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He was aware he was sobbing, begging for the torture to end. His words though were incoherent, mixing with the tears. His heart felt like a collar had been put around it, and tightened every time the taser was used. His clothes were in shreds from the knife, and random bones were shattered from the hammer. He blurrily saw the outline of Ron; Ginny smashed his glasses long ago. Ron touched the tip of the knife to Harry's forehead and slowly cut down, saying, "The boy's had almost enough—"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Ginny interrupted.

"If you'll allow me to finish, I believe he can be pushed further on, and I really do dislike that lightening bolt scar..."

"Continue on then, my friends," Hermione said.

The three laughed, each touching him at the same time—Hermione in the heart, Ginny smashing his right hand, Ron sticking his blade further into his forehead.

Then, it was all gone. The pain itself, though the memory of it still lingered, the wounds, the blood... It was all gone. He looked around, seeing he was in the white room, everyone he ever cared for standing around him. The closest to him was Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, Sirius, Ginny and Lupin, everyone else forming a close circle behind.

What...the...hell? He opened his mouth to question what was going on, but everyone past the row of his friends fell to the ground, once more a spray of blood meeting his line of vision as he watched the invisible line slit everyone's throats. Blood flowed out from the bodies, seeming darker this time. The white tile was soaked, and on the walls it looked like graffiti, droplets of blood sliding down.

As Hermione opened her mouth, he asked, "What's going on? Why is this happening again?"

Everyone smiled, though no one answered. Finally, a cold voice spoke from right behind him. The voice whispered across his ears, causing Harry to flinch. "Because Harry, I want you to realize how pointless it is to try to fight me. All your loved ones will die, and you won't be able to help it."

Harry tried to jump away from the Dark Lord, but the fingers that had embraced his shoulder held him still. "You-you can't get into my mind," he said breathlessly, all of his friends dead eyes upon him.

"Ahh...until I figured out the void where I can get to you. I'm not going to say anything, but if you don't want any harm to come to you, or well, much harm to you, little harm to your friends, I'd be asking what you could do to please me."

"No. This isn't real, and none of your threats are real. My friends are alive, and they care about me. I can always count on them saving my arse, and I'll always be there for them."

There it was...his emotions. His caring, honesty and love came out, Voldemort stepping back automatically. "We'll have to do something about those emotions. Until then, remember this pain as you go back to your crumbling body."

As Voldemort disappeared, Harry felt his body breaking again under the pain Ron, Hermione and Ginny had given him. He heard, "There he goes again. He's so weak." That was Ginny.

"He'd never survive a day in the training we had to go through." That was Ron.

"You're so full of yourself. It wasn't training. It was a blast of pain to see who could survive and who would die." Ginny again.

"We made it though, that's what counts. This weakling though wouldn't. How were we ever his friends? How did we ever believe he would be our savior?" Hermione that time.

He was shocked by his friends words, but his shoulder muscles tightened as he convulsed, choking on his screams, tears, and vomit. The latter, he managed to control and push down, but the screaming and tears only accelerated.

"Agreed to that," Ginny said, Ron saying, "He makes me laugh."

More pain, more laughter in his ears, more consciousness...

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"Albus! We have to do it! If we don't, the boy will die. Do you not understand that?"

"I understand it well Poppy. You don't need to doubt me."

"It's hard not to sometimes..."

"The potion has a chance of killing his powers as well as him."

"His powers are killing him as we speak. One way or another, he could die. Unless you have a different option of releasing his powers that wouldn't kill him, we must give him the potion."

Professor Dumbledore looked at Madam Pomfrey, then back to the boy who was fighting against the restraints. Harry's eyes fluttered, and he had stopped screaming...for the time being. He could feel the boy's powers heightening, but there was not much he could do without harming the boy or the growing of his powers. Madam Pomfrey had called him in after the first time Harry's heart had stopped, and through the four hours his heart had stopped three other times. It was easy, luckily, to get the muscle working, but the hard part was having it continue beating. There has to be another way of having his powers released while he's unconscious...think...

"We need him awake," he said simply.

"And how are you going to manage that?"

"We need him conscious just enough so he can cast a fairly powerful spell or ever point his want at something, to release the power."

Madam Pomfrey stared at him. "Do you know how to do that?"

