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Chapter 26

Recovering

Everything around me seemed to hurt. But that seemed to be a good sign. It means that my body was functioning properly, that I was alive. My eyes didn't open but my mind did. My hearing picked up two different voices, a male and a female.

"You should go to class. We wouldn't want you to miss anything," The female said softly. It reminded me of someone… Aunt Tonks. That was it. She seemed to have taken hold of my two hands, one person on either side of me, Aunt Tonks and someone else. The male probably held my right hand.

"No, I'm not leaving her," The male said. That was Daniel; I would recognize that voice anywhere. He was by my side, holding my hand and rubbing it softly with his thumb. At the moment, I didn't want to open my eyes. It would ruin the moment.

"She's sleeping. The danger's over. Nothing's going to happen to her," Aunt Tonks replied, placing a hand on my cheek delicately as to not wake me. What she didn't know was that I was already awake.

"I'm not leaving her," Daniel replied firmly. He was overprotective of me at the moment. He thought that I would die again but Death wasn't after me now. Everything was safe. "Not now, not ever."

"You really care about my niece, don't you?"

"More than you can possibly imagine," Daniel said, love and passion filling his every words. It made my heart sore to hear how he loved me so much. I hadn't felt that way in so long… it felt right. "I love her with all my heart and I will do whatever it takes to keep her with me, keep her alive and happy."

Aunt Tonks took a silent pause before saying: "I agree."

"Pardon?" Daniel asked confused.

"I agree of your relationship with my niece. You really care for her, which is something she hasn't felt in a long time. The last time I saw her, she told me everything about you and her words only expressed love. It reminds me of Remus and I..." There was a small pause before Aunt Tonks continued speaking. "She really does love you. And I see how you make her happy. But if you hurt her, you will have me to deal with Daniel," Aunt Tonks replied, seriousness covering her voice in the end. Suddenly, my right hand went rigid for some reason. My mind registered somehow that Daniel must have become scared.

"I would never hurt her. And I'll try with all my might to keep her out of harm's way. I promise," Daniel said and how desperately did I want to smile at the moment. He was truly the only one for me. His words were covered with love and passion that it warmed my heart.

"You better," Aunt Tonks warned. Now seemed like the time to wake up. I groaned, hoping it was convincing enough for the two of them, and began opening my eyes slowly, stopping their conversation in an instant. At first, everything seemed quite blurry. My eyes only opened a mere crack but it was enough to see Aunt Tonks and Daniel's blurry forms. Even blurry, Daniel still dazzled me. "Oh honey, I'm so glad you're awake."

"Hello to you too…" I replied, hoping to ease the tension right now. A small smile played on my lips as Daniel stroked my hand with his thumb.

Aunt Tonks gently ran up to me and gave me a soft and careful hug. "You are so grounded missy. Never will you put me through that again, do you hear me young lady? You have no idea how much you scared me." She warned, unable to actually be fully serious and angry at the moment. My arms slowly went around her and hugged her back with as much strength as I could muster at this moment.

"Wait… what am I grounded for…?" I asked as we slowly released one another. Looking at her, her eyes seem to have turned glassy as she seems to be on the verge of crying.

"For going against him by yourself! Didn't you think that it would have been better if you had told someone?" Aunt Tonks said, her tone become sad towards the end.

Looking down, I began to fiddle with my blanket, unable to look at both of them. Daniel was silent but his gestures meant a thousand words. But could I tell Aunt Tonks what really happened? I had only told Professor Dumbledore but she was the one that mattered most, and Daniel of course. Internally sighing, the only reply that came out of my mouth was: "He said he was going to kill you if I didn't meet him Aunt Tonks… He said he would kill you if I didn't meet him alone… I… I couldn't let that happen…" The room seemed to have gone quiet when I finished speaking. Looking up, both of them seemed shocked.

Soon, Aunt Tonks's stunned expression turned into sadness again and she wrapped her arms around me again, rubbing my shoulder comfortingly and softly. "Everything's alright now. No one is going to hurt or use you anymore," She promised before kissing my forehead and smiling at me.

"Does this mean I'm ungrounded…?" I asked, a hint of humour to my tone and she laughed half-heartedly.

