Wanted: Love
Ch4: Harry's Back!
Harry Potter rolled over on his side and quickly snapped his eyes open at the pain. He started to push himself into a sitting position but a remarkable combination of pain prevented him from doing so. His head and torso were killing him. Sighing almost inaudibly he squinted around the room. Where was he? With the absence of his glasses and the darkness of the room combined, it made his visibility next to none. His stomach gave a loud grumble and he blushed though there was no one to see it. When had he last eaten? It certainly hadn't been anytime soon. His throat was killing him as well. What he would give for a glass of cold water. A low growl interrupted his thoughts. Looking around as best he could without hurting his head too much, Harry tried to see where it had come from. Far from succeeding, he accidentally bumped it against the headboard and squeezed his eyes closed and opened his mouth in pain but no sound came from it. As he tried to get his mind off the pain he heard a soft murmuring from the same direction that the growl had come from. Footsteps were heard coming towards him and Harry tried to reopen his eyes but found it impossible. They were so heavy!
Harry felt something wet nudge his hand as someone spoke, "He still hasn't woken up?" Harry knew that voice.
"Obviously not, Hermione. How long has it been now, two weeks?" asked the voice Harry distinctly recognized as Ron.
"You don't have to be so rude about it." came Hermione's snappy reply.
"Well you could use a little more common sense. 'He still hasn't woken up?' Honestly, does he look like he has?" asked Ron. Harry smiled inwardly at Ron's remark and finally managed to reopen his eyes but it went unnoticed. Ron and Hermione were standing a few feet away arguing with a big black smudge sitting at their feet. Harry was certain that this was Sirius. Sirius, Ron, Hermione. . .he could only be in one place. Hogwarts. He had made it.
"Well if you're just going to stand there and insult me. . .I thought we came down here to check on Harry. And as you so plainly pointed out, he's not awake. So we might as well just go back up to the common room before Madame Pomfrey comes in here and gives us an earful." said Hermione.
"Wait, Hermione! I'm sorry, okay. It just. Well, you know. . ." Ron led off.
He heard Hermione sigh then looked pointedly at Sirius in his dog form, "Yeah, obviously some people don't trust us with secrets."
Harry wondered what she was talking about but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sirius walk away from them with his tail up high. As he vanished behind the curtain and out of the room, Hermione leaned into Ron and they started talking in a hushed whisper. Harry couldn't hear what they were saying and started edging his way towards them, trying to get close enough to hear. He was almost there when he, unsuspectingly, ran out of bed and fell to the floor onto his stomach with an, "Oof!" As the wind got knocked out of him and the pain from his chest radiated outward to his limbs, he felt his voice kick back in.
"Harry!" shrieked Hermione as she and Ron hurried over to him.
Sirius, now a human, raced back into the room to see what had happened. When he saw Harry on the ground, he quickly picked him up.
"That hurt." Harry muttered to himself.
"Harry! You're awake!" shouted Sirius spinning him around in circle. Harry's eyes opened wide and he felt as though he might throw up, though, he doubted there was anything left to throw up.
His face must have expressed this, though, because Sirius seemed to notice and stopped, "Sorry." Harry nodded in acceptance, still trying to calm his stomach. Sirius carefully put Harry back in his bed and Harry felt a blush creep up into his cheeks as he remembered why he had to be put back in bed.
No one seemed to notice, though. And before he could say anything, Hermione had launched herself at him, squeezing a little too tightly for Harry's liking.
"Oh, Harry! Everyone was so worried about you! What happened out there? Are you okay? Do you need anything?-" she continued to ask him questions incessantly before he finally managed to get out, "Hermione. . .you're hurting me."
Hermione blushed and released him. Ron and Sirius were both beaming at him. The last time Harry could remember feeling this good was in the end of his third year when he won the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor. All the noise they had made, however, seemed to have awakened Madame Pomfrey.
For at that moment, she bustled in to see what all the commotion was about, "Oh! Mr. Potter, I see you've awakened."
Harry squinted in her direction but couldn't make out who it was without his glasses, "Who-"
Harry's stomach gave a loud rumble, interrupting him and startling everyone in the room. Harry blushed profusely and his three friends laughed.
"Hungry, are you?" asked Ron with an amused look on his face.
"A little-" another grumble, "Maybe a lot." They laughed again as Madame Pomfrey walked over to him and felt his forehead.
