Posted 11/2/2014

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This is a work of fiction, based on the book series by J.K. Rowling. Neither do I claim ownership nor do I intend to.


Chapter Fifty-Six - Healing

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The counter-attack had come, Harry rolling aside just in time to see it sizzle away on the ground. His wand whirled around, creating the shield he wished for, and a rather nasty spell collided with it moments later.

"No! It's...!" Nott howled, but Harry fired a Bone-Breaker at the man's head.

A quick jab, Harry felt the spell leave, saw it fly, but miss, as Nott had ducked. His wife had not been so lucky, a second spell cast mere seconds later grazed her shoulder. Had it been a hit, she would have been dead, but the piercing spell had not done enough to slow her down much. And with the element of surprise lost, Harry's chances hadn't improved. He was still facing three enemies of which at least one had received former training at the hands of the Death Eaters and little reservations about violence in general. Harry ground his teeth in frustration. Two minor targets, one major. Silence the witnesses, he thought. It needed to be done, but he didn't feel much better knowing it.

Victoria Nott joined the fray with what could only be described as a burst of searing fire or molten metal. It missed as well, but the heat radiating off it still scalded the skin under his clothes. It seemed as if she had some tricks up her sleeve as well, even if she wasn't really trained for a fight. Burning, righteous fury drove her, Harry guessed, retaliating with a cutting curse that was blocked by a shield springing up just in time, courtesy of Mrs. Nott.

Mr. Nott wasn't waiting for an opportunity to arise; he too flung curses at Harry, no longer intent on keeping him unharmed. It seemed he had given up trying to gain control over the situation. He'd likely realized the danger Harry posed and the power and deadly skill he fought with. One of his spells sailed past Harry, blasting apart the ground a few feet away.

He needed to do something, Harry realized. His extensive knowledge allowed him to keep all three opponents on their feet, yet it didn't mean he couldn't make a mistake. Even his strength had its limits, and although his knowledge was of Voldemort, his magic wasn't. Would he tire out before they would? He hadn't found an opportunity to test his limits yet, and all it would take to take him down would be one lucky hit. Worse, the longer he took, the more likely reinforcements would arrive. Time wasn't working in his favour.

Nott fired a yellow spell Harry was already familiar with – one of Voldemort's inventions, meant to tear into the flesh, with no known counter. Instincts born from years of Quidditch and decades of experience allowed him to deflect it just right. It sailed off to the side, and from the sound of it, the pudgy girl had to jump out of the path. Nott meant business, it seemed, making him without a doubt the top priority, and not only because he knew who had attacked them.

Victoria tried yet another attack, but Harry had little trouble defending against her with a reflective shield. As long as he kept an eye on her, she was not the main concern, too inexperienced to be a real challenge. Harry's eyes were on Mr. Nott and his wife, the primary targets, who had so far spent a lot of attention protecting each other quite well. Time to break apart that team, Harry thought grimly.

Mr. Nott escaped the first spells, and he did do admirably against the conjured wolves and the rocks pelted his way, but the latter cost him the line of sight to Harry, and the time Nott needed to deal with that threat was enough for Harry to go after the woman instead. With a swish of his left hand, he hit her legs with a crude, wandless Cutting Curse. She fell, cut down slightly below the knees, but Harry had already switched targets again. A jab in Nott's direction, and he hastily threw up a shield that broke, but took the brunt of the force out of the counter-attack. One swish later, he had raised yet another reflective shield, and Nott's spells ricocheted off to the side towards his daughter.

Harry whirled around, sending a pack of conjured dogs at her to keep her busy. One target occupied, Harry turned, facing Mrs. Nott again, who screamed as the blood shot from her stumps. Nott seemed to have reached the same conclusion as Harry, and he put up what was probably the strongest shield he could in front of the woman, leaving him without cover for a moment. He threw a killing curse at Harry, demanding attention and forcing him to duck out of the way. So she was dear to him. Affection. Love. It would be Nott downfall one way or the other, and the side that had been Tom once sneered at the foolishness of his former follower.

Harry retaliated. The cutting curse missed, a rain of Bone-breakers followed, but all Harry managed was force Nott to duck away, the Disarming charm – fast, yet effective – finally spot-on sizzled out against another shield Mrs. Nott had thrown up from her place on the ground. She continued messing in a fight she could no longer hope to win, making Harry grudgingly admire her determination. Still, she had complicated matters enough already – he turned to deal with her next.

