Hermione Granger and the Paradigm Shift

Chapter 10 - Part 1

It had been nine hours since she had watched Ron dying. Nine hours since she'd gone from the excitement of getting Slughorn's memory...to the unexpected joy at seeing Harry...to the amusement of hearing Ron dreamily ruminate on the ethereal beauty of Romilda Vane...to terror and panic as she watched him dying.

Excitement, joy, terror, panic...her five-plus years at Hogwarts had been encapsulated in the span of five minutes. Her excitement and happiness, no matter how monumental or meaningful, always seemed to be quickly snuffed out by something equally as awful...something truly and horrifically awful...happening. She wondered if the cycle would ever end.

As she sat next to Ron's bedside the voices wafting around her were drowned out...her mind stubbornly focused only on the most disappointing of emotions. Panic.

She and Slughorn had panicked. She wished there was a more benign or less severe way to describe it but to do so would have been a lie. She had panicked...and because she had panicked she was going to watch Ron die.

Until he didn't die...because Harry hadn't panicked...he had kept his head and saved him. Her mental tally of things more important than books and cleverness was now up to three: Friendship...and bravery...and not panicking.

She was roused out of her thoughts by Ginny. "What do think, Hermione?"

She looked up to see Ginny, Harry, and the Weasley twins anxiously waiting on her thoughts. Hermione had no idea how long she had not been listening and realized there was no need to pretend. "I'm sorry...I was lost in my thoughts. What do I think about what?"

Ginny gave her a sad smile and Hermione knew she understood. They'd taken turns doing it throughout the day...losing themselves in the most horrific 'what ifs' that could have happened.

"Whether Slughorn could have been trying to poison Ron," Ginny supplied.

Hermione considered it before quickly dismissing it in her mind. Too many random things had happened to make such an idea seem feasible...and she agreed with Mr. Dagworth that her professor was a good man. The fact that he had given her the memory confirmed it in her mind.

"No, I don't think so," she replied before turning back to look at Ron as he slept.

"Someone could have used polyjuice," Fred offered.

"Or he may have been under the Imperius," George interjected.

"I was with him all morning and I never saw him drink anything," she answered, suddenly remembering that she hadn't shared her success with Harry.

She glanced pointedly at him before continuing. "And he shared specific things, memories, only he would know." She watched Harry's eyes widen at her words.

She nodded in acknowledgment at his questioning glance...his tired smile restoring a bit of her energy and hope. At least one good thing had come out of the day.

"I can't think of any reason he would want to hurt Ron and he's been alone several times with Harry this year. It wouldn't make sense to try something with all three of us-"

Her speculation was interrupted by Ron suddenly and dreamily murmuring her name in his sleep, drawing chuckles from his siblings. She supposed they found it comforting to hear his voice again...an acknowledgment that he was truly alive and well. She, however, did not take any comfort from hearing him saying her name. It felt too intimate...unnatural...to be coming from his mouth. She refused to look at Harry to see his reaction...unsure whether she could manage it if he had found it amusing.

The conversation turned toward other potential culprits...including Harry's adamant declaration that Draco may be the one to blame. As she continued to listen her stomach clenched. If the botched attempts that injured Katie and Ron were meant for Dumbledore then they were amateurish and sloppy...the acts of someone desperate and ill-equipped for such a task. Someone like Draco.