"Well, you seem well enough. Think you're up to something?" she asked.
Now up close, Harry could see, if just barely, who it was, "Oh, it's you, Madame Pomfrey. Yes, I feel like I haven't eaten in ages."
There was a deafening silence following these words and Harry shifted uneasily.
"What?" he asked after a few minutes.
"You all must excuse us. I need to see to my patient. However, you may come back to visit him in the morning." said Pomfrey shooing out Ron, Hermione, and, with much difficulty, Sirius. Once they were gone, she conjured some food for Harry to eat while she checked him over.
When he was done eating, Madame Pomfrey took his tray away and gently helped him lay down, "Alright, you need to rest now-"
"But I'm fine!" said Harry shooting up but instantly felt a great surge of pain course through his body and fell back down.
"Of course you are," said Pomfrey sarcastically, "But undoubtedly you'll have a visitor every minute of every day until you're well enough to leave."
Harry was about to say that he was well enough to leave that second, after all, he still desperately need to talk to Ron and Hermione to find out why they hadn't owled him all summer, but only had to remind himself of the intense pain he had experienced the moment before to stop himself. So, not feeling in the least bit tired (AN: You wouldn't be either if you slept for two straight weeks.), Harry watched Madame Pomfrey walk away leaving him alone.
Throughout the night, Harry tried to come up with at least some half decent answers to the questions he knew he was going to be asked. But as the sun rose and he started to hear people head down to breakfast he still hadn't come up with anything. It didn't help that he didn't know what they already knew. Nor that his head ached terribly every time he got too carried away in his thoughts. Sighing, Harry pushed himself up tenderly. Two weeks, he had been out for two weeks. 'Who knows what they could have found out in that amount of time.' he thought to himself angrily. He never should have allowed himself to black out that night with the Death Eaters. Heck, he never should have fallen off the broom in the first place. He was being weak. He had managed to stay on his Nimbus Two Thousand during his first year at Hogwarts. Perhaps he was becoming too dependent on others for help.
'I really should go back to the way it was before Hogwarts.' Harry thought to himself.
And although the idea of living a life as nothing but a mere parasite which constantly got stepped on repulsed him, he had to admit that he had been stronger then. But, at the same time, his aunt and uncle were bound to be terribly upset at him for once again making his way to that "freak place" of his. Then just factor in the anger they were bound to have at him for messing with their hair. . .he probably wouldn't be able to move ever again by the time they were done with him.
No matter which way he looked at it he couldn't win. As he massaged his scar, which had constantly ached, though not too badly, for the past year, he traded these thoughts for an attempt at trying to sort out the events that followed him falling off his Firebolt. Being as tired as he was that night Harry was having a difficult time deciding what really happened and what was just his imagination. He didn't have to long to brood about it, however, for at that moment Harry was jerked out of his reverie by a crushing pain exploding from his abdomen. Even though he didn't have his glasses, he could make out a mop of red hair and very feminine sobs that were soaking his shirt.
"Mrs. Weasley?" he asked.
At his voice, the grip around him tightened and Harry coughed. Mrs. Weasley released him and moved back so she was sitting at the edge of his bed. Then, for some reason, she gasped.
"What?" he asked. From what he could make out, she had touched her lips. Harry brought his fingers to his lip and felt something slippery on them. Bringing his hand back he noticed several things. For the first time, he realized that his entire forearm, wrist, and hand (with the exception of his fingers) were wrapped heavily in bandages. The second, was that on his finger tips, was some kind of red liquid.
". . .Blood?" he asked.
"I suppose you still have a way to go before you're all better." said a voice. Harry looked around the room and noticed that Mrs. Weasley wasn't the only person who was visiting him. Besides her, there were ten people standing around his bed.
Squinting around at them he was able to make out who the person was who spoke to him, "Professor Dumbledore?"
"I see you've lost your glasses, Harry." said Dumbledore conjuring a new pair and handing them to him.
Harry took them gratefully and placed them on. As the room came into focus, Harry could make out who was there. Arthur was standing behind his wife and to his left was Ginny who smiled at him feebly. On Arthur's other side was Fred and George who pointed to a bag on the table next to Harry's bed.
"Compliments of us. Use them well young one." said Fred mocking a bow.
In red lettering, the bag said Weasley Wizard Wheezes.