"Of course honey. After all, you did save everyone in the magical community. I can't really ground a hero now, can I?" She asked, taking a seat back next to me. But her words… they hit me harder than anything. A hero…? I was no such thing. Voldemort might be dead and cannot return but Harry had to be sacrificed—then brought back to life—for the plan to succeed. Aunt Tonks must have seen my face and became sad. "What's wrong honey?" She asked soothingly.

"I'm no hero…" was my only reply while looking down again.

"How can you say that?" Daniel asked me stunned, speaking for the first time in this conversation.

"I had to sacrifice Harry for Voldemort to be killed."

"But you brought him back."

"But what if it hadn't worked? What if I had failed in bringing Harry back to life? Then there would be two dead people right now!" I answered sadly, looking up at them.

Daniel placed his hand on my cheek reassuringly and looked me straight in the eyes. "You did everything right Jamie. No one is blaming you for anything. Actually, you've been getting gifts while you were asleep," Daniel mentioned while turning my head slightly to the side and showing me the hundreds of white roses on three nightstands. A look of shock passed through my features while looking at the white roses.

"Those… are all for me…?" I asked incredulously, looking back at Daniel.

"It was the least that they could do. Everyone came to pay their thanks to you for saving their lives," Daniel explained with a slight smile to his lips. A slight smile was brought to my lips and we both stared at each other.

Aunt Tonks cleared her throat and Daniel and I looked at her. "I suppose I should leave you two alone. Get some rest Jamie and I will visit you as soon as I can get off work," She said with a smile, getting up slowly.

"You don't have to strain yourself Aunt Tonks… I'm fine…" I said honestly.

"But I want to Jamie. I'll see you soon honey. Get some rest," Aunt Tonks said before apparating from the room, leaving Daniel and I alone in the hospital wing.

Looking at Daniel, I tried to shift into a sitting position but a large pain in my stomach erupted in horrible pain. A gasp of pain escaped my lips and Daniel instantly started panicking in worry. "Jamie, everything's fine. Just lay back down," He said while pushing me ever so softly back against the bed and helped me sit up. In the end, I was panting for breath and my hand hovered above my wound. "You can tell me if you need help. I want to help you Jamie," He said, cupping a hand on my cheek. Leaning into his touch, I closed my eyes and loved having him close to me. He brought himself close to me and placed his forehead against mine. "You scared me Jamie. I thought that I had lost you forever… I can't afford to lose you."

"I'm so sorry Daniel… I thought that he had her…" Looking into his eyes, Daniel didn't seem to be mad at me but at Voldemort, the one who took away my life.

"I… I just wished that you would have told me. I would have been able to help you, whatever means necessary," He said with love, passion and seriousness clouding his words. It warmed my heart again to hear how much he wanted to help me. "Maybe it would have helped if I was there… Maybe I—" But I didn't give him time to protest. Against all the pain in my body, I brought myself closer to him, hiding the pain in my features, my lips came upon his.

The kiss took him by surprise but it didn't take long for Daniel to return his love. It was beautiful; the way his lips connected with mine, the feel of his hand resting upon my neck and just having him next to me, kissing me. But the pain kept coming back stronger than ever. My face—including my lips—scrunched up in pain and Daniel stopped kissing me, making me sigh in pain.

"Bloody hell… I can't even kiss you now…" I mumbled sadly.

"What's wrong? Is your wound hurting? Maybe you should lie back down Jamie," He said worriedly while looking at me. Looking down, my hand hovered above the wound and panted heavily, sweat running down my face now.

"I'm fine… It… It'll pass…" I said in between pants. Breathing was becoming a problem right now. The wound was making it hard for me to breathe, considering that Voldemort had stabbed me in the stomach. Daniel didn't buy it and pushed me softly against the pillows, despite what I had just told him. "Daniel… I'm fine…"

"Jamie, just please listen to me. I don't want you to hurt yourself any more than you already are. You're too important to me," Daniel said, coming up to sit beside me on the bed and placing his hand on my cheek again. "Please tell me when you're hurting. I can't bear to lose you again… It was painful enough to feel it once." Those words hurt my heart this time. I'd hurt him beyond belief this time. Now he was afraid that I would disappear into thin air.

"I'm not going anywhere Daniel… I promise you that…" I said while placing a hand on his cheek as well. He smiled before planting a small but passionate kiss upon my lips. Turning my head around, I saw the white roses again. "Are those really from everyone in the school…?"