To his right, something shimmered in the air; acting on pure instinct, Harry threw himself to the ground. A spell from no one barely missed him.

Harry cursed inwardly at his folly. Of course there had been more than four enemies. Of course one of them would have the presence of mind to stay disillusioned and wait for the right moment to strike.

Rolling off, Harry sent a wave of fire in the general direction of the unseen foe. Whoever it was threw up a shield, but while the first spell Harry sent at it shattered it, the second passed harmlessly.

Mr. Nott attacked again, forcing Harry to shield against what looked like a rather nasty curse.

A spell from the unseen foe grazed Harry's shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Victoria cutting the last dog's head off.

Whirling on the spot, Harry sent a wall of fire around in almost a full circle. Two shields sprang up – Nott countered part of it with a blast of water, Victoria conjured a large flock of birds to circle her and take the hit – and Harry unleashed a furious blast of fire with his free hand at the unseen enemy's position, followed by a wide cutting curse at hip-level. The still invisible enemy seemed to have ducked, making the attack miss. Instead, it cut off some branches from the trees further away.

The birds abandoned their mistress and flew straight at Harry, temporarily obscuring his view. Growling, Harry caused a wave of water of his own; the birds were washed away and scattered on the ground. Not taking any chances, Harry froze them in place and flung Victoria once more through the air, trusting the hopefully painful landing to distract her momentarily. Next, he sent a shower of conjured icicles in the general direction of the disillusioned enemy to keep that one on the defensive.

Sensing the time had come to make some progress, he switched targets immediately to focus on the one nuisance that couldn't duck out of the way – Mrs. Nott. The first spell shattered Nott's shield protecting his wife; the second was all it took – a clean hit to the head too soon for anyone to react, tearing it apart from within in a shower of blood, flesh, and bones.

"Mother!" Victoria cried from where she had crashed into the ground, and Harry noticed with some satisfaction that her wand seemed to have broken. But it didn't seem to matter either way as she was too preoccupied to care much about the fight going on around her; instead, she ran to the body of the latest victim.

Two down, three to go, Harry thought grimly. And one wasn't even fighting anymore. As long as no reinforcements came...

Mr. Nott's rage flared, it seemed, or maybe he had left his common sense behind. The man appeared almost possessed with the urge for revenge. He'd lost the fight that moment, the part that had been Tom mocked in the back of Harry's mind. True, Nott's attacks had become more furious and powerful, and under normal circumstances and against a normal foe it might have meant his victory. But Harry was anything but normal, and his wand danced. Two down, three left, he repeated in his head.

Harry matched blows with Nott for the moment, enjoying the turning tides and toying with his victim for a bit. It was just a question of when and how he would win; Nott couldn't get away anymore.

The invisible enemy joined the fight again, but it was clear whoever it was needed the element of surprise. Even with it, hardly any of his or her spells were that close. Or was it a ploy to give Harry a false sense of safety? Not bothering for long with the doubts, Harry conjured a rain of metallic scraps and sent them at roughly the position of the disillusioned foe. Some connected with a shield, making Harry grin as he danced a bit to the side – with his free hand, he summoned some of the scraps that had sailed past the shield. They changed course almost immediately and flew straight back until they hit the invisible enemy in the back. Some seemed to be stuck, either in clothes or flesh.

Two down, three left, all of whom Harry could now track. As long as he didn't dawdle until reinforcements arrived – any moment, most likely – he could still claim it had been a success.

Victoria seemed to have other ideas. Her sobs grew rattled, and Harry could almost feel her glare on him. She knew she was on the losing side, but revenge burned hotter than common sense in the family, it seemed. Never wise.

"Volde..." she began from her spot while she tried pulling the wand from Mrs. Nott's hand; the old Harry would have cheered her on, but impulse took over at once. Rolling out of the way of one of Nott's spells, Harry thrust out his wand, casting the first spell that came to him. Victoria froze in place, unable to speak any further and momentarily harmless.

Whirling around, he sent another wide cutting curse at the disillusioned foe, followed by a wandless blasting curse at where the scraps were still visible at roughly chest level. It connected, breaking open what was likely someone's upper body in a rain of blood.

He finished his whirl facing Nott. Harry cast another curse, but missed because Nott hadn't. By pure chance, the Death Eater had managed a hit on Harry's arm, the impact throwing him off-balance. Tendrils of purple energy crept up in the blink of an eye, the curse tearing into Harry's arm, shredding skin, flesh and bone.

