobs were bubbling in her stomach again and she tried to choke them back down. She buried her face in her pillow and prayed that that whole year had been a dream, that she would wake up and she would have the prefect badge and the respect and trust of all those that surrounded her. But it wasn’t a dream, it was reality, a harsh reality that she had to face. She only wondered how she could help Harry deal with his problems when she was currently being pulled under by her own.

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Ginny buried her head under her pillow, trying to keep the bright light of the sun from entering her eyes.

“Knock, Knock! Ginny, what are you still doing asleep, we are leaving for Diagon Alley in thirty minutes,” Hermione said as she walked into the room.

It had been three days since they had all received their letters, and Ron and Hermione were avoiding each other once again. They weren’t the only ones avoiding things however. Ginny had been awoken the morning after her breakdown by a snowy white owl tapping on the window. She had thrown Harry’s letter on the desk and hadn’t touched it since, enough was on her mind without adding Harry’s problems to it. That did sound a bit selfish, but she couldn’t help feeling like she should straighten herself out before she communicated any further with Harry.

“I’m up!” Ginny mumbled.

Hermione snickered at the sight of Ginny, sprawled across the bed, head under the pillow. She had one arm hanging off the bed and both feet were sticking off of the edge about six inches.

Ginny lifted one corner of the pillow and peeked out at Hermione, who was standing in her “authoritative pose” as Ron liked to call it: hands on hips and head slightly cocked to the side, with a stern look on her face.

“Do I really have to get up?” she whined.

“Yes, we have so much to do! We have to buy our school supplies, and I have to browse some books. I heard Ron saying he wanted to stop by the twins shop, and we have to buy Harry’s supplies for him, he owled us the money, he isn’t sure he will be able to stay here at all this summer, the Order is keeping tight restrictions on him,” Hermione said as she began to dig through the drawers in the dresser, before throwing a pair of jeans at Ginny. “Now, get up!” she said before walking out of the room.

“You’re worse that Mum!” Ginny called after her.

She wriggled into her jeans, threw on the bright pink Weird Sisters t-shirt that Tonks had given her, tied her tennis shoes and ran down the stairs, combing her hands through her tangled hair on the way down.

She arrived downstairs just in time to be ushered out of the door by her mother.

“Ginny, you really must learn to get up earlier. One second later and we would have left you here. And don’t even get me started on how you haven’t had breakfast!” Molly fussed.

“Mum, I’m not hungry anyway. Don’t touch my hair mum, I like it like this!” Ginny said, swatting at her mother’s hand which was trying to flatten her hair.

Ron laughed.

“Yeah Mum, haven’t you heard, the whole “I just woke up and don’t give a damn” look is really in this season,” he said.

Hermione glared at him, and he stuck his tongue out at her.

“Why are we going out this way, why didn’t we just Floo, Mum?” Ginny asked.

“We don’t need to be using all the Floo powder, dear. Besides, we’re low on money and we need to save the powder for emergencies only.”

Ron snorted.

“Oh yeah, Mum, since there have been so many emergencies around this drab place this summer!”

“Ronald, you never know!” Molly said.

After a short walk, they were sitting on the underground and had soon arrived at their destination.

They walked into the Leaky Cauldron and passed through to the entrance to Diagon Alley.

“Okay,” Molly began, “I am going to sit in the Leaky Cauldron and catch up on a few things, I know that you will be fine on your own. Just meet me back here at two so that we can make it home before your father, Remus and I have to leave for the Ministry,” she said, shooing them on their way.

The three of the stepped out onto the cobblestones and began to make their way down the alley. Ginny looked around and noticed that it wasn’t as busy as it normally was whenever they came, but then again, they were coming about a month before they normally did.