"I think I can. Stand back." He walked over to Harry, lifting the shaking boy up. He was hot, sweat covering almost every inch of his skin. The power through flowed over Dumbledore, wanting something to fight against. "Harry, Harry, wake up." It was a try, but nothing had happened. He took his wand, and pointed it at the boy's head, saying, "Corpus Resurrectio." He tried to limit his magic to a small flow, but with Harry's powers still fighting against his, it wasn't very hard.

Harry "woke" up, his body still shaking, his eyes having a dead look in them. Dumbledore didn't know how long the spell would last. "Harry," he said calmly, the boy looking at him, seeming the recognize the name. "I need you to release your power before it kills you. Take your wand out and say, stupefy."

He handed Harry his own wand, the boy mumbling "Stupefy." A blast of red light crashed into the wall in front of them, Madam Pomfrey letting out a squeal before hiding from the flying stone. Dumbledore noticed how the boy's magic had diminished. One more spell should do the work, but he didn't need to blast another hole in the wall.

"That was good Harry. Now try Repairo."

A green light shot out, hitting the broken wall, cracks disappearing, every grain of dust disappearing back into the wall. Harry fainted, Dumbledore's spell breaking. Madam Pomfrey looked at him, awed. "What spell did you put on him?"

"It's only a temporary spell that puts his body into my command. I don't use it a lot though, since it's a dark spell that shouldn't exist anymore."

Madam Pomfrey slowly nodded, not saying anything. She looked at Harry, raised her wand, and scanned him. A wisp of smoke floated out of her wand, forming numbers and letters. Dumbledore stayed silent, until she said, "Well, he seems almost perfect, now that his extra magic is out of his system. His health...is rather extraordinary for how badly he was injured, and his body seems to be ninety percent in shape... I think it'll never be a hundred percent, but ninety-three or above is good condition."

Dumbledore nodded. "Since winter break is right around the corner, do you see fit for him staying at the Weasley's?"

"Yes, I do. You're the headmaster; you give the permission. I think a change of scenery will help him."

Dumbledore nodded. "Excellent. That is what I wanted to hear."

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He felt groggy, but awake. Alive. He could feel the soft sheets on him, the mattress that fit him well, the pillows propped perfectly underneath his head. His scar was still throbbing, but it was at a constant level that he could ignore. He wanted to wake up, see what was around him, but he didn't care to see those who had caused him so much pain. He loved his friends, he really did, and even though that vision/dream/whatever wasn't real, he still couldn't shake it off and be fine. It had caused confusion in his mind for why Ron, Ginny, and Hermione would do such a thing, and he couldn't help but think that those thoughts and feelings might be true.

He heard voices, seeming muffled. It sounded like they were coming from across the room, trying to keep silent. Harry opened his eyes, blinking slow and stupidly. His vision though couldn't reach that far; he couldn't even make out the shapes. The voices stopped shortly though when he attempted to grab his glasses. He missed and brushed them onto the ground accidentally.

"Harry!" two voices called, soon footsteps and figures coming towards him.

His glasses were placed over his eyes by Hermione, Ron next to her, and... Ginny? next to Ron. She didn't look as scared as she once had, but some of it was still there. "Hiya Harry," she said, sounding a little nervous.

His heart began to race, and he felt hot. He saw Madam Pomfrey approach, which saved him from responding. "You are one lucky man, Harry Potter. Your magic almost killed you the other night."

"Technically it did kill him a couple of time, Poppy," a voice said from the doorway and walking closer.

Harry saw Professor Dumbledore walking towards the group, hands tucked in the opposite sleeve. His silver beard gleamed, and he looked more worn out than normal. "I do hate to take the credit for it, but if it weren't for me knowing how to release your powers, you would most likely be dead right now."

Madam Pomfrey nodded, Harry becoming slightly scared. "My, my powers killed me?"

"Sadly, yes my boy, but it was easy to get your heart to begin beating again. I believe though that Madam Pomfrey has some important information for you."

Professor Dumbledore nodded to the nurse who looked at Harry, features grim, yet a smile graced her face. "I believe Mr. Potter that you are allowed to travel to the Weasley's for winter break. Your powers, in killing you also were healing you. You body is ninety percent healed, and that's excellent when ninety-three and above is proper health. Who knows, ninety percent may be where you'll stay at, but I think you can heal a little more.

"A change in scenery and a breath of fresh air should hopefully heal you, as well as calm your powers down. Its one week until break. Do you wish to stay here, or head to your dorms?"

"I'm really allowed to leave?"

