AUTHOR'S NOTES: So this story came into my head mostly fully formed! And while I was going to wait until I got the whole thing written-for a change of pace-I changed my mind.

STORY SUMMARY: The first task of the Triwizard Tournament ends horribly for Harry who is severely injured in the process. There seems to be a plot afoot, but the culprit remains a mystery. AU! Disabled!Harry

HARRY POTTER: What Lies Within Us

Chapter 1

Caulfield Hospital for Magical and Muggle Injuries

Durham, Scotland

Lily Potter felt like she was about to throw up as she walked into her younger son's hospital room. Her stomach had been doing flipflops ever since far earlier in the day when she'd watched Harry flying about a Hungarian Horntail dragon on his Firebolt broomstick as he endeavored to complete the first task of the TriWizard Tournament.

And for a brief moment, Lily, and her husband, James, had breathed a sigh of relief as Harry swooped down, snatching a golden egg from the dragon's nest, and flew upwards and out of reach.

But then the dragon's spiked tail swiftly swung about, catching Harry in the stomach and sending him crashing down upon the rocks and boulders littered about the Quidditch pitch.

Everyone had dashed about, corralling the dragon and getting Harry to the treatment tent nearby. When Madame Pomfrey—the Hogwarts' school nurse—had seen the full extent of Harry's injuries, she'd ordered him sent to St. Mungo's Hospital straight away, but changed her mind and directed Harry to Caulfield Hospital instead when he started having difficulty breathing.

x

After hours in the waiting room, a surgeon had come out of the operating room with news.

Harry had fractured his T4, T5, and T6 vertebrae when he hit the rocks and two of the spikes on the dragon's tail had stabbed him in the abdomen, doing damage to Harry's stomach, intestines, and diaphragm before severing his spinal cord between the L2 and L3 vertebrae.

Lily didn't remember sitting back down or Molly Weasley pulling her into a hug as she cried.

Neither did she remember whatever James said to try and sound encouraging.

The following half hour, while the surgeon explained Harry's condition and recovery, were all a complete blur.

The next thing that registered in Lily's mind was when James led her to a room in the Intensive Care Unit and she saw her son.

Harry wore what looked like a padded plastic cast around his upper body and a second brace around his neck. There was a tracheostomy tube in his throat which was connected to a ventilator. An IV was connected to a port in his arm to deliver pain medication and a potion to help Harry's body heal faster.

As Lily sat down on the edge of the bed, she took Harry's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, hoping her son could feel it.

x

While their parents went to see Harry, Camille, Isabelle, Dominic, and Nicholas Potter stayed in the waiting room, each lost in their own thoughts about their brother.

Molly, Charlie, and Ron Weasley were talking quietly with Hermione Granger who was filling them in on the muggle medical terminology the doctor had used.

In the corner, Sirius Black—Harry's godfather—stood silently with one of his best friends, Remus Lupin.

Camille, the youngest Potter child at 8 years old, looked at her oldest brother—Nick—and asked, "Is Harry going to be alright? I mean, the healers and doctors—they'll get him fixed up eventually, right?"

Nick slowly shook his head, wanting to say that he didn't know but hoped his little sister was right. But thinking about what the surgeon had said, he replied, "I don't think Harry's going to really get better, Cam. He might heal up somewhat, but I really doubt he's going to recover all the way."

"At best, Harry will eventually be able to get around on his own in a wheelchair," Dominic added, not wanting to think about what the doctor had said about Harry's level of paralysis.

"What about worst case?" Camille asked, worried. "Could Harry die?"

The question brought all conversation to a standstill and as everyone looked at one another, none of them seemed willing to answer the question.

'I don't think Harry's going to die,' Isabelle signed, hoping she wasn't lying to her little sister. 'But I do think it will be a long time before he'll be able to leave the hospital.' Born premature and with part of her throat fused, Isabelle was unable to speak out loud due to surgery to fully remove her vocal cords in order to give her a better airway.

"I feel like this is partly my fault," Charlie Weasley said, dismally. "I should have found a younger dragon… something smaller. But the folks organizing the TriWizard Tournament wanted nesting females, and, well… the Horntail was one of the few I knew of."

"Charles Weasley, this is not your fault!" Molly insisted, hugging her older son. "What were they thinking, putting children and full-grown dragons together?!"

"Agreed," Sirius said, nodding, thoughtfully. "Barty Crouch should have come up with something far less dangerous for the first task."

"I'd still like to know how Harry's name ended up in the Goblet of Fire to begin with," Dominic said, thinking back to the start of this whole mess. "Professor Riddle said that it had to have been a very powerful wizard to pull off that kind of magic."

