Thank you to the beta of this chapter- Born-of-Elven-Blood

Chapter Twenty Eight - Going Home

Hermione and Ron packed Harry things in silence. Images of Harry lying on the floor kept flashing through Hermione's mind. She couldn't bear the thought of what might have happened if she had been a minute too late.

"Do you think we should bring Hedwig down with us?" Ron asked, running his fingers through her feathers, only to jerk back as Hedwig nipped at him. "She really misses Harry, and I know mom wouldn't mind...Hermione?" he questioned when she made no reply. "Hermione!"

"What?" she asked, startled out of her trance.

"Hedwig...Harry? I know you are upset but..."

"I'm not upset," she muttered, turning to fold one of Harry sweatshirts into the bag.

"You're not?"

"...no I'm not...I'm angry. Angry at Harry, at Snape, at everyone. But Harry, he… How dare he! He was going to leave us, and all he could say was 'sorry'? What the bloody hell does that even mean?"

"Hermione, I know..."

"Don't say that you know! You don't! This year wasn't supposed to be this way..." she snapped, yanking out another one of Harry sweatshirts and folding it up.

"What was it supposed to be like?"

"...go to classes...have fun like normal children...fight You-Know-Who..." she shrugged, digging deeper into the clothes drawer. "Jeans?"

"...jeans are fine… fighting You-Know-Who is hardly normal."

"Well it's normal for us!" Hermione yelled. "Harry could have died last night and then what? I wouldn't know what to do..."

"...I wouldn't know what to do either," Ron admitted quietly. "I can still see him lying there… but things will get better! He's going home with mom and that will do him a world of good."

"Hopefully..." Hermione muttered as she continued to pack.

...

Molly was just helping Hary spit bloody water into the waste bin when Arthur walked in.

"That's a good boy," Molly said, wiping the boy's mouth.

"...good boy..." Harry repeated, leaning back into Molly's embrace with a violent shiver.

"Good news! Albus said he can come home with us," Arthur announced, taking off his sweater and handing it to Molly. "Ron and Hermione are packing his things right now!"

"You hear that Harry? You can come home with us," Molly said with a smile, fighting through her tears as she helped Harry thread his arm into Arthur's sweater, careful of the tube still protruding from his nose. "You can rest and get yourself all healed up!"

Harry let out a low moan, struggling with the fog in his brain. Go home to the Burrow? That was a good thing, right? He loved it at the Burrow. So why did he feel so uneasy? So sick and scared? He didn't want to go with them. He wanted to stay here… with Snape. He felt safe with Snape.

He opened his mouth to say so, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get his brain to make his lips form the words.

"There we go!" Molly said, tugging the sweater straight over his other arm just as Poppy walked into the room.

"How long has he been awake?" she demanded harshly, bustling over to examine her patient. Harry moaned loudly as the bright wandlight assaulted his eyes, turning his head into Molly's arm in a feeble attempt to escape it. "You should have called me the moment he woke up!"

"He only woke up a few minutes ago," Molly retorted. "I was looking after him just fine!"

Poppy let out a long suffering sigh and decided to change the subject. "Can you lay him down so I can check his stomach?"

Molly pursed her lips, but nodded, shifting her body so she could lay Harry on his back.

"No...nonononono..." he moaned as he felt the warm embrace withdraw.

"It's just for a moment Harry," she promised, taking his hand. "I'm right here with you."

"I'm just going to check your stomach, Harry," Poppy explained as she carefully raised his shirt and gently palpated his abdomen for abnormalities.

Harry winced as the slightest touch caused a sharp pain in his stomach.

"It's alright Harry, it will be over soon," Molly soothed.

"...no...no... dats hurts..." Harry slurred, pushing Poppy's hands away. "...I...I want to go to Potions...I'm late for class..."

He wanted to see Snape, but he didn't know how to say it.

"I think we can take the tube out now," Poppy said, ignoring his mumblings and gently brushing his hands aside. "Can you sit him up for me?"

Molly pulled down Harry's shirt and zipped up Arthur's sweater before pulling Harry back into her arms.

"Class!" Harry wailed.

"It's alright Harry, you don't have any classes."

"I'm going to need you to brace his arms so he can't grab at me while I work. Put your other hand on his forehead and push his head back, just so," Poppy explained as she helped Molly to find the right position. Harry's eyes followed her as she canceled the sticking charm on the tube in his nose. "I need you to hold him firmly because he won't like this.''

Harry gave a cry as Poppy began to pull. He squirmed and kicked against the burn of the tube scraping its way up the inflamed flesh of his esophagus, only to feel hands tighten terrifyingly on his arms and legs. Bloody tears blurred his vision and tracked down his cheeks.

