Chapter Nine
Harry awoke in Madam Pomfrey's office for the second time. He sat up, but fell right back down to the bed because of the horrid pain of his scar. He looked to the beds next to him, and saw the most unexpected thing.
Cho Chang was lying on the bed, with no sign of life in her body. Harry's heart filled with sorrow, as he saw Alex crouched over at her side sobbing. Hermione and Ron, too, were silently crying at the side of the second bed next to Harry, and he nearly collapsed with sorrow as he saw Ginny Weasley on that bed, looking quite a bit the same as Cho did.
"Harry..!" Alex uttered, his voice rasp from weeping. At this, Hermione and Ron slowly lifted their heads up, and Madam Pomfrey slowly walked into the room.
"Harry, dear, lie down. You need your rest.." Her eyes were droopy and she looked to a figure sitting in the dark of the room, which Harry did not notice before. It was Dumbledore, his eyes alert, yet comforting.
"Harry, do you remember what happened?" He said, and it seemed everybody's voice was hoarse. Hermione was looking at her dear friends in the three beds, and dug her head in her arms and began to shed tears.
"There was a blast, just outside the Common Room. Do you remember the blast, Harry?" Dumbledore said, his voice seeming as if it was coming from a completely different man.
"A blast? I..I remember a flash of green light, and a bang, and then..I passed out." Harry said, lying back down on the bed, feeling tired from talking, which made Madam Pomfrey come over and fluff his pillows to his own comfort.
"The flash was the Killing Curse. Performed by a student himself, Draco Malfoy." Dumbledore began, and walked to Hermione's side, and laid a hand on her shoulder to console her sniveling. Harry stare at the ceiling in utter terror, as the shape of Dumbledore came over his head and into his vision.
"The killing curse was aimed at Ginny, and for some very strange reason bounced off of her onto Cho, who was walking along side her in the corridor. Malfoy is in custody by Hagrid and Fudge in the dungeons. The sternest officials from the Ministry of Magic are guarding him, he will no longer harm you. Ginny and Cho were not killed, for he did not perform the spell correctly, thank the heavens." Dumbledore motioned for Madam Pomfrey to pull up a chair and he sat down, glancing at Ron, Hermione, and Alex, who were now standing solemnly looking at Harry. Harry felt his heart jump a bit, for Ron and Alex were holding each of Hermione's hands, trying to console her.
"Headmaster, sir, not to interrupt, but he needs his sleep." Madam Pomfrey said, her voice not full of its usually busy manner.
"Yes, I will leave. You all must get sleep, all of your faces look incredibly distressed." At this, Madam Pomfrey gave them all some sort of potion that made them instantly fall asleep.
* * *
Harry awoke several hours later, and sat up in his bed. He looked to his left, and saw Cho in the same position as last night. His heart filled with sadness as he looked at her smile, which was actually a frown of horror.
He looked to his right and saw Ginny, her face with an air of unexpectedness. Her flaring red hair seemed dismal on this rainy day, and Harry realized it was raining outside. He looked around and noticed he was still in his robes the day of the blast, yet Alex, Ron, and Hermione had left.
"Harry, you may go back to your studies if you'd like. Although, I believe all three of your friends are in the common room." Madam Pomfrey allowed him to go, and as he walked out of the nurse's wing, and near the Gryffindor Common Room, he saw people of every house wearing ribbons of either scarlet or yellow or even both upon their robes; hoping for the return of Ginny and Cho, who were in deadly comas.
Harry entered the Common Room to see the three downy chairs occupied by his friends. They were all staring at the fireplace, which, upon its mantelpiece was a mounted picture of Ginny Weasley, as a memorial.
"What day is it, guys?" Harry asked, scaring them all slightly for they had not known he was there. Hermione jumped up and hugged him, soon followed by Ron and Alex, who all gave a tight bear hug to each other in consolation.
"It's been a whole week since the blast, Harry. You were in a little coma after you fell asleep, we were worried you wouldn't wake up, but Madam Pomfrey assured us that you would." Ron answered, as they all went back to their chairs and Harry pulled up another of the not-so-soft-chairs from the back.
"A week? Are Ginny and Cho okay..?" Harry hesitantly asked, looking to Alex and Ron.
"Nobody knows. They haven't woke up. Apparently, they were discussing the upcoming Quidditch tournament, which was yesterday." Hermione answered for them; Ron and Alex had remained silent.
"Who won..?" Harry asked, trying his best to change the subject for the sake of his friends.
"Gryffindor, by a slight goal. Nobody had it in them, Harry. Colin was the Seeker, and he caught it after they were both tied. There were no cheers, no groans. Everybody was solemn. There was a service for Ginny, Cho, and you. Nobody believed you would wake up, Harry, and now that you have, it brings hope to us that it's possible for Ginny and Cho to wake up too.. " Alex replied, tears streaming down his face.
Ron slowly walked up to the girls' dormitory, his eyes not blinking out his tears, and he went and sat on Ginny's bed, which was chock-full of flowers and cards.
Harry stood up and walked out of the common room, ignoring the looks of Alex and Hermione. He walked to Dumbledore's office, and said the password he had heard Snape utter just a week before. He entered the office, seeing Dumbledore at his desk, not at all surprised to see Harry there.