Nick looked from his brother to Sirius and asked, "Is the Ministry of Magic going to investigate this or are they writing it off as an 'accident'?"

Charlie shook his head, angrily. "If the Ministry tries to pull that type of stunt, I've got a whole nest of dragons I'll introduce them to." Looking at his watch, he sighed and turned to his mother. "Mum, I'm going to go back to Hogwarts and give Dumbledore an update. Did you want to come back with me?"

Molly looked at the others and after a moment, nodded. "Ron? Hermione?" You're staying here, I presume?"

Ron and Hermione both nodded and once Charlie and Molly apparated out of the room, they settled down on one of the couches, Hermione nodding off almost immediately.

"I could sleep, too," Camille said, yawning.

Looking at his sisters, Nick gave the girls a smile. "Get some rest. We'll wake you if there's any more news."

Once the girls were curled up and napping on another couch, Nick settled down in one of the more comfortable chairs, waiting for their parents to come back.

Harry didn't wake up until just before sunrise the next day. Looking about the room, he wondered why he could barely move. Seeing his mother holding his hand, he tried to call for her, but no sound came out. When she saw that he was awake, she let out a deep sigh of relief. "Oh, honey, thank God you're awake." Turning towards her husband, Lilly called him over. "James?"

Harry tried sitting up but again found himself unable to move… or even feel the padded plastic 'cast' that was about his upper body. Raising his right hand, he signed, 'Mum, what happened? I remember the dragon and then… getting thrown against the rocks.'

James put Harry's glasses on his face and after a moment's pause, explained what had happened. "The dragon's tail caught you in the stomach, doing extensive internal damage before knocking you into the rocks. You had severe injuries to your stomach, intestines, and the muscles that control your breathing. One of the spikes… perforated your spinal cord."

Harry flicked his gaze in the direction of the ventilator as he asked, 'Is that why I'm hooked up to this thing?'

"Sort of, sweetheart," Lily replied, squeezing Harry's hand. "When you hit the rocks… The impact fractured several vertebrae in your upper back. The healers were able to take care of the broken bones and the injuries to your organs and muscles, but the nerves in your spine were damaged far more severely and they're not responding to healing spells."

Harry's mouth went dry as he realized what his parents were saying. 'How bad?' he mouthed after a while, unable to keep his hands from shaking as he tried to sign.

"You're paralyzed from the chest down," James replied, sadly. "You still have use of your arms, obviously, but… Right now you have no sensation or motor function below your shoulders. That's why you're on the ventilator. You can't breathe on your own because the muscles that control your lungs can't move."

'But you said 'right now' I can't move or feel anything,' Harry signed, quickly, seeing a glimmer of hope. 'So, I might not be paralyzed forever, right?'

"Harry, the injuries to your upper spinal cord are incomplete," Lily explained, not wanting Harry to get his hopes up too much. "Which means there's a chance—a very, very slim chance, mind you—of you possibly regaining some use of your upper body."

Harry felt his momentary good mood vanishing as he listened to his mother's words. 'But not my whole body?'

"The dragon spike that caught you in the stomach severed your spinal cord almost completely," James replied. "The surgeon said that there's a… a less than 2 percent chance you'll regain any use of your lower body."

Words failed Harry as he looked at the brace he wore and the ventilator tube attached to the trach in his throat. 'Do… Do the others know?'

"Your friends and siblings know about your condition," Lily said, gently. "Remus and Sirius, as well." After a while, she asked, "Did you want to see them?"

Harry tried to nod, but remembered he couldn't move his neck at the moment. 'Yes,' he signed. When his father left the room, he gestured to the brace and asked, 'How long do I have to wear this thing?'

Lily shrugged uncertainly. "The doctor said at least 3 to 4 months until they're sure the spinal nerves are stabilized. Then you'll have to wear a smaller back support brace since you won't be able to sit up straight on your own."

'And how long am I going to be here? In the hospital?' Harry wanted to know.

Thinking about what the surgeon had said earlier, Lily replied, "It depends on how well you're doing. Once you're out of this brace, you're going to need to start physical therapy and even then, you'll need to have help with things. It could be another 6 months to a year."

Harry looked away, his gaze going towards his chest and lower body. It was strange—closing his eyes, he could actually feel where the sensation in his body ended. Of course, that was fairly easy to tell, since he could only feel the part of the brace that was around his neck and shoulders.

But looking at his lower body, Harry couldn't believe that it was all still there. Legs, stomach, torso… It was there. But he couldn't feel it. He could even see his chest rising and falling as the ventilator breathed for him, but he could barely even feel that.

Looking up as Camille, Isabelle, and Sirius came in, Harry wondered why everyone else was missing.