Harry breathed a laugh and smiled, "Thanks, I'll be sure to test them out."
Next to Fred and George was Hagrid who looked very nervous for some reason Harry couldn't comprehend. Beside Hagrid was Sirius who had a very strange combination of emotions written across his face. Relief, joy, anger, and apprehension were all taking turns showing themselves. And while Harry was pleased to see his godfather alive and well, these emotions confused him. Shaking the feeling aside, his eyes fell upon Ron, Lavender, and Hermione. Ron was standing with his arm around Lavender, they were both smiling broadly, and Hermione was biting her bottom lip and looked rather uncomfortable.
No one seemed to notice this, though, as Harry smirked at all the people in the room. Forget the Dursleys. All Harry wanted right then was for that moment never to end.
"Thought we saw the end of you back there, mate." said Ron smiling.
"Nah, they have to do far worse if they want to get rid of me." joked Harry though all of his visitors suddenly looked uncomfortable.
"Whose 'they', Harry?" asked Sirius in a low voice.
It was Harry's turn to be uncomfortable and squirmed for a minute before deciding that it was better to go with the answers he had come up with then remain silent, "Some Death Eaters."
"Death Eaters!?" asked Ginny, looking very worried.
"No big deal." said Harry quickly, trying to pacify her worries, "I'm fine now."
"No big deal? Harry, if You-Know-Who is after you then it's a very big deal! Why didn't you owl us?" asked Hermione. Harry stared at her. Why didn't he owl them, indeed.
"What do you mean? I sent you both at least a dozen letters. It's you who never owled me." said Harry. Ron, Hermione, and Lavender looked very confused.
"What do you mean? We never got anything from you." said Ron. The room had gone very quiet.
"You don't suppose. . ." led off Hermione.
"No, it's not Dobby. I did get the letter from Hogwarts. That's the only thing though." said Harry.
"Do you suppose that maybe it's You-Know-Who?" asked George.
"What would Voldemort want with a bunch of letters?" asked Harry. Just about everyone in the room flinched at the name.
"Perhaps he was trying to find out when you would be alone. So he could come and get you." said Dumbledore calmly.
"I doubt that he would find my uncle and aunt very much of a problem." said Harry smirking.
"The wards on their house would make it difficult for Voldemort to harm you. He might have been looking for any hint as to when you would be outside." said Dumbledore. Everyone in the room seemed to accept this as an answer, though, it brought up more worries.
"But what if You-Know-Who finds a way around them? Harry can't go back to his uncle's house again. It's not safe." said Lavender.
Sirius snorted, "Harry's not going back to the fat lubber's house again anyway."
Harry's heart felt like singing as he heard Sirius say this but his stomach gave a lurch as he thought about the possible reasons why he wouldn't be going back. Was it possible that he knew? He prayed that this wasn't the reason.
"Why?" Harry finally asked in a voice which he hoped didn't sound too incriminating.
"Why!? Harry you know damn well why! Why did you just sit there and not tell any of us!?" shouted Sirius. Harry grimaced. They knew something. The question was, what was it exactly that they knew?
Looking around the room, it was clear that the adults had kept something from the younger generation. This was seen in the way that they were all staring at Harry as if waiting for an explanation. His mind was spinning.
They don't have any proof. They can't prove anything.' his mind kept repeating over and over again.
But deciding it was better to try and stop the conversation before any major information was revealed; Harry crossed his arms, turned his head to the side and stared at the floor. He could still feel everyone's eyes drilling into him as if ordering him to tell them what happened. What he would give for a distraction. Anything to get their eyes off him. They couldn't know. He couldn't let them. Answering his prayer, Madame Pomfrey reentered the room and stopped at the sight of all the grim faces and wondered what had happened in her absence.
Putting the feeling aside, she walked over to them, "I see that everyone is here. Shall we begin?" Dumbledore nodded his head and it looked as if all the adults' hearts were in their throats.
"It appears that he is fine from at least the waist up, Poppy." said Dumbledore.
Madame Pomfrey nodded, "Mr. Potter, can you bend you knees for us?" Harry looked at her peculiarly and raised an eyebrow. A quick scan of the room told him that only the adults knew what she was talking about but all the Hogwarts students present looked as befuddled as him. But never the less, Harry bent his knees.
