"You shouldn't have cursed him."
"Do you see what he did to her? Would you like a closer look at her broken ribs and bruised face?"
"I see it. But now was not the time to go all noble. Besides you were the one beating her up on the inside."
"She made that choice on her own!"
The angry voices continued to get louder. All you wanted to do was sleep. Sleep was nice. Maybe if you asked politely they would go away. You moved slightly, trying to get in a more comfortable position but found it impossible considering your body was still in an immense amount of pain. You let out a small groan. The bickering stopped.
"Lanae, are you awake?"
Was that Hermione? She sounded so worried. Were you really that damaged? You felt that way of course, but did you look it?
"You were loud." You mumble opening your eyes slightly. She was leaning over you, her eyes red from crying. Oh geez, you had probably ruined her night with Ron. You were really a piece of work.
"Sorry. We didn't mean to wake you." She soothes touching your hand lightly. A sharp memory pierces your vision. You see a foot coming towards you. You held your hand up to shield your face. You gasp, taking a quick intake of breath.
"Where is Draco?" you ask shutting your eyes firmly.
"He's unconscious at the moment. But don't worry, he is far away from you, and can't hurt you." Hermione says.
"He didn't do this." You mutter feeling sleep overtaking you again.
"What?"
"Who was it then?"
"He was leaning over your body!"
You couldn't discern which were whose voices. You wanted to reply to each of them, but the only thing you kept seeing in the darkness behind your eyelids was Harry. Harry pulling your hair and slapping you. Flinging you about like a rag doll.
"Harry did it." You whisper as you let sleep engulf you once again.
________________________________________________________________
"Hello daughter."
Your eyes snap open. You were lying on the floor in the middle of a white room. You instinctively jump up searching for the body that went with the voice. You felt lithe and healthy. No pain stabbing at every corner of your body. Weren't you supposed to be in agony? You must be dreaming, and now he was in your head again. You spin around to see your father stepping out of the darkness, snakelike features and all. You were never going to get used to how hideous he was.
"Why are you here?" you ask.
"To inform you that if you decide to remain on this path you have chosen I will have no qualms in killing you. You did not manifest like I thought you would, and thus are of little importance to me. I was being nice when I gave you the option to join me. And look what defiance has gotten you. Nothing." His tone was cruel and unnerving. He wasn't smirking or mocking you; he was just telling you the truth.
Your mind was running slower then normal as you tried to recall why he was here in your head telling you this. Why had you expected pain when you opened your eyes? You had been brutally beaten. That sounded right. And they hadn't used magic. You saw Draco's face leaning over you, but he didn't do it. No it was someone else. An intense and horrible feeling spread through you as you saw your attacker. It was Harry? Why was Harry hurting you? The memories were fuzzy, but you could have sworn it was him. What had happened?
You look back up into Voldemort's cold eyes. What did he know? You were so confused.
"Someone's tampered with my memory." You say. It was the only logical explanation. Harry wouldn't hurt you. Not like that. He was using Cho to hurt you, not physical violence.
"You don't say? It would seem to me that you are weaker then I ever anticipated. It is a shame. I thought your mother was the perfect choice. I was obviously wrong, and I don't say that lightly. I am hardly ever wrong." He says. What was he talking about?
"Get out of my mind." You command. You didn't have to put up with his insults in your own head, even if they did make absolutely no sense. Besides if you were going to piece together what had happened to you, it wasn't going to happen with him around.
"Foolish child. Do not attempt to tell me what to do. You will never…" but you didn't wait to find out what you would never be able to do. You were annoyed, confused, and angry.
"I said Get OUT!" you scream.
_________________________________________
You sit up straight in your bed, ignoring the dull ache in your chest. The sun was streaming in through the windows heating up the hospital wing. Your vision was blurry as if your eyes hadn't been used in awhile. You were wearing a pair of your pajamas. You test each of your limbs, stretching and bending them. For the most part you felt rather decent. Your ribs were still sore and it effected your breathing, but other then that you felt almost one hundred percent better.
Now to stand up. You lean your legs over the bed until your feet were planted firmly on the floor. You lean forward and stand up, only to collapse to the floor. So that didn't work. You use your arms to pull you back on the bed, only putting minimal weight on your feet. What was wrong with them? You felt fine. Wiggling your toes to prove it. So why couldn't you stand?
"Lanae! You're awake!"
You look up from your useless legs to see Neville running at you. You grin. He looked happy. Behind him were two more people. Hermione and Harry. The site of him caused your stomach to clench tightly. How is it that your brain was working so slow you hadn't even thought about why you were in the hospital wing in the first place? You were so focused on checking out your body you hadn't given your dream or Harry a second thought. Could you not compartmentalize anymore?
"Get Snape." You say stoically, fighting the fear that was growing inside you with every step Harry took.
"What did she say?" Hermione asks.
"She said to get Snape." Neville repeats looking confused as he sits down next to you.
"She wouldn't ask for that. She hates Snape." Harry's voice says, filling your head with sickening memories.
"Get him. Please." You beg tugging on Neville's shirt.
"Okay. I will." He nods standing up.
You hold completely still as you watch him leave you. Hermione comes to take Neville's spot, feeling your forehead.