As if reading her brother's mind, Isabelle signed, 'The nurse at the desk down the hall said we needed to limit the number of people in your room to 4 at a time. She said you need your rest and she didn't want you getting too worked up.'

Seeing how scared Camille looked, Harry patted the bed on his left side and gave his little sister a comforting smile. 'Come sit over here, Cam. It's okay.'

"I… I-I don't want to hurt you," Camille replied in a shy, quiet voice.

Harry found the remote to adjust the back of the bed and raised it slightly, still trying to reassure Camille. 'You're not going to hurt me,' he promised, touching the brace. 'That's what this thing is for. To keep me from moving and hurting my back even more. It's okay, Cam, really.'

Camille slowly walked to the hospital bed and once she was sitting down facing her brother, she asked, "Why do you have that tube in your neck?"

Harry licked his lips, trying to think of the best way to explain. 'Because of how badly I hurt my back, my lungs aren't working on their own.' Gesturing to the ventilator, he went on. 'So the doctors put a tube in my throat and connected it to this machine that's breathing for me.'

"Does it hurt a lot?" Camille wanted to know as she studied her brother.

The 'protective big brother' part of Harry's brain wanted to shrug off the question—so to speak—and say that he was fine, the pain was hardly noticeable. But knowing that this was one thing he couldn't protect his little sister from, Harry replied, 'Yeah… It doesn't hurt as much as before because the doctors and healers are giving me medicine… And it's only my upper back that hurts. The rest of my body… I can't feel anything.'

Camille looked sad as she looked at the padded plastic brace that was keeping her big brother's upper body immobilized. "So, you can't even feel someone hugging you?"

Harry put his right hand on top of the brace over where his heart was and gave a warm smile. 'My body might not feel it… but I'll feel it in my heart, okay?'

Hugging Harry with tears in her eyes, Camille didn't even mind the awkward brace he wore. She was just glad her brother was going to be okay.

The Saturday after the first task of the TriWizard Tournament, Harry was sitting up a bit in his hospital bed, talking with his mother when Cedric Diggory came in followed by Sirius.

'What are you doing here?' Harry asked, looking at the other Hogwarts TriWizard Champion.

Cedric looked confused as Harry signed, but Lily quickly translated the question. "Oh. Er… I wanted to talk to you, if… If you're not busy." Almost immediately, Cedric's face grew red as he thought about his phrasing. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

'It's okay, Cedric,' Harry assured him with a dry smile. 'I know you didn't mean anything by it.'

"Lily," Sirius said as he perched on the edge of the bed by Harry's feet. "Could you give us a little time alone?"

Getting up from her chair, Lily looked from her son to her husband's best friend. "Is this one of those 'plausible deniability' conversations or one of the 'lots of swear words' conversations?" she wanted to know.

Sirius's expression was slightly grim as he watched Cedric sit in the chair Lily had just vacated. "More like one of the 'If you know, you're going to freak out' conversations," Sirius replied after a moment or two.

Not liking the answer, Lily hesitated before giving Harry a kiss on the cheek and a hand squeeze before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

Cedric leaned forward, looking serious as he explained. "Barty Crouch, Ludo Bagman, and Cornelius Fudge got into a nasty argument right after you were taken away last week. Apparently, each thought one of the others'd had the idea to put dragons as the First Task."

Harry looked confused and signaled to Sirius that he needed an interpreter. 'So whose idea was it?'

When Sirius repeated the question, Cedric shrugged. "No one knows. What's worse, Crouch and Fudge are insisting that the Tournament continue."

'Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to sit the rest of it out,' Harry said, gesturing to his body.

Exchanging a look with Sirius—something Harry found very interesting, indeed—Cedric went on. "There's also been a fair amount of talk about you being in the Tournament. Or, rather… someone using the Tasks to get rid of you or incapacitate you indefinitely."

Despite the fact that it made the part of his injured back that could still feel pain hurt more, Harry raised the back of his bed so he was fully sitting up. 'Okay, but who would do that? Did you ask Professor Riddle? I know his family—his biological family—were in the dark wizard category.'

"Tom Riddle doesn't know anything," Sirius confirmed, referring to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. "The rumors I heard were that Barty Crouch's son was a dark wizard who wanted to eliminate muggles and muggleborns."

Cedric nodded, thoughtfully. "Crouch, Jr. would be able to set things up," he agreed. "He'd know who his father's contacts were and who to talk to in order to get the TriWizard Tournament up and running. But why get rid of you, Harry?"

Harry didn't have an answer to that question, although he could guess. Gather up the best students from the top three wizarding schools in Europe to see who might be worthy of joining Crouch, Jr. and doing God only knows what.

