Oliver's car went hurtling down the road and all the occupants of the car were worried about what they would find when they caught up to Jaina. Hoping against hope, they came to a sharp bend in the road and everyone stared in shock at the bent and twisted guard rail. The shock froze them all for a few moments then released them and they tumbled out of the car and went over to the rail. Down in the gully below they saw the car Jaina took laying upside down; the rear tires still spinning and the radio blaring.
Oliver and Harry were the first two to start sliding down the incline. Fred and George were next, each pulling their wands. Severus followed after pulling vials from the pockets spelled into his shirt checking each to see what he had available for healing. Old habits died hard, especially with former spies. Oliver reached the car first and he reached in to turn off the engine. He could see Jaina's unconscious form in the car and he could see blood dripping. He couldn't tell how badly she was hurt or whether she was alive or not. Harry was on the other side of the car trying to pull the passenger door open.
Severus reached the bottom and strode around the car. He noticed that Fred and George were extinguishing some small fires cause by the crash; Oliver and Harry were still trying to pull one of the doors open. Severus got down on the ground and slithered into the car through the broken window as far as he could. He reached out and looked for the pulse point on her next. He could feel one but it was sluggish. They needed to pull her from the wreckage as quickly as possible. 'At least the bint was bright enough to put a seatbelt on,' Severus thought to himself as he backed out of the window and scrambled back to his feet.
"Mr. Wood, do you have a pry bar in the boot of your car?"
"Yes, I think do," was Oliver's startled reply.
"Go retrieve it. That's the only way we'll be able to get the doors open. The frame is too warped to open normally." Severus watch the former Gryffindor run up the incline back to his car. He looked around the clearing searching for the Weasleys and noticed they were already standing before him awaiting orders. "You two will help me levitate the car so Harry and Wood can get the car door open and pull the girl out."
"Would you help us levitate the car back up to the road, Professor? Fred and I can repair all the damage and then we'll bring the car back to its owner."
"I'll help you right the car. Do the repairs down here and then we'll bring it back up. We don't need any Muggles to see you working on the car with magic."
Before Severus could say more, Oliver came sliding down the incline with two pry bars in his hand. Oliver handed one to Harry at Severus' gesture. Severus and the twins took up positions around the car.
"She's got a seat belt on so you'll have to cut it to levitate her out." Severus called out to Wood. Harry seemed a little panicked, but seemed to settle down once a plan was in action. Severus nodded to the twins and the three of them shouted in unison, "Windgardium Leviosa!"
The car rose by minute increments from the ground. The three men doing the levitating paid attention to nothing but the task at hand. All three brows were furrowed in concentration. Once the car was high enough off the ground Harry and Oliver moved to the door and began prying the door open. The door failed to budge despite their efforts so Harry decided to improvise with his magic. He managed to produce an effect like a blow torch and severed the door from the frame of the car. Oliver reached in the moment the door fell to the ground and cut the seat belt holding Jaina in the car, and then levitated her out of the car. He placed her on the ground far away from the wreckage of the car and covered her form with his coat, a moment later Harry's joined his covering her body.
Severus and the twins began rotating the car around so that it was right side up and allowed the vehicle to settle back to the ground. Severus had turned his back on the car and headed straight to Jaina. He knelt on the ground and started to run several scans on the girl. He discovered she had a fractured skull, wrist and leg, as well as several severe lacerations.
"We're going to have to take her to a Muggle hospital. She's got a skull fracture and nothing I have with me is going to help that." He started pulling various vials out of his pockets.
"Do you have a potion in there that stops swelling?" Harry asked as he feverishly started to heal the lacerations that riddled her face and neck.
"Yes, I believe I do." Severus fished in his pockets and pulled out the requested potion and poured the potion into her mouth and stroked her throat until she swallowed the potion. Several other potions followed until all but the head fracture was taken care of.
