Author's note: This chapter has been beta'd by the talented nebulababe! Thank you!

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Harry woke with a start and opened his eyes, blinking against a bright light. He closed them quickly again. It was too bright.

Something had woken him up, he realized - a loud noise. Then he heard, at the end of the wing, Hagrid's booming voice, except he was clearly trying to whisper.

"How's Harry doin'?"

"He's sleeping," Madam Pomfrey responded with emphasis on "sleeping."

Harry grimaced. Not anymore, he thought.

"Hiya, Hagrid," Harry sat up and groggily called out to his big friend. Then he tried to look around the room to see if he was waking anyone up, but he could barely open his eyes against the bright light.

And he remembered. He hadn't seen anything since his encounter with the Basilisk, well, not much anyway. Just bright lights and shadows. Today. Today we'll get it sorted out. Madam Pomfrey will talk to the healers at St. Mungo's and find someone who knows what to do, he reassured himself.

He swung his legs out of bed and felt around with his feet for his slippers. Not finding them, he located his wand and muttered the slipper spell.

He tried to open his eyes again and decided just to keep them closed.

Hagrid's steps shook the floor as he approached Harry, Harry heard him settle into the bed next to his.

"How you doin', Harry?" Hagrid asked. "Why you got yer eyes closed?"

"It's too bright in here to open them," Harry stated, turning toward Hagrid. It occurred to him that he must be "looking" right at Hagrid's belly, so he angled his head up a bit to line up with Hagrid's face.

"Oh, yeah. I heard you got venom in yer eyes," Hagrid said sadly. "But wait, does this mean you can see again? You can see the sunlight comin' through the windows?" He got excited as he spoke and seemed to rise up off the bed.

"Naw," Harry made a calming motion with his hands. "It was like this yesterday, too. I can see some lights and really bright lights hurt, but I can't see anything except the light. People kept lumos-ing their wands in my face yesterday… "

Talking about his lack of vision made his stomach seize up, so he cast around for another subject, "so, you were released!"

"Yeah," Hagrid sounded defeated. "I bloody hate that place," he said with a quiet vehemence.

"Wizard prison?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. Sucks the life right out of you… " Harry could hear Hagrid rubbing his big hands together as he said this as if to warm them.

"So, why'd yer kill the Basilisk fer? Couldn't you have spared his life? Harry?" Hagrid's voice was thick. "The poor creature," he bemoaned.

"Hagrid, the monster was trying to eat me!" Harry nearly shouted, indignant.

"Well, yes," he acknowledged reluctantly.

Harry was certain that Hagrid was entertaining fantasies about frolicking with the huge serpent in the dank tunnels beneath the castle.

"So, you goin' down to breakfast?" Hagrid seemed like he wanted to change the subject.

Harry's stomach rumbled in response. He had heard Madam Pomfrey swishing around in her robes and guessed that she was close by.

"Madam Pomfrey, may I go down to breakfast?" he asked politely.

Her clipped footsteps approached him and he turned to face her expectantly but kept his eyes closed.

"Yes, Harry. We'll be going to St. Mungo's at 7:50 am. I set up an appointment. Hagrid can take down to the great hall for breakfast, then you need to be back here so that we can floo from the fireplace at 7:45 am."

"What time is it now?"

"It's 6:25 am on Monday, you slept through Sunday," she said brusquely, "and your clothes are cleaned and folded at the end of your bed. You were missing a sock, so I duplicated the one you had. I'll put up the curtain again," she paused murmuring "sagum in loco" and Harry tried opening his eyes to see if the curtain helped.

"Does the curtain help with the bright light, then?"

"Yes. That's better." Harry sighed. For whatever reason, he felt more comfortable with his eyes open, even though they didn't give him much more information than when they were closed. He could feel the air better with his eyes open, he realized. He could feel the gentle currents of air as people moved their hands and wands in his vicinity.

"Let me fix up your glasses, then. I can make the lenses opaque." She bustled by him and he heard her tapping his glasses with her wand. She was quiet for a moment, and there was a pregnant pause. He looked up at her questioningly, wondering what she was doing.

"Oh, right. Here you are, Harry."

She seemed a bit embarrassed. He realized she must have been holding them out to him. He grasped them and put them on.

He was glad to have his glasses back on as he always felt a bit naked without them. He rose and went to the end of his bed, felt around for the curtain opening, and stepped into the corridor to see if the opaque lenses helped with the intense sunlight. He was relieved that they did.

"That's great. Thanks, Madam Pomfrey!"

Hagrid touched him on the shoulder as he passed Harry and Madam Pomfrey also left the curtain enclosure.