“So, where to?” Ginny asked

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The sun shone brilliantly on the cobblestones as the three teenagers strolled idly through Diagon Alley. Hermione checked off the last items on her list before folding it and placing it in one of her bags. Ron strode alongside Ginny, complaining about the fact that he was hungry. As for Ginny, she was exhausted. A day of shopping was hard enough, but having to be a go-between for the two most stubborn people on the planet was the last straw. She desperately wanted a place to sit down and rest, as she was tired of the shopping and the silence in Diagon Alley, but most of all she was tired of the memories that were flooding back to her. Ever since the day she had received her letter, it seemed that everything she came in contact with revived the old feelings within her. Today she entered Flourish and Blotts and promptly halted in the doorway, as this was the place where she had received the diary that changed her life forever. Instead, she had given her list to Hermione and asked her to purchase her books while she sat outside to catch her breath. Things only worsened when Hermione had come out, shopping bags on her arm, flipping through a book of blank pages: she had bought a diary. Hermione said she had bought it so that she could record the happenings of the year, because with the war on things that seemed insignificant at the time they happened might be crucial bits that could help the Order and even Harry out in the long run. Ginny couldn’t deny that this was a good idea, but the sight of a diary, especially when she was already shaken, caused her stomach to lurch.

So she was tired, and she damn well had reason to be.

GROWL

The noise stirred her from her thoughts. She looked over at Ron to find him with a hand on his stomach.

He shrugged. “Told you I was hungry!” he said.

“Let’s go see if Fred and George are in the store, they might have some sandwiches or something, I’m all out of money,” Ginny said.

Hermione and Ron nodded and followed Ginny down the alley. The shop was located on the left, a huge purple and orange sign hung above the door, sporting the name that the three teenagers were all to familiar with. Ginny pushed the door open and was greeted with hysterical laughter. The door closed and the laughter sounded again. Hermione noted that it sounded like the twins had charmed the door to laugh whenever someone entered the store, sort of how Muggles attached bells to the doorknobs of their shops.

Ginny looked around the shop, shelves were stacked high with all of the twins inventions. Her eyes travelled to the front, but she didn’t spot either of her twin brothers.

“I bet they feel horrible that they can’t help you,” Hermione said.

She was right, the twins did feel bad. The fact was, while they were rolling in money, the Burrow still sat empty. They had tried to use their profits to pay off their father’s debt , but the Ministry wouldn’t allow it. The only person who could pay off the family debt was Arthur, and it had to be his money, nobody else could help. So everyone who had money was forced to stand on the sidelines in the battle for the Burrow. Ginny knew that Fudge must be having a field day, watching her father’s struggle.

“Ah Georgie boy! I believe we have some very special visitors!” Fred’s voice echoed from the back of the shop.

Ginny looked up and saw two cheery faces peeking around the doorway behind the counter.

“I believe we have visitors, but special is something they aren‘t!” George said.

The twins started making their way to the three teenagers, walking down a row of Ton Tongue Toffees and Skiving Snackboxes.

“How is my favorite little sister?” George asked, slinging his arm around Ginny’s shoulders.

“I’m your only little sister!” she replied.

“But you are our favorite!” Fred added.

George seemed to be fascinated with staring at Ron and Hermione.

“Mum told us about the lovers spat!” Fred whispered loudly.

Hermione glared and Ron stood opening and closing his mouth, unable to come up with anything to say, he settled for crossing his arms and scowling.

“You take them, boys!” Ginny pleaded. “They are driving me absolutely nuts!”

“No way!” the twins said in unison.

GROWL

Hermione stifled a giggle at the sound of Ron’s stomach growling for the second time in ten minutes.

“Is ickle Ronniekins a hungry boy?” George asked, as he patted Ron on the stomach.

“Actually, we all are!” Ginny started. “But, we don’t have money for food right now, so we were wondering if you had any sandwiches in the back or something.”

“Well we do have some food products in the back, but we wouldn’t give them to you and risk being yelled at by Miss Prefect here when they turned out to be a little more than what we claimed,” Fred said.

“But we can give you some money and you can run on over to that café a couple of stores down. Least we can do, seeing as we have plenty of it and we wouldn’t want our siblings and their friends starving to death!” added George.

Ginny hugged Fred and George, each in quick succession.

“You always were my favorite twin brothers!” she said.

“Aw, Fred, she loves us!” George said as he ruffled Ginny’s already untidy hair.

Fred had retrieved some coins and he emptied them into Ginny’s money pouch.

