Come Back
Ron woke suddenly to the sound of someone yelling. The sound stopped abruptly and there was a thud of something hitting the floor. Ron jumped up and opened the curtains around his bed. He had to clamp a hand over his mouth to keep from screaming.
The window was open and snow was blowing into the room. Lying under the window, blood pooling on the floor next to him, was�.
�Harry!� Ron gasped running toward him. He was unconscious and blood was spilling from his wrists. A small voice came from behind Ron.
�Ron, what��
Ron whipped around and stared at Neville, who, seeing Harry, stopped talking and looked like he was going to faint.
�Neville,� Ron said quietly, �go get McGonagall.�
Neville turned and ran from the room. A few minutes later, a very tired looking Professor McGonagall entered the room. She rushed forward and dropped onto her knees next to Harry.
�We have to get him to the hospital wing,� she said, picking Harry up. �Weasley, follow me.� She carried Harry out the door and Ron hurried to catch up with her. As they rushed across the common room, neither of them noticed the knife that fell from Harry�s limp hand.
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Hermione sat up suddenly. Something had happened. She didn�t know how she knew but that didn�t matter. She jumped out of bed and hurried down to the common room.
The scene that met her eyes surprised her. Everyone in Gryffindor seemed to be awake and were divided into groups of two or three. They were all talking in low voices. Hermione found Seamus and Dean.
�What�s going on?� she asked.
�No idea,� Seamus said. �We woke up and there was blood all over the floor. Ron and Harry were gone.�
�We think Neville saw something,� Dean added, �but he won�t talk to us. He seems really shook up about something.�
Hermione wasn�t paying attention to what they were saying. She�d seem something silver on the ground. It was the knife Sirius had given to Harry. She picked it up, flicked it open, and had to hold back a scream. The blade was stained with blood.
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Ron followed Professor McGonagall into the hospital wing.
�Go get Madam Pomfrey,� Professor McGonagall ordered, placing Harry on the nearest bed. Ron nodded and ran across the room to Madam Pomfrey�s office.
�Madam Pomfrey!� he yelled, pounding on the door. She came out and blinked down at him.
�Mr. Weasley, what�s the matter?�
�It�s Harry! He�s hurt!�
�Oh dear,� she gasped, hurrying over to where Harry was lying. She took out her wand and quickly healed his wrists. She picked up his arm and shook her head. �He�ll keep the scars, but that�s the least of our problems right now.�
�Will he be all right?� Ron asked.
�I�m not sure,� Madam Pomfrey said. �He�s lost a lot of blood. All we can do now is wait.�
�What happened to him?� Ron asked.
�My best guess is that he slit his wrists.�
�He what?�
�It�s more common among Muggle teenagers,� Madam Pomfrey explained. �Wizard teenagers usually find other, less painful ways.�
�Less painful ways to do what?�
�Kill themselves�
�What?� Ron felt faint. He couldn�t believe it. He wouldn�t believe it.
�Come with me Mr. Weasley,� Professor McGonagall said. �Breakfast started ten minutes ago. There�s nothing more we can do.�
Ron hesitated before following her out of the room.
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�Come on Hermione, you have to eat something.�
�I�m not hungry,� Hermione whispered, pushing away her plate.
�That�s what you said yesterday,� Icicle said. �You can�t...�
�Hey look,� Ginny interrupted, �Ron�s here.�
Ron had just entered the Great Hall. He looked very pale. He sat down and was immediately surrounded by a crowd of people.
�I�m gonna go find out what happened,� Icicle muttered and got up to join the crowd. She came back a few minutes later looking worried.
�What is it?� Ginny asked.
�Harry�s in the hospital wing,� Icicle said faintly. �He tried to kill himself.�
Hermione gasped. This couldn�t be happening. She felt like she was going to be sick. She stood up and ran from the room, shoving people out of her way. She ran through the hallways, not even stopping to catch her breath. She ran until she couldn�t run anymore. She stumbled, fell to the ground, and passed out.
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Ginny watched Hermione run from the room. She�d looked like she was going to be sick. Of course, Ginny couldn�t blame her.
�I�m going to check on Hermione,� Icicle said, getting up. Ginny nodded and Icicle left. A few minutes later, she came running back.
�Ginny,� she yelled, �we have to get Professor McGonagall!�
Ginny followed her to the teacher�s table and out into the hallway. Icicle led them down the hallways in a relatively straight line. Then Ginny saw what had made her run back. Hermione was lying facedown on the floor. A small pool of blood had formed by her head, probably a result of the fall.
