Woohar! I be back, and am bearing the next chapter for you all! Sorry about the extended wait, but exams, changed internet times at home, writer's block, ff.net's downage and a trip down to Brisbane for a writing course all delayed it. Thanks for waiting so patiently!
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Harry was flying, cutting through the clouds and scaring the birds he whizzed passed. He reached out a hand, scooping up a handful of cloud. He looked at it and it became a snowball, which he threw at Ron, who had appeared on a cloud and was beckoning to him. The ball hit Ron in the chest, and where it melted darkness spread and grew, changing Ron into Voldemort. The Dark Lord sneered and sent a curse flying through the air towards Harry, who had nothing to defend himself with but snowballs and a melting shield of ice…
"Mr Potter!"
Harry woke up, eyes opening to see Professor McGonagall looking down on him, face stern. He squawked and sat up, chair rocking backwards. The chair teetered for a moment before falling backwards with Harry still on it. There were a few titters of laughter that McGonagall soon silenced.
"Will you be making it a habit to sleep in my class, Mr Potter?" She asked, voice more than a little bit annoyed. Harry, still on the floor, shook his head.
"No, Professor," he mumbled.
"Good. Honestly Harry, I don't know what's gotten into you. You seem to drop off without warning these days, and…"
"I don't think he's listening, Professor," one of the Ravenclaw students piped up. A snore confirmed it. Harry had fallen asleep again. Professor McGonagall sighed and shook her head.
"Ron and Hermione, would you please take Harry up to the Infirmary? There's obviously something wrong with him and I simply cannot leave the class." Hermione nodded and flicked her wand at Harry, levitating him to about waist-height. Ron sat still for a moment before standing and moving to help Hermione move Harry through the castle without hitting him on doors and walls.
"I…don't think that was a good idea, Professor," Seamus ventured once they had left.
"They're best friends, Seamus. I don't think anything will happen to them between here and the…oh. Oh dear…"
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"Stupid git," Ron muttered, barely stopping Harry from crashing into a wall. Hermione winced, and for a moment looked like she was going to say something before shaking her head and continuing onwards.
"I mean, why does he get treated like something is wrong when he falls asleep in class? If one of the rest of us were to do that we'd have detention with Filch for hours, but he gets taken up to the Hospital Wing! Stupid git…"
Harry moaned then, almost as if he were protesting against Ron's statement. He rolled over quickly, looking for all the world as if he were struggling against something, and a drop of liquid fell from his forehead and hit the floor. He shot up into a sitting position, gasping as if he had been drenched with icy water. The levitation spell Hermione had been using snapped as he moved, and he fell. Just before he hit the ground a light blue cloud appeared underneath him and moved up, catching on the corners of his robes and lowering him gently to the ground. Harry scooted back to the wall, a hand pressed against his forehead. He sat there for a few moments, gasping, then reached behind with his other hand and used the wall to help him stand.
"You two…should go back to class," He murmured, voice devoid of any emotion. "I can get to the Hospital Wing on my own."
"Bull," Ron said, reaching out a hand to catch Harry as he swayed. "You can't even stand, let alone—"
Harry jerked away before Ron could touch him. "Save it," He said, voice now cold. "I don't want your help and you aren't really willing to give it, so just go." With that he turned and staggered off down the hall, hand still pressed against the wall to support him. Hermione and Ron glanced at each other helplessly.
"Follow?" Hermione asked.
Ron stared after Harry. "Follow."
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"Harry! What happened?" Madam Pomfrey had been tidying up the cupboards of the Hospital Wing when Harry staggered in. Most of the contents of the cupboard she had been working on were now scattered on the floor. Ron and Hermione peered around the door, listening closely to what was being said.
"Just another dream," Harry muttered, plonking himself down in one of the waiting chairs. "Do you have any really, really strong painkillers by any chance?"
"Of course I do, this is a Hospital Wing, you know," she said. "Let me have a look at your scar, Harry." She moved his hand away from his forehead, and gasped at the red, throbbing line of red that was the scar. The skin around it looked burnt, and some of it was peeling away.
"Oh, Harry…" she murmured, voice dismayed. "I don't know why you put up with this, you know…"
"Now that Snape can't attend Death Eater meetings I'm the only person in the Order who has any chance of knowing what Voldemort is up to. You know that."
"I know, but you're still just a child…" Madam Pomfrey had grabbed some ointment and was smearing it liberally over the scar.
"I stopped being a child long ago," Harry said quietly as she wound a bandage around his head. He stared at the hand that had been pressed against his scar, sighed and held it out. Burnt into his hand was a picture of his animagus, with a phoenix perched on the dragon's head.
"I've been marked."
