The owl flew through her window, catching it with a slight cracking
noise; Hermione Granger opened the letter tied to the creature's leg.
Hermione,
Come quickly, the healers think they've found a way to bring him back.
Love, Ron
It was a short letter, but it got to the point. Since the end of their fifth year, Ron and Hermione had been changed forever. Ron was even more withdrawn from the real world than before, and Hermione's life was at a standstill.
Finishing school without Harry with them had been tough, and she had found herself crying to sleep on more than one occasion. She just missed him.
Now, three years after graduating from Hogwarts, Hermione was working around the clock with Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore to try and slow down Voldemorte as much as possible. It had been as they all feared, due to the Ministry's lack of awareness, he had come back as a full pledged demon, intent on destroying everything that the magical community had built over the years of his forced dormancy. She was well on her way to becoming the Ministry of Magic, and Ron was right by her side as her best friend.
Ron himself had become an Unspeakable, denying himself of his life long dream of becoming and Auror after the accident, Ron went in to investigate more about the veil that Sirius had fallen into.
Grabbing her cloak from the hat stand, and her wand from her desk, Hermione quickly prepared herself, and breathing deeply she concentrated hard on the hospital. With a small popping sound, she felt her body transport her to the waiting area of the hospital were Ron was.
"Hermione," he called, rushing over to give her a hug, "they think he's waking up!"
"That's fantastic," she breathed, "wow, it's been so long, do you reckon Dumbledore will make him go back and finish school? He's a bit old to be a sixth year, you know."
"At this point, Herm, I really don't give a damn," Ron said, looking over his shoulder.
Harry Potter had an unusual childhood after being hurled into the Wizarding world, and when Voldemorte had returned in the fourth year, his life had been made even more chaotic than before. But, it was only in his fifth year that the Ministry accepted his and Dumbledore's claims of Voldemorte returning, and due to a tragic accident, Sirius had died before having his name cleared.
On the drive home from platform nine and three quarters, with his Muggle family, it had been an accident beyond reckoning.
A four car pile up, Harry's side was completely crushed, Vernon and Petunia and their only son had escaped with mild injuries, leaving Dumbledore to believe that magic had been involved. Since Harry's escape from the graveyard when he was fourteen, and the Department of Mysteries the next year, Lord Voldemorte had grown reckless with hate. A car accident would be just the thing to kill Harry and make it look innocent and simple, without Dumbledore interfering.
The car wreck had sent Harry into a coma, with the healers completely baffled as to how to wake him up, everyone was sent back to their normal lives. It felt funny, knowing that he was alive, but unable to come back to Hogwarts.
"Here he is," Ron said breathing heavily, "Do you think he'll remember us?"
"I'm not sure, it's really such a Muggle thing, you know, don't hear about Wizards going into a coma a lot, do we," she sniffled, and her eyes started to water.
"Aw, Hermione don't, he'll be fine, look, he's already coming around."
It was true, Harry was already beginning to twitch his arms and legs, and slowly a twenty-year-old Harry opened his eyes.
"Where am I?" His voice was weak and rasping for air, "what happened?" He could barely sound the words coming from his own mouth.
"It's OK, Harry," Hermione said, bursting into tears, throwing her arms around him.
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed when she let go of him, "you look so...different!"
Hermione took a step backwards, her hair was no longer the frizzled mess he had become accustomed to, and her face looked tired with age. She was a little taller than before, but not by much.
"You've been out for five year, Harry," her voice quivered, "of course I look different."
"What happened?" He asked, sitting straight up, then quickly clasping his hand to his head, "ouch!"
"What's the last thing you remember, mate?" Ron asked, stepping towards him cautiously.
"Just a...car headed right for us," he whispered, "then it was all
black." "OK, dears!" A plump young nurse walked in smiling,
"visiting hours are over, the headmaster wants to have a talk with him, and Mr. Potter needs his rest."
"Oh, but..." Ron began in protest.
"No buts, dear," her voice whistled in a pleasant high tone, "you can come see him in the morning, and by the end of the week, he will be out of here."
Harry lifted up his hands and examined them; they looked so old and so well cared for. "Hermione, wait," he called, just as they'd reached the door, she halted and turned to face him. "What did you mean 'been out for five years'?"
"A coma, Harry," she said slowly, "They said it must have been your Muggle ancestry that allowed your body to slip into it, it normally doesn't happen."
With that, she left him to think about his life. It seemed like a decade before the door to his private room swung open again, and this time Dumbledore walked through.
"Harry," the elderly man said softly, "how are you?"
"Fine, professor," Harry just noticed that his voice seemed slightly deeper than it had before the accident.
"You would like to know what has happened, then, a lot has changed, Harry, since the accident, a lot has changed."
