-Anna POV-
When I came to my senses, I found that I was back in the gaudy room that Blaise and I had rented for our mission. The sight of all the pink and purple made my head spin and I became queasy. I sat up quickly only to feel an agonizing pain rip through my chest. I let out a cry as I dropped back against the pillows. A figure stood up from a chair in the corner of the room and moved to my side. Harry grabbed a vial from a small stand next to the bed. He placed a hand under the base of my head, giving it a gentle lift, and tried to get me to drink the potion inside. Still in a defensive state, I pursed my lips and refused to drink without knowing what it was.
"Relax, Blayke, it's just a potion to speed the healing and ease the pain. I'm not trying to poison you." he said as he once again pressed the vial to my lips. I swallowed the vial's contents in one gulp and gagged as the horrid tasting substance crawled down my throat. It was as if I was swallowing a muddy hairball that my childhood cat once coughed up. Harry handed me a glass of water and I drank it down quickly, relief instantly flooding through my system.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You were hit by a very strong curse that sliced open parts of your body and the dark magic prevented your wounds from closing without the proper treatment. You're lucky Zabini got me here when he did; he may have been a half-wit in the field today but at least he remembered that I have dealt with this kind of stuff before. Your chest was torn up badly and you lost a lot of blood. I'm afraid there will be residual scars, though. As for your leg, the lacerations weren't nearly as deep and they should heal up nicely." Harry explained as he gestured to my bandages.
I looked down at my wrapped torso and, suddenly, I became very aware that the only thing that separated me from Harry's eyes was the bandage that wrapped around me, starting at my armpits and winding down around one of my thighs. I pulled the bed covers up around my shoulders and Harry rolled his eyes.
"I promise I was a complete gentleman while you were unconscious. Plus, it's not like you gained an extra body part since your first night here." he made sure to remind me of my embarrassing first night here when I had to walk naked as the day I was born back to my room from the showers, thanks to my peers. Harry walked to a bag that sat near the chair he had occupied and retrieved more vials and a jar from within it.
"How long was I unconscious?"
"A few days, but you will need to stay here in bed for a few more days while your wounds completely heal."
"How did you heal me?" I asked finally.
"I have my ways..." was his only reply.
I nodded my head, understanding that I shouldn't press the matter further.
Thankfully, the awkward silence was broken by a knock at the door and Harry placed the potions down on the side table and walked over to answer his door.
Blaise crossed the threshold carrying a tray of what I assumed to be food. "You're awake." he said with relief laced in his voice.
Harry stepped out of the room, the door clicking shut behind him. I was surprised that he even awarded us this privacy.
"I seem to be for the time being; yes." I responded sarcastically at his obvious statement.
Blaise set the tray on the side table and helped prop me up on the pillows so I was sitting upright. He then moved the tray onto my lap and sat on the end of the bed by my feet, "I only brought you soup because I wasn't sure how hungry you would be when you woke up. I hope you like split pea because it was the only stuff the lady downstairs had tonight."
"Thank you, Blaise." I said with a grateful smile as I picked up the spoon and began to eat the green soup that was on the tray. The warmth of the meal was comforting as it slid down my throat.
"Listen, Annalisse..." he began but I quickly cut him off.
"Blaise, it's Anna; The only person who calls me Annalisse is my father." I corrected him as I set my spoon back on the tray.
"Anna," he said began grabbing one of my hands with both of his, "I am SO sorry that this happened to you. I thought I was making all the right calls the other day and I feel guilty that it caused you to get hurt. I am so ashamed of myself." he admitted and his voice was colored with sorrow; Blaise could not bring his eyes to meet mine.
"Look at me, Blaise." I instructed him and his eyes finally met mine, "Do not think for one second that what happened was completely your fault. I wasn't exactly following your orders that day either. I was being overly confidant."
"You were protecting the civilian, at all costs..."
"Yes, but..."
"No, Anna. You did the right thing; I just wasn't fast enough. Now, eat your soup; I am going to go get my ass chewed out by Harry. I will see you later; don't let him drive you crazy while you're stuck in here." he said as he stood up from the bed and made his way over to the door and opening it before turning to face me one last time. "No matter what, I'm just glad you will be okay." he said with a caring smile as he left the room and shut the door behind him.
I sighed as I returned to eating my soup in silence. The door opened with the return of Harry as I finished eating. With a wave of his wand, the tray disappeared from the edge of the bed.
"Did you get enough to eat?" he asked as he approached the bed and grabbed two of the potions from the side table.
"Yes, I'm fine." I replied as I eyed the vials that he held in his hand.
"This is a blood replenishing potion." he stated as he handed me the first vial after uncorking it. I knocked back the potion and handed him back the vial, only to be handed another potion. "This one speeds up cell regeneration to close up the wounds on your chest." he explained. Like the first, I knocked back the second potion and returned the vial. I tried to hide my reactions to the foul tasting potions as I did not particularly want to look like a child.
"What's the third one?" I asked gesturing to the last potion that sat on the side table.
"That would be a dreamless sleep potion; a good night's sleep will help the healing process. I didn't want to give it to you yet because I thought you might like to wash up before. I also have another potion that I need to apply directly to your wounds to keep them from getting infected." he explained.
"Oh...er... okay." I responded, unsure of what I was supposed to say.
"When you are ready, I will help you up and to the bathroom.
