The Road to Recovery Chapter 1
A/N Ok, this is a kind of set up for the rest of the story, explaining the situation re Voldy, who's dead etc. Not too much happens but it's essential if I want you to understand the rest! Rate and review if you want – feedback would be appreciated...enjoy!
Disclaimer; I own nothing. At all. Depressing, I know :(
When Harry awoke he had no idea where he was, or how he had gotten where ever he was. Panicking, thinking that perhaps he had been kidnapped by some of the few remaining fugitive Death Eaters, he went to sit up, but was stopped by a stabbing pain in his chest. Memories flooded back, floods of pain, anger and disappointment.
His uncle, standing over him with his belt raised, Dudley, kicking him over and over, his aunt hitting him over the head with a frying pan. The last thing he remembered was lying on the floor of his room, too weak to raise himself onto the bed. And then nothing. And now he was...in a hospital it seemed. But small and homey, rather like the infirmary at Hogwarts. Another small moment of panic, but no, definitely not Hogwarts, the ceiling was dark wood, with lighter beams crisscrossing around, completely different to the vaulted stone ceilings at the school. So where was he?
At this point he heard raised voices outside the door to his left. A woman with a strong accent – Eastern European? – was firmly talking to someone else, female, British accent. Hermione, his brain supplied. Hermione was pleading and he heard the words; 'No...needs rest...no visitors'. After an exaggerated sigh, to argument stopped and he heard Hermione storm away. A hospital, probably somewhere in Eastern Europe then. But what was he doing here, wherever here was?
A nurse entered, he assumed it was the woman who had been arguing with Hermione. She looked shocked that Harry was awake, but quickly recovered, saying,
'Ah Mr Potter, we didn't expect you to awake for quite a while, how are you feeling?'
Harry, still very confused, asked the first question that came to mind – who are you?
'My name is Georgiana, and I am the head medi-witch here.' Seeing Harry's look of confusion, she elaborated, 'here being the Romanian National Dragon Reserve'. That explained it, 'You were brought here last week at the request of one of our employees and his family. They said you would not be safe in England – you remember?'
He didn't but he was beginning to piece together a possible timeline of events. He knew that not long after the beginning of the holidays, he had written letters, to Dumbledore, Sirius and Mrs Weasley, regarding the intensification of the abuse he was suffering at the hands of his relatives. His reply from Sirius (with comments from Remus now and again) was exactly what he was expecting; 'how could they do this', 'I'm coming to get you', 'they won't get away with this' – indignant, angry and overprotective. His replies from both Mrs Weasley and Dumbledore however, were less than encouraging. Although he knew that Dumbledore had never cared for him, that he had just been used, as a weapon and a figurehead for the light cause, the accusations that he was making things up just to get attention hurt, and he was disappointed by how little his headmaster knew him after five years as his mentor and role model. Once he had read Dumbledore's reply, he was expecting the contents of his surrogate mothers letter to be bad, but not to the degree that they were. She too accused him of wanting attention, but going as far as to say that 'now Voldemort is gone, I knew you'd do something like this to get back in the limelight' cut him to the core. She knew, as much as anyone, how much he hated his fame, that he hadn't chosen it, instead having it thrust upon him from a young age. He knew now that Mrs Weasley was too enamoured by Dumbledore's grandfatherly facade to believe him, so he deigned not to reply.
A week or so later, he received another letter from Sirius and Remus, saying that they would find a way to 'break him out' despite Dumbledore telling them he was lying. It also contained reassurances that the rest of the Weasley's, (he had become close to the twins, Bill and Charlie after Ron and Arthur died during the final battle the previous Christmas), were firmly on his side and were going to help with the jailbreak. Somehow, his uncle had found the letters, and security increased on his room again. The bars were back on the window, and the door was bolted day and night. Panicking about his safety Harry had written pleadingly to everyone he felt he could trust, only to receive a reply from Dumbledore of all people, saying that his mail was now being moderated so that he 'couldn't spread his lies further into those who had trusted him' and that the wards around the house had been strengthened so not to expect to be rescued. His hopes were dashed, and soon, he began to doubt that September first would come quickly enough for him. He wondered if he would survive the summer.
He remembered the final beating he had received, presumably before he was brought here. Afterwards, he had curled up on the floor, pain everywhere, and closed his eyes, hoping beyond hope that a miracle would occur and he would find himself somewhere else in the morning. He assumed that sometime during the night, his adopted family had found a way to break through the wards around number 4, Privet Drive, (almost certainly with the help of Bill), and had taken him away. But why Romania? Although it made some sort of sense as it was where Charlie lived and worked, Grimmauld Place was both closer and more accessible, though both locations were very secure.
Georgiana had left again, after hearing more noise outside, probably to tell everyone that he still needed rest, although he wanted to see everyone and ascertain exactly what ha d happened, and what the plans for the immediate future were. More arguing outside and he could distinguish different voices from their tones – Hermione pleading, Sirius angry, Remus and Bill cool and collected and the twins flirty. But their words fell on deaf ears until a deep, soothing voice reassured Georgiana that they would only be a minute and that they just wanted to put their fears to rest. The door opened slowly with the nurse reiterating 'five minutes. Not a second more!' Charlie entered first, smiling smugly at his success in appeasing the medi-witch, Bill and the twins following close behind, and finally...
'BAMBI!' Sirius yelled, running towards his godson.