"Okay, good. Harry, don't eat too much or too fast. Take it easy, okay? And I'll see you at 7:45," she said as she walked away.

"I'll just wait out here while you get dressed, Harry." Hagrid seemed a bit teary.

"Hey, Hagrid, is anyone else still here in the infirmary?" Harry was curious.

"Naw, just you. I'll be betting that everyone's still sleepin'. The feast yesterday went on for a while. Lots ter celebrate," Hagrid said solemnly.

Harry went back through the curtain to his bed and found his clothes. It took him a bit longer than normal to put them on, but once he stopped thinking too hard about it, it was easier. He realized he just needed to pretend that he was getting dressed in the dark to sneak around the castle in his invisibility cloak. That brought a smile to his lips.

"Okay, I'm ready, but can you take me to the loo?"

"Sure, Harry. It's right over here."

Hagrid turned Harry by his shoulders and shoved him forward. Harry stumbled and then found his footing and started walking forward until his outstretched hands found the door. He was glad it was a small bathroom and he was able to find his way around it pretty easily. Harry got a little unnerved, though, when he wondered if Moaning Myrtle was watching him from the U-bend. He didn't like the idea that people could watch him and he wouldn't know it.

He emerged from the bathroom and asked Hagrid if he was ready to go to breakfast. Harry was dreading it a bit, but maybe there wouldn't be many people down yet.

"Yep, let's go," and Hagrid started walking down the corridor. Harry started following behind, walking from bed to bed as he had last night. He heard Hagrid stop.

"Here, let me help you, Harry," Hagrid said as his big hand clasped Harry's shoulder making him lurch forward.

"Let me hold onto you, Hagrid," Harry said as he reached for Hagrid's shoulder, then gave up and settled for his forearm. He ended up just holding onto the fabric of Hagrid's shirt, his forearm too broad for Harry to get a hold.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he remembered that the hospital wing was on the first floor and that he didn't have to navigate the moving staircases or the trick stairs just yet.

Harry held his breath as Hagrid opened the doors to the Great Hall and waited to hear if anyone noticed them coming in, but it seemed pretty quiet. He could tell there were at least a few people in the room from the sound of silverware and quiet conversations, but no one seemed to stop when they came in.

Hagrid led Harry over to the Gryffindor House table and his usual spot.

"Thanks, Hagrid," said Harry as he found the table with his hand and lowered himself down onto the bench, swinging his legs over.

"You alright here, Harry?" Hagrid asked, "I'll be headin' up to the High Table."

"Yeah. Is anyone else at the Gryffindor table?" Harry asked quietly.

"No, just you. Though Percy's sitting at the Ravenclaw table with that Prefect who was petrified. Not many other folks down here. Like I said, they'll be lyin' in today. Okay, I'll be leavin' you now."

Harry nodded and listened as Hagrid clumped toward the High Table.

Harry waited for a second and listened for the pop of breakfast magically appearing on the table before him. He felt around for his plate and silverware, then carefully slid his hands forward on the table to locate the dishes. He could smell bacon and kippers and tried to discern other foods by their odors, but the kippers were drowning out all the other aromas. His fingers collided with his goblet and he grabbed it quickly before it toppled, though it splashed a bit of pumpkin juice on the table. He found his napkin and tried to mop it up as best he could and get the stickiness off his fingers. He sipped his pumpkin juice and put it down carefully to the side so that he could try finding the other food again without knocking it over.

He found a dish and pulled it close to his plate and felt around the rim until he found the serving spoon. He poked around the dish with the serving spoon and leaned close to sniff to see if he could figure out what it was. It smelled like fried tomatoes. He tried to spoon one onto his plate, but it kept slipping off the spoon. He finally gave up and shoved it back, casting around for another dish. He found the bacon and gave up trying to use the tongs to get a couple pieces and just fished them out with his fingers, hoping no one was looking. Next, he found toast. He wasn't willing to try getting the fried tomatoes again and settled on plain toast. At least with toast and bacon, he reasoned, he was less likely to end up wearing his food.

Nibbling on bacon and toast, he listened as footsteps echoed through the hall nearing him. He felt the bench rock as someone sat down near him.

"Hello?" Harry asked, curious about who had joined him.

"Good morning, Harry," said Percy in his usual formal manner. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm doing okay. How about you?" Harry asked politely. He wasn't used to Percy talking to him.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did for Ginny," Percy said in a grave voice.

Harry shrugged and made a half-hearted attempt at a smile. He wasn't sure what kind of response he should give. He was saved from having to come up with words by thundering footsteps.