"Wonderful! Can you move your feet?" asked Pomfrey.
"Why wouldn't I be able to?" asked Harry. A stern look from the nurse left the question unanswered and Harry moving his feet up and down once.
"Splendid! One last thing, wiggle your toes, please." she said. Harry sighed irritably and shook his head as wiggled his toes but as they were under the blanket no one could see and he had to answer,
"They're fine."(AN: I was gonna make him paralyzed from the waist down but my neighbor threatened to kill me if I did. . .sorry! But don't worry. Harry's gonna have another *major* problem to try to overcome soon!) All the adults sighed in relief.
"Had us worried there for a minute, Harry." said Hagrid.
"Why?" asked Harry.
"There was a possibility that you would be paralyzed." said Dumbledore. Even though it was no longer a threat, the children's eyes all opened a bit wider at that news.
"Lucked out again, did I?" joked Harry. Everyone seemed to relax at Harry's attitude to the news, though, he couldn't see why. He wasn't paralyzed so why would it matter?
"So what have I missed?" asked Harry. Immediately, all his friends burst out into conversation about what had been happening. Harry had nearly passed out from laughing so hard when Ron told him about the fight with Malfoy.
And so the day went on. News was spreading like crazy that Harry was awake and Madame Pomfrey had her hands busy with trying to keep them all out. Harry didn't notice, though, for he was kept plenty busy by his friends. Indeed, Madame Pomfrey had been correct in saying that he wouldn't have a moment's peace. No one in the room left the room once all day with the exception of Dumbledore who said that he to send an owl to someone. It wasn't until dinner time arrived that everyone was ushered out by Madame Pomfrey who said that Harry needed to eat and have his bandages changed. That night, Harry fell asleep quite content with his life. It never occurred to him that he was being watched. Nor did the fact that something foul was afoot. And it was in the dead of night that a rat scampered out of the hospital wing as quickly as its legs would carry it, eyes gleaming in triumph.
Author's Note: Cliffhanger? Yeah, I know I hate them too. . .but not when I'm the one writing them! ::Grins evilly:: You all should review. . .if you don't I may not update for a long while! Mwa hahahaha! Go ahead it takes three minutes! Review!
Ch4: Harry's Back!
Harry Potter rolled over on his side and quickly snapped his eyes open at the pain. He started to push himself into a sitting position but a remarkable combination of pain prevented him from doing so. His head and torso were killing him. Sighing almost inaudibly he squinted around the room. Where was he? With the absence of his glasses and the darkness of the room combined, it made his visibility next to none. His stomach gave a loud grumble and he blushed though there was no one to see it. When had he last eaten? It certainly hadn't been anytime soon. His throat was killing him as well. What he would give for a glass of cold water. A low growl interrupted his thoughts. Looking around as best he could without hurting his head too much, Harry tried to see where it had come from. Far from succeeding, he accidentally bumped it against the headboard and squeezed his eyes closed and opened his mouth in pain but no sound came from it. As he tried to get his mind off the pain he heard a soft murmuring from the same direction that the growl had come from. Footsteps were heard coming towards him and Harry tried to reopen his eyes but found it impossible. They were so heavy!
Harry felt something wet nudge his hand as someone spoke, "He still hasn't woken up?" Harry knew that voice.
"Obviously not, Hermione. How long has it been now, two weeks?" asked the voice Harry distinctly recognized as Ron.
"You don't have to be so rude about it." came Hermione's snappy reply.
"Well you could use a little more common sense. 'He still hasn't woken up?' Honestly, does he look like he has?" asked Ron. Harry smiled inwardly at Ron's remark and finally managed to reopen his eyes but it went unnoticed. Ron and Hermione were standing a few feet away arguing with a big black smudge sitting at their feet. Harry was certain that this was Sirius. Sirius, Ron, Hermione. . .he could only be in one place. Hogwarts. He had made it.
"Well if you're just going to stand there and insult me. . .I thought we came down here to check on Harry. And as you so plainly pointed out, he's not awake. So we might as well just go back up to the common room before Madame Pomfrey comes in here and gives us an earful." said Hermione.
"Wait, Hermione! I'm sorry, okay. It just. Well, you know. . ." Ron led off.
He heard Hermione sigh then looked pointedly at Sirius in his dog form, "Yeah, obviously some people don't trust us with secrets."