"Oliver and I will take her to the hospital." Harry then transfigured a dead branch into a back board and strapped her on. He and Oliver then levitated the girl into the latter's car and drove off.
While Severus and the others were working on the girl, Fred and George were spelling the car back into its original shape. Severus watched as they quickly restored the car. He had the feeling that they've had to do that more than once before.
"We're all done, Professor. We'll have to stop to refill the petrol tank on our way back," said George.
"Are you ready to help us levitate the car back to the road?" Asked Fred once he was done repainting the car.
"I'll head up to the road first to make sure there aren't any vehicles heading our way. I don't want to use any memory charms if I could help it."
At the twins nod, Severus climbed back to the road. Carefully checking the road in both directions Severus then situated himself so he was off the road and signaled the twins. The three slowly levitated the car back onto the road. They were lucky that dusk had fallen and there weren't any cars on the road. Severus didn't want to think about how many Muggles he'd need to waylay and alter their memories.
Once the car was settled back onto the road the three remaining men climbed in and began a slow journey back to McGonagall's cabin. They stopped at the petrol station at the edge of the town before slowly driving up the road to McGonagall's cabin. The parked the car just outside the cabin and entered the cabin. All Jaina's friends, with the exception of the one passed out on the couch, had left leaving a whirlwind of destruction behind them. All the furniture was overturned and the glassware broken all over the floor. Severus and Fred looked around in disbelief as George went to the bathroom to rummage in the medicine chest. He came out a moment later with a sobering potion in his hand which he promptly forced down the throat of the last member of the party. Once the girl was sober and on her feet they shoved her out the door and into her car.
The three men set about repairing the damage and cleaning up the house. Once that was done they settled in to wait for Harry and Oliver to return. They had a very long wait.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Oliver drove as quickly as he could to the nearest hospital while Harry held Jaina steady on the back seat. Harry's small stature was convenient as he wedged himself in the floor space between the front and back seats. Once they arrived at the emergency entrance to the hospital Oliver jumped out of the car to get help. When the orderlies came out with a gurney Harry slid his way out of the car and watched as they eased Jaina out of the car and placed her on the gurney. Harry followed them into the hospital and would have gone with her into emergency treatment if a security guard didn't stop him. The older man gently sat him down in a chair. Oliver found him moments later and sat beside him. The waited several hours before a doctor came to talk to them.
"Are you Jaina Witherspoon's relatives?" The doctor asked upon entering the waiting room.
"I'm her ex-boyfriend, Doctor." Harry replied, anxiety written all over his face.
"I'm Doctor Barnes. Please follow me to my office."
They followed the doctor through several hallways until he stopped by a door and with a gesture invited them in. Oliver and Harry sat on one side of the man's desk while he sat on the other and opened Jaina's file.
"Now may I have your names for the records?"
"I'm Harry Potter and this is Oliver Wood." Harry replied, his eyes practically begging for information.
"All right then. Jaina has a skull fracture and many contusions. She hasn't regained consciousness yet and may not for at least several days. She may or may not remember what happened to her. Do you know what happened to her?"
"We had a fight earlier in the evening and she was packing to leave. The next thing I knew I found her on the floor unconscious. We strapped her to the board and drove her here."
"I see. Do you know how we can contact her parents?"
"Yes, may I borrow a pen?" Harry wrote down the Witherspoon's telephone numbers, both work and home, and their home address. When he was done he handed the paper and pen to the doctor. "Would you call me when she wakes up?"
"Certainly, Mr. Potter. If the hospital doesn't we'll make sure to have her parents do so."
"Thank you, doctor. May I see her before I go?"
"I'm sorry, but we only allow immediate family into the critical care ward." The doctor shook both Harry's and Oliver's hands and led them back to the waiting room.
