Requiem for a Dream

Disclaimer:
JKR owns Harry Potter and Co., Mozart owns the song Requiem, from which I borrowed the lyrics to add a bit of color to this bit of fan fiction.


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Dies irae, dies illa solvet saeclum in favilla, teste David cum Sybilla.
Quantus tremor est futurus, quando judex est venturus, cuncta stricte discussurus.


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Harry gasped as he shot up in bed, the pain in his scar fading. He looked around the room he was in and frowned in confusion. It was a muggle hospital. A nurse came in and gasped when she saw him. "You're awake!" she exclaimed, then quickly moved to his side to tend to him. She pressed a button at the side of his bed, and a moment later a doctor walked in, followed by a girl and a boy --
Hermione and Ron!


Harry grinned at his two best friends. "Hermione, Ron! How are you two? What happened to me?" Hermione and Ron exchanged a look, and Harry swore he saw the girl move her head ever so slightly to indicate a 'no'. Harry frowned and was about to ask what was going on when the doctor began talking to him.


"Hello Harry, I am Doctor Mark Johnson. How are you feeling right now?" he asked, sitting on the bed next to Harry.


"I'm fine, now. What happened? Did I faint?" he asked nervously, searching Hermione's eyes for any hint. He couldn't believe that he had fainted while kissing Hermione. It had been such a perfect moment, he just hated to think that it was ruined simply because he was exhausted from the battle.


"Well...." Dr. Johnson shot an uncertain glance over to Ron and Hermione, then continued, "You.. you remember the fire, don't you?"


"The only fire I remember was the one--" Harry blushed. The one in my heart... he had been about to say. "Nevermind. What fire? I don't remember a fire..." He frowned, confused again. Maybe it was the story his friends gave to the doctor, as they couldn't very well go around telling muggles that they had killed someone. He tried to search Ron's eyes now, but he was looking very nervous and scared.


"You don't remember? Your father almost died saving you from it! You got a scar from falling, trying to get out!" Hermione exclaimed, sounding very shocked. Harry frowned, then decided to play along. Hermione sure is a good actress... he thought.


"Oh.. Yes, that.. I remember now..." He wondered again why they had been brought to a muggle hospital. Maybe a new Dark Lord arose, and the wizard hospitals aren't safe... he convinced himself. "Um.. Dr. Johnson, may I speak with my friends, alone?" The doctor nodded and left, closing the door behind him.


"What's going on? Why are we here? Why aren't we--" he was asking, but then he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Hermione turned and opened the door, letting in-- Voldemort?! Except.. Voldemort had died... And this man looked like a muggle version of Him....


Evidently noticing the fear in Harry's eyes, the man frowned and touched his scarred face. Speaking in a voice Harry could only describe as that of an older Tom Riddle, not raspy like Voldemort's, he said softly, "I was so afraid that you would stay in your coma forever... The doctors-- they tried to convince us to pull the plug, but we refused. We knew that it was still possible for you to wake up. Hermione read books to you, and both Ron and Hermione read their homework aloud so that you wouldn't fall behind in school once you woke up.. Sometimes... sometimes you would mumble Latin words in your sleep, even. We-- we just couldn't give up when there was still a chance..."


Harry noticed tears forming in the man's eyes, and looked to Hermione and Ron, waiting for one of them to shout, "GOT YOU!", and the man would start to laugh, and the.. The polyjuice potion would wear off, or something. But no one shouted anything. He could see tears streaking down his friends' cheeks and wondered if there was dark magic tricking him into believing this. Briefly he entertained the idea that it was a dream, but a quick pinch to his arm under the sheets disproved that idea. He stared up in silence at the people around him, wondering whatever happened to possibly make them think they were honestly Muggles.


"What's going on? Why aren't we at school? Who's he?" he glanced pointedly at the man with the scarred face, noticing a pained expression flicker onto his face immediately. Maybe a memory charm? he thought, looking back at his friends. Polyjuice for the man, then memory charms for all of them... he decided, cringing at the thought. He could only hope that it was all that easy...


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A/N:
Confused yet? You shouldn't be. It's pretty simple. Although, I suppose it can be a bit confusing, maybe... After all, I'm not the one reading, I made it all up, so it's already all explained in my mind. Eh, otherwise you'll find out later.

Thanks to my reviewers, you guys all rock!