And The Feeling Of Longing

Chapter 2: Whatever Happened To You

"Hermione, it's eight in the morning, you need to get up," called Remus from the kitchen. There was no reply, so he walked over and stuck his head round the door. Hermione was curled up in a foetal position, and rocking slightly. She screamed suddenly and Remus jumped. He ran over to her and tried to wake her up. No response.

"Hermione!" he yelled. No response. No response from grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. She just lashed out with her hand and curled back up. "Hermione?" Remus whispered in a near whimper.

"Three poison...two wine..." she muttered, and rolled over so that her face was stuffed in the pillows. Remus rolled her back over so she was on her side. Her face had gone pale and her expression kept changing. It screwed up in disgust like she had eaten something horrid.

Remus left her side and ran over to the fire. Taking some powder from the third jar which was labelled "calling powder", he threw it into the flames with a shaking hand.

"Albus Dumbledore," he said to the flames. A few moments later, the head of the Headmaster appeared in the flames.

"Hello Remus," he began, then saw Remus' expression. "What's wrong?" he asked, hurriedly. Remus started gabbling about how Hermione wasn't responding, and finally stopped and looked at Albus.

"It looks like she's in a coma, but she's having nightmares." Albus nodded.

"Bring her to Poppy right away." Remus nodded, and the Headmaster disappeared from the fire.

*

"Oh my," gasped Poppy Pomfrey, as Remus struggled to hold down Hermione, who was now lashing out at anyone who came near her. Suddenly she sat up, eyes still closed.

"Professor Dumbledore! It's Harry, he's down in the trapdoor - Stone - mirror - Professor Snape - Voldemort...." she trailed off and fell back down. Albus Dumbledore walked over, and sighed.

"I believe she is in a dream coma. She is currently reliving the events in her first year at Hogwarts, with the Philosopher's Stone. Soon she will start reliving her second year. And her third, and so forth." Remus nodded.

"Then why is she only remembering bad things?" Poppy asked, as she performed a barrier charm around the bed Hermione was on that was being used as a makeshift hospital bed. Albus shook his head, sadly.

"I'm not sure. Something must have triggered it." He looked up at Remus. "Has anything bad happened recently?"

Remus sat down on a chair and ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, Hogwarts still being under Death Eater control is getting her down. She's still recovering from Ron's death...and she's been having nightmares about the Order of the Phoenix ever since Snape managed to get back to our side." Albus nodded.

"I don't think any of this is what caused it. Minerva has gone to fetch Harry, she'll be back any minute now."

Just as he said this, Harry and Minerva appeared in the room.

"Hermione," Harry choked out, as she screamed again. Albus looked up.

"Yes, I think she just saw the Basilisk," he said calmly.

"What?" Harry said, confused, as he walked over to the bed.

" I wouldn't do that if I were you Harry," warned Remus. Harry didn't have time to ask why, as he had just been slapped across the face.

"Okay," he replied, rubbing his cheek. "Anyway, Albus, what are you on about?"

"Hermione is in a dream coma. She's reliving bad memories." Harry stared at him, and sat down on the sofa with a thud.

"Oh," he whispered. "How do we get her out of it?"

"We can't," came the reply. "We have to wait for her to live through all her bad memories. Then she relives her worst memory again and again until we wake her up." Harry nodded.

"I think we're going to need some more people here to help us tell which memory is which," said Remus, softly. Albus nodded.

"Who were you thinking of, Remus?" Albus asked, sitting tiredly down next to Harry on the sofa.

"Sirius, Arthur, Molly, Fred, George, Ginny, Percy, Felix - you know, the motley crew." He paused. "And Snape," he added, almost inaudibly. Albus nodded.

"Minerva, could you fetch them for me? Explain the situation when you've got all of them, that will be easiest."

"Of course, Albus," she said, and disapparated, just as Hermione said quite clearly,

"But Hogsmeade's a very interesting place, isn't it? In Sites Of Historical Sorcery it says the inn was the headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion, and the Shrieking Shack's supposed to be the most severely haunted building in Britain."

Harry sobbed, softly, and Albus patted him on the arm. They had been through great battles, deaths and destruction - but they had never had to watch one of their own suffer like this. Not before, and never again.

