Attempted suicide at Hogwarts

The aftermath

Remus Lupin never left Hermione's side. Not even when Madam Pomfrey had ordered him to leave. He simply refused, still standing with her blood on his clothes.

Severus Snape had heard what had transpired at the school. Realising that he was right did not make him feel better. Knowing he pushed it onto Remus made his cold heart ache. He felt remorse, he felt sad, he felt hurt.

Severus made his way to the Hospital Wing to see the aftermath for himself. Dumbledore had sent an owl telling him of what had happened. Indicating that Remus should not be left alone, but Albus himself were busy comforting Minerva.

Before entering the infirmary, Snape took a deep breath, preparing himself for the sore sight. Without his normal dramatic entrance, Severus slowly opened the door and peaked inside. There he saw a blood covered Remus standing in the middle of the room, eyes fixed on a small figure on one of the beds.

"Lupin..." Snape said as he walked in. No response, not even a tiny movement indicating that his word had been heard. "Lupin..." Snape tried again. Same result. It annoyed Snape enough for him to clench his fists into balls. He took a few steps in and finally saw the result of Hermione's actions. Her pale body was laying on the medical bed, covered in dried blood. A magical field had been put up around her. Snape gasped at the sight. He knew the girl was only alive in that moment because of the spells.

"Remus..." Severus said in a low voice. He moved closer to his traumatised colleague. "Remus Lupin, stop ignoring me," he finally said, letting his frustration show. Remus turned not just his head, but his entire body in the direction of Snape. His eyes looked hollow, dead and abandoned. Snape thought he had aged twenty years since he saw him earlier that day. The poor man looked as if he had been kissed by a Dementor.

"I'm sorry, Remus. I truly am," Severus said. He was never the one to share condolences with true feelings behind, but this time he did.

He pulled up two chairs, one for Remus and one for himself. They were placed as close to the Granger girl as possible. "Sit, you look like hell," Severus muttered. With no reaction, he gently dragged Lupin to the chair and pushed him into it. They sat like that for hours. Not speaking a single word, just looking at the girl. Her body was fighting the spells, it wanted to die. Madam Pomfrey had dropped in every few hour to redo some of the spells in hope it would miraculously work.

By night time, Professor McGonagall entered the infirmary. She had finally gathered her emotions enough to go see her Gryffindor girl. Minerva had taken a special interest in Hermione. She was so full of life when she first arrived at Hogwarts. So motivated to learn everything. Earlier that year, McGonagall had come across a time turner and given it to her. She had selected every elective possible, but there simply were not enough hours in a day to fit in all the homework and classes. She had allowed her to use it during the term under one condition. To tell her if things got too much. Hermione herself had to learn to put up boundaries, something she clearly were not good at.

Minerva took one look at Hermione before letting a few tears slip past her eyes. She looked at Severus and Remus. She took a step back in surprise as to see Snape there, but shook it off.

"Remus, my dear. Go to bed - I can watch her during the night. Then you can come back tomorrow if you feel like it," McGonagall offered. Remus let out a pained laugh. "I'm not leaving her again. It didn't go well last time," he said. His voice was hoarse and barely louder than a whisper. For the first time he took his eyes off the student to look at his former teacher. No more words needed to be said. Minerva pulled up another chair and sat down. They stayed like that until the next morning.