Oliver put his arm around Harry's shoulder and led him out to the car. Silently they trekked back to McGonagall's cabin. Harry stayed silent the entire journey home; he really didn't know what to think. He hated the fact that Jaina was only using him, but to find out during the party was almost too much to bear. Finding out that Fred and George were the reasons why she was spouting everything tonight was equally hard on him. He also had the suspicion that Severus was in on the whole thing, though for some reason that didn't hurt too much. The man spent so many years looking after him that it felt good to know he would still protect him despite throwing him out of his life. Harry wanted to know desperately why Severus pushed him away. Maybe he'll get his answer soon.
An hour later they arrived at the cabin. Fred and George were carrying on a conversation with each other on the couch. Harry looked around and was disappointed when he didn't see Severus waiting for them. Harry collapsed in a chair as soon as he looked around and closed his eyes. Tonight had been a nightmare.
"Severus is in the kitchen. He thought you might want something to eat when you got back." George supplied when Harry sat down.
Harry just nodded, but Oliver on the other hand wasn't about to be calm about anything. He paced the living room floor building up steam before he turned to Fred and George and exploded.
"Why, for Merlin's sake, did you to do something so STUPID?" Oliver roared at his former beaters. "You could have gotten her killed!"
"We didn't expect her to cram three sticks of gum in her mouth or swallow that candy bar whole, Oliver." Fred retaliated.
"She was supposed to spill what ever she was hiding from Harry in private, not in front of us all. We knew something wasn't right about her. Mom's been fretting up a storm ever since we met her." George added to the conversation before Fred continued.
"We didn't think she'd be stupid enough to steal someone's car and drive off, especially when she was having problems walking."
"You didn't think. How typical of you two! Did you think about how much you could have hurt my brother?" Oliver exploded in another fit of temper.
"He's our brother too, Oliver, and we won't allow any one to use a member of our family, no matter what!" Fred and George shouted back in unison.
"Enough you guys. It happened. It's over and done with. She'll be okay eventually. It was only a matter of time before she left me." Harry said softly, breaking into the on going fight. He got up and slowly left the room.
Harry headed into the kitchen and saw Severus hovering over the stove, much like he does over a cauldron. Harry watched the older man work and once again wondered why the man pushed him away. As he watched Severus cook he realized how much he still loved the man, but held firm in his resolve to make the man come to him.
"What did the doctors say, Harry?" While Harry was thinking Severus turned off the stove and turned towards him.
"They don't know when she's going to wake up or even if she's going to remember anything." Harry said with a sigh. "They said they'd have someone call me when she wakes up. Would it be safe for me to assume that you were somewhat involved with Fred and George's little plot?"
"Yes, it is. I over heard her talking to her friends. Protecting you is an ingrained habit after all these years. I never intended for her to be hurt, I just wanted to see her leave you be." Sincerity shown from Severus' eyes, a sight very few people have witnessed over the years.
"I know, Severus. You've never physically hurt someone. You've always favored embarrassing the living daylights out of them." Harry said with a small smile. Harry ran his hand against the back of his neck and unconsciously his hand ran along the necklace Severus gave him over a year ago. "Do you want this back?" Harry went to pull the necklace over his head when Severus' hand stopped him from doing so.
"No. You keep it. Try talking to it someday." Severus brushed his hand gently over Harry's cheek.
"Severus, why did you throw me out?" Harry asked in a broken voice.
"It wasn't because of you, Harry. It was something to do with me." Severus said softly as he moved closer to Harry. "Perhaps, you'll give me chance to start over?"
Before Harry could reply Severus leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against Harry's. The kiss started out gentle and Harry unconsciously opened his mouth allowing Severus to explore at his leisure. They deepened their kiss until both were out of breath. Slowly they broke apart and stared dazedly at each other for several long moments. Severus gave Harry another gentle kiss before he turned and headed for the back door of the cottage.
"I'll stop by tomorrow and see how you're doing. Good night, Harry." Severus turned and left with out giving Harry a moment to reply. Harry could only watch Severus' retreating figure with stunned eyes.
~tbc~
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