Chapter 13: Three Days of Hell

Day 1

Phoenix had several hours to wait before the pain started and let me tell you something about Phoenix: he usually finds waiting boring. However, this time he was appreciating every little second of no pain he had, trying to get back at least a little bit of movement and even trying to slow time down. Of course, that is impossible, so the best he could do was enjoy this non-pain time.

He decided to also use the time to think about his friends, the ones who stuck with him throughout this tough year in which he was constantly ignored and looked down upon by others.

There was Peck of course, the boy who was his friend of seven years. The one who met him on the block one day at the age of eight when Phoenix fell off of his bicycle and couldn't go anywhere. Naturally, Peck went to get help and Phoenix was grateful, so the two became friends. He was also the one who went to White Magic's Academy of Wizards with him for the last five years. The one who didn't ditch him when he made an enemy of Paul. The one who helped Phoenix with making all of those magical weapons. The one who was able to brighten even the most dreary of days with his ever-present humor. The one who Phoenix trusted the most.

Then there was Neville. Phoenix seemed to have made a personal goal of helping him specifically and make him improve both his skills and self-esteem, no matter how hard it would be. His efforts paid off quite nicely, for Neville turned out to be a nice young wizard who could do great things if he set his mind to it. It would be a shame if he couldn't see Neville advance with his life and see where it took him.

The young boy laughed when he thought of Hermione. Now there was a soul full of boundless energy. Well, boundless when you got to talking with her about school and classes. Talk to her about quidditch... well... you may as well be talking to the giant squid. His final thoughts of Hermione ended with all the times that she and Ron flirted in their strange way of arguing incessantly with each other.

Ron. Now THERE was a good lad if he ever saw one. Having to live up to the standards of five older brothers isn't an easy feat, and Ron was rising to the challenge admirably. Not only that, but he also had to live with being poor and constantly wearing second-hand clothes. And then there was the fact he was constantly being shadowed by Harry. Of course, this past year he had gotten into the spotlight more often with Team Matrix, but during all those years he was second to Harry, he didn't mind too much from what Phoenix could tell.

Speaking of Harry, Phoenix thoughts turned to "The Boy Who Lived". In Phoenix's mind, Harry had it worse than Ron did. He had an aunt, uncle, and cousin who hated him to death, he didn't have his parents to turn to, as they were killed by the twisted soul who had Phoenix where he was now. And moreover, he had the two extremes of fame in one school: The Creevey Brothers hero-worshipped him, and Malfoy positively hated him. Then again, Malfoy was an arrogant jerk, so his opinion didn't matter much to Phoenix.

His thoughts then drifted over to Seamus and Dean. Those two seemed to be close friends with each other even before they met Phoenix and Peck. They were quite a dynamic duo when paired up on pranks and from what Phoenix could remember, performed admirably during the siege that happened hours before... again the man behind it was the one who had Phoenix bound to the spot.

Then finally, Phoenix thought of Ginny. And in these thoughts of Ginny did Phoenix find the most warmth. He thought about how he had a silly crush on her since he first laid eyes on her. Of course, he didn't understand what his thoughts were at first, as he had never had a crush before. Then, he remembered distinctly that it was during the Halloween Party that he finally realized his feelings for the girl. Man, he would never forgive himself if he didn't live to tell her that he loved her. Amazing how love can come when you may never again have the chance to tell the girl you love her, isn't it? It was then and there that Phoenix stoutly made up his mind: I am NOT going to die. I don't care what Voldemort says about this Shadow Curse, I will LIVE! I'll do it for Harry, for Ron, for Hermione, for Peck... but most of all, for Ginny.

Apparently, Phoenix had spent quite a long time thinking about his friends, for at that moment, he started to feel pain. Severe pain. Excruciating pain. Pain beyond measure or human comprehension. Okay, maybe that last one was exaggerating, but you get the point... Phoenix's memory came to the Cruciatus Curse Paul had the boy attempt the boy to cast on Peck, and thought that this was how it must've felt to be hit by the curse.

The boy felt like a dart board. He felt like a pincushion. He felt like someone was practicing their knife-throwing on him. He felt like his tendons where being shredded apart, piece by piece, ligament by ligament. He tried to cry out in agony, but found that his mouth STILL couldn't move.

And then, it was over. After about five minutes of the pain... it just suddenly stopped. Phoenix attempted to raise an eyebrow, despite the fact he was still completely paralyzed.

'That CAN'T be all there is...'

