How Could You Forget About Me?
By gorgeousbowneyes
Chapter Ten: Fears
Ron had kept his distance from Harry, not wanting to get caught in an illusion. He still wasn't sure whether this was Harry or not. Of course they checked for his scar, and it was there, but there were many ways to put a fake scar on someone's forehead. He didn't want to hope that it was Harry, because if it wasn't, it would be like loosing him all over again. He couldn't let himself hope, he wouldn't let himself hope. The years had changed Ron. He was suspicious, careful, and he didn't say anything without thinking about it first. The latter was probably Hermione's influence; after all they had been living together for quite a few years. They were actually just starting to think about having a family, when Harry turned up. Now all thoughts of that had been shoved to the side. He sighed and looked around the small house he shared with Hermione. She wasn't home at the moment; no she was busy working or visiting Harry, or something like that. He had hardly seen her these past few days. They owned a one story house in the London country side. It had a white picket fence (Hermione's idea, not his), with a vegetable garden in front of the house, under the windows. A small path led through the grass and flowers to their front door. From the sitting room, Ron glanced out the front window, and saw Hermione walking up the path. He jumped up, he had wanted to see her so much! He went to the doorway of the sitting room (there was no door, it was an open space), which led to a hallway, which ended at the front door, and the other end led into the kitchen. He stood and looked at the door in anticipation. Just as he expected, the handle started to rattle and then the door was open, with Hermione standing on the door step. She took one look at Ron and ran to him. He scooped her up in his arms, a tight embrace. They had both had a hard week. They shut the door and walked to the kitchen, hand in hand. They never forgot the little things in their relationship.
"How's Harry?" Ron asked once they had seated themselves at the small table in the kitchen which was used for many purposes that included eating, working, cooking and anything else that had need of a flat space.
"He's doing OK. I told him about us today, because I thought he was in a fairly good mood. He took it quite well. He hugged me Ron, he hugged me! He let me come close enough to touch him! And his eyes are starting to twinkle again."
"Well that's good."
There was a pause in conversation. "Ron, when are you going to let yourself go a bit and go visit him? He was your best friend! And he's gone through so much; he could really use your support right now."
"I know, I know. It's just it's hard for me! You weren't there when we found him, all covered in dirt and blood, and it's just so horrifying…" He faded out.
"I know Ron; I know it must be hard for you. But you have to face your fears. This is the real Harry, Ron, and you are not going to loose him again." Hermione said, knowing him better than he thought.
"Ok, I'll go see him tomorrow."
"Promise?" Hermione queried.
"I Promise."
-
Harry woke that morning feeling very depressed. Sure he was starting to show more emotion and it seemed like he was becoming like his old self on the outside. But nobody really understood what was going on inside his head. No one understood. No one. He could tell today was going to be a very bad day. A nurse entered the room at that moment.
"Hiya Harry, how are you feeling this morning?" she asked.
"I'm OK, Debora," Harry responded to the nurse.
"I just wanted to have a little chat with you about some options," Debora said.
"OK, sure," Harry replied, as Debora sat down on the chair next to him.
"Now we have been putting this off for a while, so that you can recover physically, at least a bit. We want you to have a talk to a psychiatrist. I know most people don't like this but it's essential for you to overcome the ordeal you have been through. Nobody can truly overcome all the psychological damage that has been done to you in just a few days. It could also help with your fear of contact with other people. The sessions can be held in your room here so don't worry about that." Harry nodded, it might be good to talk to someone, he thought.
"Now the other issue is your discharge. We have no intentions of letting you out for another two weeks at the least, but there are still some things that have to be sorted out. Like where do you want to go when you are feeling better and are more stable?" Debora asked.
"I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it."
"Well wherever you go, you will need to have someone to take care of you, at least for a while until you get back on your feet. The house itself will also have to be fitted for handicapped faci-"
"I'm not handicapped!" Harry shouted, interrupting her.
"Well, for the time being, darling, you are slightly. Of course you won't be like that forever. And by the looks of your determination, it will only be a few months before you are physically fine again. But in the meantime, the house you stay in will have to be fitted for handicapped access."
"OK," Harry said, looking down.
"Don't be upset, Harry, nobody will think less of you if you are in a wheelchair for a few weeks while you work up your strength."
"Especially not me!" a voice said from the doorway. Harry and the nurse both turned to see who it was. Standing in the doorway was Ron.
"Ron! I…" Harry's voice faded out, not knowing what to say.
"Hey Harry," Ron said. "I hope you don't mind me coming to visit you."