"St-top!" he choked, gagging on the sickening slither of the tube against the back of his throat. "St-t-tooooo-guh-ack!" Poppy ignored his pleas, and with a final heaving cough, the tube slid free of his nose.

"It's all over Harry, you did such a good job," Molly reassured him, pushing Poppy unceremoniously out of the way as she cleaned the snot and blood that dripped out of his nose and down his face.

"In my nose," Harry whimpered as he rubbed at his raw nostril, his brain unable to understand what just happened. He slumped back in relief, tears still seeping from his eyes. He felt betrayed, wanted to feel angry, but the ordeal had exhausted him, and mostly he just wanted to be back in that warm embrace.

"I'll make a list of things Harry can eat while his stomach is still healing," Poppy said as she turned towards the door. At Molly's withering glare, she rolled her eyes and added, "He did a lot of damage to it and it will take time for him to fully recover." With one final concerned glance in Harry's direction, she sniffed primly and bustled out of the room.

"It's alright Harry… no more," Molly cooed reassuringly as she rubbed Harry's back.

"I...I didn't like that," Harry slurred, watching warily as the other figure in the room sat down beside the bed.

"I know, it must not have felt that great, '' Molly agreed as she lifted his head and pressed a glass of water to his lips. Swallowing hurt, but the cool moisture felt wonderful and he drank greedily every sip she permitted him. "There we go! And I'm sure Ron and Hermione will be down any minute and when they do then we get to go home. Doesn't that sound nice?"

…

"You ready?" Hermione asked softly as she slung Harry's bag over her shoulder.

"I can't get her to jump up," Ron complained, pulling his hand back before he could receive his fifth bite from Hedwig. "She only listens to Harry."

"She's just upset," Hermione replied calmly, handing the bag off to him with an air of authority and holding her arm out. "Here girl, you want to see Harry?" Hedwig perked up. "Come on, we'll take you to see him."

Ron scowled as the owl stepped up onto Hermione's arm, ruffling her feathers a little.

"That's a good girl, I know you want to see Harry," she said, gently petting the unhappy bird. "So do we. Levitate the bags, will you, Ron?"

As they made their way down to the common room, they did their best to ignore the stares that followed them. They may not know what exactly was going on, but they could see that they were carrying packed bags and Harry's owl. It didn't take much to realize what was happening.

Unequal and unwilling to answer any questions, the two avoided all eye contact as they left the dormitory, and continued to do so as they made their way to the Hospital Wing.

When they entered Harry was sitting on the edge of the bed, already dressed in a pair of oversized sweat pants and Arthur's sweater.

Hedwig let out a loud chirp and flew directly over to Harry, landing on his knee with a contented flutter.

Harry stared, blinking, then slowly raised his hand and ran it through the owl's feathers. "Hey girl..." he slurred. "It's my owl," he announced to everyone in the room.

"You're leaving now?" Ron asked his parents.

"We think that's best," Molly nodded as Arthur shuffled the papers full of precautions and instructions Poppy had given them.

"Come on sweetie," Molly said as she helped Harry to his feet. Hedwig, in a much better mood now that she was reunited with her wizard, took the hint and flew over to wait patiently by her cage.

Hermione swept a tear from her eye before making her way over to Harry and wrapping her arms around him. "We'll see you on Saturday, alright?"

Harry slowly raised his arm up and lightly pressed it to her back.

"Saturday..."

"Saturday," she repeated firmly as she pulled away, grabbing a tissue from the nightstand to wipe away the blood that had leaked from Harry's eyes. "Everything is going to be alright," she added, unsure if she was telling Harry or herself.

Ron was next up, dropping the bags on the bed before giving Harry a hug himself. "Don't do anything too crazy before we get there, alright?" he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"You... teach Quidditch?" Harry garbled, grabbing Ron's arm as he moved to pull away.

"Quidditch?" Hermione and Ron exchanged a confused glance.

"...they need to learn...they need...safe..." Harry grimaced, fighting with his brain for every word.

"Oh, right!" Hermione said quickly, catching Ron's arm before he could push for more information. Harry meant Dumbledore's army. Her heart swelled and her throat tightened painfully. Even in this state, he was still thinking of everyone else. Could that be what his note had meant. Maybe… maybe he hadn't wanted to leave them after all. "Don't worry, Harry," she affirmed, "we will teach Quidditch."

"We should get going," Molly said as she led Harry out to the hearth, leaving Arthur to follow behind with the levitated luggage. "See you on Saturday, dears!"

Harry cast one last look back at his friends before Molly dropped the floo powder on the flames, something about potions class nagging at the back of his mind. Then all he could see was green flames and the sitting room at the Burrow rushing towards him.