"She feels fine." She says to Harry who takes a seat in front of you. You couldn't bring yourself to look at him. The hairs on your arms were standing straight up you were so terrified. But it felt wrong. You loved Harry. You knew that now. But this anxiety was so real. And the memories… None of it made sense. There was an entire blank chunk of your memory that you had no recollection of starting at the end of the dance. So for now you would just have to keep your emotions at bay until Neville brought back Snape.
"I can't stand." You mutter looking back down at your legs.
"That makes sense, you've been out for almost a week. Your legs just need to get used to being used again is all." Hermione says in that motherly voice she sometimes gets.
"Here, let me help you." Harry says grabbing your hand. You scream loudly jerking away from him. His touch had sent sparks up your arm and down your spine at the same time sending some message to your stomach giving you the overwhelming need to puke.
"Stay away from me Harry!" you shout. You couldn't think straight and it felt like you were hyperventilating.
"Step away from her Potter. You two Granger." Snape's voice somehow calmed you down, making it easier for you to breathe. The two of your friends stand and walk away looking both offended and confused.
"What's wrong Lanae?" he asks approaching your bed. You had never seen him so concerned before, but instead of dwelling on it you explained what was going on.
"Someone has tampered with my memory. All I keep seeing is Harry hurting me. I can't see before that, and I can barely think about more then one thing at a time."
"The three of you get out." Snape orders without taking his eyes off you, taking out his wand.
"But.." Harry was going to argue.
"I said get out!" Snape growls, giving the three of them a deathly glare. He waited until the doors had shut behind them before he turns back to you.
"This is going to be uncomfortable, but it is necessary. Just relax." Snape says raising his wand. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. A second later your memories were being played back to you. You saw and heard everything that had just happened, the dream, and then Harry beating the crap out of you. And then it stopped abruptly, like hitting a wall. You open your eyes looking in Snape's blank face.
"You were given a potion to block a good chunk of your memory." He explains pocketing his wand.
"Can you fix it?" you ask hesitantly.
"Of course. I have an antidote in my office. I'll be right back." His billowing cape of doom disappearing behind the door after him. "Don't you dare go in there in my absence Potter. Any of you." You hear him shout.
You sat on the bed clutching your knees. Yes, the way Snape was treating you was a tad weird. You hated each other; your memory didn't get messed up that much. But somehow you knew he would help you without any qualms. It was like you trusted him more then Dumbledore even. Whoa hold up. Did you actually just think that? What was going on with you? That potion must have really destroyed some brain cells.
The doors burst open revealing Snape striding back in. He had a smoking vile in his right hand. Anything smoking was not pleasant. You were not looking forward to having to this antidote.
"This is going to be more then just uncomfortable. I am afraid this will be painful, but it will fix your memory and any concentration problems." He explains handing you the vile of putrid smelling junk.
"Thank you Professor." You say, before tossing the potion to the back of your throat. It tasted horrible, and then came the headache. But more then a headache even, it felt like a bomb had exploded inside your head. And just as soon as it began it ended. You look up at Snape's expectant expression.
"I remember. Everything." You say. And you did. It wasn't Harry that hurt you; it was Luke. Draco had concocted the plan. He gave Luke the pollyjuice potion to trick you into proving you weren't really on your dad's side. So it explained your dad showing up in your head, but still didn't clarify what the hell he was talking about.
"Good." Snape says, breaking you out of your walk down memory lane. You look up at him. What were you supposed to say now? Thanks for helping me… you can go back to hating my guts now. It didn't sound very grateful in your head, so an awkward silence prevailed.
Maybe you could ask him what you missed in class. No sooner had the thought crossed your head than Snape turned around and headed out the hospital wing without saying another word.
"Can we see Lanae now?" you hear Neville ask. You heard no audible reply from Snape, but the three of them came on in anyways.
"You sure she won't hex me?" Harry whispers to Hermione not sure if he should really be there.
"I think Snape helped her remember." Hermione answers.
"I can hear you guys." You say, a huge grin forming on your face.
"Then you can hear how you scared us all to death." Neville says, smiling even though there was a slight seriousness to his voice. The three of them sat on the bed with you.
"Sorry about accusing you by the way Harry." You apologize finally able to look him in the eye. He gives you a small smile.
"Don't worry, no one took your allegation seriously. Draco was even set to be expelled and everything until the Minister of Magic overturned that ruling."
"But theoretically he didn't do this to me." For some reason you felt an extreme amount of relief knowing Draco wasn't gong to be expelled, though you didn't know why. He was the ultimate reason you had gotten your face smashed in. It was his plan that had gone wrong.
"Who did? Draco would never say." Harry asks, not realizing his anger was shining through his composed demeanor.
"I don't know who it was." You lie. You knew without a shadow of a doubt if you told your friends who had done this to you, and that it had been a fellow Gryffindor of all people, they would do something dreadful. "So you guys know what happened then?" you continue wanting to change the subject.
"Yeah, we know. Well minus the parts where Draco was out of the room. Harry kind of cursed his confession out of him." Hermione states. You look at Harry surprised. Why would he have been there?
"How did you find me anyways?"
"I went out searching for you when you didn't come back, and near the Great Hall this guy stopped me and said he'd help me find you. I didn't believe that he could, but then he explained how he had given you the dress and it had a tracking spell on it. He gave me the incantation to find it, and it led us right to you." Neville explains.
"Do you know who the guy was?" you ask, wondering who had been your ultimate rescuer.
"He said his name was Artemis."