Chasing a Dream

Chapter 3

Misery and the Morgue

All three Weasleys stared at Harry for a moment. Mrs. Weasley stopped her sobbing and Ron looked numbly up at Harry. Mr. Weasley was the first to speak after the unexpected outburst.

"I fully understand, Harry. You need closure and I respect that. Will you be coming too, Ron."

Ron shook his head no, still too shocked to speak.

Closure. Will I have closure even if I see Hermione's body? She can't be dead. There's just no way. She's too smart to die.

Mr. Weasley had spoken again, this time to Harry. "Well, if you're sure we better be on our way. It is impossible to apparate within a 5 mile radius of the building for safety reason's and so it'll be quite a drive."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The drive to St. Mungo's was silent and umcomfortable. Mr. Weasleys eyes were set unwavering on the road in front of them. The lack of conversation left Harry alone with nothing to distract his troublesome thoughts.

What will I do it Hermione really is dead? This question made his head spin as he searched his brain for an answer. His heart felt like lead and his stomach full of worms as he sat, strapped to the seat in Mr. Weasley's new Intrepid.

It seemed like hours until they finally got there. To Harry it was hours of anticipating torture. They pulled into a visitors spot on the parking lot. A little man in a white robes came running over to them. He stood outside Mr. Weasley's window.

"I.D." He demanded. Mr. Weasley shifted as he searched though his robes. Eventually, he pulled out the Sonic Sender letter and what Harry recognized as his name tag from the Ministry of Magic.

The old man studied them for a moment and then motioned for them to follow him inside. They climbed out of the car and followed the stout man through automatic opening glass doors. Harry looked around stunned.

The hospital was shockingly muggle-like! They had I.V.'s and heart monitors and all kinds of muggle stuff! The bald little man walked them up to a large desk where a pleasant looking woman was filling out forms with her wand.

The man cleared his throat and the young woman looked up. She had aburn hair and a white robe with a red cross in one corner.

"Where are we headed today?" She asked brightly in a sing-song voice that was sickeningly sweet.

"Morgue."

The woman's face fell immediately. She pointed solemnly to a door on their right. Mr. Weasley nodded and went through the door. Harry nodded to the woman and was just about to go through the door when the woman's voice called from behind him, this time in a tone of sympathy and sincerity.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Potter..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The room Harry entered was a pale blue and full of people. Most of them were sobbing women. Some of them had a man with an arm around their shoulders while others just stood alone in a corner in a shocked silence.

There where three men up at the front of the room. Harry recognized one as the man who took Mr. Weasley's I.D. The other two were quite opposites. One was a handsome young man with a look of pity on his face. The other was a middle aged man with a look much like Snape's on his face.

As Harry watched, the young man stepped foward and put his arm around one of the women standing alone in the corner, who looked as if she was pushed beyond tears. He ushered them comfortingly into the room that Harry just came from.

"You're late." Said the Snape-like man.

"I had to explain some things"

"Which one of you will be identifying the body?"

Harry felt a twinge of anger and annoyance. He didn't like Hermione being referred to as "the body". Harry stepped foward.

They proceeded for about twenty minutes. Harry winced as he looked dowm at the body of a young girl before shaking his head. The man pushed her back into the wall.

Harry felt his breath catch in his chest. This was the last body. Harry wasn't sure if his nerves were going to make it.

The old man's hand gripped the handle. Beads of sweat trickled down Harry's face. The man gently pulled and Harry heard the rush of metal against metal. Harry held his breath and looked down at the dead body. It was...

an old woman.

Harry released the air he'd been holding in his lungs and shook his head at the man. The man closed the drawer. Harry felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned to see Mr. Weasley smiling sadly down on Harry. "Wait for me in the lobby. I would like to talk to Mr. Phillips."

Harry nodded and walked into the lobby. The same woman was still behind the desk. She looked up when he walked out. She slowly walked around the counter and over to Harry.

"Here." She said, handing him a cup of water. Harry accepted it and they sat down in two chairs next to each other.

She watched him drink his water for a moment then said. "My name is Margaret." Harry looked at her. She tilted her head to one side.

"Who was it?"

"My best friend."

"What was their name? Oh, wait! I'm sorry, you probably don't want to talk about this! Sorry."

"It's ok. Her name was Hermione."

"Wasn't she the one in Witch Weekly?"

"Yeah, but she was never my girlfriend, that was just that Rita Skeeter woman making up lies."

"Was she nice."

"Yeah."

Harry choked down tears for a moment. I'll never speak with her anymore. No more walks around the lake. No more help with homework. No more Hermione.

Harry covered his face with his hands.

"What's that?"

"Huh?" Harry looked up to see Margaret pointing at his chest. Harry looked down. There was the corner of a piece of paper poking out of his pocket.

Slowly and carefully, as if it were a fragile treasure, he withdrew Hermione's last letter. Margaret looked quizicaly at Harry.

Harry unfolded the letter and handed it to Margaret. She scanned the letter for a few minutes and then looked at Harry with an awed expression.

"Arrived this morning."

Harry took it back and stared at it's words. Hermione had written this. It was his last bit of her he had left to hold on to. As soon as he could he was going to find a spell to preserve it forever as a last tribute to her memory. I'll miss you, Hermione. And right then and there, Harry's heart fell to the floor in shattered pieces.

Just then the doors slid open and a group of excited wizards came running through. They had a body on a stretcher.

"Emergency Room. We've got a live one!" They said to Margaret before speeding down the cooridor to the left.

Just before they dissapeared Harry got a glimpse of the body. Harry dropped his letter in surprise.

"Hermione!"