November 8, 2003
Disclaimer: I, TiniTinuviel, am in no way associated with Ms. J.K Rowling, Scholastic Books, or Warner Bros. Harry Potter and all of it's characters, etc. belong, in turn, to all of the aforementioned parties and their subsidiaries. I claim nothing save for the particular plot of this piece of fan fiction and selected characters, namely Eleanor, Kyren Whitford, and Larna.
*Author Notes*: Holy crap, it's been like what, two months? I am soooo sorry! But I have good reasons! I wasn't kidding when I said that homework was beating me to a bloody pulp! Add working on two theatre productions at the same time and you end up with a very disgruntled and bitter Tini! (Not a good thing…) But! I have managed to secure time this weekend to finish writing this chapter and posting it for all of you because I love you all sooooooooo much! So I won't waste any more of your time with my ramblings! Go! Read! :D
~*~
"Wait, what? Harry, calm down."
"No, I need to speak with him right away! It's an emergency!"
Sitting up in bed, Harry was quickly calling out his plea. Panicked and breathing quickly, Eleanor could barely make out his words as his hands reached for both his head and his chest.
"No Harry, what's an emergency right now is that all of your monitors are off the charts now you need to calm down, take a deep breath. Just relax for a second," she said, turning the volume down on the screens. Swiftly, she sat down on the edge of his bed, lightly trying to pull his hands down but to no avail. "Now, what's going on?"
"He knows how to get in. They're going to come for Hogwarts. Soon. We have to hurry and tell them before it's too late."
"Who?"
"The Professors! Please Eleanor, we have to hurry!"
"Is this what you couldn't-"
"Yes! Can we please just…" he trailed off, close to agonized tears swelled with pain and frustration. Suddenly, everything disappeared and he bent over double in his bed.
"Whoa, Harry, okay" she said, grabbing at him as quickly as he began to fall. Leaning him against her side, she placed her fingers against his throat, feeling his pulse pounding beneath the tips. His face was ashen, forehead holding a cold sweat that lingered against her open palm. Not fearing anything to be seriously wrong, she sat holding him up, rocking him back into coherency. "Don't worry, we'll get them here. Just relax," she soothed. Pushing the nurse call button, Larna strode in almost immediately.
"Hey, what's going on?" she asked as the scene unfolded before her. "Is everything alright?"
"Can you go get Professor Dumbledore, please?" Eleanor asked without hesitation, and with a glance at Harry added, "and his godfather, too, I think."
"Of course," she replied and left just as quickly as she had arrived.
"What is it?" Eleanor asked after a moment.
"I don't know," he sniffed, picking his head up from her shoulder. "Everything just went black really quickly."
"Your blood count's low. See that transfusion in your arm? You need to take it easy for awhile; your body can't handle you being so worked up yet."
He nodded.
"You alright?" she asked softly, inspecting his face with her eyes, "Does anything hurt?"
"Yeah," he said plainly, and fought to focus on his lap.
"Well, I didn't mean like that," she stuttered, embarrassed, "you know, obviously… but-"
"Yeah," he agreed. He knew exactly what she meant.
"Do you feel sick? Headache? Dizzy?" she asked.
He murmured a yes, a hand drawn firmly to head, the other hanging limply at his side.
She glanced at his right hand lying dully on the covers, open and still, and returned her gaze to the hand at eye level. Fighting vainly to rub away the headache, all she could do was watch on in pity. After a moment she spoke out.
"Just lay back and rest, love. I want you to stay as calm and as still as possible until they get here. They should arrive at any minute. I'm going to go downstairs and wait for them, so they don't get lost on the way up. Is that alright with you?" She didn't want to leave him alone if he didn't want it.
"Sure," he said, still clutching his forehead and slowly returned to his curled position on his side as she eased him down. She placed her fingers on his back lightly, rubbing them along his spine, feeling the welted scabs that lay just beneath his thin shirt and said, "Don't worry. I'll be right back," and she was gone.
