A/N: Thanks for the replies. And yes, cookies to pandiesboxx, the plot line is taken from Bones, but no voo-doo I'm sorry. Enjoy this next part.
Once again Hermione found herself fighting to open her eyes. The room was distorted, matching the confusion inside her head. Through the fog she was beginning to make out familiar shapes, and was rocked by a terrible flashback from years earlier, to an all too similar situation where she had been hurt, in the final battle and the boys had been forced to dig through a pile of Death Eaters to find her at the bottom, barely alive.
She felt a hand gently trying to brush matted hair out of her face and then falling to cup her cheek. Steeling herself to fully open her eyes she turned her head slightly into the hand and immediately regretted it as a blinding pain flashed through her. Gasping, she tried to raise her arm to grab her head but found it being held.
"Hermione! Shhh…slowly, don't try to move too much." The anxious voice of her best friend began to make its way through the din in her head.
This time she was successful when she opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the terrified look on Harry Potter's face. Ron was crouched next to him and she realized that the death grip he had on her hand is what had kept her from raising her arm. Her gaze locked once again with Harry's and she noticed that he had now schooled his features so that she wouldn't see how scared he really was.
Cautiously, she once again moved her head and found the pain slightly less. Harry slipped an arm around her shoulders and lifted her to lean against his chest. Holding her head up on her own was too difficult so she let it fall back against his shoulder and took a few deep calming breaths.
"Hermione, what happened?" Ron asked worriedly.
Hermione raised her good arm to her forehead and winced as her hand came in contact with her wound. "I'm…I'm not sure. I just woke up in the bathroom…I don't…Harry, I don't know what happened to me." The last part was choked, allowing the terror and confusion she was feeling to show.
Harry pulled her tighter to him and exchanged a hard look with Ron, who felt a slight tremor run through him, whoever did this to her wasn't going to get far.
Ron squeezed Hermione's hand and stood up, taking in the rest of the room for the first time. Most of the main area of the room seemed to be in a normal state. The bed was made and Hermione's luggage and books were stacked neatly. The path to the bathroom door was a different story. There was an obvious trail, smears of blood, a table had been tipped over, lamps broken on the floor. The door to the bathroom was mostly shut and when Ron pushed it open he felt a clench in his gut. "Sweet Merlin" he gasped.
The condition of the room was frightening. The amount of blood, mostly pooled in dark batches on the floor set the foundation for the grisly tableau. Broken glass and dried bloody hand prints marred every surface. Ron quickly turned around and stumbled out of the room, looking up quickly as he saw Harry approaching.
"Mate. No, you don't want to go in there." Ron strangled out, using the extra two inches of height he had on Harry as an attempt to block the doorway.
"Let me in Ron." Harry demanded
"Harry, trust me, you don't need to see in there." Ron said again, but resigned that Harry would go in.
Harry didn't make his request again, he merely stepped around Ron and into the bathroom. Ron made his way over to Hermione where she was propped against the bed , her eyes shut. He dropped a gentle kiss on her head, away from her wound and sat next to her. "Oh `Mione." He said softly, now equally worried for both his friends.
Ron looked up suddenly as he felt a slight wind begin to fill the room and the lights begin to flicker. Harry hadn't had an episode of uncontrolled magic in a long time, the ability to control his powers had been something he had mastered years ago, Ron knew that for him to let it slip like that was a very big deal.
Hermione also felt the charge in the air and opened her eyes, looking at Ron in desperation. She licked her lips before summoning the strength to call out "Harry!".
Immediately the air shifted back to normal and Harry emerged from the bathroom, ashen faced and trembling. In a few short strides he was back at Hermione's side, falling to his knees at her side and gathering her to him. "I'll find out who did this and I will make them pay, I promise you." He whispered into her hair as she clung to him as best she could, what little strength she had rapidly fading.
The three friends sat in silence for awhile before Ron cleared his throat to break the silence. "Um..Harry, I think she's out again mate, we need to get her to a Healer."
Harry looked down quickly and saw that Hermione was in fact unconscious again, although this time she seemed to just be sleeping. In one smooth move he lifted her and laid her gently on the bed, covering with a throw before turning to Ron.
"I don't think I should apparate with her and I don't know any healers here. Will you stay with her while I go get Madame Pomfrey?" Harry asked. Their former school nurse was now mostly retired, but after years of caring for Harry's numerous injuries she had named herself his personal healer and was the only one Harry trusted.
"Of course." Ron agreed immediately, knowing it would kill Harry to leave her, but agreeing that they shouldn't take her anywhere just yet.
Ron turned away with a small smile on his face as Harry approached the bed to say goodbye to Hermione. As terrible as this was it just may be the push the two needed to finally see what everyone else did.
Harry brushed a small kiss on her cheek and stroked the side of her face before turning to Ron, exchanging a nod and disappearing without a sound.
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