disclaimer-see chapter one

------------------------------Chapter Four-----------------------------------

Harry still felt a little confused after his talk with Dumbledore, but that was to be expected. He was a little unsure as to why he could block the killing curse and not die- along with turning around those other spells... but exhaustion and the throbbing pain were creeping upon him again, so he decided to leave those thoughts for later contemplation. He lay back on the pillows, and went back to sleep.
He woke up feeling energized. Harry looked out the window, and saw that, by the way the sun was shining, it was around noon. Madame Pomfrey bustled through, once again carrying an assortment of potions.
"Here, Mr. Potter, you will need to take these," she said, handing them to her. "You will need to stay in bed for the rest of the day, and if you do, you can go down to dinner tonight." Harry nodded, and drank his potions. "And I believe you have some visitors." at that, she left the room. Hermione and Ron rushed through the door, and looked relieved to find him awake and sitting up.
"Harry! How are you feeling?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to Harry's bed, Ron plopping down on her on her other side.
"Better than before..." Harry said, not really wishing to state the fact that his wound had never stopped hurting since he came to the other day.
"That's good. Did Madame Pomfrey say when she was letting you out?" Ron asked.
"Yes, she said I could go to dinner tonight, if I stayed in bed all day." he decided to temporarily forget that the reason for this was that his wound seemed pretty immune to all she was giving him, so it was pointless for him to stay cooped up in the hospital wing.
"Great!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione chatted for a while about mundane things, none really wanting to discuss what happened at the Ministry of Magic.

Soon, it was time for Harry to leave the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey said she had sent some potions up to his dorm for him to take before bed, and after he woke up on the morning. Ron and Hermione were going to be waiting for him in the common room, they told him.
Tenderly, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, and stood up. He swayed slightly, and was surprised at how weak he was. After steadying himself, he pulled some robes over his head, and headed out the door in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.
"So the great Harry Potter has returned." Harry heard the familiar sneer behind him. He turned around and came face- to- face with Draco Malfoy.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry, asked, irritated. He didn't have the energy to deal with nuisances like Malfoy at the moment.
"You're going to pay for what you did to my father, Potter." He hissed.
"Oh really?" Harry didn't seem the least bit worried. "Look, do you mind if I could pay later, I am a bit busy at the moment."
Malfoy looked like he wasn't going to be too enthusiastic to oblige to Harry's request. "Feeling tired, Potter? Well, then, I have just the thing for you..." he said. He whipped out his wand, and pointed it straight at Harry.
"MORSUS!" Malfoy cried. Harry felt a slight pain wash over him, but it was nothing compared to the cruciatus or what he felt when he stood in the Killing curse.
Harry looked calmly at Malfoy, and smiled. Malfoy stood, stunned that his spell had absolutely no affect on Harry whatsoever. Harry suddenly felt something in his mind, almost like what he felt right before he blacked out at the Ministry of Magic. He laughed. He had no idea why, but just laughed a crazy, insane sort of laugh. Malfoy and his cronies looked a little scared at the sight of their enemy standing there, laughing after he had been cursed.
"What's going on here?"
Professor McGonagall had just stumped up the stone steps into the castle. She was carrying a tartan carpetbag in one hand, and leaning heavily on a walking stick with her other, but otherwise looked quite well. Harry stopped laughing, and looked at her. The odd feeling had left his mind.
"So they let you out of St. Mungo's, Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Mister Potter. I'm quite as good as you. I hope you and Mister Malfoy here haven't been fighting now have you?" she surveyed them with a knowing eye.
"No, Professor." Harry said, glaring at Malfoy.
"Well," she said, "I suggest you both go to your respective common room. Especially you, Mister Potter."
Harry nodded and turned down the corridor, leaving Malfoy behind him. 'What happened just there?' he asked himself. He had never before felt that oddness in his mind. It gave him the urge to laugh at the world, at things that weren't remotely funny. It made him feel... separate, somehow. All emotion and coherent thought seemed to drain from him, leaving him, well, crazy.
Harry stopped himself there. I am not crazy! He told himself. He pushed the thoughts away, and concentrated on getting back to the common room, which proved to be a daunting task. He leaned against the wall outside the Fat Lady's portrait a bit, to catch his breath. After he had stopped panting, he said the password and entered the common room.
As soon as he entered, all conversation was hushed. He saw people staring at him, no doubt having heard many wild rumors as to why he had been in the hospital wing. Unfortunately for him, a bit of the bandage wrapped around his torso was just visible over the neck of his robes, which would probably as a result lead to even crazier ideas. He looked around the common room, and spotted Ron and Hermione rushing towards him.
"Harry!" Hermione said, "Did you make it here alright?"
"Ran into Malfoy, but Professor McGonnagal appeared before anything happened." Harry mumbled, not really wanting to go into detail, worried they would think him some sort of madman.
"She's back?" Ron asked. "Well that's good..."
"Hey, Harry, why don't we sit down?" Harry was relieved that Hermione suggested this, he didn't know how long his legs would hold out if he stood for much longer. The trio sat down in a rather secluded corner of the common room.
"So, whets been happening while I was out?" Harry asked.
"Well," said Hermione, "not much, although it's been much better since Dumbledore came back."
"Yeah, but there have been some pretty wild rumors going around about what happened to you to get you in the Hospital wing," Ron put in, "There was this one where you almost got eaten by a crazy escaped Blast-Ended Skrewt..."
Harry grinned. He knew that was the reason people stared at him when he entered the common room. Although, he did notice some people looking oddly at his head. Not at his scar, but more of his hair. "Why are people looking at my hair?" Ron and Hermione shared a glance. "Well..." Hermione held out a pocket mirror to him. He took it and peered at himself.
"What the?" he saw that right above his right ear was a small streak of white hair. He put his hand up to brush the streak. He turned his head, and saw a few more strands of white in the hair at the base of his neck, luckily not clumped together to make visible streaks. "How...?" He was completely bewildered.
"Dumbledore said it was from blocking the killing curse," said Hermione. She looked at him sadly. Ron was silent. Harry glanced out the window, and saw people flying around the Quidditch pitch. He had the sudden urge to fly.
"Hey, Ron" he said "Does you offer to let me have a go on your broom still stand?" Ron brightened at his words.
"Oh! We forget to tell you- you ban has been lifted! Your broom is on your bed, I think!"
"Great! Care for a spot of flying?"
Hermione looked disapprovingly at them. "Harry, are you sure you should? I mean, you just got out of the Hospital Wing!" Harry, who had a sudden burst of energy at the thought of flying, smiled at her.
"Don't worry, Hermione, I'm fine! Really!" Hermione rolled her eyes, and huffed something that sounded like 'boys'. Harry and Ron took that as the ok to go, and raced up the stairs, although rather slowly, for Harry was still not fully recovered. They entered the dorm, and harry saw his Firebolt glistening magnificently on his bead. He walked over and carefully picking it up, rubbing the wood handle.
A few minutes later Harry found himself in the air, gracefully swerving around the goalposts, his heart filled joy.

--------AUTHORS NOTE-------

Heh... this is pretty short, but I had this crazy urge to do another chapter... in the future, I am hoping to have longer chapters....hopefully.....

morsus: latin for a biting or stinging pain

Mayleesa:thankies for the review!! ::does happy dance::

Lady Riddle: he he he... there will be more on our ratty 'friend' next chappie!!