A/N: Thanks once again to my beta Angel of Death..
Disclaimer: see prologue
Chapter 1
Oliver was startled out of his thoughts, which had once again strolled to his lover of three years, by a tapping noise on the nearby window. Turning around, he saw a brown owl outside, with a letter tied to its leg. He stood up and went over to the window to let the owl in. After relieving it of the letter it carried, he offered the owl a little bit of his breakfast and some water. While the owl rested a bit after the flight and strengthened itself with the offered refreshments, Oliver sat back down in his chair, opened the letter, and read it.
Dear Mr. Wood I ask you to come immediately to the Surrey Hospital in Little Whinging. Mr. Harry Potter is currently on the intensive care unit of the wizarding part of said hospital. I am informing you since I am aware of the fact that the two of you are in a relationship and therefore your presence might help Mr. Potter recover. Poppy Pomfrey
The moment he was finished with reading the letter, he jumped up and ran around gathering everything necessary he would need once he arrived at the hospital. He somehow knew that it had something to do with Harry's relatives, but he hoped that it wouldn't, even if the only other alternative were Death Eaters. Once he had everything he apparated away with a 'crack'.
A few minutes later, a person walked hurriedly into the Surrey Hospital. He looked around searching for any signs showing the way to where he was headed. He had once been to the only other shared hospital and knew that the signs were very well hidden because of ministry regulations. That was also the reason why there were only two such hospitals in existence. The amount of magic placed around the wizarding part was very high and it was very tricky to get it right. Too little could meant that a muggle found his or her way to the magical ward, while too much could influence the muggle technology needed in the hospital. The only reason he knew about all this was because of his father. He had spent a lot of time researching the necessary spells and charms and was even present for the one in London. It had brought his family quiet a sum of money and long lost prestige.
Before he could search further for the wizarding part of the hospital, a woman he recognised from his school days walked up to him.
"Mr. Wood, there you are. I knew that you would be here as soon as you finished reading my letter," said the medi-witch known as Poppy Pomfrey with a small smile, which immediately disappeared when she continued, "I am only glad that I joined the offered training in muggle medicine, or else I wouldn't have been here when Harry arrived yesterday evening. He was very badly injured when he stumbled in."
Flashback The day before, evening
A young man with dark, messy hair slowly staggered into the emergency room. He caught the eye of a few nurses on his way to the reception, but despite all his struggles, he didn't manage to reach it and lost his battle with unconsciousness, fainting in the middle of the room. Within seconds, nurses where by his side, checking him over and putting him on a stretcher. It was lucky that Poppy Pomfrey arrived at exactly the same time to start her work at the hospital for the day. She had recognised his face moments before he hit the ground. She immediately joined the group and directed the stretcher to the wizarding part, where they started to heal his injuries.
End Flashback.
"My sister works here too, and I asked her to make sure that only the people who absolutely had to know his name did, and that those who know won't say anything to the press. We worked nearly the whole night on him, it was pretty close. Had he come a little later, he would not be as well off, and his chances would be near zero. As it is, they are normal. Naturally, I wrote you as soon as I had enough time to write a letter," finished the witch. All the while, they kept walking through the hallways. By the time the last of her explanation was told, they had arrived in front of a typical hospital door, leading to one of the many bedrooms. On the door was a painted '158'.
"This is the room Harry is staying in. Before you go in, I want to warn you. Although he is as well as can be expected, he does not look very nice, but the majority are scars we were unable to heal since we already used all the magic we could to heal his other injuries," With these words, the witch turned around and went the other way to do whatever she did there.
He slowly opened the door, trying to be as quiet as possible, and entered the room. Despite his prior knowledge about Harry's relationship with the Dursleys and the warning of Hogwarts' medi-witch, he was shocked. Every visible part of his love's body was covered with scars, and he could determine that Harry had difficulties breathing by the sounds he emitted. He wondered what changed the behaviour of the young man's relatives so much that they would injure him this gravely, because he was never hurt as much before. At least not to Oliver's knowledge which only covered the time since Harry had first started at Hogwarts. He vaguely remembered a conversation with the hero of many, where he was told that it started getting better ever since he got his first Hogwarts letter and went to the wizarding boarding school. So what happened to change the way he lived? He looked around the room and seeing a chair in one corner, he went over and fetched it. He placed the chair next to the bed and sat down. He carefully took Harry's hand in his and started stroking the back with this thumb.
In a quiet voice he started speaking to him, wondering whether his words would be heard or not: "Oh, Harry why do the bad things always happen to you? You should get a break. I wonder how you can stand it and still be so nice. I've seen people get mean because of such things. You don't deserve to lie in a hospital, fighting for your life. You should be out there, playing Quidditch with your friends, not lying here in bed. I hope you get better soon, 'cause I'd have no clue what to do without you. Get better."
