Chapter 7.2
The First Awakening

Angel woke with a pounding headache and every muscle in his body sore. Even his eyelids hurt. He lied still trying to will the pain to subside. His chest felt like it was on fire.

A cool cloth was being applied to his forehead and strands of his long hair were gently being pushed away from his damp face. He thought how good that cloth would feel against his chest.

He opened his eyes and saw Liam sitting on the bed beside him, eyes full of worry, turning the cloth over. Surprised to see Angel awake, Liam got quickly off the bed, "Angel, thank god!" A bit flustered, Liam seemed unsure of what to do next. "Be right back." And he rushed from the room. He returned a few moments later, Dumbledore at his heals.

Angel felt calmed as Dumbledore looked down at him, smiling and eyes twinkling. "Good evening Angel. Happy to have you back with us."

"Well it seems as if Madame Pomphrey has worked her magic again. Most of your wounds are completely mended . You may have a few lingering scars, but most will disappear with time. I am expecting you to be up and about in no time." And then indicating a pile of books on a nearby table. "Looks as if Ginny made sure you have plenty to do while recovering."

"I was hoping to have a nice long visit, but have some urgent business that must be attended to, so I cannot stay. However I see you are in excellent hands. Try to get some rest." As he was leaving the room, Dumbledore turned back around, "Liam, make sure he follows Madame Pomphrey's instructions exactly."

When the door was closed, Liam looked nervously down at Angel. "Ginny was here until about an hour ago. She is resting upstairs, but if you want me to get her, I can."

Angel did not feel up to seeing Ginny right now. He didn't think he could stand to see the concern in her eyes, knowing that it was his fault, he was the reason for all this. An anger began to well up inside him. He felt so stupid. He wanted to kick himself. And he didn't want Ginny fussing over him. That would only make him feel worse And anyway, it was nice spending time with Liam.

Angel grimaced as he shifted in an attempt to make himself more comfortable. Putting his hand underneath Angel's head, Liam readjusted the pillow
.

"Liam, I know Professor Dumbledore said that I should be feeling better, but my whole body feels like it is burning from the inside out. And my chest is beginning to sting. I'm sure there is something wrong." Angel closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip, trying to 'buck up' and not show how much pain he was in. He was also getting woozy again.

Liam refilled the bowl with ice water from the pitcher on the table and dipped the cloth into it. As he was removing the sheet from atop Angel, Angel screemed and tore the sheet from his hand, grasping for something on his own chest. Glowing hot from a chain around Angel's neck was the charm that Luna had given him. Liam grabbed the charm and broke the chain, causing medals to fly everywhere. A burn was beginning to blister where the charm had been. Puzzled, Liam looked at his own hands. The medal had felt cool to him. . What was going on? Burning one, but not the other.

Angel sat upright and turned away from Liam. He had to think. It seemed to him that there was a protean charm put on this medal. But if it was, why was it glowing now? He then thought of other magic that could cause a piece of metal to glow hot, many were dark. He couldn't imagine Luna giving him a dark charm on purpose. Probably just a mistake. That's it, just a mistake. With a sigh, he turned around and lied back down.

Liam opened the balm on the table and gently rubbed it on the wound. He was puzzled. He expected the injury to be much worse. That piece of metal couldn't have been hot for much more than a moment or two. "Leave it to Luna and her charms. One of these days she's gonna kill someone."

"Luna is allri….." but he didn't finish his defense of Luna. Angel grimaced. The balm stung almost as much as the charm.

A few minutes later there was no sign of blisters. He also realized his muscles felt better as Liam rubbed in the salve. He opened his eyes and smiled.

Liam quickly got off the bed. "Would you like something to eat? "

"No Liam. I don't want anything. But my chest is still burning. Would appreciate a bit more salve."

Liam walked to the bed and sat, looking at the burn. It covered a bit of Angel's tattoo of a crescent moon. He had a tattoo of a phoenix on one arm and the Gryffindor coat of arms on the other.

"Damn!" The bowl of medicine had slipped from Liam's hands and fallen to the floor. Picking it up and placing it again on the table, Liam was happy to see that as the salve was very thick, very little had been lost. After he wiped the sweat from his palms, he dipped his fingers into the bowl, coating them with the salve that he gently rubbed on Angel's chest.

"Um…Angel," he paused for a minute, catching his breath. "Professor Lupin has been waiting to talk to you. I am sure he knows you are awake. Are you feeling up to a visitor?"

At any other time, Angel would have jumped at the chance to speak with Professor Lupin, but not now. His heart was warning him against it. Right now he would have welcomed a talk with Snape over one with Professor Lupin, yet he could not put his finger on why.

"What I would like is to soak in a bath full of ice."

Liam smiled and ran out of the room. "Be right back." When he returned, he and Ron were carrying in a large tub, the twins walking behind, smiling. As soon as the tub had been set down, they waved their wands and the tub was full of ice water. Ron looked flustered. "And why didn't you levitate the tub rather than having me carry it?"

"Never asked," said George.

"Time to go," said Fred winking at Angel, and the Weasleys left Liam and Angel alone.

Angel soaked in the bath, his body feeling cooler, but inwardly burning. Liam sat beside him, questions spinning through his head, thinking he could use a pensieve. He had so many questions for Angel and was trying to decide how to ask them.

'Um….Angel," he waited for some kind of response, but none came. "You know that Ginny has been here with you most of the time, taking care of you. I know that she really likes you." Angel opened his eyes slightly and looked at Liam.

"Angel, are you two going together?"

Angle lifted his eyebrow. "Going together? No, not going together." He had never been closer to anyone in his life, but they were not going together.

Angel looked at him suspiciously, "Why?"

Liam was taken aback, but quickly recovered, "No reason. Just thought you would tell your best friend if you were going steady with someone."