Disclaimer: see prologue
A/N: Thanks to my Beta Angel of Death... It is always funny to see the corrected version and think about all the silly mistakes I made... I also wanted to say sorry... I had planned to get this posted as soon as I was finished with correcting it, but then I had exams and totally forgot about it...
Chapter 2
Every free moment he had since he got the letter a few weeks ago was spent at the hospital speaking to Harry, hoping that he would awaken. He was desperate for him to wake, for every minute he spent in the coma meant that the chances of him ever waking up again were sinking. But this waiting was nothing against the depression that was starting to replace the hope he tried to hold onto.
As always he was sitting on his usual chair next to Harry's bed, holding his lover's hand and begging him to wake up, trying to get a response by telling him stories of what happened lately. He was so caught up in his little speech that he didn't feel the twitch of the hand he was holding. Nor did he notice the emerald-green eyes slowly opening and closing, before opening for good.
The first thing Harry was aware of was a soft voice speaking. He wasn't able to understand what it said, but the sound alone was already comforting enough. It lulled him into feeling completely safe, therefore it could not be any of his relatives, but he was sure that he knew the voice from somewhere. It reminded him of nights spent in warmth and comfort. Having listened to the voice for some time he became curious and wanted to know who was speaking to him, for he did not know many people that woke feelings like this in him. He fought hard to open his eyes, but once they were open, they closed again within seconds. While the light was not overly bright it was still too much for his eyes, which were used to being closed. He once again worked hard to open his eyes, and this time they did not react as violently to the light as they did the first time. Being able to look around, as far as his bad eyesight allowed he took in his surroundings. The first things he saw were the white walls, which reminded him of the hospital wing at Hogwarts. He wondered how he had gotten to the school, when he suddenly remembered his trek to the Surrey Hospital, and came to the conclusion that he must be in one of the rooms for the patients who had to stay for longer. The next thing he focused on was a blurry blot which he was able to identify as a human being. Unfortunately, his eyesight didn't allow him a more specific identification beyond this. He wondered who would speak to him in the muggle world, since he doubted that the nurses would have the time to sit with every patient. Thinking that the best way to find out who sat next to his bed was by asking the person, he tried to speak. What he did not consider, however, was his dry throat, which wouldn't allow him to make a single sound. Not wanting to give up, but realising that trying to speak would be futile, he thought about other ways to get the attention of his mysterious visitor.
While letting himself be calmed by the hand holding his own, inspiration suddenly struck. He had the perfect way to make himself known by squeezing the hand of his guest! Within seconds he tried to put his plan into action while berating himself for not thinking about this earlier.
To his own surprise, he managed to squeeze the hand holding his on his first try, which was a wonder in itself since he was still exhausted from opening his eyes. Nonetheless, it had the required effect, as the head turned in his direction and he heard his name being said in surprise. He did not need his glasses to recognise the person sitting next to him the voice was already enough, now that his visitor had spoken louder than before. He would recognise the voice everywhere and it meant that the man waiting for him to wake up was none other than his boyfriend, Oliver Wood. He was glad that he was here, but could not help himself wondering how he knew about him being here.
Before he could further contemplate this a sudden need overrode his thoughts. He wanted to be in the arms of the man he fell in love with all those years ago, wanted to be comforted after what happened in the last months, starting with the loss of his friends and ending with his escape from the Dursleys.
Oliver was telling Harry some anecdotes about his last Quidditch training session, when he suddenly felt his hand being squeezed lightly. Surprised, he turned around and said, "Harry?!"
He was so ecstatic about this turn of events that he didn't know what to do or say in the first minutes. Seeing Harry move, or at least try to, brought him back to reality. Immediately he stood up and used the call button next to the bed to call attention to the room, which would alert Poppy. Once he had pressed the little button, he picked up Harry's glasses, which where placed on the bedside drawer, and placed them in front of his lover's eyes so that he could see the things around him more clearly. Instead of sitting back down in the chair where he sat numerous hours in the last weeks, he opted to sit closer to the man that meant so much to him, choosing the bed as his new 'chair'. Not wanting to hurt Harry more than he already was, Oliver carefully stroked his cheek instead of taking him in his arms as he longed to do.
It did not take long for Poppy to appear in the room, having been in the nurse room, where she immediately saw that she was being called. She was glad to finally see Harry awake again. While she had tried to show Oliver Wood how optimistic she was about her patient's recovery, she had feared the worst.
"It's good that you're finally awake, Mr. Potter. I was worried that you might not wake up." was the first thing she said, getting Harry's attention,"Mr. Wood, if you could fetch a glass of water? I am sure Harry here is parched after being in a coma for so long."
Within a minute, Harry was slowly sipping water from the glass Oliver was holding carefully to his lips, trying not to have him drink so much that it wouldn't fit in his mouth. When Harry had had enough to drink, which he signalled to Oliver, he was about to ask where he was and how they managed to find him, when Poppy prevented it by asking a question of her own,
"How are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere? And most importantly: Where did these injuries come from?"