Disclaimer: see prologue
Chapter 1
Oliver was startled out of his thoughts, which had once again strolled to his lover of three years, by a tapping noise on the nearby window. Turning around, he saw a brown owl outside, with a letter tied to its leg. He stood up and went over to the window to let the owl in. After relieving it of the letter it carried, he offered the owl a little bit of his breakfast and some water. While the owl rested a bit after the flight and strengthened itself with the offered refreshments, Oliver sat back down in his chair, opened the letter, and read it.
Dear Mr. Wood I ask you to come immediately to the Surrey Hospital in Little Whinging. Mr. Harry Potter is currently on the intensive care unit of the wizarding part of said hospital. I am informing you since I am aware of the fact that the two of you are in a relationship and therefore your presence might help Mr. Potter recover. Poppy Pomfrey
The moment he was finished with reading the letter, he jumped up and ran around gathering everything necessary he would need once he arrived at the hospital. He somehow knew that it had something to do with Harry's relatives, but he hoped that it wouldn't, even if the only other alternative were Death Eaters. Once he had everything he apparated away with a 'crack'.
A few minutes later, a person walked hurriedly into the Surrey Hospital. He looked around searching for any signs showing the way to where he was headed. He had once been to the only other shared hospital and knew that the signs were very well hidden because of ministry regulations. That was also the reason why there were only two such hospitals in existence. The amount of magic placed around the wizarding part was very high and it was very tricky to get it right. Too little could meant that a muggle found his or her way to the magical ward, while too much could influence the muggle technology needed in the hospital. The only reason he knew about all this was because of his father. He had spent a lot of time researching the necessary spells and charms and was even present for the one in London. It had brought his family quiet a sum of money and long lost prestige.
Before he could search further for the wizarding part of the hospital, a woman he recognised from his school days walked up to him.
"Mr. Wood, there you are. I knew that you would be here as soon as you finished reading my letter," said the medi-witch known as Poppy Pomfrey with a small smile, which immediately disappeared when she continued, "I am only glad that I joined the offered training in muggle medicine, or else I wouldn't have been here when Harry arrived yesterday evening. He was very badly injured when he stumbled in."
Flashback The day before, evening
A young man with dark, messy hair slowly staggered into the emergency room. He caught the eye of a few nurses on his way to the reception, but despite all his struggles, he didn't manage to reach it and lost his battle with unconsciousness, fainting in the middle of the room. Within seconds, nurses where by his side, checking him over and putting him on a stretcher. It was lucky that Poppy Pomfrey arrived at exactly the same time to start her work at the hospital for the day. She had recognised his face moments before he hit the ground. She immediately joined the group and directed the stretcher to the wizarding part, where they started to heal his injuries.
End Flashback.
"My sister works here too, and I asked her to make sure that only the people who absolutely had to know his name did, and that those who know won't say anything to the press. We worked nearly the whole night on him, it was pretty close. Had he come a little later, he would not be as well off, and his chances would be near zero. As it is, they are normal. Naturally, I wrote you as soon as I had enough time to write a letter," finished the witch. All the while, they kept walking through the hallways. By the time the last of her explanation was told, they had arrived in front of a typical hospital door, leading to one of the many bedrooms. On the door was a painted '158'.
"This is the room Harry is staying in. Before you go in, I want to warn you. Although he is as well as can be expected, he does not look very nice, but the majority are scars we were unable to heal since we already used all the magic we could to heal his other injuries," With these words, the witch turned around and went the other way to do whatever she did there.
He slowly opened the door, trying to be as quiet as possible, and entered the room. Despite his prior knowledge about Harry's relationship with the Dursleys and the warning of Hogwarts' medi-witch, he was shocked. Every visible part of his love's body was covered with scars, and he could determine that Harry had difficulties breathing by the sounds he emitted. He wondered what changed the behaviour of the young man's relatives so much that they would injure him this gravely, because he was never hurt as much before. At least not to Oliver's knowledge which only covered the time since Harry had first started at Hogwarts. He vaguely remembered a conversation with the hero of many, where he was told that it started getting better ever since he got his first Hogwarts letter and went to the wizarding boarding school. So what happened to change the way he lived? He looked around the room and seeing a chair in one corner, he went over and fetched it. He placed the chair next to the bed and sat down. He carefully took Harry's hand in his and started stroking the back with this thumb.
In a quiet voice he started speaking to him, wondering whether his words would be heard or not: "Oh, Harry why do the bad things always happen to you? You should get a break. I wonder how you can stand it and still be so nice. I've seen people get mean because of such things. You don't deserve to lie in a hospital, fighting for your life. You should be out there, playing Quidditch with your friends, not lying here in bed. I hope you get better soon, 'cause I'd have no clue what to do without you. Get better."