Doing as she said, he lay perfectly still, rubbing his forehead in an effort to make the pain go away. His vision swam in and out of focus, blackening and returning to normal in a continuous cycle. His right arm was tingling and he distantly thought, 'What a time for my arm to fall asleep.' But more than that, he was thinking about school. Images of his friends and the massacre that could happen at Hogwarts lingered dangerously in his mind. He could see the portraits burning and the students fleeing in fear. Another basilisk roaming freely, killing any who were foolish enough to gaze into its eyes. The professors fighting vainly to keep the Death Eaters and Dementors at bay, but who knew how many there were now? There could be thousands! They would overrun Hogwarts as if it was nothing. Few would survive, others would be imprisoned. He could see his dead classmates piled on the grounds near Hagrid's hut and the beasts of the forest coming to look on, or worse yet, to eat. The faces of his friends drifted to the front of his mind, somber and pleading.
'Professor Dumbledore won't let anything happen to them,' he chided himself. 'They'll be fine. Just don't think about it,' he kept telling himself. 'Just don't think about it.'
"Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore said, "Harry?" He nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn't even heard the wizened old man enter, and here he was, sitting right if front of him, a hand resting lightly on his arm.
He looked up through hazy vision, the old wizard looked down, spectacles making everything clear. "How are you feeling? They wouldn't let us in earlier. We could see you, but weren't allowed in here."
Harry just shook his head. He couldn't be bothered with formalities or how he was feeling. His friends and his home were in danger. Instead, he let the words pour out, washing over each other likes the waves of the sea. He told him everything he remembered from the dream, right to the very last detail. When he was finished, Dumbledore hummed softly, thinking deeply before finally saying, "Don't worry about it. The school will stay as safe as always, even more so now, thanks to you. I'll send an owl to the Weasley twins. See if I can get that map of theirs to make sure all the passageways are blocked."
Harry looked at him in awe. He knew about the Marauder's Map?
"I may not know every passage in the castle, but I know what my students are up to," he supplied with a wink, not missing the dumbstruck look on Harry's face. "I've known about the Marauder's Map ever since The Marauders made it. It was always so much more entertaining to let them keep it than to take it away."
"You better look in my trunk then. Fred and George gave it to me about three years ago," he choked out.
"Of course. How could I have forgotten?" He paused for a bit, thinking back on all of the trouble that Harry and his friends had gotten into that they wouldn't have achieved without the illustrious map. But when he looked up, he was a shocked. The younger's eyes were closed tightly and he was breathing rapidly. "Harry, are you feeling alright?" he asked quickly, "You're as white as a ghost." He reached a hand up to Harry's forehead. Dumbledore said something else but Harry couldn't understand a word through the pain. All he knew was that his headache suddenly became unbearably worse.
~*~
"Where is he?" Sirius asked as he walked swiftly down the hallway, taking off his scarf as he went with Eleanor trailing behind him.
"He's still in his room. He was feeling off when I left him but he should be fine." 'It's amazing,' she thought, 'just how quickly Harry's godfather seems to switch emotions.' Indeed Sirius was all business with this new worry washing upon him, but not one to entice the tears again.
But as they approached Room 293, it was to the sight of Kyren, Larna and both of Harry's doctors rushing into his room.
"Oh God," Sirius murmured and they both pelted down the remaining corridor to the window of Harry's room. He was convulsing, seizing violently while they milled around him, trying to find some way to ease him. Sirius pushed his way into the room and straight for Harry's bedside, taking his hand with his left and placing his right on his forehead. "What's happening?"
"We don't know yet," one of the doctors said quickly.
"It's a seizure for sure, but from what we don't know," Larna added.
"Step back," Eleanor told him quietly, pulling him back towards the wall. "They can't work if you're standing right there."
Sirius did as he was told and watched apprehensively as one of the doctors put a syringe-worth's full of fluid into his IV, trying anything they could think of to make him stop.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the seizure stopped and Harry gave a loud gasp of air, eyes wide in shock. He fought to breathe normally but just as suddenly as it had stopped, his emerald eyes rolled back and he fell lifeless back into his pillows once more.
"Harry!" Sirius cried, stepping forward once more.
"No, Sirius," she said, grabbing his arm, "just let them do their job. You'll have plenty of time to see him."