Madam Pomfrey nodded, Harry then looking at Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. The last dream/vision-thing did give him second thoughts. Everyone... Could he look at everyone and meet their eyes? Will anyone meet his eyes? He should try to come to terms with everyone before term ended, so he would know what to expect when he came back. But, he also wanted to give everyone as much time as possible to enjoy him not being there. "I'll stay here for now, and maybe return to the dorms two days before term ends. Is that okay?"

Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore nodded, Dumbledore saying, "And if I'm correct, your powers will become final in three or four days. That then gives you a day or two to recover, and then you can head back to your dorms."

Harry nodded, wondering what his magic would do when it matured. As much as he wanted to ask, he restrained himself. It's probably different for everyone. I wonder what it'll be like for me.

Professor Dumbledore smiled and left, Hermione and Ron coming over to his side completely. Hermione sat on the edge of his bed, but his eyes were on the young redhead. "Ginny," he began, having a hard time meeting her eyes. "I, I'm sorry. About whatever I did to you, and to everyone else. Sorry I was being such a prat."

He looked down from the murky brown pools, and stared at his hands, the I must not tell lies standing out clearly. Then, Ginny was hugging him. "Thank you, Harry. I knew the real you was in there the entire time, but I didn't know how to help. Every time the imposter came near me, all these bad memories came. But, now you're finally you!"

Ron and Hermione smiled, Harry speechless. "Well," Hermione said, "kind of on a different subject, even though I'm really happy you two are friends, I found something that you might like to know Harry. I researched the growing of your powers." Harry looked at her, not that surprised. After a moment, she continued. "I read that the growing of your powers and the day of completing the growth is one of the greatest, yet worst moment in ones life. The book said that the stronger wizards end up in something relative to pain, yet it's so sweet they want more despite how much they're hurting.

"A few have ended up in comas, and others have scars. Most though come out fine, just exhausted mentally though their body is full of energy. The longest record of an energy spur was set by Sebastian Kerjean in 1932. He ran around Europe, healing and exploding things. He lasted five days without sleep, and once he crashed, he slept for two and a half days."

"So, what'll happen exactly?"

Hermione looked at her hands, probably thinking of how to sum up the passage. "You'll most likely glow—"

"Glow?" Ron interrupted, voice sounding curious yet trying not to laugh.

"Yes, glow. Only the really powerful ones will actually glow, and their power stays six months longer and stronger than anyone else's. They glow the color of their power, which shows what type it is. I think the warm colors are battling powers, and the cool colors are more of the studying, brown and tan are more healing, and white, gray, and black are the very strongest. They have a combination of all the powers, and I think the white is the least common received one. There have been two black cases, three gray cases, and one white case in the past four hundred and thirty-eight years. My guess is that you will be either gray or red."

Harry nodded, figuring Hermione would probably be gray or the cool colors, and Ron will be a shade of the warm colors. "We'll see. And it's painful?"

"Yes. The darker the colors, the more painful it will be. Just beware. If your color is close to black, the power gives you tests to prove what color you really got."

Ron and Ginny looked at her, then back at Harry who shifted uncomfortably. He wanted to move and get everyone's eyes of him. "Thats...great. Thanks for finding it and telling me. Um...can we walk? I wanna move around."

Everyone nodded as Hermione and Ron took their places, Ginny sitting on the bed and watching. Harry made seven trips around the room before he gripped the two, then at the eleventh round he collapsed. He caught his breath as Ron and Hermione held him, looking concerned. "I'm fine," he breathed. "Let's go."

He managed to push another two times around the room, barely conscious as he went back to his bed. Ginny was staring at him as he was basically laid on the bed, obviously unknowing of the condition he was in. Hermione was grinning though despite how he felt. "Thirteen times! Harry, that's amazing! That, I think is definitely enough to get to the train. Oh I'm so excited to get you out of here."

"I don't think I can go to the tower though without having my head bit off," he mumbled, beginning to wake up again. He didn't want to go back to sleep. Not this soon. Not after...that. He opened his eyes, looking at everyone. "What...what did I do to everyone?"

Everyone stayed silent, Hermione saying, "Maybe we should discuss this when you're more awake..."

"No. I'm awake now. What did I do?"

