Chapter Eleven: Aftermath

Leia was unconscious for about a minute and then groggily opened her eyes again. Obi-Wan called the infirmary and what he heard almost made his heart stop. It appeared that for the minute that Leia was unconscious Harry had also been very close to death, until the healers had managed to pull him back to life.

He relayed this news to his companions and was almost knocked over as a stampede occurred, led by Minerva, Ron and Hermione as they headed for the infirmary. Draco and Snape headed there too but at a more sedate pace.

"Is he OK?" Hermione asked. One of the other Healers looked at her before shaking his head in exasperation. "I don't know. He appears to be OK, his vital functions are now stable but he's still in a coma. However, he was nearly dead there for a minute so we don't know what's going to happen!

Snape huffed before saying, "Well Potter's never been one to do things by halves, it figures that he'd probably find some way to die and then come back just to irritate us."

As the healer regarded him with some annoyance the rest of the Earth group tried to hide their smiles. That was Snape's way of saying that he was just as relieved as any of them only he didn't want to acknowledge it.

Just then the alarms began shrieking once more and the Healers turned their attention to saving Harry's life once more. Lily and Ginny were politely but insistently pushed out the door along with the rest of the Earth group as well as several Jedi who had come to see how Harry was doing.

A few minutes later the alarms stopped blaring and Harry's vital signs stabilized once more, giving relief to everyone that was waiting. Tamsin and Luke had joined them, having woken earlier. Anakin was still asleep though.

"How's Dad?" Tamsin asked. Ginny pulled her into a hug.

"He'll pull through. He has to" she said, although her words were lacking in conviction. Harry's injuries were healing, although slowly, and he was still too weak right now to handle being put in a bacta tank which would have speeded the healing process remarkably.

Just then there was a burst of phoenix song as Fawkes appeared in Harry's room, startling the healers immensely. Just as they were about to shoo him from the room, Fawkes alighted on Harry's chest and began to sing, while also crying onto the Jedi's wounds.

Before their eyes, the wounds closed and healed. Harry then coughed and choked, struggling to breathe through damaged lungs and other internal injuries. Fawkes tilted his head to one side and then took advantage of the fact that Harry's mouth was open. Several minutes passed while the brilliantly colored phoenix cried into Harry's mouth and Harry, acting on reflex swallowed the tears. After another few tense minutes his breathing eased as the tears absorbed into his body and partially fixed the injuries so they weren't so life threatening.

"Well I'll be damned" one of the younger healers whispered. "His injuries aren't fully healed yet but we can put him in a bacta tank now." Harry was swiftly readied and then lowered into the tank, with a breathing mask on so he could still breathe.

"He's going to be horribly annoyed when he wakes up" Leia murmured. Seeing confusion on the faces around her she grinned before saying "He hates being in small spaces like that. He's not quite claustrophobic but he doesn't like being surrounded by bacta. For all its healing properties, it's quite cold and can feel slimy when you're submerged in it. It's a bit like waking to find that you're covered in jelly."

The rest of the group now wore slightly disgusted expressions but they couldn't deny the usefulness of the substance. When it appeared that there was going to be no more news about Harry for at least the rest of the day, they dispersed. Tamsin went back home with Anakin who had now woken up and been cleared to leave, while Leia left with Obi-Wan again. Ginny headed to the dining hall for a quick meal and then returned directly to the infirmary. When she got there she was startled to see both Minerva and Fawkes silently watching Harry floating in the bacta tank. He was wearing his underclothes for decency but otherwise was wearing nothing. It helped if the bacta could reach the injuries directly.

"He seems so fragile" Minerva said softly. Fawkes trilled soothingly and the witch rubbed his head in thanks. Ginny sat down beside her and laid a hand on her arm.

"I've seen him in bad shape before. Granted this time was more severe than most but Ron's right. He'll pull through, thanks to the healers and of course, Fawkes."

Minerva nodded and then leant back into the chair she was seated in. "Will the Council really pass a death sentence on Gareth?" she queried. Ginny frowned.

"I'm not sure. It seems likely but Gareth isn't yet an adult by our standards and the rules regarding the death penalty are all aimed at adult members of the Order. He is only a year away from being covered under those rules but that year could very well save his life. He won't be allowed to remain a Jedi though, expulsion is pretty much guaranteed."