"Thank you." was my response with a nod, signaling I was ready to go.
Harry pulled the sheets away from my body before sliding a hand behind my back to support me. Gently, he began to help me bring my legs to the side of the bed as even the simplest events caused my chest to twinge in pain. I tried not to show that his touch was also having some sort of effect on me.
After we had managed to get me sitting at the edge of the bed, Harry let me rest to catch my breath.
"When you're ready…"
With another nod, Harry guided me to stand up. I could feel his muscles rippling beneath the simple black shirt he wore and I gasped.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked looking at me with concern.
My cheeks flushed as I responded, "Yes. Just a twinge of pain." I lied.
Slowly, I he helped me hobble into the bathroom as he flicked on the light; it was a simple bathroom. A claw footed shower and tub sat directly across from the door.. The counter that included the sink was directly to my right and the toilet sat between the two. Harry guided me to the toilet, closing the lid, before helping me sit on it.
"As much as I am sure you would like to shower, I would suggest that you just was up with a rag for now. Your injuries are not quite closed and if you move too much they could reopen." Harry stated as he pulled a washing cloth from under the sink, as well as a towel. "I will remove your bandages once you are ready to return to the bed."
"Thank you." I said softly as he turned to leave the bathroom.
When the door clicked shut behind him, I used the counter to help me stand up and wet the washing cloth in the sink. Using one hand to grip the counter and support myself, I tried to wash as best as I could. I was thankful that someone had the decency to put my sleep shorts on me. When I was finished, I called Harry back into the bathroom to help me back to the bed.
Once I had reached the bed, Harry helped me to lay down flat before grabbing his wand.
" I am going to remove the bandages now so I can apply this salve before redressing the wound." he informed me as he gestured to the jar sitting next to the bed. With a wave of his wand, my bandages disappeared from my body and my hands flew up to cover my exposed breasts. I watched him unscrew the lid to the jar of salve.
"You need to move your arms so I can apply this." Noticing my hesitation he added, "Ive been doing this for the past few days while you have been unconscious. You don't have anything I haven't seen before."
With a sigh, I pulled my arms away from my chest, exposing my body to him. I suddenly felt his fingertips on my chest as he carefully applied the balm to my wounds, leaving a fiery path where his fingertips had touched. His touch sent shivers of pleasure down my spine and I hoped that Harry hadn't noticed them.
"Is this causing a lot of pain for you?" he asked as his fingers stopped moving.
"Er... not a lot; it's just a little bit of pain." I lied, thankful that he didn't catch the real reason behind my reactions; hell, I'm not even sure of the reasons behind them.
"Okay, tell me if the pain gets to be too bad so I can grab you another pain potion." he said gently as his fingers once again returned to applying the balm.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I blurted out, unable to control my words.
Harry's hands stilled once more, his fingertips still on my skin and the feeling made a fiery path toward my core. "You don't honestly take me to be a cold- hearted man, do you?" he asked, a nearly untraceable hint of hurt in his voice.
"Well, no, but you aren't exactly nice to me... or to anyone...on a daily basis." I admitted.
"What do you expect me to do? Do you really need someone to hold your hand and lie to you about how real the world is? Once you leave this training camp, you will understand just how real this world can be. Not everyone is going to be as happy and carefree as Blaise is."
"I didn't say you had to be like... like him." I said resignedly and Harry once again began to apply the balm to my chest.
"Perhaps, if my... stony exterior is too much for you to handle, maybe I should just let you go from the program." he added.
My eyes widened in shock at his words and, for a moment, I was terrified. "Please, don't remove me from the program. I didn't mean to say what I did; I was just confused is all. I can't leave this program now. I have to show my fa... I just... can't... I need this program." I plead.
"Relax, I'm not going to remove you from the program." he said calmly as he began to cover my wounds with a new bandage, this time using a sticking charm to hold them in place so I wasn't wrapped in bandages.
I felt something drop into my lap and I looked down to see a plain black shirt setting there, "What..." I began to ask but Harry beat me to it.
"You can use that to wear while you are in here as I am sure you do not wish to sleep without a shirt. It is loose enough that it shouldn't irritate your injuries." he explained.
"Thank you" I said as I let him help me put the shirt on.
"You're welcome." he responded "I also need to apply some of this balm to the wound on your leg." he informed me. I just nodded and allowed him to gently grab my leg as he moved to sit on the bed next to me.
If I thought the sensations his touch caused on my chest were intense, they were nothing compared to the ones he caused when he held my right calf tucked under his left arm. He dipped his fingers into the jar of salve and then then slowly brought his hand to the hem of the shorts I was wearing; the second they touched my skin I sucked in a breath and held it. His masculine fingers began to massage the salve around my wound and I had to close my eyes to concentrate on not moaning; there was no way that I could lie and say that what I was feeling was pain.
Harry's hand had stopped moving and I opened my eyes to see why.
Oh no. I thought. Did I moan out loud?
I looked up into to his eyes and that's when I saw it. His eyes were glazed over in what I could only assume was lust. I swallowed deeply. Harry released my leg before leaning forward. My eyes followed him as he got closer and closer. Just as I thought he was about to kiss me, he reached past me and grabbed the last vial off the side table.
He cleared his threat, the lust gone from his eyes as he passed the potion to me.
"You should get some more sleep."