Howling in pain, Harry flung out his wand at Nott, and this time, he managed it. The Bone-Breaker shattered the other man's shoulder. Before Nott had realized what had happened, Harry's second spell hit. A blaze engulfed Nott, the fire's roar drowning out the screams of pain as clothes, skin and bones burned away within seconds. In the midst of the noise, Harry heard a strange trilling – a phoenix's song filled with sorrow.

When nothing remained but a pile of ashes, an eerie silence settled, and Harry became dimly aware that he stood still for too long. Reinforcements had to be on the way, arriving any moment now. Three down, he thought, two left. He turned to the disillusioned enemy. Something roughly human-shaped was lying on the ground in a pool of blood and innards. Four down, Harry amended, one left.

Victoria was still held in place by his spell, but she was struggling against it. She'd seen it, the voice in the back of Harry's head said. She'd seen what he could do. Silence the witness. His mind clouding over and his body running cold, he pointed his wand at her. One left.

Take it, the voice whispered. The memory or the life, Harry thought dazedly, watching the girl. Their eyes met; his wand swished, magic slicing her open from the armpit and across the throat. Gurgling blood, she fell back. Done, someone whispered to him as he was stumbling away from the property to where he guessed the anti-Apparition wards would end.

And then, the world became misty around him. The lawn dissolved into a grey mass, his legs lost all power they had left. The pain in his arm dulled to a throb. His side felt slightly tender as well, he noticed, and he was lying on something soft. The grassy smell had vanished as well, and Harry understood he had woken up.

So he had somehow survived. That had to count for something. And unless his captors were more kind than he had expected, then he had also escaped. Searching his memories, his last fragment was of a rushed Apparition, first to the deserted alley, then, without pause, to his house in London. That had to be his current location, then. If he was alive, then he had to have survived the travel, if he had survived the travel, then he was at Grimmauld Place and in the care of his friends. He just couldn't see Hermione or Ron bringing him anywhere else. As he opened his eyes, he noticed the unfamiliar colour of the ceiling. So they hadn't brought him to his room then. Hermione was curled up in a chair off to the side sleeping, easily recognizable by her hair, so he assumed it had to be her room. Squinting, he could see notes lying on the ground. She did that occasionally, falling asleep with work around her, and seeing as how she was at his sickbed, she had to have worked herself to exhaustion, trying to heal him.

His movement had woken her from her slumber, or maybe she had used some alarm spell on him. He wouldn't have been surprised; she was thorough like that. Either way, she roused, blinking sleep from her eyes. When she saw him awake and looking at her, she jumped to her feet and was at his side in no time at all.

"How are you feeling, Harry? Any pain?" Her wand slipped into her hand, and she cast some diagnostic spells. It made him wary to have a wand directed at him with the pictures still fresh in his mind, but he kept quiet.

"Err, the side," he told her, focusing on the pain he couldn't explain. Had he been hit with something he couldn't remember?

"And the arm, yes, I expected as much. As for the side, you splinched yourself and left a rather large chunk of you behind. It has healed for the most part, but it does take a bit more than just some potion to overcome that. Healing takes time, Harry, even for you.

"You've been asleep two days, but we've kept a close eye on you. Lupin was here, but I had to send him away. He'd heard some news and thought you had something to do with it. Judging by how you are, I'm guessing he was right about that. Your parents and Sirius would have disapproved, I'm meant to tell you, but I guess he'll want to give you a proper telling off the next time he sees you. Shouting at a prone body doesn't seem to make much sense, so he'll have to wait. And while I'll save most of my speech for later," she waved lazily at some parchment on the floor, "and yell at you once you have recovered enough, I do have an important question right now. What were you thinking? Did you see an opportunity and decided to use it just like that? Harry, you were always rash, thinking things through was never your forte, but this... this was unnecessary. Do you want to die? Because you certainly came close to it, and it's a wonder we could save you."

"I... well, I didn't see an opportunity, no," he tried. "I ran into Nott. And his family, I guess. They noticed me having a look around and caught me. Stupid mistake, a fool's luck, whatever. They caught me; I had to deal with them. Nott recognized me."

"There was nothing in the Daily Prophet about that!" she shouted.

"I took care of it," Harry said. "My eyes and glasses, you know? He was in the Department of Mysteries. He'd seen me there. He recognized me from then."