Harry sat up and strained to get a better look at the professor. His hair was still messy, and the scar was still prominent on his forehead, yet he felt different.
"Go on, Professor Dumbledore," Harry said anxiously, "What's going on with Voldemorte?"
"Still going strong, Harry. I believe that it was an attack on your life that caused that accident; it's a reasonable explanation for the occurrence, to say the least. The Ministry is fighting him and his supporters as strongly as they can, and of course the Order is doing what they can..."
He trailed off, and Harry looked at Dumbledore for the first time, "the Order..." he'd completely forgotten about the Order and Sirius. He felt his eyes water, and turned away.
"Harry," Dumbledore continued, "there's still much you need to know?"
"Like what?" He asked slowly.
"Now that you are awake, you are prime target for Voldemorte. Many of the Order members have been disappearing; Remus has been caught many times off guard, but has always been able to slip away. I myself have grown accustomed to the occasional meeting with a Death Eater. But you, Harry, you are vulnerable, especially now. Voldemorte is growing, and with him grows a hate beyond imagination, your magic is rusty, you have yet to complete school, and we cannot provide the same protection we once could."
Harry sat straight up in his bed to get a better look at Dumbledore, "Order members have been disappearing?" He echoed in question formation, "who?" he asked doubtfully.
"Fred Weasley vanished the year before last, and Hagrid a few months later, no bodies have been recovered, which leads me to believe that they may still be alive. Molly Weasley was hospitalized a few months ago due to an accident similar to your own, this time however, it involved a malfunctioning wand and a paring knife."
Harry grimaced at the thought of poor Mrs. Weasley going about her daily business and picking up a funny wand, waving it as she had done a million times before to effortlessly make the knife dice celery for a stew or salad. She would not have ever predicted the knife to turn on her, and instead...
But he could not finish the thought; he found it humanly impossible to even imagine the dear mother of his best friend accidentally dicing her hand off. So instead Harry began to process the previous things Dumbledore had just told him.
"Hagrid?" He asked slowly, "you have...no idea where Hagrid went?" He fought back the urge to cry, he desperately wanted to be fifteen again.
"Harry, too much has changed since the car accident that put you in such a muggle state, too much."
Professor Dumbledore stood up to leave, and in doing so Harry hoisted himself out of bed. "You're hiding something, Professor," he said slowly, all the blood drained from his face as Albus turned to face him.
Dumbledore nodded and smile, "Ron and Hermione will be happy to know that you are alright, Mr. Potter."
Hermione,
Come quickly, the healers think they've found a way to bring him back.
Love, Ron
It was a short letter, but it got to the point. Since the end of their fifth year, Ron and Hermione had been changed forever. Ron was even more withdrawn from the real world than before, and Hermione's life was at a standstill.
Finishing school without Harry with them had been tough, and she had found herself crying to sleep on more than one occasion. She just missed him.
Now, three years after graduating from Hogwarts, Hermione was working around the clock with Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore to try and slow down Voldemorte as much as possible. It had been as they all feared, due to the Ministry's lack of awareness, he had come back as a full pledged demon, intent on destroying everything that the magical community had built over the years of his forced dormancy. She was well on her way to becoming the Ministry of Magic, and Ron was right by her side as her best friend.
Ron himself had become an Unspeakable, denying himself of his life long dream of becoming and Auror after the accident, Ron went in to investigate more about the veil that Sirius had fallen into.
Grabbing her cloak from the hat stand, and her wand from her desk, Hermione quickly prepared herself, and breathing deeply she concentrated hard on the hospital. With a small popping sound, she felt her body transport her to the waiting area of the hospital were Ron was.
"Hermione," he called, rushing over to give her a hug, "they think he's waking up!"
"That's fantastic," she breathed, "wow, it's been so long, do you reckon Dumbledore will make him go back and finish school? He's a bit old to be a sixth year, you know."
"At this point, Herm, I really don't give a damn," Ron said, looking over his shoulder.
Harry Potter had an unusual childhood after being hurled into the Wizarding world, and when Voldemorte had returned in the fourth year, his life had been made even more chaotic than before. But, it was only in his fifth year that the Ministry accepted his and Dumbledore's claims of Voldemorte returning, and due to a tragic accident, Sirius had died before having his name cleared.
On the drive home from platform nine and three quarters, with his Muggle family, it had been an accident beyond reckoning.
A four car pile up, Harry's side was completely crushed, Vernon and Petunia and their only son had escaped with mild injuries, leaving Dumbledore to believe that magic had been involved. Since Harry's escape from the graveyard when he was fourteen, and the Department of Mysteries the next year, Lord Voldemorte had grown reckless with hate. A car accident would be just the thing to kill Harry and make it look innocent and simple, without Dumbledore interfering.
