Chapter 37
"Hey he moved!"
"He did?"I did?
"Yeah his finger twitched."Oh
"That doesn't count!"
"It doesn't?"Apparently not.
"Of course not!"
"And why, pray tell, doesn't it?"Hey kinda trying to sleep here, keep it down
"Because twitching is an involuntary muscle spasm caused by random brain signals sent to the nerves."
"Eh?"Sounds like one of Ron and Hermione's arguments.
"Honestly, I don't know how you graduated from Hogwarts."
"I had you to help me."I don't think flattery is going to work.
"More likely the professors just wanted to get rid of you."Yeah I can see that.
"Aw come on, you know Minnie secretly loved me."
"I highly doubt that." Me too.
"Se did, I swear! One time—"
"Shush he moved!"
"Really?"
Harry groaned, he didn't recognize the voices talking but he was glad they stopped bickering. Though it was slightly amusing, his head was pounding and the noise was just making it worse.
"Harry, you awake?"
Harry opened his eyes to a bright, well-lit room he didn't recognize. Instantly he flew out of bed, headache forgotten. He reached for his wand, but it wasn't there. Well duh, these guys would be stupid even for Death Eaters if they captured me but left me my wand. Instead he grabbed the next best thing…a lamp. Wait, a lamp? There are no lamps in the wizarding world.
"Are you done freaking out yet?"
Harry looked at the speaker and nearly passed out again. James Potter was sitting in a chair grinning at him with Lily standing behind the chair, a wide-eyed look on her face, a result, no doubt, of her son's reaction to waking in an unfamiliar environment.
"Am I dead," Harry asked. He didn't feel dead, nor could he remember dying, but if he was seeing his parents.
"No baby, you're not. You're in the mid-zone to receive your Rothwood inheritance," Lily whispered.
"But I don't turn sixteen for two weeks, and isn't the legal age seventeen in the wizarding world? How can I be getting my inheritance now?"
"We know when you're birthday is kiddo, but the Rothwood magic comes in stages. You receive part of it at sixteen, and the rest at seventeen," James explained.
"But still, it's two weeks…"
"Harry, it takes a year to fine tune the control of the inheritance you're about to get. Due to the impracticality of it, the Rothwood managed to use their magic to send you here, where time passes differently. We'll be able to fit all your training into the two weeks between now and you're birthday. You'll wake up at midnight July 31st having spent a year with us here. Rothwood magic is very powerful and therefore control must be absolute," Lily told her son.
"I'm so confused."
"Don't worry prongslet, it'll be explained."
"Don't call him that idiotic name James, he needs his own Marauder's name."
"Well of course he does, but we have to wait for the ceremony."
"James, Lily? You guys in there? A voice outside was calling the couple cheerfully.
Harry felt his face harden, what the hell was he doing here?
"We're in here Pete," James called.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Hermione and Ginny were sitting next to Harry's bed in the Rothwood infirmary. It had been several days since his collapse, and despite the fact that Alfred had said that it was perfectly normal and that it meant Harry was receiving his inheritance, the two girls couldn't help but worry.
"What's going to happen to him Hermione?"
"He's going to wake up on his birthday. Mr. Stanfields said he would."
"Yes, but what about after that, between Voldemort and Dumbledore, how is he going to survive?"
"I don't know Ginny, but whatever happens I'm going to be by his side fighting for him."
"You love him don't you?"
Hermione blushed, "I don't know about love, but yes, I fancy him quite a bit."
"Oh"
"You too?"
"Yes, and just so you know, I have no plans on graciously stepping aside for you, just because you're a member of the Golden Trio."
"That's okay, I don't expect you too, especially since I have no plans of stepping aside either."
"May the best witch win I guess," Ginny said extending her hand to Hermione who grasped it, smirking at the red head.
"I will."
Laughter rang through the infirmary as two friends pit themselves against each other for the love of the unconscious wizard in front of him.