“Bring us back the change! We aren’t that rich!” he said.

“What. Is. This!” Hermione’s voice echoed from the doorway, where she was pointing to a sign that had been posted on the window.

“It’s part of our recruitment program!” the twins said.

Ginny stepped over to where Hermione was standing to get a better look. The sign read:

Got a great sense of humor?

Need a few galleons?

Join our team today!

Now hiring:

Willing test subjects for the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes product line.

“Are the people you are hiring of legal age?” Hermione asked.

“ Not all of them!” Fred said.

“That’s illegal! You can’t do that!”

“It’s our store, we make the policies and our policies state that anyone old enough to go to Hogwarts can be a test subject! Plus, Hermione, they’re willing!”

“Willing or not, if anything goes wrong you know you are going to have tons of parents on your doorstep threatening to take every knut you have!” Hermione screamed.

George grinned.

“Hey Fred,” he said, “do you think the house elves parents will care?”

Hermione, who was already fuming, lost it. She threw open the door and whipped her head around to stare at Ginny.

“I’ve had enough! I’ll meet you at the café, Ginny,” she said before stalking out into the street.

George let out a low whistle.

“Testy, that one!” he said.

“Guess I’m not invited to have lunch with you two, eh?” Ron asked.

“She just didn’t address you because you are so adamant about not speaking to her!” Ginny said.

“Hey, wait a minute, she is doing equally as much not speaking! You cannot pin all this on me!” Ron argued.

“Oh shut it!” Fred yelled. “Go have lunch, we can’t have two freaks in here scaring off the customers!”

George gave the two a good shove out the door and into the busy street of Diagon Alley.

Ginny stared across the street, looking for any sign of Hermione, but it was Ron who found her first.

“There she is, “ he pointed out, nodding towards the bench that was situated under one of the café’s windows.

From across the street everything appeared to be perfectly normal, it simply looked as if Hermione had sat down to wait for her friends to emerge from the joke shop. However, upon closer inspection, it was clear that something had happened in those few moments Ginny and Ron had been bickering.

Hermione was pale and shaking. She was holding a glass of water, which she would take a sip from every few moments.

“Are you alright, Hermione?” Ginny asked.

Ron didn’t speak, but his face held a worried expression.

Hermione nodded.

“I am now,” she said weakly. “I was walking over here and I started coughing really horribly, so I sat down to try and catch my breath but couldn’t! Then a nice lady who saw me coughing brought me some water and I was able to stop.” she finished before downing what was left in the glass. She let out a few more coughs before drawing in a breath, “Are you ready to go in?” she asked.

Ron nodded, the worried look had vanished as soon as he had found out that Hermione wasn’t in a life threatening situation.

“Yeah, lets go,” Ginny said, as she, Hermione and Ron began to head inside, never seeing the long black cloak that swished around the corner of the café, nor the person who was wearing it.

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Ginny sighed as the front door of Grimmauld Place closed behind her. She walked downstairs to the kitchen and set her packages down in the corner next the others.

Ron was standing at the sink, pouring himself a glass of water and Hermione was slumped at the table, rubbing her temples.

“I think I’m going to go ahead and get some sleep, I’m exhausted!” she said, rising from her seat.

“Ok, do you want us to wake you up for dinner?” Ginny asked.

“No, I just need to sleep, I’ve been feeling tired all day.”

And with that said, Hermione exited the kitchen and headed up the stairs to her room. Ron was looking worriedly at the place where she had formerly stood. Ginny, noticing this, walked over and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Why don’t you just talk to her?” she asked.

“Because,” Ron replied, “Every time I do, we find something to argue about again.”

Ginny couldn’t help but admit that this was true. There had hardly been any kind words exchanged between the two since a few days after Hermione had arrived. Ginny thought this was probably due to the fact that everyone was on edge as of late. The impending war, the loss of Sirius and the Burrow, the fear and anxiety of what was lurking around the corner…all of this was gnawing at everyone’s nerves.

“You both have a lot to deal with, I would be worried if you weren’t snapping at each other!” Ginny revealed.