And he was right, for the searing pain came back, but this time it was different. Instead of feeling like he was being shredded, Phoenix felt like he was being burned. He felt hot irons pressed against his skin. He felt flames licking his back and calves. He felt white-hot branding irons poking him at various points along his body. Not even the Fire Pill could relieve him of some pain, be it even just a little bit. Tears actually managed to escape the paralysis and well up in his eyes as he continued to feel the pain, but still unable to cringe and try to reduce it.

And again, the pain stopped. Phoenix was starting to sense a pattern: Five minutes of utter torture, then one minute to recuperate for the next round.

And indeed he was right, for the next round did come on after about a minute or so the next wave came on. But this one was neither shredding nor burning... it was something that was, in Phoenix's opinion, far worse: freezing. Icy winds came on in his mind, as did slabs of subzero ice being pressed against his chest and arms. He felt like he was being drenched in Arctic water, over and over again...

The next round of pain was electrifying... literally. Hundreds upon hundreds of volts shot through his arms and legs like bolts of lightning, burning him fully, yet not leaving any visible marks either.

After that came more slicing, but this slicing was more superficial, as Phoenix, much to his horror actually saw cuts open themselves on his arms, hands, and legs. The boy tried to shut his eyes, but of course was unable to move, due to the paralysis that he was once again rudely reminded of...

Ginny, who was previously starting to fall asleep, was jolted upright extremely quickly when she saw red lines appear all over Phoenix's face and arms. Quickly rushing over, she let out a terrified gasp when she saw that the red lines were cuts. Hundreds of them were opening themselves all over his body.

"Pomfrey! POMFREY!"

"What is it child? What is the- Oh my!"

Madam Pomfrey came rushing out when she heard Ginny yelling her name. She, like Ginny, gasped when she saw what was happening to Phoenix.

"C-can you do anything?"

"I can try by getting out a Closure Potion, a paste that seals up small cuts such as these, but I'm not sure if these cuts were opened by dark magic or not."

Pomfrey quickly ran over to her potions cabinet while Ginny continued to stare with wide eyes as even more cuts opened themselves up on Phoenix's skin.

"Hang in there Phoenix, just hang in there."

Phoenix, finally let out a breath (one of the few things he was actually able to do, mind you) as the cutting finally stopped.

'Lemme guess... the next round is a bunch of salt.' He thought wryly.

Much to his surprise (and relief), it WASN'T salt, but it seemed the torture cycle had finished and restarted itself, for it was back to the internal cutting of his ligaments and muscles. However, despite the pain, he started to get a soothing sensation on his skin and attempted to widen his eyes in surprise as his surface cuts started sealing. What he didn't know was that Madam Pomfrey's Closure Potion was doing its work and was even closing his mental cuts as well as his physical ones.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the shredding pain of this round was amplified somewhat, as it seemed slightly more unbearable than he remembered. As did the burning, and the freezing, and the electricity, and even the superficial cuts were deeper than before, but they were closed again after a few minutes. Round three was even more painful.

'Oh dear god, this is gonna be hell...'

The cleanup process of the school had finally been finished fully and completely. Classes had resumed, but there wasn't the usual chatter of happy, carefree students in the hallways. They were all dead silent, thinking about how horrible they had been to Phoenix, Peck, and the students whom they used to call friends. They were also silently hoping that Phoenix would recover.

Well, all of them, that is, except for the Slytherins of course. They didn't care about anyone, unless the person was in their house. And even then, it depended on whether or not that person was liked within the Slytherin house. But now I'm straying from the point.

However, even though they were usually silent, the students frequently apologized to any of Phoenix's friends whenever they saw them. And of course, they apologies were graciously accepted and then the person who was being apologized to (most commonly Peck, as he was Phoenix's closest friend) would thank the other students for taking the time to apologize.

And now, a day had passed and it was nearing the time when exactly one day has passed since Voldemort allegedly killed Phoenix...

Day 2

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS HURTS WORSE THAN RIPPING DUCT TAPE OFF MY LEG! DEAR GOD HELP ME!"

Phoenix was on one of the most painful electric rounds he had received yet. Of course, logic states that it can't be anything BUT the most painful yet, as the pain gets progressively worse. Regardless, the poor boy could've sworn he was being pumped with at least 2000 volts of electricity.

And then it stopped...about only two minutes after it began...

"Oh boy... that can't be a good thing. Well it can, it hopefully means the pain cycle is over, but what I'm worried about is what's next on the lineup."

Yes, Phoenix was now speaking. He'd finally broken the paralysis after some extreme pain and was now curled up into a tiny ball, shaking with pain. And then, he heard a deep booming voice.

"YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO RECOVER, YOU USELESS VERMIN."

Phoenix raised an eyebrow.

"Wonderful, not only do I now feel like I'm in a battle stadium thingy, but the announcer has a sense of sarcasm. Life's just peachy at the moment, ain't it?"

So ten minutes came and went, although they were very much appreciated by the very broken boy. However, Phoenix's thoughts were still on Phase I of the three days of hell. For him, the best part of the torture cycle was the superficial cutting, because each time, he healed a little bit. What was healing him, he didn't know, but the point was that he was becoming healed.

However, quite suddenly, the happy thought of being healed during the cutting evaporated. Phoenix tried and tried to recollect it, but he couldn't.

"Strange, one second I'm remembering... something good... and the next second I'm not..."

And then, he had forgotten about Peck... and Ginny, and Harry, and Ron, and Neville, an' all the rest of his friends. He couldn't remember any of them. Well... except for the time Peck had played that rather nasty prank on him when he sent that army of snowballs at him, and even after they hit, they repacked themselves and hit again. Oh, and he also remembered the time when he accidentally started mumbling Ginny's name in his sleep and the boys mocked him about it for weeks afterwards. That wasn't very nice. In fact, it was downright cruel.

"NO! These... these people are my... friends..."

Suddenly, he couldn't remember his parents, except for the times when they yelled at him. Heck, he couldn't remember Alex, except for, once again, the bad times, like when she'd blame him for something she did.

"Wha... No! Not Alex too!"

The only thing that he could think of that could do this to him was dementors, but when he looked around, he saw none.

The boy frantically tried to think of a way he could fight them off. Something, ANYTHING to ease things up a bit. He then remembered how Harry told him how his godfather, Sirius, had sort of fought off the dementors by thinking neutral thoughts.

"Alright, neutral thought, neutral thought... I can get out of here... wait... that's a good thing, thus making it happy... making what happy? Nuts... Okay... umm... I need to repay Peck the five galleons I owe him for the bet we made a few days ago."

Okay, so maybe that thought was reaching, but it wasn't being sucked out, so it had to work, right?

"But spending an entire day thinking about this bet? Oh man..."

As always, while Phoenix was in his comatose state, Ginny was keeping her constant vigil. Her friends would bring her armloads of books to read while she was waiting, but she never would leave the Hospital Ward. No, not even for breakfast, lunch or dinner... her friends provided that for her too. Sometimes she'd start a conversation with Phoenix. Of course, it was one way, but she hoped he would still be able to hear her. She was about to do so again, tell him about something or other that she found in her book.

"Hey, Phoenix, listen to... this...."

She gave him a weird look. His face was no longer contorted in pain. His jaw had slackened, his body was perfectly straight (instead of being curled up like before), and- were those tears trickling out of his eyes?

Ginny dropped her book and ran over, to get a closer look and such. She didn't notice anything else different other than his facial expressions and the fact that he was flat as a board. She checked his pulse... just like before. She put her hand to his forehead to see if he had a fever or something... it wasn't hot at all.

"P-Pomfrey! Come! Quick!"

And so the Head Nurse (heck, probably the only nurse in the hospital ward) came rushing out and over towards the distressed Ginny.

"What is it, child?"

"L-look at Phoenix!"

And so Madam Pomfrey finally turned her gaze to the boy and her jaw dropped.

"Oh my... let me get my things and see if he's alright. Maybe it's just another phase of his coma."

Ginny nodded and sat down next to where Phoenix's head was resting. She wiped away some of his tears and once again put a hand to his forehead.

"You alright? I hope you're okay in... well... wherever you are. 'Cause if you're not, then Peck's REALLY gonna be mad at you. I mean, for one thing, you still owe him those five galleons (A/N: snickers). But of course, the main reason he would be mad at you is because you let him down. And he'd also be sad of course... so would everyone else. You see Phoenix, you're like the glue of our group. You hold us together. You and Peck are the two hyper ones and the ones who plan most of our fun. And without you, Peck will probably lose his hyperness and become sullen, and then our group might slowly fall apart. I mean, sure we would still be friends, but the whole Team Matrix thing would probably cease to exist."

Ginny paused for a second.

"Speaking of that, I've been thinking of the name Team Matrix... it sounds kind of dumb, y'know? Corny I guess. Don't get me wrong, it's VERY fun to play characters from the Matrix movies, but the name has got to go. So, I think I'll go think of something else now. Good luck with whatever you're doing."