"Blimey, Harry, you missed a crazy feast yesterday!" Seamus' voice exploded into the scene, as he rocked the table sitting down.

"Say, why are you wearing sunglasses?" Seamus blurted out, his mouth already full of food. It sounded like he was dragging half the platters toward himself and piling all sorts of food on his plate. Harry had eaten across from Seamus enough to know what was going on.

"I got some venom in my eyes last night, and it made my eyes really sensitive to bright light… " Harry explained.

"Wicked!" Seamus exclaimed through a mouthful. "I heard you killed a Basilisk! With a sword!"

"Yep… Say, Percy are you going back to Gryffindor tower," Harry turned toward Percy.

"Um. Percy's gone, Harry," Seamus said soberly.

"Oh, right," said Harry, embarrassed.

"So, what? You're blind? I thought you said the light hurts your eyes," Seamus asked skeptically.

"I'm not blind," Harry was indignant, "I just can't see right now, okay?"

"Sorry, mate. I didn't… " Seamus' response was eclipsed by a high pitched squeal.

"Hair-rrry!" Harry was relieved to hear Hermione's voice as she came running toward him, her hair swishing into his face as she embraced him clumsily from the back and settled onto the bench next to him, knocking him sideways in her hurry. She clung to him.

"Did Madam Pomfrey fix your eyes, then?" she asked in a rush.

"No, we're going to St. Mungo's this morning," Harry replied heavily. "Say, what time is it?"

"Just a little after 7," replied Hermione. He could hear her dishing food on to her plate.

"Hey, Hermione. Can you put a scoop of fried tomatoes on my toast? I couldn't manage it earlier," he asked quietly.

"Sure, here you go," she said. "Do you want me to cut it up, too?"

"Nah, I think I can handle it," he said poking around his plate with his fork and knife, locating the slippery tomatoes on top his toast and cutting through them to stab them. He managed alright, though a few bites fell off his fork, he leaned forward hoping they fell onto his plate and not in his lap.

Seamus and Dean (who had joined them at the table) were bombarding Harry and Hermione with questions about what had happened in the Chamber of Secrets. He could hear other students coming into the Great Hall, too. Harry did his best to recount the events, but it was hard to do and eat at the same time. He resorted to nibbling on bacon and sipping pumpkin juice. He was distracted, though, thinking about the trip to St. Mungo's.

As the Great Hall filled up with students, it was harder and harder to hear the students around him or follow the conversation.

Ron finally joined them, sitting on his other side and was really enjoying talking about what happened in the Chamber, even the parts that he didn't witness.

Everyone was super excited that final exams had been canceled (well, except for Hermione) and that Professor Lockhart had left to try to restore his memories. Gryffindors were even more elated because they had been awarded the house cup with the addition of the 400 points earned by Ron and Harry.

Ginny, sitting next to Hermione, was pretty quiet, though, and Harry was worried that she was still blaming herself for what happened. Especially as Ron's descriptions got more and more dramatic.

Harry leaned forward, hoping to catch Ginny's attention and said, "Hey, Ginny. Could you take me back to the hospital wing? I need to go to my appointment at St. Mungo's."

Harry wasn't sure Ginny had heard him and he was about to ask Hermione to get Ginny's attention for him, when she answered in a small voice, "Sure, Harry."

He heard her sliding off the bench and felt her small hand on his shoulder.

"Your sunglasses look nice, Harry," she said with a sniff.

Harry hoped she wasn't going to start crying again.

"Thanks. Madam Pomfrey changed them so that the sun doesn't hurt my eyes so much."

He stood up and she guided his hand to her shoulder.

Out in the corridor, Ginny turned her head toward him and muttered, "Harry, I'm really sorry about your eyes."

Harry squeezed her shoulder gently. "Ginny, please stop blaming yourself for this. I'm going to be okay… they'll be able to sort it out at St. Mungo's, okay? And even if they can't," he faltered here at the thought… and for Ginny's sake, went on, "it isn't your fault. You didn't ask to be possessed by Voldemort or taken captive in the Chamber of Secrets. You have to forgive yourself, okay? I think we're all just lucky to be alive right now, you know? It could have been much worse. Will you promise me you'll stop blaming yourself. Please?" he pleaded.

"Okay, Harry, I'll try. But if they can't fix your eyes, it's going to be really hard," she said honestly.

They had stopped and Harry guessed it was because they were outside the door to the hospital wing. He pulled Ginny into a clumsy hug, "I was scared we'd lost you, Ginny. I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks, Harry," she said uncomfortably and pulled open the door.