"Well of course he doesn't, but we were kind of having a private talk here, you know patient-doctor confidentiality?" Debora said.
"Oh, sorry, I'll come back later, when you're done." Ron said backing out of the doorway.
"See you, Ron," Harry managed to say.
"Now, the last thing is that, if you find your sessions with a psychiatrist useful, we can arrange for you to continue sessions with the same doctor after you leave the hospital, so you wont have to worry about that either. Of course if you don't wish to continue them, it's your choice, but it is highly recommended for cases like yours." Debora finished.
"Thank you, Debora."
"Now, I'll schedule you in an appointment with a psychiatrist, would you prefer to talk to a male or female?" she asked.
"Umm," Harry thought. A female seems more likely choice as they have their feminine side, he thought, plus I seem to react less around females at the moment. But then maybe a male's input would be good to relate to. "I don't know." He finally said.
"Well how about we try you with a female tomorrow, does Dr Helen Soli sound OK with you?" She continued after a nod from Harry. "And then on Thursday you can talk with Dr Frank Pelospy."
"That sounds good to me," Harry said.
"Ok then that's all for today, I'll just remind you that you have a physio session this afternoon at one pm."
"Thanks, Debora, thanks for everything."
"You're very welcome Harry." With that she left the room, the door clicking shut behind her.
-
Outside, Ron was pacing back and forth. He was nervous that his meeting with Harry had been put off. He just wanted to get in there and talk to him as quick as possible, instead of lingering out here in the waiting room. Boy was he nervous; he hadn't talked to him much at all since he first told them all about what happened. He couldn't imagine what he must be going through. And to think he called himself Harry's best mate! Where had he been the past week and a bit? At home or work, trying to forget that this actually happened. Trying to forget the whole big mess so he wouldn't break down, so he could stay strong. He saw the nurse exit Harry's room and head towards him.
"You can go in and seem him now, but just don't be too excitable and don't get him worked up that much, OK? He's still recovering and needs to save his strength." The nurse said.
"OK, thank you," Ron said, walked back to where the nurse had just exited, and put his hand on the doorknob. What would Harry think of him? Would he yell at him again? How will react to the distance I've been keeping? "It's too late for doubts now, Ron," he said to himself. And with that he turned the doorknob and entered the hospital room reserved just for Harry.
A/N: Just wanted to say that I am so very very very sorry that it's been almost a year since I last updated this story, but I found myself not liking it because of some of what it implied (I really didn't like this story for a while) but I figured stuff like that happens, maybe not exactly how I depicted it, but it does happen and it's no reason to stop writing my story. I know it's good for me and that I wish I had friends like Harry's to help me through my rough times. Thanks to all who reviewed and I hope people will actually notice I updated! There was going to be more to this chapter but I didn't feel like writing more angsty conversations, so I left it for the next chapter. Hope you enjoy! Thanks to all who reviewed the story (the last chapter and the whole thing while it was on hiatus!)
whimsy007: thanks for the critisism, I've taken a lot of it into account. Hopefully, when I get the time, I will go back and change the last few chapters a bit, because as I was re-reading them again (after having like a year's break from this story and couldn't even remember what I had written) I realised he was way too cheery.
Sparrabeth4eva: Sorry for the long wait, hopefully you won't have forgotten about this story. We'll just have to wait and see wait will happen about Ginny and Harry though.
HGlove4evr: Love your reviews, they make me laugh, and I haven't read HP and the Mind Mage, but will check it out later. Death of Ferret-boy could be arranged, I seem to have forgotten about the Malfoys in the last chapter or so (but maybe I did it for a reason, eh?) Anyways thanks for the reviews! I'm also going to head on over and read your story again because its been so long and I can't remember what it was!
chocolatebrowneyes14: thanks mia! (for the other people who are reading this as well, even though its not really about the story, she's my bff!)
-Broken Black Rose-: Thanks for the review.
Aangsgal: As you can see there was definately more left.
Himura-Dumbledore: I know I was vague about the Horcruxes, but it wasn't really a major factor in my story. I've been thinking of re-vamping the story and spliting it into parts because I think that would make it easier to understand. Like "Part One: The Battle" etc. Glad you found it funny, if un-Harryish. Also glad that you picked up on the hints, not many people realised they were there. Thanks for all the other little tid bits of review as well! Oh and be rest assured that Ginny is definately not with Draco, although that would be a very good twist, now you mention it. Lol, no I won't do that to you all.
Sorry for the lengthy AN! I just had to respond to all my readers though!