�Go back to the hall,� Professor McGonagall said, dropping to her knees next to Hermione. �I�ll take care of it from here.�
Ginny and Icicle walked slowly back to the Great Hall. Ginny looked back over her shoulder and watched Professor McGonagall pick Hermione up and carry her off to the hospital wing.
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Hermione woke up and screamed as a stabbing pain shot through her ankle. She felt hands on her shoulders.
�Calm down Miss Granger,� Madam Pomfrey said. �You�ve broken your ankle. I�m trying to fix it, but I have to line up the bone first. This may hurt but I must ask that you hold still.�
Hermione bit her lip to keep from screaming again as Madam Pomfrey lined up the bone, took out her wand, and said a quick spell. Hermione relaxed as some of the pain went away.
�Now,� Madam Pomfrey said, �let�s take care of that cut.� She touched her wand to Hermione�s forehead, quickly mending it.
�What happened?� Hermione asked, looking around the room. �How�d I get here?�
�You were found in the hallway. Professor McGonagall brought you in. As to what happened, I don�t know.�
�Is Harry going to be all right?� Hermione asked, catching sight of the boy a few beds down.
�Don�t worry about him. He�ll be just fine.� Hermione could tell she was lying. She reached out and caught Madam Pomfrey�s wrist.
�Tell me the truth,� she whispered.
�I honestly don�t know,� Madam Pomfrey said sadly. �He could go either way at this point. I can�t do anything else for him. If he wakes up I�ll be able to give him a potion. But right now, he�s on his own.�
Hermione leaned back and shut her eyes. This can�t be happening, she thought to herself. Harry can�t�
�Get some rest,� Madam Pomfrey said, interrupting Hermione�s thoughts. �You�ll need to stay for a few days.�
Hermione would have argued, but she was too tired. She slowly drifted off to sleep.
* * *
It was the middle of the night when Hermione woke up. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She hadn�t had the dream again but that didn�t make her feel better. On the contrary, it made her feel worse. She had to see Harry.
She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She slowly stood up, trying to put as little weight as possible on her injured ankle. It had been mended, but wasn�t completely healed yet. She reached out and rested her hand against the wall to steady herself. Then she walked over to Harry and collapsed into a chair next to his bed.
Harry was shaking violently and seemed to be having trouble breathing. Hermione reached out to touch his arm and jerked her hand back suddenly. He was stone cold! She reached out again and held his arm. His arm hung limply in her hand but he had stopped shaking and his breathing had evened out. She turned his arm over and lightly touched the scar on his wrist.
�Harry,� she whispered, �why did you do it?� Her eyes filled with tears and she couldn�t bear to look at him any longer. She dropped his arm and rushed back to her bed, ignoring the stabbing pains in her ankle. Drawing the curtains around her bed, she collapsed onto the bed and cried herself to sleep.
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Where am I? Harry thought, looking around. He saw nothing. It was pitch black.
Then he saw something. A woman was walking toward him. Her bright white robes seemed to give off their own light and yet, he couldn�t see her face. She seemed to glide forward. Soon she was standing in front of him but her face was still hidden in shadow. She reached out and took his arm, gently touching the scar on his wrist.
�Harry,� she whispered, �why did you do it?�
Harry wanted to tell her. He tried to tell her about the dreams that haunted him and about how Hermione wasn�t talking to him. But he found that he couldn�t speak. The woman dropped his arm and put a hand on his forehead. Her face was suddenly illuminated and Harry gasped.
�Go back,� his mother whispered. �It�s not your time.�
Harry tried to speak, but still no words came out. A single tear ran down his mother�s cheek as she backed away and disappeared into the shadows. Left in the dark again, Harry fell to his knees and covered his face with his hands.
�What do you want me to do?� he asked, finding his voice. But she was already gone. Harry was alone.
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Madam Pomfrey watched the girl get out of bed and walk over to the boy. She wanted to go tell the girl that she shouldn�t be up, but something held her back.
The boy was shaking violently and his breathing was uneven. Madam Pomfrey watched as the girl took the boy�s arm and spoke softly to him. He seemed to calm down. The girl sat next to him for a moment before going back to her own bed and closing the curtains.
Madam Pomfrey rushed toward Harry, who had started shaking again. She summoned a blanket from a cupboard and covered the boy up. She placed a hand on his forehead. He was burning up but all she had to treat fevers were potions.
She sat down in a chair next to the bed. Much as she hated to admit it, there was nothing more she could do.
�You have no idea how important you are,� she whispered, not bothering to wipe away the tears that threatened to fall. �Please come back. If not for yourself, then for Miss Granger�s sake, please come back!�
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