Escape: Into the Potterverse [18+]

Chapter 33

The next morning you wake up and quickly look over to Hermione's bed. It is empty and doesn't look like it's been slept in. You panic for a moment, but then you remember that Hermione always makes her bed in the morning, so it never looks like it has been slept in. You sit up slightly so you can see Ginny's bed. It looks like it hasn't been slept in. Ginny is messy, like you, so if they had come back you would be able to tell. So that must mean they haven't returned yet.

You get out of bed slowly and start getting dressed. You had assumed that the others would have returned by now. You are hit by the fear that maybe something different happened, like you had changed the story somehow just by being part of it.

You wander in a daze through the castle and down towards the Great hall. When you get closer you start to hear the sound of a lot of excited talking. You walk into the Great hall and find quite a frantic scene before you. There are copies of the Daily Prophet being waved around, and lots of people reading it excitedly.

You walk over to the Gryffindor table and spot Seamus Finnigan quietly reading the Daily Prophet and drinking coffee.

"Ahh, y/n, have you seen the news?" Seamus says, as he sees you sitting down next to him.

"Err, no. I just got up," you say.

"Here, take a look," he says, and pushes the paper towards you. "You-know-who was in the ministry last night. Dumbledore fought him off."

"That's terrible," you say, as you quickly scan through the headlines. "Err, was anyone hurt?"

"Sirius Black was killed. Fighting the death eaters it says," he says. "And then Dumbledore captured most of the death eaters. Apparently Malfoy's dad was one of them."

"Oh, yeah. Poor Malfoy," you say. "What about Harry and the others?

"They're okay, a few cuts and scrapes is what I heard," says Seamus. "I talked to McGonagall this morning. She said the minister himself wanted to thank them personally. But they should be back soon."

"I hope they don't take too long," you say.

"Hey, don't worry. If it was my girlfriend off battling death eaters, I'd be nervous too," he says. "But like I say, they're all fine."

"Thanks, Seamus," you say with a grin.

You grab yourself some food and a big cup of coffee. Now that you have heard Hermione is okay, your appetite has returned.

You are just helping yourself to a second plate of beans on toast, when you hear someone behind you.

"Well, is this your version of missing me?"

You spin round on the seat to find Hermione standing behind you grinning. You quickly jump up and give her a big hug.

"You're okay. I was so scared," you say, squeezing Hermione tightly.

"Well I was," she says, struggling to breathe.

You release her from your hug and take step back. When you look closely at Hermione, you can see she has a few cuts on her face.

"Oh babe, you don't look so good," you say.

"Well neither do you," Hermione says raising an eyebrow. "You've got bean juice all down your top."

She points to your chest, and when you look, you realise that you have dropped some of your breakfast down yourself.

"Oh yeah. Oops," you say.

"Urgh, what are you like," Hermione says, and mock shakes her head. "Pass me a napkin."

You grab a couple of napkins off the table and pass them to Hermione. She dabs one in the water jug, then uses it to clean the drops of sauce off your top.

"Much better," she says once she has finished.

"Thanks, babe," you say. "So what happens now with all the death eaters and stuff?"

"I don't know, the ministry will handle all of that," says Hermione.

"And is there anything that we need to do?" you ask.

"Nothing, I suppose," says Hermione. "It's the end of term, so we will all just be going back to our families for the summer holidays."

"Oh right, yeah," you say.

"Actually, that reminds me," says Hermione. "When we were with Dumbledore earlier, he mentioned something about sending you home. Said he needed to speak to you about it."

"He found a way to get me home?" you say excitedly. "Did he say when?"

"No, but I think he's in his office now if you want to go talk to him," Hermione says.

"Yeah, I probably should," you say. "Okay, I'll go there now. But we have to catch up properly when I'm done."

"Yes, we will," says Hermione, then she leans in and gives you a big kiss.

You leave Hermione to eat her breakfast, and hurry through the corridors to Dumbledore's office. When you enter, he is sat at his desk reading a copy of the Daily Prophet and chuckling to himself.

"Ahhh, y/n," he says when he sees you. "Come, sit down."

"Thank you, Professor," you say. "Hermione said you know how to get me home."

"Well yes, but that's kind of spoiled my good news," he says.

"Oh, sorry," you say.

"No, it's fine," he says with a smile. "But yes, while I was away from here it gave me plenty of time to research your problem. And I discovered records of an obscure piece of magic called Somnia Viatorus."

"Okay," you say. "What's that?"

"Well, it is a spell that enables a wizard to transport his consciousness separately from his body while he sleeps," he says. "I believe you have this latent ability so that while your true self is asleep your have managed to send your consciousness here to take physical form."

"Cool," you say. "So you know how to reverse it?"

"Yes, I believe so," he says. "One must simply touch your wand to your head and say 'Somnia Viatorus' and go to sleep. Then you should wake to find yourself where you wanted to be."

"Hmmm, that sounds easy enough," you say.

"Well, if that was all, I'm afraid I have a lot of work to catch up on," Dumbledore says.

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Professor," you say.

You leave Dumbledore's office and head off to look for Hermione.