Harry knew from his previous stays under the witch's watchful eye that it was better to be honest, so he answered truthfully: "Everything kind of hurts, but I am feeling better than before. And to answer your last question... I..."
Harry paused. He did not want to reveal what his uncle did to anyone. If he said what happened, more questions would be asked. Questions he most definitely would prefer not to answer. He already had trouble telling Oliver, whom he loved and who was close to his age, which made it possible for him to trust, something he had learned early on not to do when faced with grown-ups.
Oliver, knowing what Harry thought, tried to encourage him by giving a reason to trust the witch, "It would be better to tell her than face her anger... and I believe you know ways to make sure only people you tell will know. Besides, she first found you walking into the muggle part of the hospital and once she recognised you, she made sure that the other witches and wizards here either don't know about who you are or are not going to tell anybody else..."
Although it didn't change the fact that Harry did not want to tell anyone, it gave him reason to at least try and trust her enough. He wasn't sure whether he would be able to talk about it. It carried far too many memories, memories he wanted to forget. He looked up once again, searching for support from Oliver, which he got in the form of a short hug. He also could feel his hand being squeezed for further encouragement.
"Well... You see... my uncle got kinda mad this summer..." started Harry started to say. While he was stuttering his story together Poppy looked at Oliver, who was still holding the young man, and saw him a raise a brow, as if he knew something that she didn't. She wondered about it for a second, but shoved it away in favour of listening to what Harry had to say.
Wetting his lips Harry continued: "Well... he found out about me being gay... because of a big mistake I made at the end of school... probably the worst I ever made..." the last thing was spoken more to himself, but Poppy could still hear it. She wondered what the mistake was, but thought that she could ask later.
"As I said, he found out and... and...he decided that... " Before Poppy could ask him to continue, he told Oliver that he could not think about it and that he could not continue. Wanting to voice her opinion that she was in need to know to prevent a possible repeat, Poppy was startled out of her thoughts when she heard the former Quidditch Captain ask whether he was allowed to tell her, with the promise that Harry wouldn't have to listen. For some time there was no response, then Harry started to nod slowly but more and more certain with time.
"Make sure that..." Harry started to say, only to be interrupted by Oliver saying, "Don't worry, I will."
She was curious about what Oliver should make sure, but shoved the thought away thinking that she would find out soon.
TBC...
Review Responses:
Kayla: Here is more... *g* took me long enough to actually post it...
linny: Explanations will come in later chapters... and yes... it was kept a secret... more details will come soon...
KittenBabyGirl: Harry will be getting better... He is already awake by now...
And now if you would please press the little button down there were review stands on and tell me your opinion... I would be delighted to know what you think...
A/N: Thanks to my Beta Angel of Death... It is always funny to see the corrected version and think about all the silly mistakes I made... I also wanted to say sorry... I had planned to get this posted as soon as I was finished with correcting it, but then I had exams and totally forgot about it...
Chapter 2
Every free moment he had since he got the letter a few weeks ago was spent at the hospital speaking to Harry, hoping that he would awaken. He was desperate for him to wake, for every minute he spent in the coma meant that the chances of him ever waking up again were sinking. But this waiting was nothing against the depression that was starting to replace the hope he tried to hold onto.
As always he was sitting on his usual chair next to Harry's bed, holding his lover's hand and begging him to wake up, trying to get a response by telling him stories of what happened lately. He was so caught up in his little speech that he didn't feel the twitch of the hand he was holding. Nor did he notice the emerald-green eyes slowly opening and closing, before opening for good.
The first thing Harry was aware of was a soft voice speaking. He wasn't able to understand what it said, but the sound alone was already comforting enough. It lulled him into feeling completely safe, therefore it could not be any of his relatives, but he was sure that he knew the voice from somewhere. It reminded him of nights spent in warmth and comfort. Having listened to the voice for some time he became curious and wanted to know who was speaking to him, for he did not know many people that woke feelings like this in him. He fought hard to open his eyes, but once they were open, they closed again within seconds. While the light was not overly bright it was still too much for his eyes, which were used to being closed. He once again worked hard to open his eyes, and this time they did not react as violently to the light as they did the first time. Being able to look around, as far as his bad eyesight allowed he took in his surroundings. The first things he saw were the white walls, which reminded him of the hospital wing at Hogwarts. He wondered how he had gotten to the school, when he suddenly remembered his trek to the Surrey Hospital, and came to the conclusion that he must be in one of the rooms for the patients who had to stay for longer. The next thing he focused on was a blurry blot which he was able to identify as a human being. Unfortunately, his eyesight didn't allow him a more specific identification beyond this. He wondered who would speak to him in the muggle world, since he doubted that the nurses would have the time to sit with every patient. Thinking that the best way to find out who sat next to his bed was by asking the person, he tried to speak. What he did not consider, however, was his dry throat, which wouldn't allow him to make a single sound. Not wanting to give up, but realising that trying to speak would be futile, he thought about other ways to get the attention of his mysterious visitor.
While letting himself be calmed by the hand holding his own, inspiration suddenly struck. He had the perfect way to make himself known by squeezing the hand of his guest! Within seconds he tried to put his plan into action while berating himself for not thinking about this earlier.