*

Running through the tunnel. The light was getting closer now, she could see it clearly. That was her way out of there, she knew. That was her way into freedom. But then one of the shadows swept towards her and engulfed her in one swoop. Another memory.

"LOOK! LOOK!"

"Ron, what -?"

"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS! BLOOD! HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE WAS ON THE FLOOR?"

"N-no..."

The light appeared again, and Hermione felt herself fall out of the memory. She started running again towards the light, until another shadow engrossed her once more...

*

"I can't, Harry, I've still got four hundred and twenty-two pages to read!" yelled a now hysterical Hermione, her hands clasping her scalp and threatening to pull out her hair. Remus buried his face in his hands, and Harry shifted uncomfortably. They were distracted by the arrival of a grief stricken Molly Weasley, accompanied by several pale Weasleys and Arthur, who looked calm but about to collapse.

"Hermione!" cried Ginny, and ran over to her. Harry jumped up and stopped her.

"No," he whispered. "She's too violent." Ginny nodded, her red curls bobbing slightly. Minerva walked in the door with Sirius and Snape, who were both very pale.

"You okay Moony?" asked Sirius timidly, seeing his friend with his head buried in his hands.

"No," he whispered, and ran a hand through his hair like he did when he was nervous.

"I didn't tell anyone!" cried Hermione suddenly. All faces in the room turned to look at her. "I've been covering up for you!" Sirius turned to Harry.

"Third year already?"

"No!" she yelled, so loudly that Fred clasped his hands over his ears. "Harry, don't trust him! He's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too - he's a werewolf!" she shrieked, and fell back against the bed with a soft thud. Remus sobbed quietly, and Sirius put an arm around him.

"Albus," said Arthur, looking up. "I've not heard of this dream coma before - have there been previous cases?" Albus nodded.

"The dream coma was originally a curse cast by Salazar Slytherin. I believe that the first and last victim of the curse was Rowena Ravenclaw. That was how she died - reliving her worst memory. It was passed down through the Ravenclaw bloodline, and it's only shown up twice in the family. About fifty years ago, though, we lost track of the bloodline. It is my belief that Miss Granger may be a descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw," he concluded.

The others stared.

"Mrs Granger - Hermione's mum - she tried to do a family tree when we were in sixth year - she never got past fifty years ago." Harry whispered. Albus turned to Minerva.

"I feel that I have asked enough favours of you today already, Minerva...but would you be so kind as to bring Mr and Mrs Granger here?" She nodded, and disapparated.

"It's the Dark Mark, Harry," Hermione moaned loudly. "You-know-who's sign!" Harry looked up, his face lighting up slightly.

"Fourth year," he said. "Only ten more years to go," he realised out loud.

"I wonder what her worst memory is," whispered Ginny, who was sitting between Fred and George on another sofa. Snape looked up.

"I could make a guess," he said hoarsely. Remus froze, and looked up at Hermione.

"When she's gone through them all and she's on the last one, what do we do to wake her up?" he asked. Albus took a deep breath.

"I don't know," he said.

"What?" whispered Remus.

"I don't know, Remus," he said. Remus yelled out in anger and the door exploded. He strode out the hole in the wall that used to be the door and went outside.

Albus looked at the shocked people around him.

"The only possible place that would hold the revival information would be in the diaries of Salazar Slytherin. He kept diaries of every single curse and charm he invented." Sirius nodded, and went outside after Remus to tell him.

"Malfoy," said Ginny, softly. George stared at her.

"What?" Ginny looked up.

"I'll bet you anything Malfoy has the diaries. It's just his sort of thing."

"Everything the Malfoys had in their house was confiscated by the Ministry after their capture," began Arthur. "I can check to see if the diaries or any mysterious books were amongst their…collection." Albus nodded.

"Thanks, Arthur," said Harry, and smiled weakly up at him. Arthur clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder and disapparated.

*

The light is even closer now; it's grown in size. But there are more shadows now.

"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort"…

…"Hermione, if this is getting dangerous - well, your mother and I don't know if you should go back to Hogwarts."

Shadows, everywhere. They're chasing her. And she can't get away. Running towards the light. Just keep running towards the light.

