Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all these other great characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I just play with them!
8. The first day.
Harry woke up early and looked around. He knew instantly where he was, and laughed ruefully. He really had been in the hospital wing too often, if he'd lost his momentary disorientation at waking up in a strange place. He reached for his glasses, which were laying on the bedside table next to his wand, and put them on.
Almost immediately, the door opened and Madam Pomfrey came in. She carried a tray laden with breakfast.
"Morning, Harry," she said. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," Harry replied. He certainly was a lot better. He could move everything, although his knee and arm were slightly stiff.
"Here, have something to eat," Madam Pomfrey told him. "I want to check you over when you are done, but take your time."
"Thank you," Harry smiled. He sat up in bed and dug in. The food was even better than usual, which was saying something.
He had almost finished when Professor Snape entered.
"Ah, you're awake," he said, then looked at the breakfast tray and called out, irritated. "Poppy! Why didn't you call me when Potter woke up?"
Madam Pomfrey re-appeared from her office. "Let the boy eat his breakfast, Severus. There'll be plenty of time."
"I can talk," Harry said, putting aside the tray and swinging his feet out of bed. He had pretty much finished, and he didn't particularly relish eating with Professor Snape staring at him.
Madam Pomfrey started forward as if to stop him from getting up. "Wait, I want to check you over first."
"Really, I'm fine," Harry interrupted her.
"He looks fine," Professor Snape said at exactly the same moment.
Harry glanced at Snape and saw Snape's eyes flicker toward him. They'd agreed on something? That was a first. Of course, Harry just wanted to get it over with. Which, he realised, was probably Snape's reasoning as well.
Madam Pomfrey frowned at both of them, and relented. "In my office, then," she said.
Harry took care not to get up too quickly –a dizzy spell was the last thing he wanted- and followed Madam Pomfrey into her office. He still wore his shorts and T-shirt he had on when he arrived, and it made him feel more confident. It was a reminder that this wasn't the school year, and he doubted even Snape could take points from Gryffindor during the summer holidays.
He sat down in the chair Madam Pomfrey offered him. Professor Snape refused to take a seat, opting instead to lean against Madam Pomfrey's desk. Madam Pomfrey herself sat in her own chair behind it.
Over the next half hour, Harry told in every detail about Dudley's fit of rage and what had followed. Snape frequently interrupted him, sometimes asking for more detail, other times urging Harry on. Harry felt drained when he finally neared the end of his story.
"…and when they saw what I looked like, Ernie drove me straight here. Stan carried my trunk inside," Harry finished. "Will I be able to stay here?"
"Well, obviously you can't go back," Professor Snape replied. "And since there really isn't any place else you can safely go, you will have to stay here for the rest of the summer."
Harry looked at him warily.
"But," Professor Snape continued, "I do not want you to run through the entire school for three weeks, not with your record of rule-breaking. You can of course stay at the Gryffindor dorms, I had your trunk brought there already. You can stay there in the mornings while I'm taking care of the Headmaster's duties. Afternoons you'll help me in the dungeons. The evenings are your own, but don't forget that all areas that are off-limits during the school year are still off-limits during the holidays. The library is off-limits as well until Madam Pince returns, if you need a book for your studies you can ask Mr. Filch. You'll take your meals in the Great Hall as always."
Harry swallowed, trying to hide his dismay. It would be great to stay here in the dormitory. He'd have peace and quiet for once in his life. But spent his afternoons with Professor Snape? That was horrible! He thought quickly, hoping to come up with an alternative. It was obvious Snape wouldn't trust him by himself for the entire three weeks, and the only others who were here were hardly better. Filch was out, for sure. Professor Trelawney was never mean to him, but Harry didn't think he could face three weeks with her dark predictions of doom. He couldn't think of anything else.
"I understand," he replied quietly. Then he thought of something else. "Can I do magic?"
"Eh?" Professor Snape asked, and Harry felt a small flash of satisfaction when he realised Snape hadn't thought of everything.