And so he stood against the wall, Eleanor at his side, and watched as they continued to circle him, slowly bringing him back to life. A small gasp of air signified his awakening and one of the men, Dr. Gibbs started asking him little questions, like "What is your name," "How old are you," and "Do you know where you are?" while the others continued bustling about. But Harry wasn't responding. He just lay in his bed mutely, uncomprehending, looking small and exhausted. His eyes gave nothing away; they were completely blank.
"Let's get him in for a MRI," Dr. Jules stated, "and call for an ECG and an x-ray." They began taking Harry off of every machine in the room, letting all of the spells down that surrounded him, and began to wheel him out of the room. Sirius started off the wall again.
"No!" he said as Eleanor pulled him back for the third time, "I will not leave him again!" but another arm pulled him back as well.
"Sirius, just wait." He turned to see Professor Dumbledore standing further back, concern filling his voice. "She's right. They need room to work."
"Why can't we just follow? Surely there's nothing wrong with that?" he pleaded.
"We can follow. We just need to stay out of the way," she explained.
"That's fine," Sirius said, "I can do that. I don't want him out of my sight again."
"Let's go then," she said and the three of them made their way quickly down the hallway, following in the wake of the doctors and nurses.
~*~
What seemed like ages later, Harry was brought back to his room. Sirius and Dumbledore stayed with him while Eleanor and the other hospital staff broke off into another room to discuss the lab results. Harry was sleeping but they weren't sure whether to be happy or upset about that. Sirius sat at his bedside, holding his hand as he slept, gazing at the strange purple guard on his arm, while Dumbledore sat at a small, round table at the opposite end of the room.
"I'm sure he'll be fine Sirius," Dumbledore said quietly, their conversations on a much more subdued and brief level since the incident.
"How can you be sure?" he asked sadly.
"With all that Harry's gotten in to, he's always come out just fine. Nothing has ever held him down before. Why should anything hold him down now?"
"But everything in the past was external. This was his body against himself. It's an entirely different matter."
"That's very true," he replied with a sigh. He looked down at the table in front of him. In the silence he could hear the spells at work, the young boy's and Sirius's breathing, and his own thoughts, so loud in the stillness that engulfed them. To distract himself he asked, "So, what are the numbers reading?"
"What numbers?" Sirius asked, being pulled out of his own thoughts.
"The numbers on his arm. What are they?"
"Um, it looks like a seventy-six and a nine. Why? Do you know what they mean?"
Dumbledore sighed. "It's a measuring tool. The numbers between one and one-hundred are a measure of how much pain he's in, one-hundred being unbearably painful, one being perfectly fine. It spiked one-hundred when the seizure started. It would probably be higher now except that they keep giving him that potion that makes him feel better."
"You were here when it happened?" he asked incredulously.
"I'm afraid so, yes," the old man replied. "He was telling me about some strange vision that he had. Shortly after he finished it just swallowed him up. He was helpless after that. I'm sure he would have waited for you to arrive as well, but he seemed so apprehensive about it all that it just spilled right out of him."
Sirius nodded. "What did he tell you?"
"Voldemort is planning an attack against Hogwarts."
"But he's made dozens of these threats. Even back when I was a student the threats were present."
"That's true," he began, "but now it appears we have another problem."
"What do you mean? How?"
"Harry says that he saw another man speaking with Voldermort who seemed to hold power over him. This figure… Harry was much more" he searched for the word, "more… forceful about the danger that lies ahead and more urgent that this man can do anything. From Harry's description, it sounds like this man has enough power and skills as a spy then all of the ministry combined. But he's only one man, not a group that we know of. I'm not really sure what to make of this."
Sirius didn't know what to say. Instead, he contemplated how truthful this vision could have been considering everything that had happened to him in the last week. It was possible that it was just a nightmare, wasn't it?
"Do you think it's true Albus?" he asked after a moment.
"I don't know, but I'm not taking any chances. That map of yours is going to be put to use for the forces of good for awhile. We're going to use it to make sure all of those hidden passageways are blocked. Hope you don't mind."
"Not at all." After a pause he added, "I can't seem to decide what I think of that map."
"Why do you say that?" Dumbledore asked.