Daniel looked at the flowers before looking back at me with a sad face. "Um…" His tone seemed to have changed recently, almost saddened. But in the matter how he said it, it was easy to know who didn't place a flower.

"They didn't come and see me… did they…?" I asked sadly, looking him in the eyes. Daniel didn't quaver but he looked saddened by my own tone. Harry and the others must still be mad at me for before… No wonder they didn't want to see me. I had been horrible to them before I died and Harry had been sacrificed to kill Voldemort. They probably never wanted to see me again.

"Actually, they did. The minute they heard you were on the road to recovery but three out of the four Houses didn't visit you. Some are extremely mad that Voldemort is dead. Hermione, Luna and Ginny are the ones that visited you the most in the four days that you've been here," Daniel explained and it got me thinking. It must have been the Slytherin house that didn't visit me. It really didn't matter though. Hermione and the others had come to see me? But wait a second, four days? How badly was I injured?

"Four days…? I've been here nearly a week…?"

"You were badly injured Jamie. You'd lost so much blood that they wanted to make sure you're alright. You seemed to have woken up for a few seconds the same day you were admitted but they sedated you so your wound would heal faster."

"They sedated me…?"

"Better be safe than sorry Jamie. No one wants you to get hurt. They don't want their saviour to get sick or anything," Daniel said with a smile at the end. Rolling my eyes at him, I tried to lean into him without any pain but that was a failure. Daniel saw my pain and positioned himself behind me, helping me lean into him without any pain this time. Oh, how I loved this man. He would do anything for me… It made my heart sore once again. "Is the pain gone?" He asked, wrapping his arms around my chest happily. Nodding, I looked in front of me and saw that there was a large vase filled with white roses. There were so many of them… But suddenly, Aunt Tonks and Daniel's conversation popped into my mind. Should I bring it up or no? Was this the right time? Maybe it would be better to wait until Madam Pomfrey would let me leave the hospital wing. "You were awake when your aunt and I were talking, weren't you?"

My eyes widened at his question. How…? What…? Looking up at him, there seemed to be a small smile forming on his face. "How did you know…?"

"Your lips twitched up slightly when I said that I would never hurt you and promised that I would try with all my might to keep you out of harm's way," Daniel said and a wonderful smile formed on his lips. It made my heart skip a beat once again when seeing that gorgeous smile of his. His light brown hair fell close to his eyes, indicating that he needed a haircut. There were dark bags under his eyes, showing that he lacked sleep. He must have not had any sleep since I was admitted in the hospital wing… Poor guy, he really needs to get some rest.

"Daniel… you need to get some sleep…" I said, making his smile disappear when he heard my serious tone.

"I'm fine Jamie… Seeing you awake and alright is keeping me plenty awake," Daniel said with a slight smile before planting a kiss upon my forehead.

"But I'm alright… you should go back to your dorm and get some rest… Madam Pomfrey might discharge me soon…" I said with a slight smile. Daniel hesitated but nodded in the end.

"Alright but if I'm going to go and get some rest, you should too. Your eyes are drooping now," Daniel commented while running his thumb on the bags under my eyes. His touch was soft and gentle as he soothingly caressed my cheek and rubbed my cheek with his thumb.

"But I've been sleeping for four days…" I whined and teased at the same time.

"You need to rest Jamie. You've been through a lot lately and sleep will do you some good. I just want you to get better. Please Jamie, for me," Daniel pleaded while looking pleadingly into my eyes, almost giving me a puppy dog eyed look. He was just so adorable that it made me sigh and nod. A large smile played on his face as he kissed my lips and laid his forehead against mine. "Thank you Jamie."

"I'd do anything for you…" I answered honestly while leaning against his chest, the pain barely there.

We sat like this for quite some time until Madam Pomfrey came in and said that Daniel should go to the Gryffindor Common Room. Frankly, neither Daniel nor I wanted to move but he was forced. Madam Pomfrey insisted I catch on my rest and that she could release me in the next few hours if I took some medications for the pain. It brought joy to my face to know that my stay in the hospital wing was coming to an end. Laying my head against the pillows, sleep overtook me.

In just a few hours, things would be back to normal… hopefully.

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Bellacullenswan17

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