ATTENTION, ATTENCION, ACHTUNG
To anyone reading this fic, it is a sequel/second part to Harry Gets Even, which I completed approximately 3 weeks ago. This fic will therefore contain major, major spoilers for Harry Gets Even, as well as be very confusing to people who have not yet read said Harry Gets Even.
Therefore, if this particular story arc interests you, I recommend backing out and starting at the very beginning of this highly detailed, researched, and canonical sixth year story, which is, as stated, Harry Gets Even. Thank you.
Dear Readers,
Testing…1.2.3… Hey is this thing on? (tap tap) AUGH! Dang reverb! Hello everybody, and thanks to you readers who followed me over from Harry Gets Even! Hopefully you will like this part as much as the first. It most likely won't be as long, seeing as how Harry Gets Even contained most of the setup and back-story for the remainder of this work.
And to anyone new to Rae Carson, just in case you didn't read the above notice, if you want to know all of what is going on, please go forth and read Harry Gets Even!
Wow, it sure is good to be back writing again…very refreshing. Would you believe I couldn't go more than four days without continuing? I've got the fever, I tell ya. I apologise for taking so long to post this next segment, but my hard drive has been actively trying to crash itself after I did the grievous mistake of installing "windows updates" on her…grrrr… Anyway, as always, Read and Enjoy! Lurve, Rae ;)
BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK
A delicate ting-ting-tinging sound brought Harry back to consciousness. His eyelids fluttered open slowly, and he came to realise that he was blearily looking out a small window. The scene outside was not familiar.
Even though his eyes refused to track properly, his hearing seemed relatively unaffected, though. He carefully turned his head up to the origin of the ting-sound. What looked suspiciously like a Muggle I.V. pole dripped fluids into a tube, which in turn looked suspiciously like it was snaking into his arm. What am I doing in hospital, he thought, and a Muggle one at that?
Harry was already getting a weird pain behind his eyes due to lack of glasses, plus his head felt full of white noise and buzzy-fuzzy, like someone had left an off-air television set cranked up far too loudly. It made it difficult to think clearly. He tried swallowing but his mouth felt sluggish and sticky, and his tongue felt like lead. It was like he had been duped into sucking on one of the Weasley twins' Ton Tongue Toffees.
"Oi, Harry?" ventured a very familiar voice hopefully.
He turned slightly and saw George Weasley standing at the foot of his hospital bed. Think of the devil.
It was only when Harry tried speaking that he felt the oxygen regulator sliding across his face to his nose. Attempting to answer his friend, what come out of Harry's mouth sounded more like "hgbwrlglvhm" instead of "Hi there, George."
"I see," said George, with new lilt to his voice, "So I take it that's troll-speak for 'get me a drink of water, you pitiful excuse for a house-elf?'"
Grimacing weakly in response, Harry listened as the redhead kept up a decidedly one-sided conversation. He certainly seemed pleased that Harry was awake.
"Fred and Dad are here too, they just needed to go get something to eat," explained George, thereby answering Harry's next unspoken question. The Weasley took a pitcher from next to the bed, poured water into a glass and stuck a straw in it.
Smiling now, he held it out for Harry who took several sips. Long-dried tissues were finally rehydrated as he slaked his bottomless thirst; at least he could move his tongue and jaw now. His throat was still parched.
"At least one member of the Order is to be with you at all times," continued George, "per Dumbledore's and Moody's instructions. Not that they'd get much argument, considering what happened to you and the Dursleys," he continued mysteriously. "But Fred and I have fledgling status in the Order now," he added, grinning hugely.
Fred and George in the Order? That was great—personally Harry thought it was about time. It was the comment George said about Harry and the Dursleys that Harry was now keen on questioning his friend about. What exactly had landed him in hospital? Hoping his voice would cooperate this time, Harry was interrupted by a shuffling sound in the room's entrance.
"Hey! So Sleeping Ugly's awake at last!" Fred was positively ecstatic as he strode into the room. "Pity I missed it," he continued in mock ruefulness, "what'd you do George, snog him awake whilst the rest of us had our backs turned?"
Harry rolled his eyes and smiled tiredly in spite of himself. What a way to wake up. He suspected the irascible Weasley twins would arrange stand-up comedy for their own funerals, as opposed to a eulogy. If Fred hoped to stump his brother with the latest quip, he failed miserably.
