A/N: Wow! This is coming along quickly. Thanks for the reviews. Enjoy!
The trip to Madame Pomfrey's place in Hogsmead and back only took around ten minutes but it seemed like a lifetime to Harry. Luckily the former school nurse knew to not question anything that Harry Potter might require from her, she had accepted that long ago. When they arrived back at the Inn they found Ron sitting on the bed by a still sleeping Hermione.
It took the healer only a moment to gain her balance and composure before taking command of the situation. "Move Mr.Weasley, you're in my way."
Ron scrambled to his feet and beat a hasty retreat to the other side of the bed allowing Madame Pomfrey to work. The room was silent save for the quiet diagnostic spells being performed and the clink of various potions bottles. Harry hovered just behind, never more than an arms length from the bed. Finally she stepped away from the bed and turned to the anxious young men waiting for her.
"Would either of you care to explain to me what happened here?"
"We don't know, we found her like this. She was awake for a bit though and said she didn't know what happened. That's all we know." Harry informed her, the anger evident in his voice.
Madame Pomfrey looked at him knowingly "Justice can come later Mr.Potter. All I can tell you is that her injuries are not critical. She had a broken wrist, which I have healed, the obvious cuts and scrapes, several bruised ribs and a nasty bump to her head. Some seem to have come from a curse, but others…" she trailed off afraid of Harry's reaction once he knew that she had in fact been beaten as well.
Harry's normally green eyes flashed a dangerous black for a moment before he nodded his understanding. The words he had promised to Hermione earlier rang again in his head, he would find out who did this to her.
"I've left some potions for her when she wakes up." She said, indicating the bottles by the bed. " You should allow her to rest until she wakes up on her own. She will probably be sore and tired at first but there should be no lasting damage, although I would wait a bit before traveling."
Ron had been listening intently before a terrible and horrendous thought flashed through his head. Not daring to look at Harry he could barely get the words out. "Madame Pomfrey, she wasn't….there wasn't any sign of…"
Thankfully the healer caught on to what he was trying to ask and quickly put his mind at ease. "No Mr. Weasley, there is no indication that there was any attack of a….well of a personal nature."
A window towards the front of the room blew out in a deafening crash and Harry stood rigid, hands clenched with a look of shock on his face, obviously, the question of Hermione having been sexually assaulted had not crossed his mind.
The group was still for a moment before Madame Pomfrey began packing up her supplies. She gently laid a hand on Harry's shoulder and made sure she had his attention before continuing. "She will recover Harry. I know she's in good hands here. Contact me by Floo if there are any questions or if you need more potions. I'll make apparation arrangements at the front desk, don't worry about taking me back." And with one last look at her patient she swept from the room, once again leaving Ron and Harry to watch over Hermione.
Slowly, Harry made his way to the bed, the blood had been cleaned from Hermione's face but her clothes were still a mess and there was still dark bruising where the cuts had been. He lowered himself to sit on the bed next to her and reached out to take her hand in his, unconsciously stroking it to remove the cold he felt.
Ron had ran his hands through his hair so many times it was unrulier than usual. He blew out a large breath before addressing Harry. "What's the next step mate?"
"We need to wait until Hermione wakes up, right now she's the only one who may know what happened." Harry answered, his gaze never leaving the girl on the bed.
"I can't just stand here and wait, I think I'm going to head down to where the conference was held, see if anyone is around that can help us out." Ron told him
"Yeah, that sounds fine, I don't want to…."Harry trailed off, the thought of leaving Hermione right now wasn't sitting well with him.
"No worries. You stay here, I'll see what I can find out." Ron said, grasping Hermione's hand quickly before clapping a hand on Harry's back and disappearing from the room.
Finally alone with Hermione and his thoughts Harry let the full affect of what had happened hit him. He let go of her hand long enough to remove his glasses and run a shaky hand over his face. There had been too many times over their lives together where he had had this feeling. The troll first year, her being petrified in second, running from a changed Professor Lupin in third, seeing her at the bottom of the lake in fourth, how completely terrified he had been at the Department of Mysteries in fifth year before he realized she was alive.
The worst had been during the final battle, Harry had lost track of her while he was battling Voldemort. Ron and Hermione had been holding their own, fighting alongside other Order members in taking out Death Eaters and the other vile creatures that had aligned themselves with the dark. Hermione had been experimenting with various spells to use during the battle, some they had tested, others were just theories. One was equivalent to a concussive shock wave, it would take out anyone within a twenty foot radius. It was one of the spells that was still in its theoretical form but as she was being advanced on my no less than eight Death Eaters she had known she didn't have any other choice. Not knowing if the spell would harm her as well, but knowing that if those Death Eaters got past her they would be attacking Harry next she used it. The light and the force had spread across the grounds, and just as she had predicted it dropped all those coming after her, even some further out than twenty feet. Unfortunately there was rebound which hit her as well.
Harry used the distraction from her spell to make his last attack on Voldemort, the one that finally took him down. He found Ron first, banged up and limping but alive, together they began to comb the destruction. Finally, they had spotted her trademark hair and pulled the bodies of three Death Eaters off of her before they got to her. He was sure she was dead, and he felt as if his heart had surely dropped straight out of his chest. Ron was the one with enough courage to search for a pulse. It had taken her almost two weeks to wake up, Harry never left her side. Meetings with the ministry, with reporters, were all done in the hospital wing not five steps from her side.
But this was different, this was an unknown, and this attack had frightened her, worse than battling Death Eaters had. That's what Harry was most angry about, that someone out there had made Hermione Granger scared, they had taken her control away, had made her feel weak. For that they would pay.
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