Chapter One – Rebirth

-PR-

In the town of Little Whinging, Surrey, a girl woke to find herself staring at the sky with very little idea of what was going on. She tried to sit up, but the world spun the second she tried to move her head and she was forced to lie back down, which elicited a sharp yelp of pain. She instinctively rolled onto her side, whereupon she lost her lunch all over the ground next to her. The last thing she saw was a blurry adult figure rushing towards her as she blacked out...

-PR-

She was floating in a realm of complete darkness. Slowly she became aware of a deep and throbbing ache that resonated throughout her body, rolling through her in waves of pain. Snippets of conversation seemed to flit by her, wavering in and out.

"Lucky to be alive... massive head trauma... skull fractured... not sure if he'll wake up..."

The words struck her with a deep fear, for she knew that this must be extremely important. She tried her best to listen for something, anything, more.

"... flat-lining, get me a crash cart!... CC's of adrenaline... Come on, don't you die on me... the defibrillator! Come on, kid... Clear!"

There was a sudden jolt and the blackness lit up momentarily with a blinding white light.

"God damnit, clear!"

Again, the light flashed in the darkness.

"Just one more, come on, come on... Clear!"

She gasped for air, flung upwards as her body convulsed due to the voltage coursing through her chest. The light stung her eyes as she tried to look all around her in fear and confusion. She was suddenly set upon by a group of people, startling her into croaking out a shout.

"No! Let go! Ahhh! Please, please, no!" she shrieked, struggling against their hold. Suddenly her attackers were flung back against the walls by an unseen force. She gaped as several men in red robes suddenly appeared in the room with an enormous crack! and set to work waving sticks of varying sizes and colors about at the men and women that now littered the room. Eventually one took note of her and approached, raising his hands in a reassuring gesture. Regardless, she cowered away from him. He stopped abruptly and spoke to her in an even voice.

"Hey kid, it's okay, don't be afraid. My name is Auror Rosencrantz, but you can call me John. What's your name?"

"I... I'm... Um... I..." she struggled, racking her brain for a name and was only rewarded with a headache. "I don't know!" she said finally, burying her face in her hands and bursting into tears.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, we can help you." He turned to one of the other people in the room and gestured him over. He whispered a few words to the man that approached, who then proceeded to vanish with another crack!

"We're gonna get someone to come look at you, okay? They'll do everything they can to get you right as rain, why you'll probably be back home tomorrow."

There was a sudden tightness in her chest at the mention of going home, and for some reason she knew that that was a bad idea. She started shaking her head but stopped when the room started spinning. She felt bile rise up in her throat and proceeded to get sick all over the floor next to her bed. The man – John – waved his stick with a muttered evanesco and the puddle instantly vanished.

The man who had disappeared before appeared again, this time with a kind-looking older woman in a green robe. She had a genuine smile on her face as she approached, and the girl instantly felt herself relaxing in the woman's presence.

"Hello sweetie, I'm Healer Smythe and I'll be treating you today. Will you please lie down for me?"

The girl nodded – slowly so as not to make herself sick again – and gently lowered herself back onto the bed.

The woman pulled out a stick like the other people in the room had been waving about and held it out to show her. "Alright dear, see this? This is a magic wand. I'll be waving it about to see what's wrong with you and to fix what I can right now. Is that okay?"

The girl nodded again, her eyes locked on the wand with interest. Healer Smythe beamed at her once more and set to work, the wand dancing about in her hand as the Healer muttered a series of words under her breath. The girl's eyes widened as lights surrounded her, some forming words and numbers above her head, others sinking into her body. With each light that went into her she felt a tingling, pulsing sensation building within her, almost like electricity was coursing through her veins.

As time went on, there were several cracks as the people in red robes disappeared one by one, though the girl was too distracted by the magic being worked on her to really notice. Eventually the only people left in the room were Healer Smythe, John, and herself. Finally Healer Smythe lowered her wand and turned to the side, pulling a bag out of seemingly nowhere.

Reaching into her bag, the Healer pulled out several vials of varying sizes and shapes. "Alright dear, I've done what I can for you right now. There's still a few things that I couldn't take care of right now, but if you drink these we'll have you all fixed up by tomorrow morning, alright?"

One by one she downed the various liquids, nearly gagging at several of them. Regardless, she powered through and immediately noticed that she felt much better. She moved her head gingerly and this time there was no spinning, and she didn't feel at all nauseous. She whispered a meek, "Thank you, ma'am," to which Healer Smythe gave her another beaming smile before gently patting her on the head. The girl smiled back, leaning slightly into the gentle touch.

The Healer turned about and gestured for John to follow her. He strode with her over to the corner of the room, raising an eyebrow at the slew of privacy charms she cast around them.

"Okay Helen, what's the bad news?" he asked.

"John... I've never seen a child so malnourished. Half of those potions were just to replenish his nutrient levels. He has multiple old injuries that were healed by his own magic. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if he's never seen a Muggle Healer in his life. Something... Something is not right at home, John. I beg you, please look into it, for his sake."

John glanced over at the hospital bed, staring for a long moment at the boy lying in it, bandages and casts covering his frail body from head to toe.

"Alright. I'll take care of it. For now... We can't leave him here. You healed him too well, it will be suspicious. We already modified the doctors' memories to disappear him, so we should take him to St. Mungo's until he's completely healed."

"John... I'm not sure that's the best idea. I take it you never read his chart? Never noticed his name?"

"No, I didn't. Why? What difference does it make?"

"Take a look," she said, handing over a clipboard, "right at the top. His name, it's... he's..."

John accepted the chart, his eyes widening as he read the name. "Harry Potter?!"