Harry wondered what she was talking about but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sirius walk away from them with his tail up high. As he vanished behind the curtain and out of the room, Hermione leaned into Ron and they started talking in a hushed whisper. Harry couldn't hear what they were saying and started edging his way towards them, trying to get close enough to hear. He was almost there when he, unsuspectingly, ran out of bed and fell to the floor onto his stomach with an, "Oof!" As the wind got knocked out of him and the pain from his chest radiated outward to his limbs, he felt his voice kick back in.
"Harry!" shrieked Hermione as she and Ron hurried over to him.
Sirius, now a human, raced back into the room to see what had happened. When he saw Harry on the ground, he quickly picked him up.
"That hurt." Harry muttered to himself.
"Harry! You're awake!" shouted Sirius spinning him around in circle. Harry's eyes opened wide and he felt as though he might throw up, though, he doubted there was anything left to throw up.
His face must have expressed this, though, because Sirius seemed to notice and stopped, "Sorry." Harry nodded in acceptance, still trying to calm his stomach. Sirius carefully put Harry back in his bed and Harry felt a blush creep up into his cheeks as he remembered why he had to be put back in bed.
No one seemed to notice, though. And before he could say anything, Hermione had launched herself at him, squeezing a little too tightly for Harry's liking.
"Oh, Harry! Everyone was so worried about you! What happened out there? Are you okay? Do you need anything?-" she continued to ask him questions incessantly before he finally managed to get out, "Hermione. . .you're hurting me."
Hermione blushed and released him. Ron and Sirius were both beaming at him. The last time Harry could remember feeling this good was in the end of his third year when he won the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor. All the noise they had made, however, seemed to have awakened Madame Pomfrey.
For at that moment, she bustled in to see what all the commotion was about, "Oh! Mr. Potter, I see you've awakened."
Harry squinted in her direction but couldn't make out who it was without his glasses, "Who-"
Harry's stomach gave a loud rumble, interrupting him and startling everyone in the room. Harry blushed profusely and his three friends laughed.
"Hungry, are you?" asked Ron with an amused look on his face.
"A little-" another grumble, "Maybe a lot." They laughed again as Madame Pomfrey walked over to him and felt his forehead.
"Well, you seem well enough. Think you're up to something?" she asked.
Now up close, Harry could see, if just barely, who it was, "Oh, it's you, Madame Pomfrey. Yes, I feel like I haven't eaten in ages."
There was a deafening silence following these words and Harry shifted uneasily.
"What?" he asked after a few minutes.
"You all must excuse us. I need to see to my patient. However, you may come back to visit him in the morning." said Pomfrey shooing out Ron, Hermione, and, with much difficulty, Sirius. Once they were gone, she conjured some food for Harry to eat while she checked him over.
When he was done eating, Madame Pomfrey took his tray away and gently helped him lay down, "Alright, you need to rest now-"
"But I'm fine!" said Harry shooting up but instantly felt a great surge of pain course through his body and fell back down.
"Of course you are," said Pomfrey sarcastically, "But undoubtedly you'll have a visitor every minute of every day until you're well enough to leave."
Harry was about to say that he was well enough to leave that second, after all, he still desperately need to talk to Ron and Hermione to find out why they hadn't owled him all summer, but only had to remind himself of the intense pain he had experienced the moment before to stop himself. So, not feeling in the least bit tired (AN: You wouldn't be either if you slept for two straight weeks.), Harry watched Madame Pomfrey walk away leaving him alone.
Throughout the night, Harry tried to come up with at least some half decent answers to the questions he knew he was going to be asked. But as the sun rose and he started to hear people head down to breakfast he still hadn't come up with anything. It didn't help that he didn't know what they already knew. Nor that his head ached terribly every time he got too carried away in his thoughts. Sighing, Harry pushed himself up tenderly. Two weeks, he had been out for two weeks. 'Who knows what they could have found out in that amount of time.' he thought to himself angrily. He never should have allowed himself to black out that night with the Death Eaters. Heck, he never should have fallen off the broom in the first place. He was being weak. He had managed to stay on his Nimbus Two Thousand during his first year at Hogwarts. Perhaps he was becoming too dependent on others for help.
'I really should go back to the way it was before Hogwarts.' Harry thought to himself.