George got a sly look as he glanced in Harry's direction and answered, "'Course I snogged him. Didn't you know? We professed our undying devotion to each other at Yule Ball sixth year. But alas," he sighed dramatically and held a hand to his forehead, "we were too young. So we're getting married straight after he graduates," George deadpanned smugly, folding his arms.
His act was so perfect that Fred nearly gagged from laughing so hard at his brother. Correction, Harry thought to himself, they'd arrange stand-up comedy and disco dancing.
"If you're quite finished arranging my future," Harry smirked and began hoarsely, "perhaps someone would care to explain why I'm here?" Woah, that took loads of effort for him to speak even that much. Shorter sentences, Harry amended to himself.
The twins faced him directly, dropping the joking attitude at once. Harry could feel the Weasley twins' power activating.
"We're sorry, Harry," they began together.
"But we didn't realise—" continued Fred.
"—you didn't remember—"
"—what had happened—"
"—ten days ago—"
"Ten DAYS?" interjected Harry, wincing after his near-shout. "I've been out for ten days?" he repeated, more quietly this time.
"Yes you have been—" George picked up as if uninterrupted.
"Straight from leaving—"
"—King's Cross Station—"
"—for summer holiday—"
"—you and the Dursleys—"
"—got in a car crash—"
"—near central London," ended Fred.
Car crash, Harry mulled dimly, trying to get his foggy mind to work. "What about the Dursleys?" Harry asked immediately. "Are they okay?"
"Your aunt and uncle—"
"—are in serious condition—"
"—elsewhere in hospital—"
"—and haven't stirred—"
"—since being brought here."
Then Fred's eyes narrowed and his voice became slightly menacing, "Your pig of a cousin Dudley was out of here after less than a day. He's back at Privet Drive, lollygagging as you please."
"Well, I suppose that's good," answered Harry, "isn't it?"
The twins exchanged a dark look and George continued, "We overheard him talking to that Marge woman. Dudley was saying how you did something to the car and caused it to crash. Said how he tried to get back at you while the car was rolling," he seethed.
"What?" Harry replied, getting confused again. "Aunt Marge is here?"
"Yes, she came to look after Dudley and the Dursley's house. She believes Dudley that you tried to kill them on purpose. We still don't know if he told her about you supposedly causing the crash with magic, either. At least nobody else is apt to listen to their lies—they are Muggles, after all, and idiot Muggles at that," reassured Fred. George continued, "But Dumbledore is quite certain the crash wasn't an accident, so that's why the Order is watching you here; the professor said it was best for you being hidden in plain sight."
Harry's mind was awhirl. Kill the Dursleys? Sure, his relatives were irritants worth hating, but definitely not worth killing. The Order guarding him again…car crash not being an accident…something flickered and died in Harry's mind about that comment… He continually tried to work through the mistiness in his brain. Then something highly important occurred to him.
"Hedwig was with us, right? Is she—"
George smiled with satisfaction and said, "Oh yes, she's fine. Remember Hedwig's a magical creature, and literally a right tough old bird. Just almost done mending a broken wing at the moment. Hagrid says that wizard from the Knight Bus took her to the right place."
Harry blinked. Hagrid made sense in that context, but… "Wizard from the…Knight Bus?" he repeated back to George blankly.
"You really don't remember much, do you," Fred stated bluntly.
"Small wonder, considering what he's been through," George tossed back.
"Speaking of which, just what have I been through? What's going on, and please tell me why I was asleep so long," said Harry in a rush. It wasn't nearly as energy-sapping to say that much as it had first been, but it still required effort.
George handed Harry his glass of water again and said, "Harry, just lie back and let us do the telling. We'll start at the beginning—"
"—and read your event accounts," Fred continued, "from eyewitnesses, Muggle and magical," he ended, and conjured a sheaf of newsprint seemingly from out of nowhere.
"Hang on," said Harry, "this wreck was in the paper?"
Two pair of eyes sparkled at him, as the twins answered, "No, not 'the' paper." Huge smiles lit up their faces as they said, "All of them."
Fred flashed the headlines of the Quibbler, the Daily Prophet, the London Times, the Guardian, and even…the Independent in front of Harry's face.