"I wouldn't have thought anything else" Minerva muttered. Silence fell for a few minutes before the elder witch continued. "Harry seems to be quite popular. I noticed several Jedi standing around watching during that earlier incident."

Ginny chuckled. "Yes he is. He has a lot of friends among the Masters and Knights. The initiates love him and so do the Padawans. He's extremely fair minded, and doesn't mind being asked questions at almost any time of the day or night. Any Padawan or Initiate that has a question or problem that they don't feel comfortable taking to their supervisor or master, well, they bring it to him. He's remarkably good at getting distressed younglings to calm down. He will also defend any of them; it's not only his own Padawans that benefit from his protective streak."

"Oh?"

Ginny smirked. "There was a case a few years ago, a mission had gone wrong and the Master had been affected badly by it. He tried to deal with the aftereffects on his own but couldn't. He ended up becoming violent, not by his own choice but because he couldn't help it. His Padawan ended up taking the brunt of those episodes, and finally came to Harry for help. When that Padawan came to us in the middle of the night, bruised and very afraid Harry got her settled with me and then guarded the bedroom door from the lounge."

"What happened?" Minerva was interested in the story, it was a sad one but obviously things had turned out alright.

"The master just about broke our door down and demanded that we return his apprentice. Harry just looked at him and then said "Not until you cool down." That precipitated a short fight which ended with Harry slamming the master into the wall and knocking him unconscious. Then he was transported to the infirmary where he woke up the next morning, and was basically forced to accept the help he needed."

"So what happened after that?"

"It took a while but both of them recovered and their relationship eventually became stronger because of it."

"So it wasn't abuse then?"

"No, it was the result of an unfortunate accident."

"So does our hero-for-hire protect Padawans when they've done something wrong?"

Ginny doubled over laughing at this question.

"Good heavens no! Heh, one Padawan tried that and Harry escorted them home, telling them that he wasn't there to shield them from taking responsibility for their actions."

Both witches shared a laugh at that and then their gazes fixed on Harry's room where a groan was heard from the tank. Ginny got up and approached Harry, smiling in relief when slightly unfocused green eyes locked on hers.

"Hi sleepyhead" she said. Harry mumbled something and then closed his eyes again. Ginny quickly checked his vitals. She was startled and annoyed to find that Harry had sunk back into the coma.

"Damn. I was sure he was going to wake up properly" she muttered. Minerva shook her head and went to the dining hall, feeling hungry all of a sudden.

In the end it took another three weeks for Harry's energy and magic reserves to build up enough for him to properly wake up again. There were a few more scares when his vitals dropped very low but he pulled through in the end. The day he finally woke up was a cause for celebration and Harry was very nearly crushed to death by overenthusiastic hugging. The healers had to threaten to ban all the well wishers from the infirmary to stop them from hugging their patient to death.

"So how is everyone?" Harry asked when the din had subsided. He frowned when he noticed that no one was meeting his eyes.

"I do remember the battle. Exar Kun is dead, and so," he swallowed hard, "so is Damien. What about everyone else?"

Obi-Wan finally answered. "Everyone else is OK Harry. The only other one that caused us some worry was you. You almost died several times and you've been asleep for the last three weeks while your energy reserves replenished themselves. Tamsin, Luke, Leia and Anakin are fine, as are the rest of us."

"What's being done about Gareth?" Harry queried. Obi-Wan scowled.

"Nothing as yet. He's being held in the detention cells underground for now, with minimal contact with others. He's not given us any hope for his redemption whatsoever and there is a general feeling among the Masters and Knights that he should be executed."

Everyone that was present, which included James, Lily, Severus, Draco, Minerva, Mace, Obi-Wan, Yoda and the Jedi Trio, which was what Leia, Luke and Tamsin had become known as were surprised at Harry's reaction to that bit of news.

"NO!" he growled, fighting to get up out of the bed. Lily and Ginny swiftly pushed him back down. He might have woken up but he would still need more time to recover his physical strength.

"Agree you do not Master Potter?" Yoda questioned, his ears indicating surprise. Harry shook his head vehemently.