The car wreck had sent Harry into a coma, with the healers completely baffled as to how to wake him up, everyone was sent back to their normal lives. It felt funny, knowing that he was alive, but unable to come back to Hogwarts.
"Here he is," Ron said breathing heavily, "Do you think he'll remember us?"
"I'm not sure, it's really such a Muggle thing, you know, don't hear about Wizards going into a coma a lot, do we," she sniffled, and her eyes started to water.
"Aw, Hermione don't, he'll be fine, look, he's already coming around."
It was true, Harry was already beginning to twitch his arms and legs, and slowly a twenty-year-old Harry opened his eyes.
"Where am I?" His voice was weak and rasping for air, "what happened?" He could barely sound the words coming from his own mouth.
"It's OK, Harry," Hermione said, bursting into tears, throwing her arms around him.
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed when she let go of him, "you look so...different!"
Hermione took a step backwards, her hair was no longer the frizzled mess he had become accustomed to, and her face looked tired with age. She was a little taller than before, but not by much.
"You've been out for five year, Harry," her voice quivered, "of course I look different."
"What happened?" He asked, sitting straight up, then quickly clasping his hand to his head, "ouch!"
"What's the last thing you remember, mate?" Ron asked, stepping towards him cautiously.
"Just a...car headed right for us," he whispered, "then it was all
black." "OK, dears!" A plump young nurse walked in smiling,
"visiting hours are over, the headmaster wants to have a talk with him, and Mr. Potter needs his rest."
"Oh, but..." Ron began in protest.
"No buts, dear," her voice whistled in a pleasant high tone, "you can come see him in the morning, and by the end of the week, he will be out of here."
Harry lifted up his hands and examined them; they looked so old and so well cared for. "Hermione, wait," he called, just as they'd reached the door, she halted and turned to face him. "What did you mean 'been out for five years'?"
"A coma, Harry," she said slowly, "They said it must have been your Muggle ancestry that allowed your body to slip into it, it normally doesn't happen."
With that, she left him to think about his life. It seemed like a decade before the door to his private room swung open again, and this time Dumbledore walked through.
"Harry," the elderly man said softly, "how are you?"
"Fine, professor," Harry just noticed that his voice seemed slightly deeper than it had before the accident.
"You would like to know what has happened, then, a lot has changed, Harry, since the accident, a lot has changed."
Harry sat up and strained to get a better look at the professor. His hair was still messy, and the scar was still prominent on his forehead, yet he felt different.
"Go on, Professor Dumbledore," Harry said anxiously, "What's going on with Voldemorte?"
"Still going strong, Harry. I believe that it was an attack on your life that caused that accident; it's a reasonable explanation for the occurrence, to say the least. The Ministry is fighting him and his supporters as strongly as they can, and of course the Order is doing what they can..."
He trailed off, and Harry looked at Dumbledore for the first time, "the Order..." he'd completely forgotten about the Order and Sirius. He felt his eyes water, and turned away.
"Harry," Dumbledore continued, "there's still much you need to know?"
"Like what?" He asked slowly.
"Now that you are awake, you are prime target for Voldemorte. Many of the Order members have been disappearing; Remus has been caught many times off guard, but has always been able to slip away. I myself have grown accustomed to the occasional meeting with a Death Eater. But you, Harry, you are vulnerable, especially now. Voldemorte is growing, and with him grows a hate beyond imagination, your magic is rusty, you have yet to complete school, and we cannot provide the same protection we once could."
Harry sat straight up in his bed to get a better look at Dumbledore, "Order members have been disappearing?" He echoed in question formation, "who?" he asked doubtfully.
"Fred Weasley vanished the year before last, and Hagrid a few months later, no bodies have been recovered, which leads me to believe that they may still be alive. Molly Weasley was hospitalized a few months ago due to an accident similar to your own, this time however, it involved a malfunctioning wand and a paring knife."
Harry grimaced at the thought of poor Mrs. Weasley going about her daily business and picking up a funny wand, waving it as she had done a million times before to effortlessly make the knife dice celery for a stew or salad. She would not have ever predicted the knife to turn on her, and instead...
But he could not finish the thought; he found it humanly impossible to even imagine the dear mother of his best friend accidentally dicing her hand off. So instead Harry began to process the previous things Dumbledore had just told him.
"Hagrid?" He asked slowly, "you have...no idea where Hagrid went?" He fought back the urge to cry, he desperately wanted to be fifteen again.
"Harry, too much has changed since the car accident that put you in such a muggle state, too much."
Professor Dumbledore stood up to leave, and in doing so Harry hoisted himself out of bed. "You're hiding something, Professor," he said slowly, all the blood drained from his face as Albus turned to face him.
Dumbledore nodded and smile, "Ron and Hermione will be happy to know that you are alright, Mr. Potter."