𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

Chapter 5

Transformation: Chapter Five

Madam Pomfrey was in a near-frantic state when Harry and Hermione peeked their heads in the door, and she motioned them quickly into the room. "He's in the bed by the window," she said briskly, arms full of several glass bottles and a roll of bandages. "Don't be long, now, it's getting late," and she bustled off to tend to a still-unconscious seventh year with a bad burn mark on her face.

Ron was awake when they crept around the curtain of his bed, and his face lit up when he saw them. "Harry," he exclaimed. "We were afraid – you might have been caught in the attack–"

"I came back early," Harry said quietly, not daring to look at Hermione. Now was not the time to explain to Ron why, exactly, he had returned to the castle so early. "How's your leg?"

"Mostly mended," Ron shrugged. "I'm supposed to stay overnight so she can keep an eye on me. I'm probably the best off, considering who's here; did you see Kevin Entwhistle? Whole body covered in burns. I'll bet he was hurt the worst." There was a pause, until Ron realized what he said, and amended soberly, "I mean, except for Seamus and Dennis and Snape."

"What happened?" Harry asked, hating the grave look on Ron's face. He sat down in the chair beside Ron, while Hermione perched at the foot of the bed. Hermione had not had time to tell him very much as they rushed to the hospital wing. And Malfoy had not waited to hear more; he had bolted as soon as Hermione spoke, face chalky.

Ron glanced up as Madam Pomfrey dropped something across the room, which clattered loudly on the floor. Then he said, "It's hard to say when it started – Hermione and I were in Dervish & Banges when we heard the screaming. We were looking for you, so we thought immediately you were in the middle of the attack."

Harry felt a flash of guilt for his absence.

"We ran up the street towards the Three Broomsticks," Ron continued, "but by that time, people were fighting in the street by the post office and Honeydukes. There were huge crowds of smoke and sparks everywhere – we couldn't see anyone, people were just running by. I remember Hannah Abbott ran past me and grabbed onto my arm, looking like she'd just seen You-Know-Who himself. She didn't, though," he assured Harry, after Harry gave him a shocked look, "he wasn't there, I don't think. Just a lot of Death Eaters – Tonks was there dueling with one of them – I saw McGonagall firing spells, she had a group of third-years huddled behind her–"

Hermione said, very quietly, "Tell him about Snape."

"Right," Ron said, "I know Snape was rotten – oh, Hermione, just because he's dead doesn't mean he's my favorite teacher – but, Harry, he was brilliant. He saved loads of people, probably. He was just standing there in the middle of the street, hexing Death Eaters left and right. I know he saved Neville's life, at least. Somebody, I couldn't see who, hit him with some awful spell, nobody heard what it was – it was mad, everybody was screaming and running, we couldn't see a thing – and Snape was shouting and then he was on the ground."

"I thought he was just unconscious," Hermione said, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "I tried to get closer, but that's when Ron was hit with an Impediment Jinx and got knocked into the steps of Honeydukes, and by the time I'd made sure he was all right, everything was over."

Harry said hesitantly, "Seamus and Dennis?"

"Seamus was one of the first ones to die," Ron told him. He sounded a bit strangled. "I didn't see it, but he and Ginny and Dean had just been in Honeydukes, they were eating Fizzing Whizbees – Seamus floated up higher than the rest of them, and the next thing they knew, he was – he was–"

Hermione put a hand on Ron's knee and he quieted, unable to finish. "Dennis had been in the Three Broomsticks," she continued for Ron. "He was running down the street to get away from them and they shattered the post office window. He was just – full of glass–" She cut off, too, looking distressed. "I'm the one who found him, I'm the one who had to tell Colin that he didn't have a pulse–"