"Good day, Harry. I'm glad to see you've awaken." He said, and smiled a weak smile.
"Can I talk to Malfoy, sir?" Harry asked, and looked at Dumbledore's unusual stunned face with his eyes in a questioning form.
"But why, Harry? He may upset you; he has nearly killed two of your dearest friends. All the same, follow me." Dumbledore replied, and, nonetheless, stood up and escorted Harry to the door of the spherical room.
He led Harry down to the dungeons, all the way parting through crowds of people. Harry experienced, yet again, whispers behind where he walked. This time, not of shock, and not of hatred, but of sorrow, and hope.
Harry found himself at the dungeons, which were being guarded by two muscular wizard guards and Severus Snape. Snape had an odd look upon his face, and he did not sneer at Harry in any way. He simply stood back and gestured for Harry to walk down the dungeon steps to what seemed to be a wizarding cell. It had bars of a magical substance that seemed if you touched it, they would send back a charge of fire. Sitting on a bed inside the chamber, was none other than Draco Malfoy.
"Oh damn, Potter lives again. The famous Potter lives!" Malfoy taunted, his voice cackling with laughter. This only grew Harry's reason to hate him ever so much.
"Why in the world would you do that to two 14 and 16 year old girls? What's the matter with you, you stupid freak? Do you enjoy the killing, or the screaming?" Harry said, disgust in his voice. No teachers or guards stopped him, they allowed him to do whatever he liked to Malfoy.
"I've always hated every Weasley, and that Chang girl was beating Slytherin in Quidditch!" Malfoy replied, his sneer growing bigger every moment he talked.
"That's no reason to harm anyone, you selfish fool!" Suddenly, Snape's voice echoed from the top of the staircase. He was walking down it, and to Harry's surprise, stood beside him in a friendly manner.
"Harry, you may go back up to console your friends." Snape said, not smiling, but not looking at Harry with a sense of despise either. Harry walked up to the stairs, running into a mob of people looking at him. They were not smiling, for most of them were crying. Slytherins were among the group, Hufflepuffs sobbing in the back, Ravenclaws looking terribly sad, and Gryffindors distressed.
"Harry..Ginny and Cho..They're.." Hermione approached him, and he knew what it was. He walked up to her and hugged her tightly, and decided to walk to the back of the crowd, where a young 5th year was sitting on a bench beside the wall.
"Harry, she's gone. Cho is gone. Forever. Never to see her again. What will I do, Harry, what am I to do? I hate Malfoy. Always have hated that family. " Alex's voice was full of hatred and sorrow.
A strong arm grabbed him and pulled him and Alex out of the crowd and into the empty corridor. It was Hagrid, and his eyes were black and empty from crying.
"Professor..Professor Dumbledore ordered me to bring you ter the nurse's office.." His voice was saddened with grief, and he seemed mighty tired.
He dropped them softly at the beginning of the corridor that leads them to the nurse's closed door, at the end of it. Dumbledore was down there, but he wasn't crying. He wasn't frowning, or didn't look sad at all.
"Alex! Your father has arrived, and he knows a way to save Cho and Ginny! Come quickly, he needs both your help." Dumbledore rushed into the office, as Harry and Alex looked at each other. They shrugged and ran to the office, opened to the door, and saw Hermione, Ron, Sirius, and Dumbledore standing alongside the two beds.
* * *
"Ron and Alex you must stand in the middle of the two beds, quickly." He ordered them, and they obeyed, barely enough room to stand by each other.
"On my mark, Ron you touch Ginny's arm, and Alex you touch Cho's. Hermione, you touch Ginny's other arm, and Harry you touch Cho's other arm. I will issue a spell that was only performed once before, by me and me alone. It's the Resuscitating Charm, and it will bring at least one back to life. If completely successful, it will bring back both. That is only if you four do it at the exact same time." Sirius explained, and raised his wand.
"On my mark, when I say the word." He said and looked at each of them with an extremely serious look upon his face and waited for each of them to nod their heads.
"3..2..1..Mark. RESCUINTORI!" Sirius yelled, and precisely at the same instant, Harry touched Cho's left arm, Hermione touched Ginny's right arm, Ron touched Ginny's left arm, and Alex toughed Cho's right arm. A blast of white light went from Sirius to Harry, to Cho to Alex, to Ron to Ginny, and finally to Hermione. After bouncing off of Hermione it seemed to fly back into the end of Sirius' wand and he looked at them expectantly.
They were all quite shaken by the blast, but it was a good feeling. To Harry it felt as if he was seeing his mother again, to Ron it felt as if he was being better than his brothers, to Hermione it felt as if she had found her soul mate, and to Alex it felt as if he had found the best friends a 15 year old could have; and he had.
Suddenly, a gasp for air came from Cho and she coughed and sputtered, to Alex's yells of joy. Ginny screamed and sat upright in her bed, and hugged Ron hysterically.
At this, everyone sat down in an immense bear hug and cried for joy.
( A/N: What fun! o.o; This chapter came on suddenly, but I didn't feel like killing anyone off, that's not me. So review it if you want, and erm, contact me! roffles. o.o; RawrKittieRawr@cs.com! o.o; Ok, anyways, tell me if you like it )
