Hermione Granger and the Sorcerer's Stone

Back Through the Barrier

Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and ran with him to the owlery.

"Slow down! Slow down!" said Ron, turning green and holding her hand tightly.

"What if we get caught?" he asked, trying to stop her.

"I honestly don't care about that at the moment!" said Hermione determinedly. Ron stopped dead in this tracks. Hermione thought he was going to vomit but Ron just smiled at her as he turned back to his normal color.

"I knew I'd rub off on you."

Hermione smiled at the ground embarrassingly then took Ron's hand and ran with him.

They had only just reached the entrance hall when they heard footsteps rushing up towards them. 

Hermione gasped but Ron covered her mouth.

They turned to run, but the person was that coming towards them was just the person they wanted to see.

Long white hair down his back, matching white beard and bushy mustache bouncing in the wind as he ran and half-moon spectacles slowly falling off his crooked nose.

"Professor Dumbledore!" gasped Hermione.

"Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?!" exclaimed Dumbledore, who had only paused for a moment before running off again.

"Wow," said Ron. "One hundred and fifty and still going strong."

.        .        .

The next morning Hermione and Ron were alerted that Harry was unconscious in the Hospital Wing. No one had told them if he was getting better or not, which extremely bothered the two. They finally agreed on something.

This was unfair and scary.

When they went to go see Harry Hermione could barely hold in her tears, just looking at him motionless like he was dead. It was like Ron all over again.

Ron seemed pretty messed up by it too, but he tried to be brave for Hermione.

"It's going to be alright," he said awkwardly as she cried into his shoulder on the way back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Dumbledore is probably very disappointed with us," she said to Ron, wiping her eyes.

"You know what this reminds me?"

Ron shook his head.

"Neville is still stuck in the common room."

.        .         .

The next day Neville had gotten better and was fairly distant with Hermione and Ron, who had apologized a thousand times for cursing him. He sat away from them and didn't speak their names. "He'll get over it," Ron told Hermione.

All of Gryffindor had begun to notice that Harry was absent from meals and was never in the common room or with Hermione and Ron. And worst of all Gryffindor had a Quidditch game against Ravenclaw and they didn't have Harry.

Watching the game was like watching Harry in bed. It was unbearable.

Rumors began to speculate that Harry was dying.

Hermione didn't know what to tell people when they asked what had happened to Harry. She didn't know if he was dying or not. Older students had said they normally informed you when patients were making progress and that must have meant Harry wasn't making any.

This worried Hermione deeply, especially since Professor Snape was still in school and looking more smug than ever.

Had he gotten the Stone after all.