"All it ever did was get us into trouble and create dangerous situations. We could have seriously hurt somebody on one of our midnight raids."
"Yes, you could have," he answered honestly, "but think of it now. If Riddle really can get in through the secret passageways then your exploits can be redeemed. If we can stop him with the help of that map, then the danger will be worth the outcome."
Sirius carefully smiled. Dumbledore always knew the right thing to say. "You really are the wisest wizard on this planet, you know that?" he said.
"That's why they put me on the chocolate frog cards."
Laughing quietly, he directed his gaze back to his godson once more.
"What's the other one?" he asked.
"Pardon?"
"The other dial. On his arm. What is it?"
Dumbledore sighed. "The other is how much discomfort he's feeling, ten being the worst and one being no discomfort. You said it's a nine?" he asked. Sirius nodded, holding his hand a bit tighter, and then wondered if he should be doing it at all. The last thing he wanted was to make him feel any worse. He let go of his hand, watching the dials but nothing changed. He took his hand again and still they stayed the same. He sighed. "Poor Harry."
"Yeah," Sirius repeated. "Poor Harry."
Just then, Dr. Jules and Eleanor walked in, the former looking very professional, the latter looking a bit solemn and nervous.
"What?" Sirius asked quickly, not missing the aura that came in with them. "What is it?"
Closing the door, Eleanor took a chair by Dumbledore and Dr. Jules sat on a chair opposite Sirius beside Harry.
"It was a stroke, Sirius," Eleanor told him slowly, afraid saying anything quickly would pass right by.
"A- a- stroke?" he stuttered. "I thought that-"
"That only old people have strokes?" Dr. Jules cut in. "No, that's a common misconception. Some strokes can happen because of a ruptured vein in the brain or simply because of blood clotting within the veins. What happens with a stroke," he continued, taking out his wand and animating his descriptions in the air as he went, "is that one of those blood clots travels through your blood stream and when it gets to your brain it gets stuck, cutting off the blood supply to whatever portion of the brain it is around. Since the brain isn't getting any blood, and thus oxygen, it starts dying, at least a part of it. Depending on the area, the victim can suffer paralysis, loss of senses, even death." Sirius squeezed Harry's hand a little tighter, taken aback by the straightforward report of his godson's affliction.
"What do you think caused this one?"
"Well, we know for sure that it was an embolic stroke which is a blood clot stroke. It may have been caused by a combination of things. Harry certainly had a head injury which doesn't help the situation, but with all of the scabs on his back and his neck, I wouldn't be surprised if the clotting there contributed. It would make sense," he said. His next words were said carefully and seriously. "But then we also found magical traces in his blood, which means that somebody could have caused this. It might not be natural at all."
"What?" Sirius asked. "How? Who? Is there a way to tell?"
"Not yet, no," Dr. Jules replied. "The only thing that we do know is that the person that caused it had to have come into contact with him recently. Unfortunately, with this spell, "recently" means within the last few days. It could have been anybody."
"Well, how long does it take for the spell to take effect? Couldn't we at least narrow it down that way?" he countered with strong determination.
"Unfortunately no. Putting the spell into action can be any time within a week. It can be triggered from any distance. Making contact is only to establish who the spell will affect."
Sirius sat silently, searching for ideas but coming up with nothing.
"We've done some tests on him and it looks like he should pull through perfectly fine. It may take a while of physical rehabilitation, but there wasn't much damage done since it was caught so early. We've given him some anti-clotting medication which is good for him. However, he may appear out of it for awhile," Eleanor added.
"How long is 'awhile?'" Dumbledore asked.
"We don't know," and sighs rolled around the room.
"For some people," Dr. Jules continued, "speech and movement can come back immediately; some people never recover. But you have to know, some people can have a stroke and not even know about it because it is so minor. Every stroke is different, and I must point out, not all strokes come with seizures. That just sort of happened to be a by-product of Harry's."
"Is there anything that we can do about it? Anything at all?" Sirius asked.
"We can try to heal some of the matter that was damaged when it happened, but even wizards don't know that much about the brain and how it functions. For the most part, I'm afraid we will just have to let it run its course," he said, Eleanor oddly silent.
