Title: Awake

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the company he keeps. In fact, I own nothing... not even the plot... not really. I invented it, of course... but it isn't copyrighted—well, you get the picture.

o-o-o-o

The first thing he noticed upon opening his eyes was the blinding sunlight streaming through the half-opened curtains. The ceiling was red—no, that was the material of the four-poster. Was he at Hogwarts—safely tucked away in Gryffindor tower? No, 7th year ended... didn't it? There was a slight breeze blowing through the room, making his bangs flutter and tickle his forehead. Harry blinked once or twice in an attempt to get his eyes to adjust to the bright light. How long had he been here? And where, exactly, was here? Stretching his neck to the left he saw that the nightstand was littered with cards and chocolate and his glasses were lying upside-down atop the pile. He managed to grab them without upsetting the mound too much and the room suddenly came into sharp focus. His wand was also lying amongst the array of paper and... opened chocolate frog cards. He grabbed for it, taking comfort in the familiar chips and grooves in the wood.  The clock on the bureau across the room was flashing 12:27.  Suddenly feeling very confined, he pulled his legs out from under the covers and for the first time noticed what he was wearing—pajamas? Where the bloody hell am I? After scanning the room once more he began to sense some familiarity—as if he'd seen it before, long ago perhaps. It wasn't until a few minutes later, when he came upon a (recent?) newspaper lying on the floor, did Harry remember the last time he'd been awake.

Malfoy Sentencing to Begin Soon.

Oh Merlin—the Death Eaters! The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. They had all been underground... Hermione, Ron, Neville, George, Padma.... A nauseous feeling swept over his whole body. He hadn't... left them there, had he? There was no way he would have lost consciousness in the heat of battle leaving his friends to die! But there were so many of them. Instinctively, he rubbed his thumb over his forehead expecting to feel the familiar prickle. But no—Voldemort was gone... that war ended months ago; It was his sick followers that had taken so many people hostage. Slow down! You're not in any danger now! This room—it's safe. After getting to his feet, it took a minute or two for the dizzy feeling to subside. It must have been a few days (or more?) since he had last used his limbs. Regaining his balance, Harry ran the fingers of his left hand along the white wall until he found the doorknob. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath he quietly pulled open the door.

o-o-o-o

Ginny had been dusting the portraits in the hallway, smiling with amusement as the people inside the frames giggled and fled, when the door behind her opened. Without thinking, she whipped around and pulled her wand out the back pocket of her jeans, pointing it directly at Harry's(?) throat. The sight took only a second to register—he was awake! "H-Harry!" she gasped. Her wand made a soft clunking noise as it slipped from her fingertips and landed on the wooden floor below. She closed the gap between them in a split second and engulfed him in a huge hug. The feeling of joy was threatening to overwhelm her. "You—you're awake!"

"Er—yeah..." he managed; a grimace apparent on his face. His wounds from the week before obviously hadn't completely healed.

That would make sense, you idiot! Both his arms were broken and who knows what kind of torture he went through—"Sorry... I—I didn't mean to..." she backed up a step and clasped her hands behind her back.

"No, it's—I can't..." he stopped for a minute and glanced down the hall, "we're—er—in Grimmauld Place?"

"Oh—you—you don't remember coming here?" She mentally smacked herself. Of course he doesn't remember, you git! He was bloody unconscious... he probably doesn't even remember the Aurors finding him!

He shook his head and looked down at his feet uncomfortably. Then, a thought seemed to dawn on him, "Ron—Hermione... are they--?"

"Oh! No... hold—one minute, I think..." she could hardly make sense of the jumble of thoughts running through her head. "Do you want me to bring them up here? I think they're downstairs in the drawing room working—if they knew you'd woken..."

"No—er—that is... I'll go down if it's alright."