“Do you think I want to fight with her, Gin?” Ron said weakly as he sat down at the table. “I just give up on ever having a normal conversation with her. We always end up talking about last year, which leads to us arguing about something or another, because we seem desperate to do anything to get off the topic of what happened at the Ministry. And then there’s Harry, who acts like nothing happened, but I know all too well that he’s locked himself up in a corner of that house somewhere, and is refusing to face reality. But what can I do? He isn’t ready to talk about it, obviously!”

Ginny just stared at her brother as the words poured from his mouth. How had the simple suggestion that he talk to Hermione again brought on this confession of what he was feeling?

Ron sighed heavily and put his head on the table.

“When did everything get so difficult?” he asked. It was more of a statement than a question. It was at this moment that Ginny realized her big brother wasn’t a child any longer, and neither was she if she had to admit it. They had all been through a life changing experience at the end of the school year, an experience that had left none of their emotions unscathed. In those few hours at the Ministry, the six children who had entered had been forced to become adults. Ginny reflected that maybe it was only five of them that had entered as children. Harry, after all, had never been a child in Ginny’s eyes. He had always had to deal with what was thrown at him like that of a full grown wizard.

Ginny shook her head to clear it. Now was not the time to be thinking about what they had faced, or what was to come for that matter. Now was the time that they should be enjoying the time away from books and teachers like every other teenage wizard and witch that attended Hogwarts.

“Come on , Ron. Let’s go see Mum, Dad and Remus off, and then we can play some chess,”

Ron looked up, spirit seemingly lifted at the thought of winning a few games of his best sport, and nodded.

The two left the kitchen together along with all the troubles they were currently facing. They would come pick those up later, but for now, they wanted to be children again.

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Hours, a few sandwiches and four games of chess later, Ron and Ginny sat in front of the fireplace in the living room setting up for the next (and last if Ginny had anything to do with it) game. They had been laughing for the past hour over embarrassing and memorable events from their childhood.

“That was not funny! You weren’t even old enough when it happened to remember that!” Ron argued.

“It is hilarious! And I don’t have to remember it, Fred does a good enough job of that!”

“Having your stuffed bear turn into a giant spider while you are still holding it is in no way funny!” Ron said before commanding one of his pawns forward.

“Oh, Ronniekins! If only you knew how funny it really is!” Ginny said, as she watched Ron’s pawn smash her knight. “Dammit!”

“That was a stupid move you know!” Ron laughed.

They both fell into silence and were contemplating their next move when they heard someone enter the room. Both heads turned to the door where Hermione was standing.

She was pale, and seemed disoriented. Her hand had a firm hold on the doorframe, and she was breathing heavily.

Ron’s hand dropped onto the board when he saw her, knocking the pieces over. Ginny’s eyes widened, and she gasped. Hermione looked absolutely horrible, almost like one that was only inches away from death.

She stumbled forward a little, hand still on the door for support, and took one large gulp of air before speaking.

“I don’t feel very well.” she said weakly, before promptly losing consciousness and crumpling to the floor.

“Hermione!” Ginny shrieked, as she jumped out of her chair to run to her friends side. Ron, who had arrived before her, had both hands on Hermione’s shoulders and was gently shaking her.

“Hermione? Hermione? Wake up!” he said firmly. “Please, Hermione!”

Ginny stood behind her kneeling brother and stared down at Hermione, who looked as if she would stop breathing at any minute.

Ron’s head turned and he looked up at Ginny, and she saw the worry written in his blue eyes.

“Floo,” he started in a shaky voice, “Floo Remus!”

Ginny didn’t need to be told twice, she bolted to the fireplace, which luckily had a fire going, grabbed the small jar of Floo powder off the mantle and peered inside. There was just enough powder to contact Remus. She couldn’t help but think of the predicament that they would be in if they had Flooed earlier that day.

“There’s just enough,” she said, turning to Ron, who was walking towards the sofa with Hermione in his arms.

A tear slid out of the corner of Ginny’s eye and down her cheek before she turned back to the grate and threw the powder in.

“Ministry of Magic, main grate,” she screamed into the flames.

A stern looking woman’s face appeared.

“What may I do for you, Miss?”

