Harry Potter and the Dark Lord

Chapter 57 Time Passes In St. Mungo's

One more chapter to go, then the sequel shall commence!

Summary: Set in Harry's sixth year. He encounters far more than he ever could have expected, but he does not have to go through it alone. An old friend returns to help him. Harry's defeat of Voldemort rests on him getting The Scepter of Light and Dark, something that would allow Voldemort to destroy the world if he can get the whole thing. Voldemort's powers are getting stronger and Harry has more than one encounter with him.

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This Chapter: Exactly as the title sounds.

Now...on with the story!

As the days wore on, Harry grew progressively sicker. The Healers thought it best to keep him asleep most of the time, as he would be in less physical pain. They weren't thinking about emotional pain, though. The magically-induced sleep did nothing to quell Harry's nightmares. When he did wake, he was delirious and didn't recognize anyone or anything. Sirius could tell he was in a lot of pain even in the short moments he was awake.

A Healer would come in and give him several potions, then put him back to sleep. It hurt Sirius to know his godson was in so much pain and he could do nothing about it. He had even tried talking to Emilay, but she couldn't do anything more than give him something for the pain and keep him asleep.

They had tried to give him Dreamless Sleep potion, but his nightmares were so fierce that it didn't work on him. The only good thing was that his back was healing quite well. Someone knocking on the door brought Sirius out of his restless thoughts.

"Come in," he called, knowing that it had to be Remus. The Healers didn't knock, they just walked right into the room. Sure enough, the door opened and Remus stepped in, followed by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Ginny was looking pale and slightly feverish, the way Harry had before their kidnapping.

"It's time for Ginny to stay here. She finished her OWLs yesterday. Ron and Hermione wanted to say goodbye, as well as see Harry. Molly and Arthur will be along in a little while." said Remus quietly to him. Behind him, Ginny looked paler at the sight of Harry looking so sick. Sirius quickly conjured a chair beside Harry's bed and motioned Ginny to it.

"Thanks," she said quietly, not taking her eyes off Harry. Sirius could only imagine what kind of torture the Death Eaters had put her through.

She had refused to tell anyone but Dumbledore and Dumbledore had told no one. Sirius conjured up chairs for Ron, Hermione, and Remus and they sank gratefully into them. Sirius suspected the sight of their friend had shaken them quite a bit. Hermione was the first to break the silence that had settled throughout the room.

"Is Harry going to be okay?" she asked, sounding as though she were about to cry.

"Yes. Professor Snape is working on the cure for him and Ginny right now." said Sirius. He doubted that Harry would be okay for a long time.Not after what he had been through. After what he was going through right now. Sirius was hoping that potion would be able to cure Harry and Ginny.

There were so many what ifs though. What if something went wrong with the potion? What if Voldemort tried something while Harry was so helpless? What if….He had to stop thinking so negatively. But then it was so hard to be positive. There was no way that Harry would be cured, then go home, and everything would be perfect. No bloody way.

And that was what made the situation so horrible. They didn't know, couldn't know what was going to happen. He wasn't a bloody Seer, for Merlin's sake! He couldn't take this anymore. He'd like to go out and start hexing everyone into oblivion, but he couldn't do that. Instead, he stood up abruptly and stalked to the door.

"I'm going to the tearoom," he said shortly and left. When he returned in a slightly better mood, they were gone and a note was lying on his chair.

He was about to read it when he heard someone say his name, "Sirius." He turned around to see Harry awake and sitting up in bed.

"Harry, you're awake," said Sirius happily. Harry was looking better than he'd had for days.

"Sirius," he said again and grabbed his hands, pulling Sirius closer.

"What Harry?" asked Sirius.

"Sirius……I love you." said Harry before his eyes closed and his body went limp. His hands slipped out of Sirius' and fell to the bed where Harry lay unmoving.

"Harry!" cried Sirius and jumped forward. He peered closely and saw that he was still breathing.

"No, Harry don't die!"

He was vaguely aware of his knees hitting the floor, but kept his attention focused on Harry. If he looked away for even a second……..No, Harry wouldn't die, he couldn't. Sirius felt someone grab his arms and pull him away from Harry.

"No, no," he muttered, trying to stay where he was.

"Sirius, c'mon. The Healers have to help Harry."

"Remus," choked out Sirius.

"Let's go to Ginny's room where we'll be out of the way." said Remus.