*

"The Grangers, Albus," broke in the voice of Minerva. Peter and June Granger stepped into the room, examining the blasted door with a nervous look. As accustomed to and proud as they were of their daughter's abilities, Peter and Jane always got nervous in the company of other magical people. Jane caught sight of Hermione on the bed, tossing her head back and forth. She gasped and grabbed at her husband's arm.

"Mum!" Hermione screamed, throwing her hands out in front of her. "Dad! No!". She fumbled for something - her wand, perhaps - and had a terrified look on her face. "You bastard, Voldemort!" she yelled to the ceiling, and collapsed back onto the bed.

June Granger watched this, the colour draining quickly from her face. Although she had had the situation explained to her, this made it seem that much more real. She turned and buried her face in Peter's arm, trying to hide her tears. Albus placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Mrs Granger, I need you to help me with something. I believe you tried to trace your family tree back, but failed to go beyond fifty years ago?" June nodded, and wiped her tears away with the backs of her hands.

"Could you tell me the name of the relative you got back to?"

"Annette Rowena something. I couldn't find the surname, just the initial `R'." Albus smiled broadly.

"That means that Hermione is indeed a relative of Rowena Ravenclaw, unless by our own bad luck Rowena just happened to be a nice name and the R stands for Richards or something like it…" Dumbledore trailed off, and shook his head at his ambiguity. "To save time, however, we must presume it stands for Ravenclaw." June nodded, and seemed slightly happier after that.

Sirius bought Remus back in a few moments later.

"Sorry about the door, Albus," he muttered. His head was hung to the floor, and he looked up at Hermione. She was curled up in a ball again. He resisted the temptation to brush her hair out of her face, thus receiving some sort of blow to the head. He sat back down on the chair near the bed. He looked up and saw the Grangers.

"Hello Peter, June," he smiled weakly. They nodded in reply. Hermione screamed, and Harry looked up.

"She's passed fifth year - I really can't remember anything happening in sixth year…and seventh year…" Harry's face paled suddenly.

"What happened in seventh year, Harry?" Percy asked. Harry gulped.

"She never told any of you?" Remus looked up.

"Never told us what, Harry?"

"Hermione was…" Harry's voice drifted off, and he looked at the floor.

"Harry, please tell us," Albus whispered. Harry took a deep breath, and looked up at Sirius.

"Hermione was raped by Wormtail in our seventh year." Sirius and Remus stared at him, so he continued. "She didn't tell anyone because she didn't want to admit that she had sneaked into Hogsmeade when she should have been in class. Everyone thought she was in the dormitory sleeping."

"No! Get your dirty hands off me, Pettigrew!" Hermione screamed. Remus put his head in his hands.

"Why did she tell you?" Ginny asked Harry suddenly.

"Well, I was in Hogsmeade too, skiving off Potions…" Snape raised an eyebrow "…and I heard screaming coming from the shrieking shack, and went to investigate. When I got there, Wormtail had the Cruciatus curse on Hermione." As if on cue, Hermione screamed and stretched her arms and legs out at odd angles. Remus started shaking with dry sobs, and put his hands onto his ears, trying to drown out the screams.

When Hermione stopped screaming, Albus placed a hand on Remus' shoulder.

"It won't be for much longer, Remus," he said softly. Remus nodded, and ran a hand through his hair again.

*

The shadows are taller. Taller and bigger, stronger too. It's becoming harder to shake them off.

"We are at war with Voldemort"…

…"You are automatically given Auror's privileges when you become members of the Order. This means that you are licensed to kill…"

"Draco!"

"Yes, Mudblood? Any last words before I kill you?"

"Yes. Avada Kedavra."

*

"Draco Malfoy is dead," Hermione said clearly as she ran a hand through her hair, still curled up in a ball. "I killed him." Her hand fell limp and bounced slightly on the pillow.

"What did she just say?" Peter Granger spoke up, suddenly. The magical people in the room panicked. The Grangers hadn't been told that Hermione had murdered Draco Malfoy during the Great Wizarding War. Albus took the two of them aside and explained to them what had happened.

"Hurry up and live through your bad memories, Hermione," Harry sighed and leant back in the chair.