Changing the subject, Cedric started talking about the golden egg clue for the Second Task and about the talk of there being a huge gala—the Yule Ball—just before Christmas. "The egg just let out this screeching wail when I opened it," Cedric explained. "Didn't sound human, but for the life of me, I have no idea what sort of creature it was supposed to sound like."

Harry and Sirius shared a knowing look before Harry signed, 'Go talk to Hagrid.'

Cedric's eyes widened in surprise and he looked from Harry to Sirius and back to Harry. "Hagrid. You—You're serious?"

"The only person I know of who knows more about magical creatures than Rubeus Hagrid," Sirius replied. "—is Newt Scamander himself." With a grin, he added, "And yes—I am Sirius. But I'm also serious."

'He does that serious/Sirius thing A LOT,' Harry mouthed to Cedric while pointing to his godfather.

"Right…" Cedric said, nodding. "Anyway, as far as the Yule Ball thing, everyone at Hogwarts has been talking about if you're going to show up, even if you can't compete anymore."

Harry looked at his body and the brace he wore before glancing at the ventilator. 'I wouldn't count on it,' he signed, dismally. 'I'm going to be stuck wearing this bulky thing for 3 to 4 months, then I'm still looking at being stuck here in the hospital for 6 months to a year.'

Sirius straightened up, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Now, hold up there, Harry," he said, thoughtfully. "Let me talk to your dad about that first. Maybe we can smuggle you out for one night. We can't tell Lily, obviously, because then James and I would probably end up in full body casts along with you."

'Sirius, are you off your rocker?' Harry asked, flabbergasted that his godfather was seriously considering smuggling him out of the hospital. 'I mean, I want to get out of here as soon as possible but I don't think it's a great idea for me to be leaving the hospital that soon. I don't…' Harry tried to calm down so he didn't set off any of the monitors that were registering his breathing and heart rate. 'Right now, I still have full use of my arms. What if something happens and I hurt my back even more?'

Giving his godson a solemn look, Sirius put a hand on the teenager's shoulder, trying not to look at the brace. "Harry, if you want to go to the Yule Ball, I swear that James, Remus, and I will make sure nothing happens to you. We'll even try to talk to your doctors and see if they'll help."

Harry licked his lips, still feeling tentative about the whole thing. Even if they could pull it off, what good would it do? Well, boost moral for one thing, Harry decided, thinking about his fellow classmates, and his fellow Gryffindor quidditch teammates. And it would show the courage and tenacity of Hogwarts students. Plus, Harry thought—thinking of the idea that someone was trying to go after him personally—it might be a way to lure out whoever put his name in the Goblet of Fire. Especially of the Daily Prophet published news that he'd be there.

"You're up for going to the ball, aren't you?" Cedric asked, seeing the look on Harry's face.

'Yes,' Harry replied, looking at Sirius. 'Because it might be a way to find out what's going on.'

"Harry, if your mother finds out you're using yourself as bait—" Sirius cut in, apprehensively. He could almost feel Lily's hands around his neck, strangling him for putting her son in danger.

'It's my idea,' Harry insisted. Feeling more determined, he looked at Cedric and then back at Sirius. 'So… How do we pull this off?'

xxxxxxx

"Sirius Black, have you lost your bloody mind?" James shouted when his best friend told him about the plan as they sat in a corner of the hospital's café. "Harry can barely move and you want to put him in even more danger? Are you mental?"

"I want you and Remus to help Harry stay out of danger," Sirius protested. "Harry goes to the Yule Ball, hangs around for a couple hours, lets everyone see him milling about, and hopefully whoever put him in the Tournament will out themselves."

"When they try to finish the job?" James snapped, irritably. Trying not to tear his hair out in frustration, he took a deep breath and asked, "Let's say—hypothetically—I agree to this… outrageously absurd plan. In case you forgot, Harry's in those back and neck braces and he's paralyzed from the shoulders down."

Sirius calmly outlined the plan. "First of all, if Harry's doctors don't think it's safe to move him, we won't do it. But, if Harry says he's still up to it and we can get one of the doctors, nurses, or healers to help, he'll be in a wheelchair with a portable ventilator. The ball is very classy, so Harry would be wearing dress robes over formal wear which he can wear over the back brace."

James thought about the idea and while he vehemently disliked it, he couldn't see any long lasting harm… at the moment, anyway. Besides, it would be good for Harry to get out of the hospital for a while and see his friends and siblings. However, the part that had him on edge the most was talking to the press. Rita Skeeter was covering the TriWizard Tournament and her writing tended towards the romanticized overly dramatic. James and Lily hadn't read any of the coverage after the First Task and no doubt Rita had written about Harry being at death's door or some other such nonsense.

