Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Web of Lies: Revelations.
Alec seemed to be frozen in shock at the sight that presented the room. He wasn't able to move at all until a nurse rushed past him, pushing him roughly into Severus, who had enough presence of mind to catch him before he landed on the floor. Before either could comment, a shout made their hearts drop.
"His heart has stopped! Quickly, we need to get it beating again!"
The movements of the people in the room turned frantic, and for a few minutes, the four of them watched transfixed as all those wizards tried to bring movement back in the old heart. Nothing they did seemed to be working, it seemed they had lost the battle against the many curses the old man had sustained. Severus, seeing that this was going to end badly, started to move Alec away. There was no need for the teen to witness this. But the sudden movement seemed to jostle the boy out of his horror, and he suddenly jerked out of the man's arms.
Severus couldn't keep a hold of the teen and tried to catch him again as he moved to the room. "Alec!"
One of the healers looked up briefly. "Get that child out of the room!"
Chris and two other wizards moved towards the child, who hadn't stopped in his approach. Before they could reach him, they were pushed back by an enormous power that left them gapping at the small form that was quickly making his way to the bed. The nurses and healers that had been gathered around the dying man's bed were forced aside and even the head healer had to stop his protests in front of such strength.
All the while, Harry was ignoring everything happening around him. His mind was completely focused on the man lying in the white bed while he tried to remember everything he had been reading this summer and latter under Salazar's tutoring. In the old days, all apprentices were forced to know basic healing and while Harry had just started learning about it, his knowledge was complemented with several books he had read over the summer in the headmaster's house.
When he finally reached the bed, he put his softly glowing hands on the old man's chest. He knew that he needed to get his heart beating again before it was too late. Closing his eyes lightly, he pushed all thoughts aside and suddenly found himself in the man's body. It felt a bit like Rowena's training so he didn't do anything to fight it. Instead he moved towards the place where his instincts told him the heart was. He found it without further trouble and immediately saw what the problem was. There had been a curse placed around the heart that was slowly obstructing his veins. The charm was nearly undetectable from the outside and by the time the healers might have detected it, the sudden dispelling of this curse would have killed the man anyway because of the sudden rush of blood in his heart.
Knowing he was running out of time, Harry quickly forced his magic to place a few blocks in the veins and quickly dispelled the curse. It wasn't very difficult to do, the tricky part now was to restart the heart and get the flow of blood back to normal. The first was quickly dealt with. Using a small shock, not unlike he had seen muggle doctors doing, Alec was able to restart the heart and at the same time he made a small opening in his blocks. Very slowly, the blood started to flow freely once more. It took him about fifteen minutes to get it back to normal and by the time he was sure that Albus would be able to sustain himself, he was feeling exhausted. Even so, he didn't go back to his body. He sensed the presence of a few other curses that the healers didn't seem to have detected so he moved to them and tried to deal with them.
Everyone in the room had gone silent. The healers were kept at bay by the strange energy that now not only surrounded the boy but also the bed and they had by then given up on trying to interfere. There had been a shock about twenty minutes ago when suddenly the charms on the bed indicated that Dumbledore's heart was beating again. That had calmed many of the presents. Whatever it was that the small boy was doing seemed to be helping, and yet he was still standing there in trance, glowing softly.
Then, after ten more minutes, the feel of the room suddenly changed. The glow around the teen disappeared and the energy that had been holding them away lessened, allowing them to move once again towards the bed. Quickly, the healers moved to examine the old man, one of them catching Alec as he slumped down on the bed clearly exhausted.
Severus found himself suddenly with his arms full of teenager and he had to fight to keep his balance. Quickly he changed his grip on the teen, allowing him to lean against his chest with the small head nestled against his shoulder.
Chris, who had until now been standing silently at his side, came a bit closer. "Is he alright?"
Severus glanced at the other man before focusing his attention back to the child. He was very pale and was trembling in his arms. His eyes were slightly open but he didn't seem aware of his surroundings.
"Alec?" The child didn't react to his name, and Severus shook him gently with the hand not holding him up. "Alec, answer me please."
For a moment it didn't look like the teen had heard him, but before he could shook him again, Alec turned his face into the man's shoulder and his arms went weakly up around his neck.
"It's cold, Uncle Sev."
The Potions Master frowned; to his senses the room was rather warm, but he didn't think this was a good moment to argue his point with the child. Looking up, he saw that Chris was already coming with a blanket and between the two of them they managed to wrap the teen up in its warmness without letting go of him.
"Better, Alec?"
The child nodded against his shoulder, but didn't otherwise move. As if remembering their presence in the room, a nurse came over to them and asked them to wait in the hall. Amanda, who had been watching everything from the door, stepped back and let them through before starting to fuss over Harry. The teen didn't seem to appreciate it much, because he tried to move closer to Severus who was now sitting with the boy in his lap. The woman finally gave up and moved to where Chris was standing.
They stayed there for a long while, and at some point, Professor Sprout appeared before them, and after they had explained everything they knew, silence came over them again.
Alec had long gone to sleep on Severus' lap when the door finally opened again. At once, everyone stood up, with the Potions Master trying not to jolt his charge too much. The head healer looked towards them and shook his head lightly.
"I still don't understand what that young man did, but he certainly saved Professor Dumbledore's life. In fact, he also seems to have dealt with some of the trouble we couldn't explain."
Amanda, who was clutching Chris' arm, spoke tentatively. "That means my uncle is doing better?"
The man looked at her gently. "Much better, he hasn't woken up yet but we think he now has a good chance to make it through."
There was a huge sigh of relief in the hall. Professor Sprout quickly walked away, obviously going to inform someone at Hogwarts about the latest news while Amanda and Chris hugged each other, the woman sobbing against her husband in relief. The healer smiled lightly and motioned to Severus to follow him.
"Come with me, please, we better make sure that young fellow is doing ok."
To be continued...
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and thanks to Vinnie for beta-reading this.