"Mr. Potter," the auror began. "We have reason to believe that Miss Granger is the one who poisoned you. We've taken her into custody."
"WHAT?" Harry shouted, bolting upright. "No, she'd never do that to me. You've got to let her go. It's just a misunderstanding."
"Mr. Potter, I know you had a... close relationship with the girl in question, but you must understand..."
"Tell me where she is," Harry interrupted. He swatted Madam Pomfrey's hand away as he searched for his wand. He found it on the tray beside the bed.
"Please, stay calm. Put down the wand. You're confused. You had a tiring night, you've just recovered from poison..." the auror held up both of his hands towards Harry in an attempt to placate the boy, but Harry wasn't stopping.
"Where is she? Is she in the DMLE at the ministry? Is she hurt?"
"I can't tell you that. We have to keep you two apart! You could be in danger!"
"TELL ME!" Harry roared. The auror's words struck him hard. Keep us apart? No, I have to be by her side right now, he thought. She could be in danger. Who's the spy? Who's with her? With a burst of legilimency, he thrust his will upon the auror's mind. The auror couldn't even bring his mental shields to block the attack before Harry found what he wanted. She was close by, in one of the Hogwarts dungeons that had been converted for use as an interrogation room for the aurors stationed at the castle this year. Harry leapt from his bed with wand in hand, surprising Madam Pomfrey. The auror was still off-balance from the mental attack. He was out the door before either could stop him.
Harry ran through the corridors hearing aurors' footsteps behind him, with shouts of "Stop him!" He ducked down a secret corridor, shaving a minute off his trip to the dungeons and losing his pursuers at the same time. He knew he had arrived at the right dungeon when he saw Shacklebolt standing outside, talking to another auror. Shacklebolt noticed him approaching first. "Harry! That was a quick recovery. Are you sure you're not supposed to be in bed?"
Still suspicious of a potential spy working for Voldemort, and desperate to see Hermione, he nearly fired a spell at the auror captain. He was barely able to calm himself enough to say between his heavy breaths, "Not poison. Hermione's innocent. Let her go."
"What do you mean, not poison? So you just decided to faint of your own accord?" the auror standing beside Shacklebolt asked doubtingly.
Harry thought for a moment. A silly excuse was better than telling them the truth, he decided. "Yes. I'm prone to fainting. It was just a coincidence. Now where is she?"
"Bigsby, let me handle this one," Shacklebolt muttered to the other auror. To Harry, he said, "I assure you she's fine. We'll release her after questioning unharmed."
"Sorry, your word isn't good enough. I need to see her now." Harry's agitation was showing more and more. He kept glancing at the door behind the aurors, wondering how quickly it would take him to unlock it himself. "Are you going to open that door for me or not?"
The auror who chased Harry from the hospital wing arrived from the opposite end of the hallway. Now there were three aurors between him and the door. The auror told his captain, "Sir, he's paranoid, and delusional. He attacked me and ran straight from the hospital wing. Probably thinks he has to be the white wizard here to save his weeping witch."
They think I'm crazy? Harry wondered. Well, I guess I am acting a little strange from their perspective. Calming himself a little and trying to look a little less "crazy," he asked again, "I just want to see her. Can you let me into the dungeon?"
With a quick discussion and a few nods to his aurors, Shacklebolt said, "As long as you don't try anything funny. You'll have to hand in your wand."
Harry weighed his options. There was the possibility that they'd just stun him and take him back to the hospital wing, but they probably also thought he'd attack them- or maybe Hermione if he didn't. He did a surface legilimency scan. Shacklebolt had strong shields, and he couldn't feel anything from him. Bigsby was just surprised and suspicious. The one from the hospital was feeling hostile.
"Tell him to put away his wand and unlock the door, then I'll give mine over," Harry bargained.
Shacklebolt nodded in agreement. "Verne, put down your wand and show him in."
After he did so, Harry handed over his wand to Bigsby. Making sure not to do anything surprising, he walked inside. Hermione was shackled to a chair, sobbing quietly. Her eyes were puffy and her hair was a mess. She looked up as he walked in. "Harry? Harry, you have to believe me, I didn't put anything in your drink! I swear, Harry, I'd never betray you. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." She began to bawl uncontrollably.
Harry ran up to her and wrapped his arm around her protectively. He kissed her forehead reassuringly and asked, "Are you alright, Hermione? Did they hurt you? You didn't have anything to do with what happened to me, Hermione. Don't worry." He wiped her cheeks with his thumb.
"I thought I w-was going to lose you, Harry. You only ha-had a sip of the cider, a-and then you fainted. It must ha-have been something really potent." She sniffled as she spoke, causing her chest to heave unevenly.
"Hey, you're talking to the guy who's survived basilisk venom twice," Harry joked. "I'll always find you again no matter what happens to me." He brushed her hair back with his fingers and lifted her chin, smiling at her.
Hermione gave a weak smile. "Once," she corrected. "So what was it? Madam Pomfrey must have figured it out pretty quickly."
"Oh, it wasn't a poison. I'll tell you about it later. You're the only one I can trust right now," Harry whispered as he leaned into Hermione's ear. "Although I'm going to need some kind of excuse for why I'd faint for no reason."
"You're epileptic?" Hermione suggested.
"I'm not sure what that is, but I guess it'll work," Harry answered. To the aurors standing at the door, he shouted, "Hey! Could you guys let her go now?"
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