"I'd like to practice," Harry said. "I know I wasn't allowed to at home, but this is Hogwarts after all."
"Yes you can," Professor Snape decided. "But again, same restrictions as during the school year, and don't make me regret this."
"Thank you, sir, I won't," Harry replied sincerely. That, at least, would make the next weeks more bearable, even if he couldn't practice any complex spells; even during the school year they weren't allowed to practice any new and difficult spells or charms when no other students or teachers were around, just in case something went wrong. But he could brush up on some old spells, and truth to tell, doing any magic was great. It was the one thing he missed even when he had been staying at Ron's.
"And how is Hedwig? Can I go up to the Owlery and see her?" Harry asked, feeling guilty he hadn't thought of her sooner.
"She'll be fine. You can let her out of her cage tomorrow evening, but don't send her on any errands yet. And yes, you can go see her," Snape replied. Was it Harry's imagination or did he not sound as harsh as usual?
"If there's nothing else," Madam Pomfrey put in when neither Harry nor Snape spoke, "I still want to do a full check-up on you, Harry. And you'll stay in your rooms today and rest. No work today. Potions and spells do most of the healing, but a part of it comes from within, too."
Professor Snape glared briefly at her, then looked at Harry.
"If you have any questions, come see me," he said. "Otherwise, see you at dinner."
Harry nodded, and Professor Snape left the office.
Madam Pomfrey didn't take long to examine Harry. "Everything seems to be fine. However, I do want you to rest, this little conversation this morning has already cost you way too much. Don't do anything strenuous. As a matter of fact, I think I'll have your meals sent to the dormitory today," she told him.
"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Harry answered, glad to have the whole day for himself. "I guess there is no chance you can remain here?"
"I'm sorry, Harry," Madam Pomfrey replied. "I'll come and check up on you tomorrow evening. Oh, and before I forget, I don't want you to fly until all stiffness is gone from your arm and knee. It should take about a week."
Harry's face fell, he had looked forward to flying his Firebolt on the Quidditch pitch. But he knew Madam Pomfrey well enough to know it was useless to argue.
After ensuring her he really would be careful and rest, he left the hospital wing.
Harry did feel tired after Professor Snape's grilling, but he stopped by the Owlery on his way to the Gryffindor rooms. It wasn't that far out of the way and he had to see Hedwig no matter what.
Hedwig hooted at him, and he fed her an owl treat. She tried to fly out of the cage, but he held her back. "Sorry, Hedwig, but we're both supposed to stay in for today," he told her. She settled back down, looking slightly annoyed, and Harry gave her another owl treat before he left to go to his room.
As he walked, he realised he didn't know if the password would still be the same it had been last year. But he need not have worried. The Fat Lady swung open as he approached.
"Harry! I'm so glad to see you are okay, Violet told me you came in last night looking terrible!" she exclaimed. Of course. The portraits had a habit of visiting eachother, and it shouldn't surprise Harry that the Fat Lady had known of his arrival at Hogwarts.
"I'm much better, thank you," Harry replied.
"Harry! So good to see you!" came another greeting as Nearly Headless Nick floated up to him.
Harry smiled broadly as he returned the welcome. At least some people were happy to see him. Okay, not quite people by Muggle standards, but that didn't matter.
"I don't mean to pry, but I'd just love to hear what happened," the Fat Lady said.
"Yes, me too," Nearly Headless Nick put in.
"Well, okay," Harry replied. "Can you come to one of the paintings inside? I'd like to sit down, it's quite a long story."
"Wonderful! Yes, I can, since there'll not be anyone who needs to be let in. But first let me call Violet over, she'd never forgive me if I didn't," the Fat Lady said. She flitted to the next painting.
Harry grinned again as he climbed through the hole. Moments later, the Fat Lady entered one of the paintings, followed by Violet. She, too, greeted Harry heartily.
Harry took a seat and told his story for the second time that day, this time interrupted many time by exclamations of shock and sympathy from the two portraits and Nick.