"So he recognized you, and you took care of it," Hermione repeated. "Do I want to know?" She narrowed her eyes, glancing around the room uncertainly. "There was nothing in the Prophet, and our security's not been breached as far as I can tell. Well, as far as Kreacher can tell. Greengrass ordered him to keep an eye on the wards and alarm us in case something changes. She ordered him, can you imagine? As if he were her servant."

"Did it work?" Harry threw in.

"It did, from what I can tell," Hermione sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Still, she shouldn't have done it."

"If it works..." Harry pointed out.

"So what happened then?"

"Everything got out of hand from that point. Well," he joked half-heartedly, "more out of hand. Nott knew who I was, so I needed to act fast and make sure he can't tell anyone. Well, at least we won't have to worry about him any more."

"So you killed him just for that," Hermione began, frowning.

"Well, we had moved past negotiations by that point, so I didn't really have a choice, did I?" Harry interrupted testily. "And besides, all I did was speed up the plan. Since he had figured out who I was, I had to act. I did, and now he won't tell. I killed Nott. His wife too, she was interfering. His... daughter as well."

Hermione stared at him, frozen on the spot. "You... His wife was interfering? His daughter as well?"

"She tried calling You-Know-Who," he defended. It was the truth, but not the whole. He could have wiped her mind – or tried to, at least. Not that difficult, especially if you didn't care about causing real harm. If Obliviation was removing a wall in a house, a mind wipe was akin to bringing the whole house down. It didn't necessarily need skill, just enough power. And yet, he had chosen to take no risk. He had chosen to take a life. And even as he thought about it, he felt far less conflicted about it than he would have thought or hoped. Was taking lives part of his nature now?

More as an afterthought, he added, "So now, they can't talk."

"And when you say that they can't talk," Hermione asked hesitantly, "you mean you killed all three? Just like that?" Her voice had risen quite a bit, both in volume as well as tone. Ron seemed to have stayed close, as he burst into the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"Ron, good to see you, buddy," Harry greeted, happy about the distraction for both Hermione and him. "Slept well? Come to think of it, what time is it anyway?"

The redhead frowned, but relaxed slightly at seeing no danger and his friend awake. "It's close to twelve. You slept for over two days, but I'm guessing Hermione already told you that."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Harry replied. "Or at least I had worse."

"Was that really necessary, Harry?" Hermione spoke up, staring at him in shock. "Did you really have to...? I'm sorry, I just... Harry, when you said you wanted to fight them, I wasn't happy."

"Oh, so he got into a fight, then?" Ron interjected, but neither of his friends answered.

"When I agreed to help you, I wasn't happy at all, but I told myself you'd keep the right measure. That you had things under control and wouldn't lose sight of what is important. You said you wanted to go after Death Eaters and their sympathizers. You know, your enemies. But this is something else, Harry. I didn't think you'd..." She hesitated, biting her lip, before continuing in a softer tone, "clean up like the Death Eaters."

He sighed, trying to collect his thoughts. "Like I said, Nott couldn't be allowed to reveal my identity. It would have ruined everything. I needed to silence him, and I didn't have much of a choice there. I needed to protect my secret. We fought, he died," Harry summarized, struggling with himself. He knew it wasn't the whole truth. He made it sound too clean and orderly instead of the mess he had made.

"I... Fine then, but that's him," Hermione conceded, "and you had already planned for it."

"His wife was getting in the way," Harry reminded Hermione. "I can't fault her, of course, but I have to deal with the actions, not the intentions. She fought against me and was still complicating things."

"Compli... Complicating things? That's... No, Harry, that's not..." Hermione broke off, running a hand through her hair. "You talk as if she had been nothing but an inconvenience to be dealt with."

"I needed to put her out of commission, just so she couldn't be a threat anymore. The daughter, well, she tried saying his name. The Taboo, you know? It'd have brought reinforcements."

Ron gaped at him. "Blimey, that's three people, Harry!"

"That's what silencing spells are for!" Hermione argued. "Or Stunners! If the worst Mrs. Nott or her daughter did was protecting Mr. Nott from you, then..." She steadied herself on the bed. "Three people, Harry, and only one truly your enemy."

"Two, at least," he corrected. "Maybe three. There were two others there. One was disillusioned, but kept on fighting. Couldn't have whoever it was to get me in the back, but if they had enough smarts to use invisibility against me... I also dropped a guy who was with the Notts, don't know who that was, but he had a wand pointed at me, so he was a threat. He seemed to know what he a doing, and with Nott organizing the Snatchers, he might have been one. Or maybe the security detail, in which case he failed. Either way, if Nott trusted him to help catch me..."