“I need you to find Remus Lupin for me, as quickly as possible, it is an emergency!” Ginny said hurriedly, casting miserable glances over her shoulder, towards the sofa on which Hermione was now laying.

The woman ,who was apparently looking at a list of some sort, looked back up at Ginny.

“We have to put you into the holding area until we can receive clearance from the high security office, then we can transfer you to where Mr. Lupin is being held,” she said nonchalantly.

Ron, who had been listening from his spot on the floor by the sofa, came and pushed Ginny out of the way.

“No!” He screamed loudly. “We DO NOT have time to be put into any holding area! This is an EMERGENCY, there is a girl who needs medical attention right now!”

But Ron’s words were wasted. The woman had apparently transferred them to the holding area without hearing anything they might have had to say.

“DAMMIT! WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS!” Ron screamed into the flames.

Ginny placed a shaking hand on Ron’s shoulder.

“Ron, calm down, we are not going to be able to help Hermione by screaming! I only hope they will get us transferred fast. Did they say that Remus was being held somewhere? Held?”

“Yeah, you know how the Ministry is about Werewolves, they probably didn’t let him past security.” Ron said, as he began pacing in front of the fire place.

A small sigh issued from the sofa and Ron ran over to Hermione, knocking over a chair on his way.

“Hermione?” he asked quietly.

She had woken up, and was staring at Ron with glazed eyes.

“Wha…What happened?” she whispered.

“You passed out, Hermione, you were standing there and then, just like that, you were on the floor,” Ron answered.

“Oh,” Hermione said, before passing out again.

“Dammit, Hermione, don’t do this again!” Ron yelled, as he began to try to shake her into consciousness. “Ginny, how much longer!”

“How am I supposed to know, Ron! It’s already taken longer than I expected!” Ginny screamed. She had lost what little patience she thought she had.

Ginny’s fit, however, was interrupted by a voice from the fireplace.

“Ginny! Ron! What’s going on, they told me it was an emergency!” Remus asked frantically.

Ginny scrambled back towards the flames, and looked at Remus. He looked like he had been through one ordeal already. “Well” she thought “I’m about to add another to that list!”

“It’s Hermione, she passed out, and looks really pale… it’s scary Remus! She woke up, but then she passed out again! We need to get her help fast!” she said with all the calm she could muster.

“Gin,” Ron’s voice wafted across the tiny room, in a tone Ginny had never heard him use before, “Gin, I don’t think she’s breathing! She’s turning blue!”

Ginny’s eyes whipped back to the flames. Remus was looking more frantic than before.

“I’ll get help! We’ll be there as soon as we can,” he said to Ginny.

“Ron,” Remus called. Ron turned his frightened gaze to Remus, “Don’t let her die on us!”

Ron swallowed hard and nodded, and Remus’ face disappeared.

“HERMIONE!” Ron bellowed, shaking her hard. “Wake up, just for a second, Hermione! Just wake up and breathe!”

He started tapping her gently on the cheek with the palm of his hand.

“Hermione! Please wake up! Please!” he screamed.

Ginny was frozen to her spot, a sick feeling dropped into the pit of her stomach as she watched Ron’s desperate attempts to wake Hermione. What had caused this? Why was Hermione laying on the sofa in the middle of the room inches from death?

Loud, wracking coughs shook Ginny from her thoughts.

She saw, with relief, that Hermione had woken up again, and was trying the best she could to breathe in between the coughs that were currently shaking her body. But she was breathing, and that was all that mattered. Her eyes locked with Ron’s for a brief moment, and she saw the worry, relief and hope mixed in them. But the moment was cut short when Hermione fell silent and went limp again.

Ginny visibly saw Ron’s muscles tense up with worry. He lowered an ear to a few inches above Hermione’s lips.

“At least she’s breathing this time,” he said weakly, as he set a hand gingerly on Hermione’s.