By the time he was done, it was almost lunch time.
"Oh, do you want to set a password?" the Fat Lady asked before she went back to her own frame.
"I can?" Harry asked. He hadn't thought that would be allowed, only prefects could change and set the password. Well, and the staff of course.
"Well, yes, why not. You're the only one here now. You can use anything you like," she replied.
Harry thought quickly. "I'll make it 'Golden Snitch'."
"You got it," the Fat Lady replied, and disappeared to her own painting outside.
Harry made to go up to his room, but before he had crossed the common room Dobby appeared, carrying a tray with his lunch.
"Dobby is so glad to see Harry Potter is doing better!" the house elf exclaimed. "Dobby heard that Harry Potter was injured!"
"Yes, Dobby, that's right," Harry replied, smiling at the house elf. "Madam Pomfrey fixed me right back up though."
"Dobby is happy to hear that," he squeaked, "Dobby was so worried about Harry Potter, but Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let Dobby in to see Harry. Dobby came here to bring Harry's lunch in person so he could make sure Harry was okay. Harry will be staying here now?"
"I'm never going back to the Dursleys," Harry replied fervently.
"The Dursleys they did this to Harry Potter?" Dobby asked indignantly. "The Dursleys hurt Harry Potter?"
Harry nodded. "My uncle did."
"Then the Dursleys are bad, bad people!" Dobby stated. "Harry Potter is right that he should not return to them!"
Harry reflected wryly that a few years earlier, Dobby had gone through considerable lengths to make sure he would remain with his family for ever, but he didn't feel like pointing it out. After all, the house elf couldn't possibly have known just how 'bad' the Dursleys really were. Hell, this last outburst had even surprised Harry himself.
"Don't worry, I won't," he replied instead.
"Oh!" Dobby squeaked suddenly. "Here Dobby is talking and talking and still holding Harry's food, Dobby is a bad house elf, please forgive Dobby, Harry Potter, sir!"
"It's okay, Dobby," Harry said, taking the tray. "It looks delicious, thank you."
"Harry Potter is too generous," Dobby stuttered. "If Harry needs anything, anything at all, Harry must come down to the kitchens, and Dobby will get it for him."
"Thank you, Dobby, I will," Harry replied sincerely, and Dobby hurried out of the room.
Harry couldn't possibly eat everything Dobby had brought him, there was enough for three people, but he gave it a good try. When he really couldn't eat another thing, he yawned, and realised just how tired he was.
He climbed the stairs to his bedroom, which he usually shared with Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean. His trunk stood at the foot of his bed, his school robes folded and neatly stacked in the cabinet against the wall. He recognised Dobby's hand by the way all his socks were miss-matched. His books were in his trunk, with his cloak and all other magical items, the Firebolt on top. He glanced at the bent twigs, and he was tempted to take out his broomstick servicing kit and work on it, but decided to wait. He would have time enough for that later, he wasn't allowed to fly yet anyhow.
Putting his wand on top of the cabinet and kicking his shoes off, he lay down on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
He didn't wake up until dinner time. After another elaborate meal, he felt refreshed. He took everything out of his trunk and inspected the crack. Picking up his wand, he pointed it at the trunk.
"Reparo," he said.
Instantly, the crack in the trunk closed up, as it was supposed to. Magic really was wonderful, especially so after several weeks of doing without!
Next, Harry took his Muggle clothes and put them on the bottom. Then he went through his books, sorting them by subject and smoothing creased pages and covers. He checked his quills, fixed a couple that were bend, and inspected his ink jars for cracks. Next he went through his potion ingredients, fixing a few cracked vials with spello-tape. It was never a good idea to use a spell, even a simple one like Reparo, on flasks of potion ingredients unless you were absolutely sure there'd be no nasty side-effects. Last of all, he returned his invisibility cloak, Marauder's Map, and pocket Sneakoscope to his trunk. He left his Firebolt until the next morning.