He sunk in his chair. 'How could this be happening? He's only sixteen years old. This isn't supposed to happen to kids like him. He doesn't deserve it.'
Everyone could read the look on Sirius' face from a mile away. Nobody knew what to say. After awhile Dr. Jules spoke up again.
"Sirius, why don't you stay here in case he wakes up and is alert? It would be good for him to see a familiar face when he comes to instead of a complete stranger." It was probably a mistake to even suggest it. Harry might not pull out of it. Ever. Phrasing it like that made it seem like he would wake up in the morning just like any other day.
Sirius only nodded, leaning forward to rest his chin on his hand that held Harry's.
"Are you going to be okay? Do you want us to call someone for you?"
"Oh, no!" he cried, sitting up, "I was supposed to call Remus if anything happened! He's going to be so upset with me."
"Don't worry about it," Dumbledore said immediately, "I need to go back to the school anyway. I'll let him know as soon as I arrive. I'm sure he'll understand."
"No, I need to talk to him. I promised. I can't go back on that now. Albus, will you stay here with him for a moment? I shouldn't take very long," he said.
"Of course."
"Thank you. You do have a fire that I can use, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," Eleanor replied, "come with me," and she headed towards the door.
"I'll be right back," he said, giving Harry's hand a tight squeeze, and following the nurse to the hallway.
As Sirius walked out the door, Dumbledore assumed his place at the youngest's bedside, inspecting his face for any trace of emotion.
"You said you think he'll make a full recovery?"
"Yes, but how long it will take is another matter. If he's willing and if he wants to fight it, it will come quicker, but if his morale is low, it could take the rest of his life. We try to encourage them as much as possible to get better. Many feel like they have nothing to live for anymore," he explained.
"He'll make it," Dumbledore said passively. "I know he will."
~*~
A/N: All information on strokes and seizures has come from iMcKesson Clinical Reference Products: Senior Health Advisor 5.0. Copyright © 1995-2000 iMcKesson LLC. (Sorry, the web address won't load.) If you would like more information on these topics or other medical maladies, I suggest this website for a good overview.
*As always, I have been in haste to get this chapter up and out in the little time that I scrape together so if something is horribly wrong with it, especially in a logical sense, please let me know so that I can fix it.
Also, I'm going to go back in a few days and replace this chapter into the Chapter 5 slot in place of the author's note… just so you know!
Review reviews: (I maintain this is the best part of writing!)
Angeltears3: Thank you! Sorry you don't care for the crying, but don't worry, although I am notorious for Harry abuse, things will start looking up in the future! And thanks for trying to help with the "write on the weekends" idea… sadly, even my weekends are over-consumed with homework!
NightSpear: Haha! Thank you for liking my Voldemort and stranger sequence… I'm so tricky! *lol* I'm hoping to bring in the whole motley crew sooner or later. I'll have to see where the muse takes me. And thank you so much for telling me how to spell "captor." For real! I have been looking at that going, "why doesn't that LOOK right?!" and now I know! *lol* ~sigh~ It takes talent to be this dumb sometimes! How's Phoenix coming? Laters!
Usagichan: Thanks for liking it! And sorry I've been MIA lately… Our Town/subUrbia has been torture! And where is The One? Been too busy lately? Hope to see more soon! See ya later!
o Hell o Kitty o: Hello! I'm so glad you like my detail! Sometimes I'm worried there isn't enough! And thanks for liking my story! Sorry it took so long! Hope to see you again in the future!
Tayce: Hurray! More story! I love your review! It cracks me up! But yep, someone's holding the leash on Voldie… dun, dun, DUN! Hope this has satisfied the thirst for now… Hopefully there will be more soon!
ParanoiaIn2005: I'm sooo sorry that this chapter didn't get up as fast as chapter 4. But thanks for reading!
Princess Sabre: Hello! I noticed that I'm on your favorites list, but I've never gotten a review from you… but that's okay! As long as you like it! And thank you! You don't know how good that feels!
All you other cool cats out in fandom: Thanks for stoppin' by and havin' a read! As always, I try to update but quickly, but well, as you can see, time is very limited in the world of Tini. Hope to see you soon! And may all of your days be bright!
~Tini :D