Although, maybe seeing Harry up and about would take the wind out of Ms. Skeeter's sails and call her reporting into question.

Seeing that Sirius was still waiting for an answer about Harry going to the Yule Ball, James rolled his eyes and hoped he wasn't making a mistake. "Condition one," James said, his tone stern as he held up a finger. "If Harry's not fit to leave the hospital or he doesn't feel up to it, we don't go."

"Agreed," Sirius complied, quickly. "Believe me, the last thing I want to do is set Harry's recovery back."

Holding up a second finger, James went on. "Number two—Remus is included on this and he has final say on all aspects of the plan. We both know he's way more levelheaded than either of us."

Nodding in agreement, Sirius cocked his head to the side and queried, "Any other conditions?"

"Three—one of us has to be with Harry at all times," James added. "Clear line of sight. And not just because of anyone who might attack him. Which leads to number four—If Harry has any health problems, we leave immediately."

Again, Sirius approved wholeheartedly. "Anything else?"

James lowered his hand and fixed his best friend with a look that was deadly serious. "One more thing."

Reading James's look, Sirius's eyes widened in fear as he instantly knew what the last condition was. "No."

"Yes."

"James…NO."

"Sirius…YES. I mean it," James said, sternly. "You say 'no', the plan's kaput."

Sirius slumped in his chair, looking doubtful. "You're sure?"

"If Lily finds out we did all this without telling her—" James pointed out.

"I know. I know," Sirius cut in, images of Lily throttling him with her bare hands popping up in his mind again.

"—she'll either kill us or make us wish we were dead," James finished.

"Right little ray of sunshine, aren't you?" Sirius asked, dismally. Straightening up and shaking his best friend's hand, he nodded. "Deal." Standing up, he stretched and prepared himself for the verbal assault he knew would be coming. "Let's get this over with."

Hogwarts Castle

Getting back to the castle late Saturday night, Cedric found that the Great Hall was already cleared of the dinner dishes and the students had all left for their dormitories for the night. Turning to head towards his own common room, Cedric was surprised to see Professor Riddle coming into the room. "You startled me, sir."

Tom Riddle chuckled kindly and beckoned Cedric to follow him into the Hogwarts kitchens and towards one of the long tables positioned directly underneath their counterparts up above. "Sit down, son," Riddle instructed before asking one of the house elves to prepare plates for himself and Cedric.

Once the two had eaten in silence, the plates were whisked away to be replaced with a perfectly sliced lemon tart, two goblets, and a pitcher of apple cider. "What are you doing down here so late, Professor?" Cedric inquired, curiously.

"Dumbledore asked me to assemble all of Harry Potter's assignments so his brother Nicholas can take them over in the morning," Riddle explained after chewing a bite of the tart. "I confess, I lost track of time." Eyebrows furrowing at the way his student was focusing on his plate, the professor asked, "So the rumors are true?"

"Which rumors, sir?" Cedric asked, caught off guard by the question. Was he talking about the rumors about Harry or about Crouch's son…?

"The rumors," Riddle explained, calmly, giving the teenager an accepting look. "…about you and Nicholas Potter."

Cedric let out a small gasp of surprise, dropping his fork on the table. "I, uh… I-I mean, you… We-We're…" After stammering for a few more moments, he took a shaky breath and willed himself to calm down. When he felt he could speak more plainly, he finally confessed, "He's my boyfriend."

Riddle reached across the table and put a comforting hand on Cedric's forearm. "I can't imagine this is easy for you—knowing that the brother of someone you love was injured so severely."

"I saw Harry at the hospital today," Cedric replied, nodding. "He had this… this plastic cast on and a brace around his neck," he explained. "And he was breathing through this tube in his throat."

Interested, Riddle pushed his dessert plate away and took a sip of cider. "I heard from Dumbledore that Harry was paralyzed, but I hadn't heard how badly."

Cedric pushed his own plate away after finishing his slice of tart and—as best he could—relayed what Harry had told him about his condition and prognosis. To Cedric's astonishment, Riddle was able to fill in a fair amount of the medical jargon.

"My adoptive parents were muggle physicians," Riddle explained when Cedric asked him about how he knew what he was talking about. "My biological mother died hours after I was born and I was left at an orphanage. I was adopted just over a year later."

"Harry said your real family were dark wizards," Cedric said, his curiosity piqued. "Is that true?"