"You were caught?" Ron interrupted. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"And this man," Hermione groaned, "what did he do to deserve death? Harry this is really serious, this is a very big step away from your... Death Eaters, Harry. His followers, not bystanders who get caught up in the mess. That's three more people as collateral damage, maybe even four, two of which apparently did nothing worse than defend their loved ones!"

"That visible guy was probably a follower, though," Harry tried. "He looked that part, at least, and he was with Nott. Maybe he was a Death Eater. But if Nott had him join in trying to capture an intruder, he can't have been good news, can he?"

"Or he might have been another innocent you killed to suit your own needs," Hermione argued. Holding up a hand to stop him from speaking up, she added, "Or he might have been a danger to you, yes, and you had no choice but to..." she waved her hands helplessly, but settled on, "clean up after you, but... that wasn't your plan. And what's more, it seems to have been in vain. When you showed up, your wand was gone. Your holly wand. You returned with just the blackthorn one." She pointed at the wand lying on the night stand. "And I'm not sure I trust it. When I took it from your hand, it... I don't know. Something's off about it."

"Ah," Harry sighed, "it's not like I have much choice there. My old one got destroyed."

"And you didn't find that important enough to tell me?" Hermione replied with a half-hearted glare while Ron eyed the blackthorn wand worriedly.

"Didn't come up yet," Harry told her with a shrug, wincing slightly in pain. "And it won't really change much. Nott had my old one, but there shouldn't be much left of it now. And even if there were, it's not like I can go back and demand whatever is left of it." Coughing slightly under the worried eyes of his friends, he added, "I'll just have to be more careful the next time."

"The next time, he says," Ron groaned.

"Ron is right," Hermione spoke up. "Maybe it's time to rethink. You had two successful runs, but this time, it failed. They might be wising up. Better quit while you're ahead. Who knows whether you can get away the next time?"

But Harry shook his head. "I didn't mean right away, but quitting doesn't seem like a good idea. I chose to go this route because I believed in it. If the Death Eaters need another message, I should still send them one. I'll just have to be more careful. Maybe not going after quite that high of a target. Or, you know, catch them elsewhere and not in the safety of their home. Unlike the other plans, this one doesn't require much preparation of the victim as long as I manage to slip them the poison."

"So you want to use that plan, then?" Hermione asked, glancing at Ron.

"Sure," Harry replied. "It should still work, and we haven't used it yet so the Ministry won't know what hit them." He shifted, and a sharp pain ran up his arm. "Look, how about we talk about it some other time, yeah? I'd rather hear more about what happened while I was out."

Ron frowned. "Well, you were a mess."

"I already told him that," Hermione interrupted. "And about his Splinching."

"Well then, don't know what else to tell you, mate." Ron looked uncertainly to Hermione who saw her cue to continue. "Well, I took care of your arm. It was broken, flesh and skin torn. It also didn't want to heal properly. What did you do to it? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had been mauled by some large beast, but I know it's not that, so I'm guessing it was a spell. At first I suspected dark magic. But then, it did heal to a certain degree, so I'm not entirely sure. I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't know what it was or how to undo the damage completely, and I couldn't find anything about it."

"You wouldn't have. Nott had a nasty surprise up his sleeve," Harry confirmed. "Nasty bit of magic, I'd say. You probably know more about it, though. What about my arm?"

"That's... I don't know, to be honest," Hermione admitted. "I couldn't make it heal properly, but I did have some success."

He sighed. "Well, that was to be expected. So you two healed me then?"

"Kreacher helped, surprisingly. I think in his own way, he respects you now," Hermione told him, sending Ron who was about to add something a warning look that shut him up. Harry guessed Ron had been about to insult the house elf. While it was true that Kreacher's behaviour towards Harry had changed over the months, Daphne had earned some of the elf's loyalty from the looks of it, and Hermione was willing to treat him like a cranky uncle or at least like a human. However, Ron didn't feel quite so charitable most of the time.

"So it was you three that healed me, fine," Harry said.

"What?" Hermione snorted. "Did you expect I'd send for Fleur or something? Or maybe call Charlie and the twins to our side? Moody perhaps? Well, I guess he'd have been very happy to nurse you back to health."

"He he," Ron chuckled, "I bet."

"Well, you never know," Hermione told him, shrugging. "Maybe he does have a softer side to him. Tonks likes him, and he likes her."

