Forgotten

Book 1 Ch 16

When McGonagall opened her door, she was still in her nightgown. Tears stuck to my cheeks, holding strands of my dark red hair in a damp grasp. My arms flung around her waist just like they had when I was a child woken from a nightmare. McGonagall wrapped her arms around me comfortingly, still blinking the sleep from her eyes.

"What's wrong, Emily?"

I didn't know who else to go to. Hermione had taken Ron up to the hospital wing and should be making her way up to the Owlery to send an owl to Dumbledore. We didn't have time to wait for Dumbledore though. Harry was still down in the chambers by himself.

"We need to go to the third floor now! Harry is there and I think Voldemort is back and –"

"Emily, listen to yourself. You-know-who inside of Hogwarts? You were dreaming."

I pulled away from her and shook my head furiously. "No, I was just there! Harry went on without me, because there wasn't enough of the potion for me to get through."

"You need to go back to sleep."

"Not until we get Harry out of there!"

"Emily –"

"If you want me to go back to bed, then you have to at least check the chambers with me. Something killed the troll that was in there. Everyone thought that Snape killed it, but it couldn't have been Snape. You don't understand."

I was getting nowhere with McGonagall. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her from the room. If she wouldn't believe me from what I told her, then I would show her.

"There is no troll."

"Just like there isn't a three headed dog and moving chess pieces and flying keys?"

Going through the chamber was a lot easier and faster with McGonagall than it had been with the trio. Half of the spells, McGonagall had simply reversed. By the time we got to the room with the potions, I was practically bouncing with impatience until McGonagall called the flames away.

"Harry!"

I sprinted into the room to find Harry sprawled out on the floor. He didn't move as I lifted his head onto my lap. The small breaths he was taking was the only hope that I held onto. His hair was matted down to his face and he was shaking, but he was alive.

I looked up to find Dumbledore. He didn't say anything as he looked down at Harry. The cryptic look on his face made me pull Harry close to me.

"It was him." I said. "Wasn't it?

"We should take Mr. Potter to the hospital wing."

*****

The next three days were the longest days of my life. Every moment of free time that I got was spent at Harry's bedside. It was hard to explain to everyone why I was allowed to visit Harry when no one else was. There wasn't a student that didn't want to know what had happened to Harry, but I only passed information on to Ron and Hermione about Harry's condition. The fact that I refused to tell them exactly what had happened drove Fred and George insane, but I didn't care. I had stopped caring about anything outside of the hospital wing.

The moment that McGonagall told me that Harry had woken up, I sprinted to the hospital wing. Harry blinked up to me as I rushed inside. Dumbledore popped a piece of candy into his mouth, but the look in his eye warned me to not reveal anything to Harry.

I smiled through the pain and relief that ripped through me. "You're awake."

"Ms. Evans was the one to help you get out of the chambers. I would say that you owe her your life." Dumbledore said.