Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
So I started this story four years ago…let's see if I ever finish it
"H – Harry?" Ron asked timidly from his position at the wall. "You… you okay?"
Harry, still panting heavily, looked up at him in surprise. Confusion, shock, fatigue, and, finally, happiness all crossed his face.
"You guys came for me? Does this mean…" Harry trailed off, not quite certain he wanted to voice his question.
"We believe you, Harry," Ginny said earnestly. "We do. And we felt just awful throwing you in here." She knelt down beside him. "How do you feel?"
"I – I don't know really," Harry said almost laughing in disbelief. "I can't believe you guys are even here, I mean…what changed your mind?"
"The yearbooks," Hermione said, kneeling down next to Ginny. "We looked at them and we saw the pictures moving and then the Hogwarts yearbooks came out and we read all about you and all of us and…"
"And we nearly had bloody heart attacks," Ron finished for her, cracking a smile and coming closer. "I mean, I'm not going to lie, you did seem familiar when you were in our house and everything but you just seemed so bonkers out of your mind."
Harry laughed.
"Well, I'm glad to see you changed your mind on that. You really helped me out here," he said.
"Speaking of which…" Mrs. Weasley began. "What exactly happened?"
"Clearly, mum, a deranged doctor with a needle. No biggy," Ginny joked. Harry grinned.
"I wish it were as simple as that," he said. "But, unfortunately, nothing ever is when it comes to magic. I'll tell you everything but first I think we should get out of here."
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Ron said uncomfortably. "I mean…I hate hospitals."
"That's the least of your worries now, Ron," Harry said, somewhat jokingly. "I mean, that is, if you're sticking with me."
"Of course we're sticking with you," Hermione said. "What else are we going to do, really? We're just as loony as you are now."
"Well, thank you for that," Harry laughed.
"I do think Ron's right though," Ginny said. "I'm sure they'll be coming to check up soon."
"That's true," Harry agreed. "Okay," he said, getting up from his spot on the floor. Hermione and Ginny rose to their feet as well. "How are we going to do this? I doubt they'll let me stroll right out of the front door."
"Well," Ron said, peering out the door of the room. "There's no one in the hallway. I'm sure we could find some back entrance or something to sneak you out of here. We just have to be careful moving around is all."
"We're more suspicious in a big group, you know," Ginny pointed out. "Maybe mum and I should go ahead first so we don't draw so much attention?"
"Yeah, that sounds good," Hermione said.
"Do you have your phone with you?" Mrs. Weasley asked Ron.
"Yeah, why?" he answered.
"We can call you and let you know if the coast is clear. It'll be a little easier to sneak out that way."
"That sounds good," Harry agreed. "I think we should get moving. Are you guys ready?'
"Ready to go," Ginny confirmed. "See you soon."
She and Mrs. Weasley quickly peered out to the hallway and left the room. They walked down and turned left into the next corridor. The coast was clear so far.
"All right, ready guys?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Ron confirmed and Hermione nodded. Harry smiled, looking at the determined faces of his two friends. It was just like old times.
-o0o-
They had gotten about halfway through the hospital when suddenly an alarm started going off.
"That can't be good," Harry groaned. Just as those words left his mouth, a team of security guards appeared at the end of the hall. "Run!" Harry shouted. He could hear the guards' yells behind them and their uniforms jingling as they ran after the three fugitives.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran through corridor after winding corridor, losing track of where they were almost immediately. They had left the main part of the hospital and now found themselves in a much quieter area with no lobbies or receptionists, just rooms and rooms of patients. The guards still somewhere behind them, they continued looking for an exit or a stairwell but all they could find were locked doors behind which were surely dead ends anyway.
Harry knew it was over as soon as they came to the end of the hall and found no other passage. No window, no door. No escape. He was just about ready to give up, turn around, and turn himself in when he heard a noise.
"Psst! Harry!" It was coming from the room to his left. Harry glanced behind his shoulder. He could hear the guards bustling about and looking for them and, though they had not yet come to this particular corridor, they were getting closer and closer. This was their only chance.
"Come on!" Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione and tried the door of the room on the left. It opened effortlessly and they hurried inside, locking it behind them. The room they found themselves in now was pitch black.
"Harry! Harry!" the voice said again, softly but urgently.
"Who's there?" Harry said.
"Harry! Harry! Harry!" they kept calling and calling.
"Who's there!" Harry said again, this time more forcefully. And suddenly the lights were on, bright, too bright, he could see nothing but could hear Ron and Hermione's cries as they too were blinded; and then Bellatrix Lestrange's face, out of nowhere, in front of him, then Voldemort, and Sirius and Dumbledore, and some grassy plain, and he wanted it to stop he wanted to be anywhere, anywhere but here and then the room was spinning, spinning, and the trio was thrown on the ground, on the grassy ground in the woods they now found themselves in.
-o0o-
They lay there for a second, each breathing heavily. Hermione's hair was disheveled, Harry's glasses had flown off and fallen next to him and Ron's face looked quite green.
"What," he began as he sat up, "the bloody hell was that!"
