A Dark Surprise

Hermione ran through the dark corridors of Hogwarts, clutching her beaten book bag in her bruised hands. Every muscle in her broken body screamed in pain as each foot hit the stone of the floor, over and over again. The salty tears that wet her face felt warm against the cold in her heart and body. She stopped abruptly, realising it was later in the night than she had thought, and limped over to a bare piece of the corridor wall. Her back cringed in excruciating pain as she lowered herself onto the floor, until she was crouching with her arms around her knees. She let one last sob out before she let her usual confident and sure self take a hold of her. She could handle the pain, she could deal with it, she just had to get to Harry, no matter what time it was. The thought of him warmed her heart. Brave, courageous, Harry, he could figure this out. She cursed herself for thinking of him in that way. ‘He doesn’t fancy you, you stupid fool,’ she cursed to herself as she stood upright again, and then the pain came back to her in a flash. She decided to leave her books behind, and she stashed her bag behind a knight statue, before setting off in a run again. She could only hope that Filch wouldn’t find her, as she wouldn’t be able to explain this to him.

   By the time she reached the Gryffindor tower, she was bent over in torturous pain, and could barely whisper the password to enter. The Fat Lady gave her an odd look, but opened anyway, and Hermione did her best to crawl through the opening.

  When she got through she was relieved to see the fireplace still alight in the common room. ‘Oh please be Harry, or even Ron’ she thought weakly, as she let herself fall down onto the floor in exhaustion. The figure sitting in the wingback chair by the fire turned sharply. She sighed in relief at the look on Harry’s face, before letting herself slip into an unconscious state.         

  Harry slammed the text he had been studying closed, and in one swift motion he got up from the cushioned chair and rushed over to Hermione’s side. The back of his throat moaned when he saw the bruises and wounds that covered her body. He carefully slipped his hands under her body and carried her limp figure over to a nearby couch. He let her down softly and then stood up straight again to evaluate her state. She looked even worse than what Harry used to look like after a fight with Dudley’s gang at his old muggle school. She had bruises covering her face and arms, a slash across her right cheek, her hair was in a mess, and he didn’t dare to look under her clothes for more wounds. He swore under his breath at the wizards who’d done this. He knew it had to be more than one, as she was strong and smart enough to take on a single wizard in a duel. Anger and pure rage began to take over his feelings for his unconscious friend, and he found himself bolting up the stairs to his dorm without thinking. He quietly, but quickly, made his way over to Ron’s bed, where he shook his friend to get him to wake up. Ron sat up immediately in his bed, and screamed “Get away from her Viktor!” before waking up totally. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and then said, “What is it Harry? It’s got to be 3 in the morning!” Harry quickly explained about Hermione’s state, and Ron shot out of bed in rage. “WHAT?!” he screamed, and then remembered they weren’t alone. Seamus stirred in his sleep, but none of the other boys noticed.

   Harry snorted at Ron’s Chudley Cannons pajamas before remembering the urgency of the situation. “Listen, she’s out cold right now, but she could wake up anytime. You stay with her, keep the fire going. If she wakes up, don’t let her leave. I’m going to go see Dumbledore, he’ll send Madam Pomfrey,” Harry ordered. Ron nodded automatically, a little shocked at Harry’s abrupt attitude. He slipped on his housecoat as Harry rummaged around in the bottom of his dresser. His fingers reached back into the very depths of the drawer, and came out with the majestic invisibility cloak. He carefully slipped it over his shoulders, and the lifted the hood onto his head. He verified with Ron that all of him was invisible, and then he disappeared down the dark stairs.

   He reached the common room to find Hermione in the same position she was when he had left her. Oh, how he wished she was awake to tell him who had done this to her. He stood for a moment beside her, brushing a hair out of her face and staring at her slightly open lips. He shook his head to bring himself out of the trance, and then cursed himself for thinking of her in that way. He made sure he could hear Ron coming down the stairs behind him, before taking one last look at her wounded face and then crawling through the opening to exit the tower.  

    “Lumos”, Harry whispered to his wand. It lit automatically, and Harry tucked it under the cloak so no one would see a lit wand walking through the halls without an arm attached to it. He walked quickly through the halls, careful to slow down when he reached a corner, so he could make sure no one was around to hear him. For a moment, he wished he had the Marauder’s Map with him, but he dismissed the thought and kept on running.

     Luck seemed to be on his side, as he made his way up to the headmaster’s tower without running into a prefect, or worst of all, Filch or his cat. By the time he had climbed up the multitude of stairs leading up to Dumbledore’s office, he was out of breath. He stared up at the gigantic carved wood doors infront of him, and then looked to his sides to see the gargoyles staring back at him. He knew it wasn’t likely he would be able to just guess the password like he had once before, so instead he took his cloak off and reached towards the metal knocker. Before he was able to grab onto it, the door swung upon and he fell forward slightly before catching himself mid-air. Infront of it stood his headmaster, dressed in silk pyjamas with a purple nightcap atop his head. It would have been quite the sight, if Harry weren’t in such a rush.

  “How did you know I was here?”, Harry asked.

   “I’m afraid I was already awake, it seems tonight is a popular one for insomniacs”, Dumbledore stated, clearly referring to Harry as well, “and I had a feeling someone was at the door.”

   The headmaster then invited the weary and dishevelled looking young wizard into his office to sit down.

   “There’s no time sir,” Harry exclaimed hurriedly, “Hermione’s been attacked. I don’t know by who, but I know she left for the library earlier this evening, and she came back about half an hour ago, she looks like she’s been hurt badly. She’s unconscious in the common room right now.”