Captivate and Mesmerize

Captivate; Part 1.6

Harry stood vigil by Hermione's bedside at St. Mungo's for the three days she was in the hospital. He only left for questioning Macnair and when he was forced out of the room by Ron and Ginny to rest at an actual bed with promises to alert him as soon as possible if there were changes to Hermione's condition.

The first two days were dire and scared the absolute shit out of him. Hermione remained unconscious and cold during those two days. The curse turned her very pale and she looked dead except for the very soft breaths she was taking. Her knees were bruised because of her fall and there were cuts on her arms and back of her legs due to debris from the spell fight outside the lift. They didn't know what spell was used on her and didn't know how to help her. All the mediwitches could do were force feed her potions to keep her vitality and tend to do the surface wounds on her body. But they didn't know how to reverse the curse. The wizard, whom he later found out was Walden Macnair, refused to tell anybody the counter. On more than one occasion Harry had almost turned his wand on the wizard in sheer anger and rage during questioning.

It was only after a heavy dose of Veritaserum did Macnair begin to speak. They would have used the potion on him sooner if not for the Ministry protocols around it. The matter was escalated by Harry himself until the potion use was finally approved. Macnair admitted that his initial plan was to kill Harry Potter and that Hermione Granger was a target of opportunity. He detailed his scheme and told them about the poor boy Joe Colton whom he had killed to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic under the guise of a lift operator. When asked about the curse, Macnair said that over the years he had developed a spell whose symptoms mimic that of the Draught of the Living Dead. What it does, however, was frightening. For when under the spell, the cursed would be plagued with their deepest and darkest fears - the stuff of nightmares - all the while giving the impression that they were under a peaceful slumber. They would be haunted until they themselves lose the will to live.

And when asked about the counter curse, Macnair gave a malicious smile and said what he believed to be true. There was no counter.

Mediwitches tried the Wiggenweld potion, the antidote to the Draught of the Living Dead. It didn't work. They tried casting Riddikulus over Hermione too, to banish any imaginary Boggarts that might be lurking in her head because of the curse, but it was futile. They tried to Rennervate her, feed her more "wake-up" potions but still, nothing.

If there was anybody that could help Hermione at that moment, it would be herself.

But since she couldn't, Harry tried to put himself in her shoes.

He tried to think like Hermione because she needed him.

And that was when he came up with an idea that wasn't yet tried by the healers.

The opposite of fear was joy. Happiness. That was why Riddikulus works on Boggarts, since the spell would transform the Boggart to an object found humorous by the caster. And humour leads to joy, to happiness.

There was another spell - a more powerful spell - Harry knew of that was pure, concentrated form of happiness and of hope.

The answer was simple almost as much as it was complicated to anyone but Harry.

So, after getting approvals from the mediwitches, Harry cast a Patronus charm over Hermione's still body.

He thought of the happiest he had ever been. He thought of the timeturner and of Buckbeak's flight with him and Hermione on his back as they raced to save Sirius. He thought of his 20th birthday when Hermione had surprised him with a new broom. He thought of his, Hermione's, and Ron's trip to Japan as their first holiday together after they all landed jobs after the war. He thought of another trip he and Hermione took to Switzerland where he learned to ski. He thought of her, of how the simple act of being with her made him so content and so indescribably happy.

With bated breaths, the mediwitches, other Aurors, and Ron and the Weasleys, watched as the stag materialized from Harry's wand and charged towards the unmoving form of Hermione. It was the most powerful corporeal patronus anyone had ever seen. It reared its mighty antlered head before disappearing into her. A light so fierce illuminated the large but cramped hospital room and a sickly orange cloud lifted from within her and dispersed into the air.

And then Hermione breathed deeply and her hand twitched and Harry knew his idea had worked.

He was about to hold onto her hand again when the mediwitches commanded everyone but the healers to leave the room. They needed to run more diagnostics, more tests. They needed to ensure she was okay and so he was forced out of the room with his friends.

Harry didn't know how long he waited for until he was allowed back inside Hermione's room. He almost literally ran inside when he was told it was okay to re-enter. One look at her and Harry knew it would be okay. Already Hermione's cheeks were more flushed and he could actually see the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed normally. The mediwitches told him they had put her under a spell-induced coma to recuperate peacefully since her mind probably wasn't at ease while she was cursed. She would wake up on her own after much needed sleep and he would be able to see those chocolate brown eyes again.

So, Harry sat by the chair at Hermione's bedside, grasped her warm hand with his, and waited.