บท 224: Chapter 221
The ward was small and rather dingy, as the only window was narrow and set high in the wall facing the door. Most of the light came from more shining crystal bubbles clustered in the middle of the ceiling. All four of the petrified students were there, lying on beds, but only one of them was awake.
Hermione occupied the bed at the far end of the ward beside the tiny window. Harry was pleased to see that she was propped up on several pillows and was talking to Ron, who was sitting on a stool beside her bed. The tears streaming down her face, however, meant that she had heard about what had happened.
They looked up as he walked towards him and, seeing who it was, Hermione wiped her tears and gave a shaky smile.
"Hello Harry," she said as Harry bent down and hugged her before taking a seat on a stool on the opposite side of the bed to him.
"How are you?" Harry asked with concern.
"I'm alright," she said, "Just a bit weak. The Healers think they'll have me out in a day at most, which is pretty fast."
"They're just afraid of your mum and dad and their muggle healer ways," Ron chimed in, making the girl chuckle.
Harry looked at Ron for a second. The last he had seen him, the redhead had been an inconsolable mess. The time with his family must have been helpful.
"Have you told her all about what happened Ron?" he asked.
Ron nodded, "Most of it."
Harry dipped a hand into his pocket, pulling out the newspaper he'd grabbed from his desk and handing it to Hermione. "The first three articles cover pretty much all of it. Just in case Ron missed anything."
Ron nodded his thanks. This was clearly painful for him, talking about the Incident. Harry took a moment to admire the boy's strength. He was closer to Dean than any in their group, being in the same house as him. No doubt he was still in pain, yet despite not having any Gamer's Mind to protect himself from his emotions, here he was, stoically trying to support his friend.
His respect for Ron grew quite a bit.
"Oh no…" Hermione muttered as she read through the articles, "Oh goodness no."
The newspaper soon slipped from her hands as she stared uncomprehendingly ahead. Slowly, as Harry and Ron watched worriedly, her shoulders started to rock in sobs. Soon, the tears that had stopped when he had come in started to fall again.
Harry moved from his stool onto the edge of the bed and pulled her to his arms, grabbing her in a hug.
"He-" she cried into his chest in between hiccups, "He didn't deserve it. He was the nicest person. Why…"
And they sat there, Harry gently patting Hermione's back and Ron holding her hand as she cried her heart out to them.
It was in moments like this that Harry was glad he hadn't told anyone the truth. Voldemort was right. Death without a purpose hurt. So he'd given Dean's death a purpose. Dean died saving someone's life. He died stopping a dark ritual. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, he died for a noble purpose.
Ping!
Due to finishing the execution of a justified lie, a skill has levelled up!
Lying, Lv- 12 (30%)
This is your ability to lie to people, the higher the level the better the lie and less chance of discovery!
65% chance of success, less based on how extreme the lie is.
It was quite some time before Hermione's sobs ceased and turned into the occasional hiccup, before melding into silence.
It was Ron who spoke first, "So it's just us now huh?"
"Yeah," Harry replied, trying to keep the melancholy out of his voice. They fell back into silence again.
A few minutes later, Hermione, in an attempt to make conversation, asked, "Will we still be doing the Project?"
"I…don't know." Harry honestly replied.
"It'll be weird without…you know." Ron said.
"Yeah. It will," Harry sighed, "I don't know really. I think I'll visit the school and talk to Professor Vector sometime soon, but until then, I don't know."
"Did Terry write?" Hermione asked, changing the subject.
"Hmm?" Harry asked, before the question hit him and he replied, "Oh yeah. At school, he used to write a lot asking about how you were doing and all that. Last I heard, he told me that he was going to be living in France for a few months with his uncle to learn French before his term at Beauxbatons. I haven't heard from him after the Incident though. Haven't really had the chance to write either."
Harry frowned. Ron had frozen as soon as Terry's name was mentioned.
"He misses us you know," he said, just as much to Ron as to Hermione. The resentment Ron was harboring towards Terry for something that wasn't even his fault didn't sit well with Harry.
"Things will be different now," Ron replied, his tone lined with chill, "Really different. He's going to go to school in France and with Hogwarts being closed, we have no idea what's going to be happening to us."
Hermione glanced at Harry, her expression one of worried concern, before she asked, "The newspaper said you got Dean's…his body out of the Chamber. What happened to him after that?"
"Dad said that the DMLE is holding him for the investigation period," Ron piped in.
"Shouldn't he be released to his family?" Hermione asked, "They must be in so much pain."
"That's what I said. Dad told me the DMLE is afraid that if she wants to cremate then they might lose evidence permanently. Or at least that's the official reason,"
"It sounds reasonable. I guess," Hermione muttered.
"When will you be released?" Harry asked Hermione.
"They're running a few tests on me to make sure that the Mandrake worked as it should have, but they think I'll be out by tomorrow," Hermione replied as she picked up the newspaper and looked at it again.
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