"No I do not! The death penalty should only be applied to adult members of the Order, and Gareth is still a year away from adulthood. You can't kill him!"

"Why not Harry? He killed his master, damn near killed you and is a threat to everything we've built here. If he's allowed to live he could reveal all our secrets, not only of the Jedi but also the Rebellion. We can't allow that" Mace said quietly.

Harry stared at his former master in disbelief and then switched his gaze to Obi-Wan. "You two surely can't be supporting this. It's, its wrong!"

"Harry, we know your feelings about the death penalty but you can see our point can't you?" Obi-Wan tried, feeling that if he could get his friend's logical thought processes on track then Harry would come round to it, no matter how much he might protest against it.

Harry growled. "Yes I can see your point" he said grudgingly. "Please tell me it's going to at least be quick and painless."

Mace nodded. "Yes it will be. It will be by lethal injection Harry. Gareth will simply go to sleep and not wake up."

Harry nodded absently. His mind was already putting together an insane plan to save Gareth from the death that he probably deserved but that Harry couldn't in good conscience allow. Damien had had faith that Gareth could be redeemed and Harry would be damned if he allowed that faith to be destroyed by the Council.

"Damien believed that he could be redeemed" he stated finally. He looked up to see sad head shakes from around him. "Take a look into my memories Harry, you'll see for yourself what kind of person he is now" James said firmly. He knew his son, and knew that Harry was probably planning some insane stunt to save Gareth when in truth, he wasn't worth it.

Harry looked at him suspiciously before entering James' mind smoothly and gently. James pulled up the memories and Harry viewed them, much the same way as he'd done with Leia. When he pulled out he seemed almost broken in a way.

"Damien was wrong" he whispered. Just then Leia had an idea.

"Master, before this happened, Gareth was attracted to me, and I, well, I was starting to return those feelings. What if I talked to him? Maybe he would respond to me?"

Harry shook his head. "You can try Padawan but don't be surprised if it doesn't work. There are some things that love can't cure, even if it worked with your father."

Leia looked at him slyly and waited until he'd taken a sip of water before remarking, "I could always get pregnant with his child and then years from now they could do the redeeming."

Her timing was perfect, the water sprayed everywhere as Harry coughed and shook his head, desperately trying to convince himself that he hadn't heard what he thought he had.

"You will pay for that" he finally managed to splutter. The rest of the group was almost rolling on the floor in laughter, and Leia merely grinned, completely unapologetic.

"At least let me try Master" she continued only to squeak in pain as Yoda's stick made sharp contact with her shin. "Pay attention in class you did not, if forgot one of my most basic lessons you have" he snapped as Leia rubbed her shin and moved out of range. She looked very rueful as every Jedi in the vicinity said in chorus, "Do or do not, there is no try."

"Yeah yeah" she muttered. Standing up she looked round the room. "Anyone willing to escort me down to see Gareth?" she asked. Anakin stood to go with her. There was no way he was letting his daughter face a Sith alone, even if said Sith was in a Force dampened environment and couldn't move from his bed.

Fifteen minutes later a heartbroken Leia was led back upstairs. Anakin let go of her as soon as they reached the infirmary again and she went straight to Harry. Anakin felt a brief moment of jealousy as she hugged Harry, but then Tamsin hugged him and he saw an answering flare in Harry's eyes. Both of them then shrugged, their friendship was too strong to let this affect it and they didn't anyway. It was just a very emotional time and everyone was on edge.

"If you don't advocate killing him then do you have another proposal to neutralize the threat he poses to us?" Mace asked when Leia had unwound herself from Harry's embrace although she remained cuddled up to him. Padme had wrapped her arms round Anakin as she'd listened to the debate, having come to the Temple when she'd been informed of Harry's return to the land of the living.

"Actually I do" Harry said, frowning thoughtfully. He'd modified his first plan which had involved Obliviation and sending Gareth off planet, to something slightly more drastic and he didn't know how it would be received.

"Well what is it?" Snape demanded. Harry looked annoyed and snapped, "I'm thinking of the best way to present it, don't rush me!"

Gathering his thoughts he said, "How about this. We get him in here, restrained of course. Now, we knock him unconscious and Obliviate him of all knowledge pertaining to our location and plans. That includes any missions he's been on since the move to Yavin as well as any Rebellion secrets. Then we modify him a bit more to ensure that he can't be useful to Sidious and pack him on a ship headed to anywhere other than here."