And although the idea of living a life as nothing but a mere parasite which constantly got stepped on repulsed him, he had to admit that he had been stronger then. But, at the same time, his aunt and uncle were bound to be terribly upset at him for once again making his way to that "freak place" of his. Then just factor in the anger they were bound to have at him for messing with their hair. . .he probably wouldn't be able to move ever again by the time they were done with him.
No matter which way he looked at it he couldn't win. As he massaged his scar, which had constantly ached, though not too badly, for the past year, he traded these thoughts for an attempt at trying to sort out the events that followed him falling off his Firebolt. Being as tired as he was that night Harry was having a difficult time deciding what really happened and what was just his imagination. He didn't have to long to brood about it, however, for at that moment Harry was jerked out of his reverie by a crushing pain exploding from his abdomen. Even though he didn't have his glasses, he could make out a mop of red hair and very feminine sobs that were soaking his shirt.
"Mrs. Weasley?" he asked.
At his voice, the grip around him tightened and Harry coughed. Mrs. Weasley released him and moved back so she was sitting at the edge of his bed. Then, for some reason, she gasped.
"What?" he asked. From what he could make out, she had touched her lips. Harry brought his fingers to his lip and felt something slippery on them. Bringing his hand back he noticed several things. For the first time, he realized that his entire forearm, wrist, and hand (with the exception of his fingers) were wrapped heavily in bandages. The second, was that on his finger tips, was some kind of red liquid.
". . .Blood?" he asked.
"I suppose you still have a way to go before you're all better." said a voice. Harry looked around the room and noticed that Mrs. Weasley wasn't the only person who was visiting him. Besides her, there were ten people standing around his bed.
Squinting around at them he was able to make out who the person was who spoke to him, "Professor Dumbledore?"
"I see you've lost your glasses, Harry." said Dumbledore conjuring a new pair and handing them to him.
Harry took them gratefully and placed them on. As the room came into focus, Harry could make out who was there. Arthur was standing behind his wife and to his left was Ginny who smiled at him feebly. On Arthur's other side was Fred and George who pointed to a bag on the table next to Harry's bed.
"Compliments of us. Use them well young one." said Fred mocking a bow.
In red lettering, the bag said Weasley Wizard Wheezes.
Harry breathed a laugh and smiled, "Thanks, I'll be sure to test them out."
Next to Fred and George was Hagrid who looked very nervous for some reason Harry couldn't comprehend. Beside Hagrid was Sirius who had a very strange combination of emotions written across his face. Relief, joy, anger, and apprehension were all taking turns showing themselves. And while Harry was pleased to see his godfather alive and well, these emotions confused him. Shaking the feeling aside, his eyes fell upon Ron, Lavender, and Hermione. Ron was standing with his arm around Lavender, they were both smiling broadly, and Hermione was biting her bottom lip and looked rather uncomfortable.
No one seemed to notice this, though, as Harry smirked at all the people in the room. Forget the Dursleys. All Harry wanted right then was for that moment never to end.
"Thought we saw the end of you back there, mate." said Ron smiling.
"Nah, they have to do far worse if they want to get rid of me." joked Harry though all of his visitors suddenly looked uncomfortable.
"Whose 'they', Harry?" asked Sirius in a low voice.
It was Harry's turn to be uncomfortable and squirmed for a minute before deciding that it was better to go with the answers he had come up with then remain silent, "Some Death Eaters."
"Death Eaters!?" asked Ginny, looking very worried.
"No big deal." said Harry quickly, trying to pacify her worries, "I'm fine now."
"No big deal? Harry, if You-Know-Who is after you then it's a very big deal! Why didn't you owl us?" asked Hermione. Harry stared at her. Why didn't he owl them, indeed.
"What do you mean? I sent you both at least a dozen letters. It's you who never owled me." said Harry. Ron, Hermione, and Lavender looked very confused.
"What do you mean? We never got anything from you." said Ron. The room had gone very quiet.
"You don't suppose. . ." led off Hermione.
"No, it's not Dobby. I did get the letter from Hogwarts. That's the only thing though." said Harry.
"Do you suppose that maybe it's You-Know-Who?" asked George.
"What would Voldemort want with a bunch of letters?" asked Harry. Just about everyone in the room flinched at the name.
"Perhaps he was trying to find out when you would be alone. So he could come and get you." said Dumbledore calmly.