Phoenix was about to give in to the unrelenting and ever-persistent foul thoughts when he felt a soft touch on his forehead. He didn't know what it was... until he heard Ginny's voice yell out for Madam Pomfrey to come.

'GINNY! Maybe she'll give me some words of encouragement or something...'

So he waited for Ginny and Pomfrey to finish their conversation and then felt Ginny put her hand on his forehead again. Then he heard her speak, and so he listened... and when she had finished, his jaw would have dropped if he wasn't paralyzed.

'Holy... she's gonna change the name of Team Matrix? Okay, that wasn't her main point, and I guess it does sound kinda crappy. Ah well. I think her point was that I need to hang in there."

Her speech had given Phoenix a boost in morale. A HUGE boost in morale.

'Alright Voldie, throw anything you want at me. Heck, give me one o' them giants. Or would you prefer to send a whole army perhaps? Doesn't matter you jerk, I'll pull through. You hear me? I'll pull through!'

And so he continued thinking of those five galleons he owed Peck with renewed vigor. Yes, that was all he could think of even now.

The day passed on, classes were now in full swing, homework and all. The dark mood in the school had lightened somewhat. Friends had resumed chatting in hallways and whatnot. However, during mealtimes, everyone's thoughts turned to Phoenix. Most were hoping he would make it. The exception was the Slytherins, who were hoping he was going through as much pain as possible... stupid gits.

Ginny had finally thought up a new name, Los Salvadores, or "The Saviors". She approached her friends with it when they came for their hourly visit to Phoenix and they all agreed. Peck was the one who welcomed it the most, seeing as how it was in Spanish. He thought Spanish was a spiffy language. Why else did he and Phoenix use it for talking to one another in secret?

People made regular visits to Phoenix throughout the day, bringing presents and flowers and little trinkets they thought he would like. Heck some of the students even baked cakes for him. Of course, they put on charms that would prevent the pastries from becoming stale. And so, as the day wore on, Phoenix had close to a mountain of stuff at the foot of his bed. When Harry came with his friends, he snickered to himself. Man, he thought he had loads of stuff when he woke up in his first year after his encounter with Voldemort and the Sorcerer's Stone... Phoenix's pile was twice, almost three times as high.

And so, as people continually came to give Phoenix their best wishes and dropped of gifts for the sleeping boy, he was still going through his mental struggle with the dementors of his curse...

Phoenix felt that he was on Easy Street compared to other victims of this phase of the curse. He doubted the others had people who were almost constantly coming in, saying good luck, and telling of presents they had for him when he woke up. He doubted they had someone who was staying with them throughout the whole ordeal. He doubted they had a nurse standing by to help in any way she could. And above all, He doubted that any of the others thought that they had a hope of pulling through. Of course, Phoenix had all of these things, for which he was very grateful.

However, all good things must come to an end, and Phoenix felt his thought about a five-galleon bet become flooded with all these good thoughts of Peck, Ginny, Neville, and all the rest of his friends. It was very similar to the feeling of pulling really hard on a rope, and then being flung backwards as the force on the other end lets go.

"YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO PREPARE FOR YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE, YOU PIECE OF TRASH."

Phoenix sighed as he heard the voice yell at him again. Wait... did he just sigh? He blinked. Yes, he BLINKED.

"Can I talk? YES!"

He jumped up and down, happy to have regained control of his body once more. What the next challenge was? He didn't know, but he was sure it would be the hardest, being the Grand Finale and all. So, he would make the most of his ten minutes and hope it would last longer if he did fun stuff. But it was usually the opposite case: time flies when you're having fun.

Day 3

Just as Phoenix had thought, those ten minutes seemed like 10 seconds.

"ALRIGHT YOU PITIFUL CREATURE, ARE YOU READY FOR THE FINAL CHALLENGE?"

"Even if I wasn't, I doubt I would have an option to have more rest time..."

"DAMN RIGHT YOU WOULDN'T."

Phoenix sighed. So the voice could actually hear him.

"You can hear me?"

"DAMN RIGHT I CAN."

"Will you stop saying 'damn'?"

"I'LL SAY WHATEVER WHAT I DAMN WELL PLEASE."

"I think you are the dumbest git who I've had the misfortune to meet. You're even worse than Draco Malfoy and Phillip Anderson."

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK OF ME. YOUR TIME IS UP AND YOUR THIRD CHALLENGE WILL BEGIN."

"Whatever."

But apparently this third challenge wasn't a 'whatever challenge', because the world swirled around him, then corrected itself. When the change was completed, Phoenix looked around to see where he was. He had instantly regretted doing so, for what he saw practically killed him.