"What do you mean by modification?" Obi-Wan asked suspiciously. Harry merely smiled grimly at him and replied, "Sidious can't give him further training in the Dark Side if he can't use the Force now can he."

Confusion reigned for a minute until a shocked gasp came from Mace. "Harry, you're talking about destroying his connection to the Force. That's, that's a good plan but also cruel as well. Leaving memories of being a Jedi and why he got expelled but removing his ability to use the Force?"

Harry shrugged. "It's more permanent than a collar and we could remove his memories of being a Jedi except that that would entail wiping basically his whole life. If we just left the memory of his expulsion from the Order and the consequences, would that be more acceptable."

Seeing that the witches and wizards looked confused Harry said, "Imagine being exiled from the wizarding world but then also being stripped of your magic, being turned into a muggle basically, in order to protect other witches and wizards from you." His audience shivered, and then Draco leaned forward.

"Can what you're proposing actually be done Harry?"

"Done it can be" Yoda confirmed, looking incredibly old as he said it. The tiny Jedi Master was in his 800's and looked every year of that right at that moment. "The Force flows in us and through us yes, but a section of our minds there is, which focuses the Force. Destroy this, and permanently lost our ability to harness the Force is."

Rather than wait for his friends to decipher Yoda's little speech Harry translated. "Basically it's like this. The Force is all around us and we can control it with our minds. In order to do this there is a small part of our brains which act as a focusing agent for the Force. If this part is destroyed, you can still feel the Force but you can't use it. It's like being a squib, the magic is there, you just can't use it."

Now his audience understood and they shivered once more. Mace and Yoda left, along with Obi-Wan. They would discuss this plan with the rest of the Council. Harry, as a Council member would be present via a holographic projector set up in the infirmary. After presenting his plan to the rest of the Council, it was debated on and then finally voted on. The Ayes were substantially more than the Nays so it was decided. The procedure would be carried out as soon as Harry was strong enough to move around on his own again.

It took another month before that time was reached. Harry had been put on a strict diet and exercise program designed to rebuild his strength and fitness, and he adhered to it faithfully. He wasn't allowed to spar but he could still instruct Leia from the sidelines, and her training was finally got back on track after the interruption it had suffered.

While he was recuperating, Harry had also caught up on news about the Rebellion's efforts against the Empire. They had caught wind of a new device that the Emperor was planning, called the Death Star. It was still in the planning stage so it was going to be a few years yet before anything could be done about it. Security surrounding it was impossible to crack so the Rebellion's spies merely kept a very close eye on it. The Rebel Alliance had lain low for the most part, gathering allies and creating spy networks inside the Empire. This was important, as they would need all the information they could get in order to pull off successful missions.

Finally the day arrived and Gareth was led into a sterile room in the infirmary. He was then knocked out with a generous application of the Force, and strapped to a bed. Then the Council as well as several mind healers rifled through his mind, destroying his Force connection completely. The young Sith then had all his memories of the Rebel Alliance plans and location, as well as his memories of the Jedi Temple's location removed as well. When the Council had finished, they withdrew and the healers checked that they hadn't destroyed any parts that were vital for continuing life, such as the autonomic functions like breathing. Gareth was then loaded onto a ship and taken to the spice mines on Kessel. It was essentially a death sentence, hardly anyone lasted more than a few years in the harsh environment.

With Gareth's departure, things settled down and the Jedi Order went back to normal. One morning Harry took the Marauder up for a spin and headed towards the Sith temple. He had loaded up his ship precisely for this purpose and upon receiving the all clear signal, he sent several proton torpedoes at the building before flying up and out of range. The building exploded in a fantastic display of fireworks, and the shockwave of said explosion shook the Marauder slightly; even though Harry had taken it up quite high. After the temple's destruction, the Council relaxed. There was still one Sith Lord out there but he would be dealt with in time, and at least there would be no more Dark Lords coming back from the dead to bother them in the future.

Author Note

Hmm, now should I have Sidious discover some obscure piece of Dark Arts that can bring Voldie back or not? I think not grin