It's just Harry... we were friends before all this (perhaps more?)! Why can't you just be normal around him?! Ginny couldn't seem to make sense of all the thoughts that were streamlining through her head. She took a deep breath and grabbed his hand, leading him away from the doorway toward the stairs. His grip relaxed after a second and his fingers laced into hers, letting her pull him through the house.

o-o-o-o

The house had changed since he had last been inside it—how long ago now? What month was it, anyway? He wanted to ask Ginny... but not until he found out what happened down in the Death Eater Headquarters after he'd... passed out. Obviously someone saved you, Potter. Otherwise you wouldn't be standing here, pretty much intact, back in the secret Order headquarters. And Ron and Hermione are OK... Ginny said so. He had been able to breathe a bit easier after finding out that information. His two best friends, the people who meant more to him then anyone else, were alive and (hopefully) well. As they made their way through the old Black family kitchen, Harry noticed the huge collection of dirty dishes in the sink.

As if sensing his thoughts, Ginny cleared her throat, "there was an early meeting this morning—everyone stayed around for breakfast." Then, stopping in front of a huge set of double doors she let go of his hand and pulled her wand back out. "Alohamora." The wooden knobs turned and the doors slowly moved apart to reveal the large, crimson colored drawing room. Hermione was sitting cross-legged on the floor with half a dozen books lying in a semi circle around her. Her long, bushy hair was twisted up and held in place with a quill and her face, though difficult to see behind a long roll of parchment, had numerous ink blots near the jaw line. Ron was sprawled out on his back nearby and was casually levitating a textbook and a short scroll above his head. From where he was standing, Harry noticed his arm was in a sling and there were a few scratches on his forehead. But otherwise, he looked unharmed.

"Ginny, have you..." Hermione looked up, suddenly realizing that Ginny wasn't the only one standing in the doorframe. "H-Harry?" she whispered, rising slowly to her feet. Next to her, the levitating books above Ron's head came crashing down.

Harry instinctively pushed his glasses further up onto his nose, "Yeah—it's me... most of me anyway, as far as I can..." but he was cut off as Hermione's body crashed against his. The abrupt pain in his joints was hardly noticeable though because all at once the memories of the past few months started rushing through his head. "Hermione—I thought... oh Merlin..." He wretched himself out of her grip and cupped her face in his hands. At once he noticed the ink-spots were not ink-spots at all, but bruises along the length of her jaw.

She seemed to notice his horrified expression at once, "no... the Aurors—they found us not too long after—Colin was..."

"Murdered." Ron had finally spoken up. Harry didn't get the chance to feel uncomfortable before his best friend had stepped up and wrapped his good arm around him.

Harry bit his lip and choked back tears as they clung together. "Oh, Ron... I—I am so sorry about what happened!" he managed to say.

Ron shook his head vigorously, "no—none of it is your fault! They didn't only want you, this time," he glanced quickly at Hermione before adding, "We're just glad you're finally awake. You scared us pretty badly there, mate."

Ginny stepped next to her brother and wrapped her arms around his waist, "It's almost over, Harry... they will all be in Azkaban sooner then you know it."

Harry nodded solemnly. He was so relieved that his two friends were alright. But this knowledge wasn't enough to make the slightest dent in his never ending steam of thoughts. "So what happened after I...?" His three friends shifted awkwardly and stood for a moment in silence.

Ron looked at the two girls, "Well, since Ginny wasn't there and Hermione was—well..."

"Stupefied." She stated.

"Yeah—thanks... I guess I'll have to answer all your—er—questions." He raked his fingers through his long red hair and bit his lip. He shot a meaningful look at Harry; it was obvious he wanted to continue the discussion later.

"Why don't—we can talk about this later, yeah?" Ginny pleaded hopefully. "Maybe we should OWL everyone and let them know Harry's awake?"

Hermione nodded in agreement, "Mrs. Weasley has been here fussing over you nonstop, Harry—everyone has, really. Snape even sent you a card, did you see?"

He shook his head.

"Well, you'll have to read them all—Ron ate all the chocolate frogs, of course..."

It's good to be back... really it is.

o-o-o-o

Alright, did I peak your interest? Maybe? Well, I have a very interesting story line all ready to go, so if you are interested in finding out just what happened during the months our favorite characters were held captive by Death Eaters, please stay tuned.  There will be plot clues hidden periodically throughout the story (aren't I a genius?  (You don't have to answer that)).

It's gonna get messy... I promise.

Oh, and I could use a beta... any volunteers?