While he didn't sound angry, Riddle's voice was slightly less cordial as he corrected his student. "The family who raised me—Sylvia and Garrett Valentine—are my real family. The reason I have kept the last name 'Riddle' all these years is because my adoptive parents asked me when I was young if I wished to change my name. At first, I declined, saying that my name was all I had left of my biological parents. When I grew up and discovered my dark and unpleasant genealogy, I thought about changing my name. Then I realized that my past does not dictate who I am or what I might become."

"Well, you're a great teacher," Cedric assured him. "I've heard more than a few students say that they want to teach when they grow up because of you."

"I wish I could be more help with finding who had set current events in motion," Riddle apologized, sincerely. "But, alas, teaching is the closest connection I have to the Dark Arts."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At breakfast the next morning, Cedric found himself distracted as he watched Nick Potter talk to his brother and sister about visiting Harry later that day. Hermione handed him a heavily loaded canvas bag and Ron passed along what looked like some magazines and comic books.

Thinking about the Yule Ball, Cedric wanted desperately to ask Nick to go with him—something that would surely cause something of a scandal for both families. Still, he would certainly have a much better time with his boyfriend rather than some girl who only wanted to go with him because he was a TriWizard Champion.

After a hasty breakfast, Cedric headed for his dormitory to collect his homework and books before going to a quiet corner of the library to finish his assignments.

Halfway through proofreading his Potions essay, Cedric was startled by the sudden appearance of Isabelle who sat down across from him, holding up a muggle notebook turned to a page which read: 'So are you going to invite my brother to the Yule Ball or do I have to do it for you?'

"Blimey!" Cedric exclaimed, breathing hard to get his heart rate back to normal. After a moment, he asked, "Wait, how did you know about…? I mean, we were trying to be discreet about it."

Isabelle pulled a pen out of her pocket and rolled her eyes as she wrote a new note before showing it to him. 'I'm his sister, you twit! I know everything about the two of you. Just because I can't speak doesn't mean I can't hear. Like when the two of you were making out at the Quidditch World Cup this summer."

"I-it was just a quick kiss… and maybe a more-than-friendly hug," Cedric protested weakly.

Isabelle flashed him a 'Who are you trying to fool?' look before writing one word in her notebook in big, capital letters. 'LIAR.' Setting the notebook aside, she raised her hands and—mouthing the words as clearly as possible as she signed—said, 'You love Nick. He loves you. So… When are you asking him to the ball?'

"In case you hadn't noticed," Cedric countered, doing his best to keep his voice down. "…homosexual witches and wizards are not that common. You're right," he admitted. "Nick and I care for each other very much. And I would love nothing more than declare it to the whole school and everyone in it while asking him to go to the ball with me. But what if it got back to our parents and—"

Isabelle held up a finger in a 'Wait a minute' gesture as she turned a page in her notebook. When she heard Cedric start talking again, she gave him a stern look as she held up a hand to say 'Stop'. When she was done, she held up the notebook. 'First of all, my parents already know. Uncle Sirius has been planning a 'coming out' party for the past year. Harry knows. My 8-year-old sister knows. Dominic is planning to magically unfurl a banner saying that Nick loves you on Valentine's Day if you don't say something first. MY family DOES NOT CARE!'

It was one of those moments where Cedric had to wonder what he was really afraid of. Was he afraid that his parents would reject him if they knew he was gay? Or was he afraid that—when confronted publically—Nick wouldn't return his affections? Looking at Isabelle's face, he found his gaze being drawn towards her neck. Cedric had never been this close to her before and he now noticed several scars across her throat and neck. "What happened?" he asked, pointing to the scars. "If you don't mind my asking, that is."

Isabelle lightly touched the surgical scars with her left hand as she wrote with her right. After a few minutes, she held out the notebook to Cedric who took it with a nod of thanks. 'I was born almost two months premature. My trachea—the part of my throat that acts as my airway—wasn't formed properly and had started to fuse together. That's why my mother's doctor insisted I be delivered early. I had a tube inserted directly into my throat so I could breathe. Once my doctors had a chance to thoroughly examine me, they realized that if they cut open the fused part of my trachea and completely removed my vocal cords, I could have a normal airway.'

"So why didn't anyone regrow your vocal cords when you got older?" Cedric wanted to know.

Taking her notebook back, Isabelle wrote her response and held it up for Cedric to read. 'My pediatric surgeon tried when I was about 8 years old, but with the cords in the way, I couldn't breathe as well. So the doctor removed them again. That's when my family all started learning sign language—so I didn't have to write things down all the time.'

It had been one of the big questions always present in Cedric's mind. Why Isabelle never spoke and why the Potters all knew sign language. At first, he'd assumed that Isabelle was deaf but decided that it had to be something else when he'd noted how responsive she was to anything spoken aloud.