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Three hours later, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, Remus, Ginny and Ron sat in the general waiting room of St. Mungos. They had gotten Hermione there just in time, as she had slipped into unconsciousness again, and hadn’t been breathing. Two healers had placed Hermione on a stretcher and levitated her towards the examination room. The double doors had slammed in Ron’s face, who was being restrained by Remus at the time because he refused to leave Hermione’s side. Healers would occasionally come out of the doors, but wouldn’t give any information on Hermione’s condition, no matter how much Ron pestered them.

So now, they waited. Ron sat in his chair, picking a hole in his already worn jeans. He had been that way for the past half hour, ever since he had been forced to sit down after screaming full volume at a woman that was simply taking some papers to a Healer that was in the examination room. Ginny was about to slap his hand away from his leg when they were interrupted by a Healer that had walked through the doors and had come to stand in front of the group. Ron made a start from his seat, but Molly pushed him back down, and he obeyed… but did not seem happy that he was being forced to stay away from Hermione.

“Mr. and Mrs. Weasley,” the Healer said, nodding at each respectively.

Ron, unable to be left in the dark any longer, interrupted her.

“What’s wrong? Do you know? Is she alright? What happened?” he asked rapidly.

The Healer held up a hand.

“Mr. Weasley, I assure you, everything will be just fine. Miss Granger has been subjected to a very dark potion. There have been so few cases of attack with this potion that it has yet to be named in medical terms.”

So, someone had poisoned Hermione. Ginny felt as sick as Ron looked at the thought of it.

“Now,” the Healer continued, “this potion, once administered begins a rapid breakdown of the muscular system. After it attacks the muscles to a certain point it’s path slows , but it’s potency, however, remains the same. After attacking the muscles, it normally moves on to the respiratory system, causing shortness of breath, coughing fits and brief periods where breathing stops altogether. We have made this diagnosis due to the information that we were given about what took place tonight with Miss Granger. The good news is that there is an antidote that will fix her right up and have her out of the hospital in about a week. The bad news is that we cannot actually administer the antidote for two days time.

Ron, who had been doing his best to sit still through the Healer’s explanation, jumped up.

“What do you mean two days? You can’t do anything for her for two days?” He screamed.

“RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY! YOU WILL LOWER YOUR VOICE AND SIT DOWN THIS INSTANT!” Molly demanded, in a voice that rivaled Ron’s.

Ron, obeyed, making sure everyone knew how upset he was by throwing himself into his seat and sighing loudly. You would almost think that he was the one that had been poisoned.

The Healer, however, looked unfazed, and continued her speech.

“The antidote has proven ineffective in all cases where it was given before the potion hit the peak of its course though the body, which is normally on the third day after ingestion. All we can do right now is make her as comfortable as possible until the antidote can be given. She will continue to worsen, but she will not reach a point where the potion will be fatal.”

“So ,what happens to her while she waits?” Ginny asked, finally finding her voice.

“The potion attacks the muscular system further, causing her to become very weak. We are lucky to find, however, that the potion will stop affecting the respiratory system after the first few hours. From then on the potion basically destroys all her nutrients and protection systems. And after the third day, the administration of the antidote replaces what was lost. It is a particularly nasty potion, and I am not trying to tell you that it will be smooth sailing until the antidote can be given, but I would just like you to know that when you see her she will be very weak. It will therefore be best to allow her to sleep as often as possible,” the Healer explained.

“So when can we see her?” Ron asked, trying his best to remain calm.

“She is being transported up to the third floor in the Potion and Plant Poisoning ward, you will be notified of when you can go up and see her,” the Healer said, and then turned and disappeared through the double doors.

Ron stood up and kicked the pillar Ginny was leaning against. Remus pushed him back into his seat and began talking to him quietly.

Ginny thought it was sweet that her brother was so concerned about Hermione, but had to admit that he was making a huge arse of himself in the middle of a public hospital. She was tired of standing, so she walked over to a chair that sat by the entrance to the waiting room. She wanted to get as far away from what had happened as she could, which meant getting far away from Ron.

She leaned her head back and shut her eyes, sighing heavily. Her eyes remained closed for a few minutes before her rest was interrupted by a voice from the door.

“What the hell happened!?”

Ginny’s eyes flew open, and she turned her head to look at the person that she knew she really did not need to see at that moment.

Harry Potter.