"I have no idea," Hermione breathed, as she sat up next to her husband. "Harry?"
"God," Harry groaned, rubbing his eyes. He pawed the ground for his glasses, hoping they weren't cracked. Luckily they were still intact. "Honestly, the only thing I can think of is Voldemort is trying to mess with me."
"What a prick," Ron moaned clutching his stomach. "I feel like I'm gonna be sick."
"You know," Harry said curiously as a sudden thought entered his mind. "It feels like we just Apparated. But it's like we were forced to, it wasn't by choice."
"Wait, Apparated?" Hermione asked. "What exactly does that mean?"
"I am gonna be sick!" Ron cried and stumbled onto his feet and into the trees.
"That sounds about right," Harry said to himself.
"Harry? Apparated?" Hermione asked again.
"Right," Harry said, getting up to his feet and looking around. "It's just like teleporting I guess. You think of a place and appear there instantaneously. But I don't get how one can be forced into it. I mean, we didn't do anything. Or…well was it really forced? I mean, the images were forced into my head and I thought I wanted to be out of there, anywhere else…and I saw this grassy area right before it happened. So maybe I did do it…but still you two technically had to be holding on to a witch or wizard to be able to do it too…unless…hang on…" He grew silent as another thought struck him.
"Harry?" Hermione asked.
"I'm just thinking…what if your powers weren't taken from you? What if your memory was just wiped clean so that you forgot you ever had them? That would explain the Apparation, anyway…"
As Harry was contemplating all of this, Ron finally staggered back out of the woods.
"That was not pleasant," he said, still looking out of sorts.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Hey, how come you didn't blow chunks?" He suddenly asked her. Hermione grimaced.
"Lovely, Ron. And I don't know, it felt normal to me. Like I'd done it before."
"Well, technically, I've done it before too, haven't I?" Ron said. "Yet I couldn't hold it in and you were fine."
"I don't know Ron, okay?" Hermione said, getting irritated. "Harry, what are you thinking?"
"You're supposed to know everything." Ron muttered, earning a glare from Hermione.
"I don't know," Harry answered Hermione, apparently oblivious to the bickering going on between his two best friends. "Listen, I need to figure this stuff out, and I have no idea where to start. But I think the library is a good bet." Hermione's face brightened immediately.
"Oh, I agree!" she exclaimed. Harry grinned.
"I'm glad to see the only thing that's really changed in this world is the lack of magic," he laughed. Hermione turned slightly pink.
"I guess you and the library are just meant for each other, 'Mione," Ron chuckled.
"Shut up," she muttered, embarrassed but amused all the same.
"Harry," Ron said, now taking the time to look around.
"Yeah?" Harry said.
"How on earth are we getting to a library?" Harry looked around at the miles and miles of woods surrounding them.
"Good question," he answered.
-o0o-
"We've been walking for hours!" Ron complained clutching his stomach. "I'm starved!"
"Honestly, Ron," Hermione snapped, "can't you think of anything other than food once in a while?"
"No need to get testy," Ron retorted. "It's not like you're such a joy to be around right now either."
"Okay, guys," Harry stepped in, just as Hermione was about to make another comment. "We're all hungry, tired and irritated but there's no point in turning on each other. It's going to be an unpleasant rest of the way if we do, you know." He stopped walking and turned to his two friends. "Are you sure you don't want to try Apparating again?" he asked.
"Harry, we tried. And tried and tried and tried," Hermione said exasperatedly. "You yourself said it was because we didn't have wands, that that first time was just a fluke. What is the point of wasting more daylight trying again?"
"Yeah, mate," Ron agreed. "It seems like it just won't work. We're going to have to stick it out and walk is all."
"Honestly," Harry said, "I'm tired. I think it would do good for us to rest."
"Harry, we can rest when it's dark!" Hermione exclaimed. "Why should we rest now and then have to travel in the woods at night? It should be the opposite, don't you think?"
"Yeah, and what's with you all of a sudden?" Ron asked. "You've been the one urging us to go on this whole time. Now you want to rest?" Harry sighed.
"Okay, the reason for that," he said, "is that I thought Voldemort might try to come after us while we were defenseless in the woods then. We were weak and confused and I was afraid he would use that to his advantage. But, obviously, he hasn't yet. So maybe I'm just being paranoid."
"Look, we've been walking for hours. We're hungry and tired and our cell phones aren't working," Hermione pointed out. "We're probably even worse off now than before."
"Fine," Harry said. "I guess you're right. We'll keep going, in a minute. Can we just make an attempt at Apparating again?" Hermione and Ron looked at each other.
"Okay, fine," Hermione finally sighed. "One more time."
"Great," Harry grinned. "Grab my hand." Hermione and Ron both did what they were told. Harry closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He could see his apartment in his mind and could envision himself in it. And suddenly he felt that familiar pull, the tumbling and twisting in the air. Then everything was still.
Harry opened his eyes and looked around at the same apartment he had woken up in not long before.
"Well," Ron choked out, his eyes wide and face twisted into a pained expression. "That was unexpected." And with those words, with his hands covering his mouth, he bolted into the bathroom.
-o0o-