Chapter 12. The Journey Back…

'It's up to you, Harry.'

Harry looked at the Weasley's, he couldn't believe them.

Must he decide for their life? Is it up to him to decide who's to live or to die?

Thoughts crossed his mind, but two jumped out.

Are they going to have a normal life if they'd wake up, even if they'd wake up? And second, wouldn't it be better for them if they'd die and leave this world of Voldemort? Harry shook his head, clearing the thoughts.

'I don't know.' He said, tears slowly forming in his eyes.

Mrs. Weasley saw this and she hugged him.

'It'll be all right, Harry. Whatever you say, we'll go with it.'

Harry felt a bit reassured, but still wasn't able to think one clear word.

'I do not wish to choose whether or not they die, so I wish they'd stay alive.' He finally said.

The Healer nodded and left them.

… Flash to the girls mind (Selena's point of view) …

She'd be leaving no one behind, according to her own theory. But then again, of whom had that voice been?

She had heard someone asking her to stay, who was it? She was almost sure she hadn't thought it herself, but that someone else had said that to her.

She'd definitely needed to get back to where she came from. She'd had to put everything in her power to get back, but she would get back!

… Flash to St. Mungo's …

Harry was glad with his decision. He knew he couldn't have let them die, even if he had dared to say yes.

He knew, that if he had the chance to save someone from dying, he'd seize it.

And he had seized it.

All he and all the others could hope for was that they'd ever wake up and be perfectly ok.

Hours passed and when they had to return to Grimmaulds, Harry repeated the same sentence to the two girls.

They stepped into the fire and returned to the Headquarters.

… Flash to the girls mind (Yasmine's point of view) …

The same voice had come to her again, telling her not to give up and return back home, to where she really belonged. But what was home? The things she would do, to get the answer to that question…

… Flash to Grimmaulds …

Hours passed by, days seemed to last for years and a week had passed them without any improvement in the girls situation.

Harry visited them every day and stayed with them as long as possible. The medi-witches looked at him and sighed every time he arrived again. They knew the situation was hopeless, but Harry didn't wanted to listen to them. He kept on hoping a miracle would happen and they'd wake up.

But nothing happened. Hermione and Ron barely spoke to Harry, nor to each other.

It seemed that finally, the Golden Trio had received their last punch in the kidneys. Now they were, figurally spoken, on their knees. Felt how they were broken and the ache in their heart.

Not another one would die, they wouldn't be able to bear it. Especially Harry wouldn't.

Dumbledore had come twice or thrice, but didn't speak to any of the three. They didn't mind it.

… Flash to the girls mind (Selena's point of view) …

She knew she wasn't far anymore. She'd been travelling for a long time, although she couldn't say how long, so it was bound to be nearly come to an end.

She didn't knew how she was going to know if she was where she wanted to go to, but she thought she'd know in the end. Selena saw more memories flash by, but she had found a way to block them out of her mind.

She was not going to let her be distracted with it, so she ignored them.

… Flash to Grimmaulds …

Harry had been sitting there again, for the 10th time that week.

The visiting hours were almost over and Harry's hope that they'd wake up now, had yet again ebbed away.

'Don't go yet, return to us. We need you here.' Harry gave them both a little kiss on the forehead and he went away, sighing once more. He returned to Grimmaulds 13, only to meet his headmaster there.

Dumbledore came to him and asked Harry if he could speak with him.

He nodded and followed Dumbledore to the salon.

'Harry, I must tell you something.'

Harry seemed to know what was going to happen next.

'I have told you before. It does not do well to dwell on dreams, Harry. You forget how to live.'

Harry nodded halfly. He did not agree. He wasn't dwelling on dreams, because he wasn't dreaming.

He was sure they'd wake up, the sooner the better.

But no one in Grimmaulds agreed with him, so Harry had always retreated to his room when he had come back from St. Mungo's. Harry got up and left the headmaster, without a word.

He passed a calendar in his room, one he had made himself, just like he had done every year, where he was marking the days of until he'd go back to Hogwarts.

His birthday was coming soon, he saw. Only a few days and it would be his birthday.

He hadn't thought about this, he admitted to himself.

He was going to become 16 now and when he sat down on his bed, he was thinking about his last birthday.

Sirius had been there then. He had received a gift from Sirius. But now, now that he's gone…

All he wished for now, was that Selena and Yasmine would wake up and join him.

… Flash to St. Mungo's …

'Any improvement, nurse?'

The nurse looked at the Healer and shook her head.

'No, sir. None at all.'

The Healer sighed.

'A terrible faith, really terrible… And they were so young.'

He left the room, leaving the two girls alone within their own world again.

… Flash to the girls mind (Selena's point of view) …

Terrible faith? Whose faith had that person been talking about? Surely not her own?

That couldn't be, because her faith wasn't terrible nor lost. She'd get back on Earth and she'd join that person who had come to visit her every period of time.

… Flash to Grimmaulds …

Harry's birthday was today and the headquarters were decorated.

Mrs. Weasley had backed a pie and Ron and Hermione had waked him with a song.

'Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Harry, happy birthday to you!'

Harry had woken up smiling and had acted happily during the whole event.

He received presents from many people of the Order, even of Remus, though Remus hadn't come.

He was still angry with me, Harry figured and felt ashamed.

Hagrid had sent him something, which he couldn't really figure out what it was, so he left it aside.

The feast was held in the evening and a lot of people joined the Weasley's to party, but no one of them could see trough Harry's façade he had put up.

He was happy he'd turned 16, but it had been without Remus, without Selena or Yasmine… And without Sirius.

When he lay in his bed, rethinking the day's events, Harry thought he ought to be happy with that many friends and people who cared about him, but still… He wasn't. One thought kept on surpressing all the others.

They still hadn't wake up, even though I wished for it. Harry sighed again.

What did he had to do? Pray, like Muggles?

Somehow, this thought didn't seem laughable at and Harry bent down on his knees and laid his hands, folded, on his bed. 'Please, God -' He whispered. 'Let them return from the Hospital, all well. I beg you-'

A tear started to form and when Ron wanted to come in, Harry never heard it, but kept praying.

'Hermione!' Ron whispered and Hermione came to look.

Her eyes rounded, but she stopped Ron from going in.

'Leave him.'

'I beg you, let them live and come back to me. Please, I've lost enough, not them too.'

Ron watched his friend in surprise, and let him be pulled away from the scene by Hermione.

'What's he doing?' Ron asked, when they got into Hermione's room.

'He 's praying.' Hermione said, sounding tired.

'What's that? Why is he doing that?'

'We, I mean Muggles by that, believe that there is a God who guides us and protects us. I never thought Harry to be Catholic - believing in God - ' Hermione said answering Ron's unspoken question.

' - But I understand him.'

'What's a God?' Ron didn't understood a thing Hermione just had said.

'A God is - a - A God is… I wouldn't know how to explain it, Ron. See Him like a person, but in Heaven, looking down to us and helping us when we are in time of need.'

Ron nodded slowly, but clearly didn't understood.

'Ron, Muggles have always believed that there is something out there, something that's bigger than anything they've ever known. I've read about it, a lot, when I was younger. I was raised up in that religion, believing that all those miracles were of God's hands and when my grandfather died -' Ron looked up.

'I knew it was because God needed him there in Heaven. I'd see him again when I'd die.'

Ron came closer to Hermione, and putted his hands slowly on her shoulders.

She accepted the attempt of a hug and pulled Ron closer and cried on his shoulder.

'I can't stand it anymore, Ron. Whether or not God exists, there still is pain! No more hurt, no more losses. '

Ron patted her, tried to comfort her.

He understood her completely now.

… Flash to St. Mungo's …

A week had passed after Harry's birthday, and Harry had even come more frequently.

He was here a quarter before the visiting hours started and he left the hospital only half an hour after it had ended. He just sat there, looking at closed ER-door, thinking about those who were laying behind it, fighting for their lives.

Suddenly, the doors sprung open magically and Harry knew the visiting hours had started.

He got in and sat down in a seat between the two girls. He grabbed one hand of each and started to rub them gently with his thumb, praying again. That was all he could do now, these days.

Ron and Hermione had talked to him, but they hadn't mentioned a word over his praying, muttering.

Even Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley had noticed his habits, but didn't spook a word about it.

… Flash to the girls mind (Selena's point of view) …

Selena suddenly felt something in her body, that she had left behind.

Good sign, she thought immediately. I'm getting closer! Whatever that means.

She tried to stop all the thoughts in her mind, and tried to concentrate on her body.

There was definitely something happening with it. Someone had grabbed her hand and was rubbing it.
She was sure of this, this couldn't be a dream. She could feel something brushing her skin over and over, and she heard muttering. She had to wake up now! She had to!

AN: And? How good/bad/nice/evil am I? Please say so in your review… And to those who might read this and think: that's way over the top… I know it's a "bit" Mary-Sue-ish, but hey… Do you know another formula to make a story (any story, this or another one) interesting and fun to write? I mean… I can let Selena die or let her live… Kinda makes a writer feel like she/he can do / is allowed to do anything. Understand my point?

No? Tell me in your review (Jeez, my hints aren't getting any wittier :-) )

And a PS: while I was writing this, I suddenly had a thought, a theory. It isn't about the Golden Trio, but about Harry's mother, Lily. What if her parents were Squibs? Or one of them was? And never told the other one?

A Squib, as I remember JK told on her site, is a person who possesses magic, but not enough to be accepted in Hogwarts. So, a part of my theory is if her mother/father was one, Lily still could have received the magic of it (before anyone here says: that can't be, cause a Squib doesn't has magic in it! Apparently, they have got a bit, but not much) and became a witch by that. And Petunia (this part I don't really believe, but it could all be possible in the world of JK) is a Squib, but doesn't know it and will never know it too, because the Ministry doesn't check Squibs or acknowledges their existence. Anyone who supports this theory or who has a second thought about?

Do tell me, thanks.