A/N: Thanks to all that have read and those that reviewed. I like to know that people are reading…and I am terribly sorry for taking so long to update.
Lurking Out Of Sight
Chapter 8
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RECAP:
Hermione twitched and grimaced, a substance that bubbled and frothed dripped out of her mouth and onto her vomit stained shift. Ron wanted to run. This was not the Hermione he knew, not at all. This was a monster and he wanted out as soon as he could. Ron began to grow faint and the last thing he remembered was a bright red flash.
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"So does that mean that…that one of us has got to kill the other one…in the end?"
"Yes."
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Ron woke up in a different cot than he had been in before. It was farther back in the infirmary and it was completely isolated. He couldn't really remember what had happened the morning before except that Hermione was not Hermione anymore. She was mad…a mad woman and he was truly terrified of her. The memory or her vomit and foam covered person made Ron's stomach lurch violently and he covered his eyes with his sweaty palms.
"Ah, Mr. Weasley, you're awake."
"Professor Dumbledore?"
"Yes, Mr. Weasley, it's me." Albus Dumbledore sat in a puffy red and very comfortable looking armchair in the very corner of Ron's curtained off area. He didn't know how he could have missed the professor…His robes were a bright canary yellow. Ron rubbed his eyes and sat up but- he didn't feel much pain.
"How long have I been?"
"Oh, asleep? Only a few hours Ronald, It is time for an early lunch I believe."
They ate in silence, Ron practically inhaling the plain sandwich dobby had provided for "the Mr. Wheezy," and Dumbledore sad quietly sucking on sweets waiting for Ron to finish. "Sir, could you tell me what exactly is going on?"
"Oh, yes…I have been meaning to speak with you recently." Ron sat up straight.
"About Hermione? About Harry?"
"Well, concerning Hermione I wish you not speak of this incident with her. We have performed necessary memory charms to erase the painful memory and have provided certain necessary potions that hopefully in the near future will cure her of her illness. It seems she was born with a particularly dangerous muggle disease, epilepsy."
"Epelessly?" Ron grimaced.
"Epilepsy, Ronald, is a common muggle disease that occurs when something interferes with how the brain functions. In this disorder, the body produces intense, abnormal bursts of energy in the brain," Ron shudderd involuntarily, "which can lead to seizures. Seizures temporarily interfere with muscle control, movement, speech, vision, or awareness. Which is why Hermione acted the way she did. Having seizures can be terrifying, especially if they are severe, which hers was. Fortunately, Madame Pomfrey was available or we would have been in an even more worrisome predicament."
"But professor…why did she act so…terrified by the sight of me?" Dumbledore shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Mr. Weasley, I believe that in some way Hermione experienced something during her seizure, or something before it. A mental intrusion of sorts." Ron nodded, " What is even more apparent is that it had to do with you. In some way or another Hermione deemed you responsible for her ailment."
"Why me? I didn't do anything to her…did I?"
"No, I believe not. What is obvious is that you were the last person in contact with her before her spell…and incidentally, I find it most wise to not mention any of this to Miss Granger or even more importantly Mr. Potter." Ron's face scrunched in confusion.
"Why not Harry sir?"
Dumbledore shifted again, perched barely on the chair at all, "Well, Mr. Weasley…I believe that the mental intruder was none other than Mr. Potter himself."
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"Deep in the dungeons there was a dark, dark chamber. And in that dark, dark chamber there was a dark, dark office…and in that dark, dark office there was a dark, dark professor." Professor Snape chuckled mirthfully to himself while towering over a cauldron filled with a murky dark brown substance bubbling slowly and sickly.
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