A Dark Surprise

      Harry blinked twice, his vision was blurred and he couldn’t make out where he was. The world around him was stark, bright white. He felt as if he weighed a ton, his head was being cushioned by a firm pillow, and his feet were weak and helpless. He blinked hard again, and looked up at the ceiling above him. For the first time, he realised his arms were wrapped around a body that was lying on his stomach. Looking down, he saw a head full of bushy, curly, brown hair lying below his chin. Her body felt warm against his, and he felt her soft, rhythmic breathing on his neck.

           For only a second, he wished for his glasses, but then he realised that would mean moving his arms, and he didn’t have the strength nor the desire to move them from their position. He closed his eyes in pure happiness, relishing in the warmth of Hermione’s body against his. He had the distinct feeling that he was in Heaven, and to risk sounding like a muggle love song, he felt like he was holding an angel.

           His dream-like trance was broken by the sound of voices coming from the other side of the room. He didn’t want to be disturbed, and so he faked sleep.

           “As I was saying Headmaster,” Madam Pomfrey said, “neither of them will move! I tried to take Ms Granger off of him using pure force, but that didn’t work, and when Professor McGonagall used a separating spell, that just caused Ms Granger to wrap her arms around Mr Potter’s neck!”

           Professor Dumbledore chuckled.

           “I’m sure when they awake,” he said, “it will not be a problem. Simply the after effects of such a powerful curse, I’m afraid.”

            Harry was jolted back into the present, suddenly remembering what had happened the night - or was it longer ago than that? - before. It all came back to him suddenly: the note from Sirius ... Hermione moaning ... Malfoy ... Hermione’s clone ... Sirius holding him back ... the Lestranges ... Avada Kedavra ....

             Dumbledore appeared at their bedside.

             “Harry,” he said calmly.

             “No, headmaster, don’t wake him!” whispered Madam Pomfrey angrily.

             “No, no, Poppy, he’s already awake,” said Dumbledore.

             Harry opened his eyes, but kept his hold on the still-sleeping Hermione on his stomach.

             “Good morning, Harry,” said Dumbledore, “I had -”

             He was interrupted by Harry, who turned his head to face his Headmaster and said, “Is everyone alright? Sirius? Ron? Ginny?” Hermione moved slightly on top of him, readjusting her head to fit beside Harry’s.

             “Yes, yes, everyone is fine. I managed to apparate Sirius out of there before anyone else saw him, and the Weasleys are back in their dormitories.”

              Harry breathed a loud sigh of relief.

              “You’re wondering what happened after you blacked out?” asked Dumbledore, but it was more of a statement than a question. Harry nodded.

 “Well, when you sent Ron to get help, he first went up to my office, where he found a young Mr Malfoy, who informed him that all of the professors had gone to London, on pressing business. This, actually, was not the truth, I happened to be in Professor McGonagall’s office at the time. Mr Weasley did what he thought best, and went to the Gryffindor tower, where he found Ms Weasley a nd Ms Granger, and they went to help you out.”

               “You know what happened after that.” -Harry nodded- “Well, while you were duelling, Professor Snape came to me, and told me he had information that you were in danger.”

                Harry thought for a moment, and realised that Snape’s dark mark must have been glowing.

                “And so you came... and then what?” asked Harry.

                “Well, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape kindly came along with me, and the three of us were able to render your attackers unconscious. They are now awaiting a trial at the Ministry of Magic, which I expect will lead to a period in Azkaban,” answered Dumbledore, matter-of-fact-ly.

               “And what about Sirius? How did he know to come...?” said Harry, who was starting to feel more than a little uncomfortable with Hermione on his chest while talking to his headmaster.

               “Ah, it seems Ms Granger sent Sirius an owl regarding you meeting him,” said Dumbledore.

               Hermione stirred on top of Harry, and then mumbled something in her sleep, before nuzzling her head back into the nape of Harry’s neck, which caused Harry to blush bright red.

                Dumbledore looked slightly puzzled, and Harry explained, “I think she wants to know about the dark mark.”

                 “Oh, of course,” he chuckled, “she’s cunning, even in her sleep... Well, the Dark Mark that was placed on her left arm was used as a sort-of tracking device. Mr Malfoy seemed to have been having trouble finding a time when you were on your own and away from Hogwarts, and so he used Ms Granger to find out your routine. When that did not work, because you were never on your own, he decided to lure you away from Hogwarts instead. Hogsmeade was the perfect time.”

           “Oh... so I guess you were right in saying we shouldn’t go... But wait, how did Malfoy create another Hermione?” asked Harry, suddenly remembering.

           “It was a bit of quite advanced magic, with it he was able to create a clone that would look, act, and talk the way Ms Granger does, without having to have her there with you,” he explained.

           Madam Pomfrey entered the room with a furious look on her face.

          “I’m sorry headmaster, but Mr Potter is in desperate need of rest!” she ordered.

          Harry rolled his eyes at her, and Dumbledore asked her for only one more moment.

          When she left, he turned back to Harry and Hermione.

          “Harry, is there any chance you can raise your hand?” he asked cautiously.

          Harry sighed, and wished his hand to move upwards. It did, albeit weakly, and his arm raised an inch off of Hermione’s body. When he tried to move it off to his side, Dumbledore interrupted him.

          “No, that’s quite alright, Harry. Unless you want to move it, of course,” he said, with a knowing twinkle in his eyes, as he got up from his chair.

           Harry blushed vividly as he watched his Headmaster leave the hospital wing. He then closed his eyes to drift off back into a perfect sleep.

   ******

           Madam Pomfrey continued to check Harry and Hermione’s vitals constantly over the next few hours. Professor McGonagall had tried a more severe seperating spell on them earlier that afternoon, which had caused the two of them to immediately shoot across the room into their own beds, but neither of them had woken up. As a matter of fact, Hermione hadn’t woken up the entire time. She managed to separate them when Hermione woke up briefly during the middle of the afternoon, but what surprised her the most was that every time she left the room, she would come back to find that one of them had crawled their way into the other’s bed. Every time they did this, they managed to cling on to each other subconsciously, and she had to stop a passing Professor in the hall to get them to perform the separating spell. Eventually, all the professors stopped using the corridors near the hospital wing.

            “Here, headmaster, I swear to you, just have a seat!” Madam Pomfrey begged, trying to prove that she wasn’t going insane, and that the two students were really sleep walking to each other.

             “I believe you, Poppy,” said Dumbledore, but with a tiny flick of his wand appeared two large, plush chairs at the end of both of the patient’s beds. 

             He took a seat on the chair nearest Harry’s bed, and motioned for Madam Pomfrey to sit as well.

             After only a moment, Hermione stirred slightly in her bed. She slowly sat up, propping herself up with her elbows. Madam Pomfrey turned to Dumbledore and gave him a defiant look as Hermione tossed back her sheets, but before she could arise, Harry sat up in his bed as well. Both of them were still breathing deeply, with their eyes closed, and their motions were weak and heavy.

            They both pushed off of bed; Harry was obviously feeling stronger than Hermione, even though he had been the one who took the hit of the spell. They shuffled over to each other’s bed, but met in the middle of the room. Dumbledore let out a quiet chuckle as Harry bent down and lifted Hermione into his arms, still with his eyes closed. He then brought her back to her bed, laid her down softly with room on her right, and took his place beside her. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, and they fell back into a deep sleep.

            “They look at least 10 years older,” commented Madam Pomfrey, tilting her head slightly to the side, “remind me of Lily and James...” She then stood up in deep thought and went back to her office. Dumbledore smiled with the usual twinkle in his eye, and headed out of the hospital wing.