Chapter Fourteen

Scars and Worries





As Harry entered the Potions dungeon, he saw that the Slytherins, as usual, had already taken their seats.

Harry sat down at the table next to Pansy's, but avoided her eyes.

What had happened?

All of a sudden, he felt hot...and sweaty...like he was living, but in a very strange dream indeed...

Suddenly, he felt a sear of pain across his forehead, and then he was floating into darkness...





Pansy shuddered.

The last hour had been brutal.

Just after finding out that morning that Harry could possibly be in love with her, he had collapsed in Potions.

At first, Professor Snape had thought nothing of it, just ordered him to get up.

After he had sneered and offered use of Veritaserum, he seemed to realize that Harry was not faking it, after all.

Pansy remembered the feeling she had gotten when she saw him collapse.

She felt sorry, and terrified, because the look that was on his face before he had passed out was one of pain and terror, and Pansy didn't know why.

Maybe his scar hurt, she thought anxiously, as she sat in the waiting room of the infirmary.

That couldn't be a good sign.

She sat in the waiting room after fleeing right at the end of Potions, missing Care of Magical Creatures at the moment.

But, she really couldn't care less about anything other than Harry.

Was he all right? What had happened? Could she help?

Would he forgive her for not talking to him for the past few days?

Pansy sat, her hands shaking uncontrollably, utterly confused.





As Ginny made her way down to the Great Hall for dinner, she could think of nothing but him...Malfoy.

She couldn't understand why he had led her on the way he did.

How could any warm blooded creature do that to an innocent young girl?

Oh, well I suppose that I'm not *that* innocent, but still...

She smiled, despite her anger.

They did have a couple of good times, no doubt about it, but she hated the way that she knew that he wasn't real...it was corrupting her memories, the knowledge that his feelings weren't true.

It was utterly unfair.

Just then, she saw Ron pass, whom she hadn't seen all day.

"Ron?" she said with concern as she saw the look on his face.

"Ginny! I've been looking everywhere for you, and Fred, and George..." he said, wiping his brow.

Ginny frowned, "What is it?"

"Something happened in Potions class today..." Ron gulped.

Ginny felt a cold dread wash over her.

Had something happened to Draco?

"Its Harry..."

Ginny felt herself loosen with relief, then inwardly slapped herself in disgust.

How could she be so worried about somebody that she didn't even care about, and how could she be so much more relieved when her friend had been hurt?

"Harry?" she whispered.

Ron nodded, " He collapsed in Potions this morning... he's in the hospital wing, he still hasn't woken up, he's been there for hours... I don't think its good, Gin, I don't....nobody will tell us anything, and Dumbledore and nearly all the teachers have been to see him to try and figure out if it was a curse or something....Something isn't right with this, Gin, I can feel it."

Ginny's eyes widened.

"No - nobody knows what's wrong? But Madam Pomfrey...and Dumbledore...couldn't they...?"

Ron's eye was twitching, which was something that only happened when he was hurt, stressed, upset or angry. Ginny could only guess which of the four was prevalent.

Ginny held out her arms to her brother, and he hugged her quickly.

"Don't you worry yourself about it, Gin," he said gruffly, "I just thought that you should know...I'll be upstairs in the infirmary if you need me, ok?"

Ginny nodded.

"Do you want me to bring you up some dinner?"

Ron shook his head, "I don't think I'm going to be in the mood to eat...Herm and Pansy are up there too, they looked pretty green when I left. I'll talk to you later, ok?"

She nodded again, and watched his back disappear in the dark corridor.

She prayed that Harry would be all right.

What would happen if he wasn't?





Draco sat in the Great Hall, eating his bangers and mash when he saw Ginny enter the enchanted room.

She looked beautiful, but something was on her mind..

He decided to be adventurous.

As he approached the Gryffindor table, he received some very confused looks.

She didn't seem to notice him until he was right in front of her.

"Ginny?"

Her face hardened.

"Ginny, listen to me. I want you to know that-"

Ginny stood up to him, eye to eye, and whispered with such a malice that Draco had ever heard, "Stay away from me, *Slytherin*."

Draco's eyes flashed, and then he smirked.

"All the same to me, Weasley," he shrugged her off, turning, "Just thought you might want to know that your precious Potter is sitting in the hospital wing, near death. Even Dumbledore doesn't know what's wrong with him... but if you don't want to know, I'm happy to leave this...*perky* little table."

He strutted away, not looking back, for if he had faced her, she would have seen the sheer pain in his eyes.





Hermione hadn't stopped pacing for three hours, and she was getting quite tired.

Pansy sat on a chair, looking anxious, and Ron hadn't gotten back from the Gryffindor Common Room yet.

For those hours (which dragged on and on) Hermione and Pansy basked in the silence.

Hermione would have said something, if she wasn't afraid of getting a piece of the famous Slytherin Lip, which she really didn't need at this very moment.

She was really getting frightened, for every teacher, from Flitwick to Dumbledore to Snape had entered the room where Harry lay, trying to figure out his ailment.

Oh, he's just gone through too much lately...I hope he's all right...I don't know what if would be like here without him...No, Hermione, stay positive, you must keep your head.

Just then, Ron burst into the room.

"Anything?" he asked, the epitome of hope.

Hermione shook her head, and his own dropped in disappointment. His shoulders slumped as he conjured a chair to sit on.

Hermione suddenly had a thought.

If anything did happen to Harry, how would Ron react?

Hermione gulped as she watched the sweat drip down Ron's furrowed brow.

Oh, do let him be all right...





Ron sat in silence in the waiting room, knowing that Hermione was watching him intently, but all he could think about was his best friend...Harry.

Oh, god.