To his own surprise, he managed to squeeze the hand holding his on his first try, which was a wonder in itself since he was still exhausted from opening his eyes. Nonetheless, it had the required effect, as the head turned in his direction and he heard his name being said in surprise. He did not need his glasses to recognise the person sitting next to him the voice was already enough, now that his visitor had spoken louder than before. He would recognise the voice everywhere and it meant that the man waiting for him to wake up was none other than his boyfriend, Oliver Wood. He was glad that he was here, but could not help himself wondering how he knew about him being here.
Before he could further contemplate this a sudden need overrode his thoughts. He wanted to be in the arms of the man he fell in love with all those years ago, wanted to be comforted after what happened in the last months, starting with the loss of his friends and ending with his escape from the Dursleys.
Oliver was telling Harry some anecdotes about his last Quidditch training session, when he suddenly felt his hand being squeezed lightly. Surprised, he turned around and said, "Harry?!"
He was so ecstatic about this turn of events that he didn't know what to do or say in the first minutes. Seeing Harry move, or at least try to, brought him back to reality. Immediately he stood up and used the call button next to the bed to call attention to the room, which would alert Poppy. Once he had pressed the little button, he picked up Harry's glasses, which where placed on the bedside drawer, and placed them in front of his lover's eyes so that he could see the things around him more clearly. Instead of sitting back down in the chair where he sat numerous hours in the last weeks, he opted to sit closer to the man that meant so much to him, choosing the bed as his new 'chair'. Not wanting to hurt Harry more than he already was, Oliver carefully stroked his cheek instead of taking him in his arms as he longed to do.
It did not take long for Poppy to appear in the room, having been in the nurse room, where she immediately saw that she was being called. She was glad to finally see Harry awake again. While she had tried to show Oliver Wood how optimistic she was about her patient's recovery, she had feared the worst.
"It's good that you're finally awake, Mr. Potter. I was worried that you might not wake up." was the first thing she said, getting Harry's attention,"Mr. Wood, if you could fetch a glass of water? I am sure Harry here is parched after being in a coma for so long."
Within a minute, Harry was slowly sipping water from the glass Oliver was holding carefully to his lips, trying not to have him drink so much that it wouldn't fit in his mouth. When Harry had had enough to drink, which he signalled to Oliver, he was about to ask where he was and how they managed to find him, when Poppy prevented it by asking a question of her own,
"How are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere? And most importantly: Where did these injuries come from?"
Harry knew from his previous stays under the witch's watchful eye that it was better to be honest, so he answered truthfully: "Everything kind of hurts, but I am feeling better than before. And to answer your last question... I..."
Harry paused. He did not want to reveal what his uncle did to anyone. If he said what happened, more questions would be asked. Questions he most definitely would prefer not to answer. He already had trouble telling Oliver, whom he loved and who was close to his age, which made it possible for him to trust, something he had learned early on not to do when faced with grown-ups.
Oliver, knowing what Harry thought, tried to encourage him by giving a reason to trust the witch, "It would be better to tell her than face her anger... and I believe you know ways to make sure only people you tell will know. Besides, she first found you walking into the muggle part of the hospital and once she recognised you, she made sure that the other witches and wizards here either don't know about who you are or are not going to tell anybody else..."
Although it didn't change the fact that Harry did not want to tell anyone, it gave him reason to at least try and trust her enough. He wasn't sure whether he would be able to talk about it. It carried far too many memories, memories he wanted to forget. He looked up once again, searching for support from Oliver, which he got in the form of a short hug. He also could feel his hand being squeezed for further encouragement.
"Well... You see... my uncle got kinda mad this summer..." started Harry started to say. While he was stuttering his story together Poppy looked at Oliver, who was still holding the young man, and saw him a raise a brow, as if he knew something that she didn't. She wondered about it for a second, but shoved it away in favour of listening to what Harry had to say.
Wetting his lips Harry continued: "Well... he found out about me being gay... because of a big mistake I made at the end of school... probably the worst I ever made..." the last thing was spoken more to himself, but Poppy could still hear it. She wondered what the mistake was, but thought that she could ask later.
"As I said, he found out and... and...he decided that... " Before Poppy could ask him to continue, he told Oliver that he could not think about it and that he could not continue. Wanting to voice her opinion that she was in need to know to prevent a possible repeat, Poppy was startled out of her thoughts when she heard the former Quidditch Captain ask whether he was allowed to tell her, with the promise that Harry wouldn't have to listen. For some time there was no response, then Harry started to nod slowly but more and more certain with time.
"Make sure that..." Harry started to say, only to be interrupted by Oliver saying, "Don't worry, I will."
She was curious about what Oliver should make sure, but shoved the thought away thinking that she would find out soon.
TBC...
Review Responses:
Kayla: Here is more... *g* took me long enough to actually post it...
linny: Explanations will come in later chapters... and yes... it was kept a secret... more details will come soon...
KittenBabyGirl: Harry will be getting better... He is already awake by now...
And now if you would please press the little button down there were review stands on and tell me your opinion... I would be delighted to know what you think...