But realizing how important sign language was to the Potter family, Cedric put his homework aside and asked, "Can you teach me?"

'How to sign?' Isabelle asked, mouthing the words as she signed. When Cedric nodded eagerly, she smiled back. 'Of course. Shall we start now?'

Caulfield Hospital

When he walked into Harry's hospital room just before noon, Nick saw his mother sitting in a chair one side of the bed and Camille actually sitting on the bed on the other side.

Harry was again sitting up in his bed and there was a pair of slightly inflated leggings on his legs which were raised up on a stack of pillows. 'One of the healers-Franklin Shelton—said he was worried about me developing blood clots in my legs from being immobile. So I have to wear these—' he pointed to the leggings. '—for 8 to 10 hours a day. They're supposed to massage my legs and help keep the blood flow normalized.'

Nick nodded wordlessly before setting his bag on the table in the corner. "I brought your books and assignments. McGonagall said she and the other professors would send everything over once a week and either Dom or I can deliver it and take the finished schoolwork back."

'Sounds like a plan,' Harry replied, looking at the bag. 'It'll give me something to do.'

Sitting down in a chair by the bed, Nick gave his brother a good, long look before asking, "Any, uh… Any news on your recovery?"

Lily shook her head, putting her hand over Harry's. "No change," she reported. "But the doctors said it could be months or… or even years before there were any real signs of improvement."

"Harry said your boyfriend was here yesterday," Camille piped up, looking at Nick with a smile on her face.

Nick's jaw dropped as he looked from his siblings to his mother and back again. "Oh, uh, y-you mean, um… I-I mean, we're not official or anything, but…"

"Oh, come off it, dear," Lily said, dismissively. "The whole family has known you've fancied Cedric Diggory for more than a year now. And while Amos and his wife aren't overly thrilled about it—Cedric's mother said she was hoping for a mess of grandchildren—they are begrudgingly accepting."

'Isabelle is trying to convince Cedric to ask you to the Yule Ball,' Harry threw in.

"I know Cedric has to have a date for the ball since he's a Champion, but I think it would be awfully weird for his date to be me… wouldn't it?" Nick asked, looking unsure about the whole thing.

"I think the two of you would look dashingly handsome together," Lily replied, honestly.

"Me, too!" Camille added, cheerfully.

Smirking, Harry threw in his two cents. 'If Mum doesn't kill Dad, Sirius, and Remus before then, they're planning on getting me out of the hospital just for that night. So with any luck, everyone will be focused on the Champion in a wheelchair rather than the one dancing with his boyfriend.'

"Wait, wait, wait…" Nick said, looking from Harry to his mother. "Dad and Sirius are planning to do what?"

Lily crossed her arms, giving Harry a stern look. "Harry told me that it was his idea to go to the Yule Ball as an effort to boost morale amongst the Hogwarts students. Isn't that right?"

'I thought it would be a good way to cheer everyone up. You know—TriWizard Champion is horrifically injured but gallantly gathers his strength to go to the Yule Ball to inspire victory,' Harry said, grinning like mad, his signing as grand and flamboyant as possible.

Nick fixed his brother with a severe look as well, not liking the idea in the slightest. "And what if something happens to you? I'm not even talking about your back. What if you fall out of the wheelchair or something and break your arm? And what about your breathing? You're going to take the ventilator with you to the ball, is that it?"

Coming to her brother's defense, Camille explained what her father and Sirius had discussed with Harry and Lily. "Dad said that Harry will have a portable ventilator with him and he'll still wear the back brace. Sirius said that some wheelchairs actually have seatbelts to hold patients in so they don't fall out."

"Mum, you're actually allowing this?" Nick asked, flabbergasted beyond belief at what he was hearing.

"Do I like the idea?" Lily replied, looking from her youngest son to the eldest. "No. I think it's a stupid idea and rather pointless." Turning her attention back to Harry, she went on. "Harry, hearing about you being paralyzed and unable to breathe on your own… the doctors and healers talking about you being in a wheelchair—likely for the rest of your life—the band they put around your waist to manage your bowel and bladder functions, risk of blood clots… You have no idea how nerve wrecking this past week has been. And seeing you in that plastic cast, and the tracheostomy and the ventilator… The idea of you leaving the hospital right now for any reason scares the daylights out of me."

'Well, I'm scared, too, Mum,' Harry signed, dropping the façade he'd put up since waking up in the hospital and hearing about what had happened. 'You don't know what it's like to be unable to feel your own body. Even this 'cast' feels strange because even though it covers my whole upper body I can only feel part of it. And the idea of being in a wheelchair unable to walk… needing help to get out of bed or even sit up… Every morning, I wake up hoping this is all some horrible dream. And don't get me started on being hooked up to the ventilator. Feeling yourself breathe but not breathing on your own… It's really weird.'