Everyone looked at each other, Ron deciding to answer. "Well, to sum things up, you were a bastard who enjoyed bringing others down. At first, it was slow, so it didn't look like you had two sides, or randomly decided to be mean and hate everyone. You first started on Neville, Seamus, and Dean, since they were our roommates. They began ignoring you, so then you started on the other girls, like Lavender and them. Then you just became an even bigger asshole and picked on all of the younger years and basically made them frightened of you.

"One of the biggest things that got to everyone was when you started befriending the Slytherin's. That, I think, everyone hated the most. My guess is that everyone believes you've changed sides. I don't think all the apologies in the world are going to save you and bring back the trust that you once had. Even the other houses—well, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff—are at a dislike for you. Once you disappeared, or, more so, came to the hospital wing, rumours went around that you had finally left to go unite with...Him. Most people believe that, but word has gotten around that you're in here, but nobody really believes it."

Harry was glad Ron didn't give specifics on what he told everyone. Hermione probably would have, which showed the simple difference between guys and girls. If he asked though what he did, they'd tell him. He preferred not knowing. "Thanks. So, I guess I have an idea of what to expect. But you'll be there too?" He looked at the three of them. "I don't want to imagine what they'd do if they caught me by myself."

"Harry, fellow Gryffindors don't attack fellow Gryffindors. I'd worry more about the other houses," Ron explained.

"The rest of the year will be tough, but we'll get through it. We always have before," Hermione said, looking hopeful.

"Just like fourth year..." Harry mumbled, remembering how everyone avoided him at the Triwizard Tournament. Well...it was more like the Quadwizard Tournament...until the very end... After Cedric's death, everyone had basically hated him.

"Well, not really," Ron said. "Cuz this time you definitely have me and Hermione here by your side, and we'll help you out."

"Don't forget about me," Ginny said, looking defiant. "Once they see that I'm friends with Harry again, they'll think he's all right."

"Or that I've put you under the Imperious..." Harry muttered.

They spent another hour talking, Harry often placing his mind out of the group. He was uncomfortable, like there was an itch on his mind and it was spreading throughout his body slowly. Once everyone left though, the itching went away and Madam Pomfrey still hadn't come in. He didn't even notice when she left. Where did she go? Harry wondered. Deciding he could walk on his own, he left his bed and went over to her office. He knocked on the door, not hearing any response. He knocked once more, waited, then turned the door handle. It was unlocked, so he slowly opened it, calling, "Madam Pomfrey?" before looking in.

Harry had never seen her office before, let along thinking what it would look like. The walls were white, with what he guessed was a pink tinge. There was a gray stripe near the ceiling, along with photos of who Harry guessed were family members and other nurses, possibly friends. There was a desk along a wall, and two cabinets. Along another wall there was a book case, every inch covered with books, and another bookcase of potions. Other than that there wasn't much else, except a spot where a bed might fit and a closet.

He shut the door, wondering where she could be. Even though he was hungry enough to want to eat, he wasn't about to go roam the school looking for the kitchen. He'd been abused and starved enough times to learn how to ignore the hunger. To entertain himself, he walked around the room a couple of times, and did a couple of pushups and crunches to figure out how weak he was. He could manage five pushups and seven crunches, which depressed him. And I'm ninety percent healed? If this is my strength for the rest of my life... No. That's not going to happen.

He rested for a short bit before exercising again, continuing on even when he became tired. I must go on. I'm not going to be weak. His energy lasted longer than he expected and he finally went back to his bed when he fell down, each muscle almost impossible to lift. He stumbled over to his bed after he had stood up, and passed out once he laid down, the darkness of the night and mind covering him.

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Here's chapter 21, and i'm sorry it took so long to get out. With the lack of reviews...i sort of had a lack of motivation. I do thank those, who do review, and i apologize for not updating for awhile. I've just been really busy, and now a boyfriend has been added to my already overflowing schedule. . oh well. I wrote the other night, and got another two and a half chapters into this story, which i'm so happy about. I have a question though, that i hope can be answered:: Is there anything in the story that i can change to have people like? Is it getting boring? Anything that you want seen? I may be a couple of chapters ahead, but not very far, so it'll be okay if i alter it. And:::How many guys are on fanfic? I know there's a lot of girls, but how many guys?? i've been wondering that for awhile now...yeah.
Next chapter i hope will come out soon, but no promises. Other characters come into the story, more bad than good. More dreams, more pain--good and bad. It'll be the end of the term!! Yay!! so yeah. thanks to Xx.Fma-Dnangel.xX and bybytte for reviewing!!!