"But-"

"Harry will be fine. They Healers can't help him if you're in the way. They'll let us know if anything changes." said Remus firmly. Sirius allowed himself to be led out of the room and down the hall to Ginny's room. Ginny was sitting up in bed, listening to a wireless that Molly had brought her.

"Hey Sirius." said Ginny. Remus dragged him over to a chair and pushed him into it. She turned off the wireless and looked up.

"Sirius, what's wrong?" asked Ginny. Sirius didn't think he could trust himself to speak, so Remus answered her.

"Something's happened to Harry." said Remus.

"Oh, no," said Ginny. "Can I go see him?"

"Sorry Ginny. That's why we're in here." said Remus as he sat down in another chair.

"Is it all right if I turn this back on?" asked Ginny, motioning to the wireless.

"Yeah, sure," said Remus.

They listened to several songs by The Weird Sisters, then a new band that Sirius didn't recognize. In the middle of yet another Weird Sisters song, a Healer walked into the room.

"Mr. Black, could you please step outside?" asked the Healer. Sirius got up and walked into the hallway. Emilay was standing there with a Healer.

His nametag said Healer Smeythwick. That was the Healer that had treated Mr. Weasley the previous Christmas.Emilay had a worried look on her face and Sirius began to get concerned. If Emilay was that worried….

"I'm really sorry Sirius, but Harry has slipped into a coma. We're estimating that he has about two weeks to live-" Sirius heard a roaring in his ears and didn't hear anything else she said. Harry was going to die.

"Sirius!"

"Huh?" mumbled Sirius and found himself seated in a chair.

"You blanked out for a minute there, Sirius. You have to calm down. The potion should be ready in a week. Harry I will /I be cured. You don't have to worry so much." said Emilay.

"Are you sure?" asked Sirius.

"Yes, Harry will be fine. You can go see him now," said Emilay.

"I've just got to get Remus first." said Sirius. He went back into Ginny's room and fetched Remus, then they headed to Harry's room. They opened the door to Harry's room to find him sleeping rather peacefully. Sirius thought it was a nice change from Harry's usual nightmares.

A week later………….

Sirius was brought out of a light sleep by the sound of someone entering the room. He sat up to see Emilay and Snape entering the room. Snape was carrying a vial of something that was blood-red. It must be the potion, thought Sirius. Emilay checked Harry over with her wand before sitting Harry up in bed and adjusting the bed accordingly. Snape set the bottle on the table beside Harry's bed which held his glasses and pulled a goblet out of his robes.

"He needs one gobletful every three hours. In twenty-four hours, he should be improved enough to be sent home, where you can continue giving him the potion for a week." said Emilay. She uncorked the bottle and filled the goblet.

"Sirius, can you hold him still?" asked Emilay. Sirius went over and held Harry still while Emilay poured the potion into Harry's mouth. She gently stroked his throat to make him swallow it, then stepped back.

"A Healer will be in here in three hours to give him another dose." said Emilay. She left the bottle on the table and left the room with Snape. A few minutes later, Remus entered the room and sat down in a chair next to Sirius.

"They've just given Ginny the potion. I assume they've already given it to Harry?" said Remus.

"Yeah," said Sirius.

Twenty-four hours later…………..

Harry's POV

"Are you ready to go, Harry?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah, not much here to pack." said Harry.

"Good. We're going to Floo to the house and you can put your stuff away, then we have to Floo to Hogwarts. Dumbledore would like to speak with you." said Sirius.

Uh-oh. He knew what was coming. Dumbledore was going to ask for his version of events from the time at Voldemort's lair. He had already been told Ginny's version, according to Sirius.

Dumbledore was going to be disappointed that he'd consented to take the Dark Mark. At least he didn't have it. He'd checked his arm after he'd woken up. That potion he'd been given had worked amazingly and he felt a lot better than he'd been feeling. He was still going to have to take it for a while. A week, Sirius had said.

Ginny hadn't gotten as bad as he had, and had been released from St. Mungo's earlier that day after saying goodbye to him. He was hoping to see her later in the summer. Sirius had mentioned something about having the Weasleys over sometime.

"Ready?" asked Sirius. Harry nodded and headed out the door with Sirius, a small bag in his hands.

They walked to the nearest Floo and Harry tossed some Floo powder in and yelled, "Black Manor!" The green flames rushed him home.

Next Chapter: Return to Black Manor