Trying to calm himself down so he didn't set off another breathing episode, Harry closed his eyes for a moment and focused on feeling what he could of the rise and fall of his chest. Two days ago, he had started crying which caused the tracheostomy tube to become clogged. During those tense seconds, two nurses had rushed into the room, disconnecting the ventilator hose and suctioning out the trach tube before reconnecting the hose. The experience was something Harry hoped to avoid in the future.

Opening his eyes, his gaze was pleading as he looked at his mother. 'I just want to feel a little normal for one night. I want to go and see my friends. Please let me go."

On the verge of tears herself, Lily took Harry's hand in hers before giving him a hug, crying openly when she felt her son hug her back. "I am going with you… whether you like it or not, alright?"

Hogwarts Castle

When Nick got back to school during dinner that evening, he started to head towards the Gryffindor table when he was stopped by Cedric Diggory calling him over to the Hufflepuff table. With only the slightest hesitation, he walked over to Cedric who had stood up and met him halfway. "Hey," Nick said, cordially, not sure of what was going on.

After a quick glance over at Isabelle Potter who gave him a nod of encouragement, Cedric straightened up and signed, 'I would love it if you would go to the Yule Ball with me.'

Surprised that Cedric had actually used sign language, Nick paused a second before his eyes lit up with delight. Mouthing the words as he signed back, he replied. 'I'd love that, too. Why are we signing?'

Cedric hesitated on his response, forgetting exactly what Isabelle had taught him to say. Deciding to go with the words he did remember, he signed, 'Isabelle… surprise… Yule Ball… together…' "I'm bad at this. I'm sorry—"

"No, it's okay," Nick assured him, whispering as quietly as possible. '4th floor, the empty classroom. 9:15pm.'

"Right," Cedric said, nodding before turning back to his House table. "We'll talk more then."

When Nick joined his brother and sister, he noted that Isabelle looked a bit disappointed. 'What's wrong?'

'I was expecting a big, romantic display when Cedric surprised you by saying he wanted to be together with you,' Isabelle replied, glancing at Cedric who was trying to avoid some girl who was endeavoring to talk him into asking her to the ball.

"Well, I think you made the poor lad nervous," Hermione said in a reprimanding tone. "Cedric has been on edge all evening."

"So what did you think he said?" Dominic asked, before taking a bite of mashed potatoes.

"I thought Cedric meant he wanted to surprise everyone with the two of us showing up to the Yule Ball together," Nick explained, helping himself to some chicken and a few rolls. "I'd guess he was trying to remember what you'd told him," he added, looking at his sister.

Instead of looking annoyed or disappointed, Isabelle grinned with delight. 'This is perfect! Everyone is going to be expecting Cedric to show up with a girl and instead, he'll be with you! Oh! Try and make out a little during the ball! It'll be the talk of the evening.'

Looking about to make sure no one else was listening, Nick beckoned Hermione, Isabelle, Dominic, and the Weasleys to lean into a small huddle. "Not the only surprise," Nick whispered as he outlined the plan to get Harry to the ball.

Ron had to quiet Hermione down before she exploded in flabberghasted anger.

Fred and George shared a quick grin, planning for the big reveal in the Great Hall.

Ginny seemed delighted to hear that Harry would—hopefully—be well enough to attend, even if she did suddenly wish she hadn't already asked Neville to be her date.

"If Harry's going to do something this exceptionally stupid," Hermione said in a huffy whisper. "—I might as well go as his date to make sure nothing happens to him."

Ron looked put off by that news and frowned as he looked at his friend, his brow furrowed as he asked, "Well, them who am I supposed to go with?"

'I'll go with you,' Isabelle volunteered, happily. 'I wouldn't be able to go otherwise, and if you lot think I'm missing the ball with everything going on, you're off your rockers.' Pointing to her brothers in an accusing manner, she warned, 'And don't you dare do the 'Big Brother intimidation thing'. Ron's not going to do anything and I can handle myself, thank you.'

Turning to his brothers, Ron asked, "So who are you two going to the ball with?"

Fred turned to George, taking his twin's hand in one of his own while pressing the other to his chest, "Georgie… my dear and favorite twin…" Fred said in an overly dramatic voice. "Would you possibly let me have the joy and honor of being your date for the Yule Ball?"

George let out an exaggerated gasp of surprise and pretended to cry as he responded in an equally theatrical voice, "Oh, Fred! I thought you'd never ask me!"

As the twins hugged, making everyone laugh heartily, Dominic felt relieved that he'd already asked Luna Lovegood to go with him.