Harry's jaw went more and more slack as he stared and repeated dazedly, "All of them?" he stammered, "how did…who did…would it…" He tried once more, "That must've been…" he faded off and thought, one humdinger of a car crash. His head was spinning with even more questions now.
Then Fred nodded significantly and answered, "It's not the accident, it's what you did afterward. The crash had left you with major injuries, which included internal bleeding, broken arm and ribs, and a nasty concussion. But despite all this, you managed to get out and summon help for yourself and the Dursleys. And this is a picture of the car after the crash," he added, pointing and handing one of the newspapers to Harry.
Harry was struck even more speechless by the Muggle photograph of the incident scene. Vernon Dursley's car didn't so much resemble a car anymore so much as a flattened and twisted conglomerate of fiberglass and metal. The chassis still astoundingly looked to have kept its shape, although the passenger compartment had decidedly seen better days. Eyes widening, Harry realised the place he traditionally sat in the car—the seat behind front passenger—also happened to be the most caved-in part of the vehicle's roof.
The doors of the car had been opened for the photo, and Harry noticed dark crimson blood smears on the inside; but none more than where he most likely had been sitting.
He said with quiet incredulity, "Don't tell me I got out…out of that? By myself? And got help for us? How…?"
George looked at him intensely and replied, "Yes, you did. Nobody else could believe you did it, either."
Fred agreed by saying, "Wizards and Muggles each saw the crash scene, so in both circles, you have been deemed a 'hero.'"
Raising a sardonic eyebrow, George continued, "No one has been able to piece together quite how you accomplished it, but apparently such acts of valor are not to go unnoticed."
"Therefore you, Harry James Potter—" clarified Fred.
"—are London's latest, greatest celebrity," said George, as both twins gave him huge grins again. Man, the pair would never let him live this down. They were clearly enjoying their friend's most recent change in societal status.
Harry was almost mortified, however. According to the brothers, Harry was evidently being given public accolades because of his life-saving actions following the crash, yet he had absolutely no recollection of said events. Not that remembering anything would have improved his horror after learning of his suddenly explosive popularity, mind you…
As a means to distract himself from a growing pain in his ribcage—as well as hopefully improve his vision—he requested his glasses.
"Actually, mate…" Fred said, "they were a casualty in the crash."
Perfect. Now, Harry not only had to deal with the misery of a blanked memory, but he'd have to be half-blind during the foreseeable future as well. Could anything else go wrong? He slumped back into his pillows, feeling rather defeated.
Then George turned and removed something from a recessed shelf in the wall. Walking back over to his bedside, the redhead presented Harry with an object that was all at once violently and instantly familiar to him.
As Harry caught sight of his self-modified holly wand, several things happened in rapid succession.
He sprang forward reactively and reached for the wand, Arthur Weasley came to the doorway and exclaimed happily, 'you're awake!", and a young dark-haired nurse came in and started cursing out all of the Weasleys in a foreign language that distinctly sounded like Spanish.
"Hi Allie," mumbled Fred and George as the young woman strode past them muttering passionately, "yo quiero cordura…"
The most likely reason why the nurse was so abruptly upset was because the consequence of Harry's reflexive action. His too-quick motion had caused him to curl up due to swift sharp pains in his right side. Despite the hurting, Harry felt a sense of elation because he was finally starting to recall some events from the wreck.
"You should have come and fetched me straightaway," the fiery young woman admonished the three red heads.
Arthur and the twins retreated to a corner of the room while the brisk nurse said to Harry calmly, "Too much excitement, eh? I bet it hurts here and here most, then?" She placed one hand along Harry's right ribcage, and another on his bandaged forehead; apparently it was a wound Harry had failed to notice until the moment she'd pointed it out. He nodded up at her painfully.
She walked over to the I.V. monitor, quickly typed something into the computerised keypad and said with a smile, "This should take care of that for you."
The pain gradually subsided as a pleasant warm feeling spread out from Harry's arm to the rest of his body. Whatever it was the nurse had given him, it was good stuff.
At last Harry could tell them, "I remember now! At least some things…Madam Adonna…waking up in the car—you know, I had to kick that car door open…I still can't believe my spit made that wand work…" his rambling gradually subsided as the sedative effects of whatever Allie had used overtook him.