"I doubt that he would find my uncle and aunt very much of a problem." said Harry smirking.
"The wards on their house would make it difficult for Voldemort to harm you. He might have been looking for any hint as to when you would be outside." said Dumbledore. Everyone in the room seemed to accept this as an answer, though, it brought up more worries.
"But what if You-Know-Who finds a way around them? Harry can't go back to his uncle's house again. It's not safe." said Lavender.
Sirius snorted, "Harry's not going back to the fat lubber's house again anyway."
Harry's heart felt like singing as he heard Sirius say this but his stomach gave a lurch as he thought about the possible reasons why he wouldn't be going back. Was it possible that he knew? He prayed that this wasn't the reason.
"Why?" Harry finally asked in a voice which he hoped didn't sound too incriminating.
"Why!? Harry you know damn well why! Why did you just sit there and not tell any of us!?" shouted Sirius. Harry grimaced. They knew something. The question was, what was it exactly that they knew?
Looking around the room, it was clear that the adults had kept something from the younger generation. This was seen in the way that they were all staring at Harry as if waiting for an explanation. His mind was spinning.
They don't have any proof. They can't prove anything.' his mind kept repeating over and over again.
But deciding it was better to try and stop the conversation before any major information was revealed; Harry crossed his arms, turned his head to the side and stared at the floor. He could still feel everyone's eyes drilling into him as if ordering him to tell them what happened. What he would give for a distraction. Anything to get their eyes off him. They couldn't know. He couldn't let them. Answering his prayer, Madame Pomfrey reentered the room and stopped at the sight of all the grim faces and wondered what had happened in her absence.
Putting the feeling aside, she walked over to them, "I see that everyone is here. Shall we begin?" Dumbledore nodded his head and it looked as if all the adults' hearts were in their throats.
"It appears that he is fine from at least the waist up, Poppy." said Dumbledore.
Madame Pomfrey nodded, "Mr. Potter, can you bend you knees for us?" Harry looked at her peculiarly and raised an eyebrow. A quick scan of the room told him that only the adults knew what she was talking about but all the Hogwarts students present looked as befuddled as him. But never the less, Harry bent his knees.
"Wonderful! Can you move your feet?" asked Pomfrey.
"Why wouldn't I be able to?" asked Harry. A stern look from the nurse left the question unanswered and Harry moving his feet up and down once.
"Splendid! One last thing, wiggle your toes, please." she said. Harry sighed irritably and shook his head as wiggled his toes but as they were under the blanket no one could see and he had to answer,
"They're fine."(AN: I was gonna make him paralyzed from the waist down but my neighbor threatened to kill me if I did. . .sorry! But don't worry. Harry's gonna have another *major* problem to try to overcome soon!) All the adults sighed in relief.
"Had us worried there for a minute, Harry." said Hagrid.
"Why?" asked Harry.
"There was a possibility that you would be paralyzed." said Dumbledore. Even though it was no longer a threat, the children's eyes all opened a bit wider at that news.
"Lucked out again, did I?" joked Harry. Everyone seemed to relax at Harry's attitude to the news, though, he couldn't see why. He wasn't paralyzed so why would it matter?
"So what have I missed?" asked Harry. Immediately, all his friends burst out into conversation about what had been happening. Harry had nearly passed out from laughing so hard when Ron told him about the fight with Malfoy.
And so the day went on. News was spreading like crazy that Harry was awake and Madame Pomfrey had her hands busy with trying to keep them all out. Harry didn't notice, though, for he was kept plenty busy by his friends. Indeed, Madame Pomfrey had been correct in saying that he wouldn't have a moment's peace. No one in the room left the room once all day with the exception of Dumbledore who said that he to send an owl to someone. It wasn't until dinner time arrived that everyone was ushered out by Madame Pomfrey who said that Harry needed to eat and have his bandages changed. That night, Harry fell asleep quite content with his life. It never occurred to him that he was being watched. Nor did the fact that something foul was afoot. And it was in the dead of night that a rat scampered out of the hospital wing as quickly as its legs would carry it, eyes gleaming in triumph.
Author's Note: Cliffhanger? Yeah, I know I hate them too. . .but not when I'm the one writing them! ::Grins evilly:: You all should review. . .if you don't I may not update for a long while! Mwa hahahaha! Go ahead it takes three minutes! Review!