Just after his eyelids drooped closed again, he heard more voices from out in the hallway. He swore he heard Mrs. Weasley saying, "Yes, Adonna woke up so we figured Harry would be awake, too…"
Allie's accented reply was, "Well, he used to be, but he's not now. And no mixing of Muggle and magical remedies. Don't give him anything while I'm not looking."
Then an ensuing clash of Weasley voices all joined in together as Ron said to George accusingly, "Hey, why didn't you come get us?"
"Look, it's not like he was awake for a long time—"
"What'd you want us to do, make him worse?"
"You could've at least told us—"
"Yeah, and made Allie even angrier—"
Then the nurse got everyone's undivided attention as she cried exasperatedly, "Aaagh! Me quieren volver loca!" They all looked to her, slightly shocked by her behaviour.
"Okay, that's it!" She ordered, "No more than two of you in here at a time, taking turns every half hour. And no bugging the patient, or you'll have to deal with me, Nurse Firencita Alejandra Caledonia!"
However disconcerting it might have been to wake up to Mrs. Weasley mothering him, Harry didn't envy any of the Weasleys having to deal with an apparent piranha such as Nurse Allie. In fact, he'd gotten the best of both worlds by fortunately having Fred and George around when he'd woken up. That was his last grateful thought as everything faded to soft white and Harry fell asleep again.
O-O-O-O
Even though it was doubtful Harry would remember it, during the proceeding twenty-four hours, every member of the Order had attempted to visit him, along with several other high up officials associated with the Ministry of Magic. Nurse Allie had trained her staff well, for even when she wasn't there, her fellow employees would still watch Harry's room like hawks. In effect, he was being given a double guard; one by the Order and one by the Vigilante Caledonia.
All told, Harry woke up no less than seven times within the following day, in various stages of confusion and comprehension. Once, he was garbling something about needing to look for himself, and if anyone happened to see him, to please ask him to wait. Another time he bolted upright in bed shouting, "Harry Potter is not dead!" only to collapse back to the mattress into fitful slumber. In yet another instance, he tried covering his head while whimpering, "No, dear lord, not a London Potter fan club…"
Harry's disorientation was highly disturbing to those who knew him, but Nurse Allie explained to them over and over, with slightly less patience each time, "It's very normal. You need to remember, being asleep for ten days can make someone a little confused, not to mention he whacked his head, he's on some heavy medication, and he's dealing with the after effects of the Gemini Stasis Charm. In fact, it's quite amazing things aren't even more scrambled for him. Remember the doc's already come to say there's good chance he'll remember it all. Just give him time," and then she would dazzle them with her most winning smile, and they'd be forced to agree. Who said that Squibs weren't capable of magic?
Ironically enough, it turned out Harry had good reason to be concerned about Harry Potter fan clubs in London. He had not one, but two dedicated to him—one Muggle and one magical. People around wizard and Muggle Britain had been so taken with the mortally wounded teenager who'd managed to save his relatives, that they continued to send him Get Well cards and gifts daily.
Thankfully for all involved, Professor Dumbledore had anticipated the public's explosive response to the Potter's tenacity. After all, everybody loves the unlikely rescuer. The influx of owls sent to Harry at hospital had instead been redirected to an alternate address in London. There was also a flood of care packages and other such deliveries to his room, so hospital demanded Harry's current guardians take action regarding the mounting gifts. After brief discussion, it was decided whom to offer the tedious job of cataloguing the entire well-wishing into something more manageable and less space-consuming.
The fan clubs had been positively jubilant at the opportunity to help out the object of their enthusiasm, no questions asked. Even though every card was kept, there simply wasn't enough room for all of the stuff he was sent, so most of it was donated to charity in Harry's name. Not one person around Harry disagreed telling the boy would indeed be the worst idea. In any case, who wouldn't freak out over being sent two thousand assorted plush animals? No, it was best to let Harry get used to the idea of his new level of fame. Yeah, right. And maybe Grawp would sprout wings and fly.
BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK
EXPLANATION STATION:
Yo quiero cordura – I want sanity
Aaaagh! me quieren volver loca! – ACK! You wanna drive me crazy!
Thanks for Flo, my Uruguayan e-niece and friend who helped me out with the Spanish this chapter.