"Tonks is nuts," Ron pointed out. "No wonder they like each other – neither is all that sane, you know?"

"What about Daphne?" Harry interrupted, in part to stop a fruitless argument. "Two days with only you can't have been fun for anyone involved. Any problems?"

"She tried to help, but you've seen how she was with Charlie," Hermione replied, shrugging her shoulders. "She was about as much a hindrance as she was a help. No offence, I know she's your friend and all, but..."

"I didn't tell you that," Harry spoke up.

"She did, however," Hermione told them. "As I was saying, I know she's your friend, but she really wasn't all that useful during the healing."

Ron glanced at Harry. "She's your friend? Your friend? Really?" Seeing Harry's raised eyebrow, he coughed awkwardly. "Greengrass, yes, she... Well... she ran from the room before we were finished, you know?"

Hermione nodded slowly. "She did, yes." With a worried look, she added, "You look tired, Harry. Maybe you should rest."

"It's..." he began, but winced in pain.

She lifted her hand, stopping him from continuing. "Understandable, I agree," she told him. "Healing takes time and strength. How about you sleep for a bit?"

"I..." he tried to protest, but she cut him off.

"And once you're better, you can leave," she promised. "But right now, there's the very real risk of some of the injuries opening up. I know I'm not a certified healer and can't order you to stay in bed, so I'm asking you as a friend to just stay put for while. The sooner you're resting, the sooner you'll be out of here."

"Well, if you put it like that..." he mused. "Still, I think I should talk to Daphne as well, just so she knows I'm getting better and all that."

Ron grumbled, but Hermione merely shrugged. "Well, I guess I can allow a minute or two while I run a few tests, but you really should rest as much as possible. At least I know now why you let her in the library, and if she really is your friend, I have less of an objection to it."

"Wait," Ron interrupted, "she's been in there? With all of that dark stuff?"

"I'd like to point out," Harry spoke up with a slight edge, "that it's technically my 'dark stuff'. And I'd also like to point out that to my knowledge, her focus has been on combat spells to use against Malfoy, something I helped her with, and assisting me in finding something for me to use. And that I intentionally showed her where it was."

"Hey, no need to get defensive," Ron said, throwing up his hands in defeat.

"No need to jump to conclusions either," Harry gave back.

"And Ron didn't voice any premature conclusions, Harry," Hermione broke in. "But it doesn't matter. So she told the truth – you really are friends. Huh."

"When did she say that?" Harry wondered, shaking his head slightly. "That's... Sorry, it's just... I'm wondering."

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Didn't know you were becoming friends. Then again, seems common around here to not tell me," he added with a glance at Harry.

"We aren't," Hermione said, shrugging. "She wanted to help healing you, so I had her help me. She's a Black for now, so she has access to the library and can grant it to others as well. She got me inside so I could look for some clues about undoing that spell damage on your arm. Granted, it took a while to actually get into the library. You left some parts out about it when you explained it, didn't you, Harry?"

"I might have skipped some minor parts," he agreed. "I didn't think you'd have to explain them to someone else one day."

"Well," Hermione continued with a calculating look at Harry, "in the end, we managed to figure it out. I found some hints, but nothing sufficiently similar to actually heal the arm."

"Is that why you've been so... ?" Ron asked, hesitating as he waved his hand around airily.

"I don't know what you mean," Hermione claimed, but from the ways she avoided both of her friend's eyes, Harry guessed she did know. "I wasn't sure whether she'd said the truth or not, whether you're really friends," she added to Harry, "but I saw an opportunity to put her to the test."

"We became friends, yeah," Harry admitted, sighing. "Well, I don't think we ever sat down and said as much, but you know how those things work."

"Well, I wasn't sure whether she told the truth, but you defending her confirmed it anyway," Hermione replied. "Her willingness to help me heal you supported her claim either way, so it's not like it's completely new to me."

"Supports her claim?" Harry chuckled.

"Well, yes, as long as I didn't have undeniable proof, it was a claim. It's not like she pointed to the many hardships and adventures you two lived through together."

"Didn't I say that I trust her?"

"You did," Hermione confirmed. "But before she got me in the library, I hadn't seen anything that justified the trust you implied. I'll go fetch her, but after that..."

"Resting, yes," Harry groaned.

With a curt nod, Hermione left to get Daphne.

"So," Ron said, "you're feeling better, then? I mean, you look better, but..."

"Tired," Harry admitted, "but other than that, I can't really complain."

In the silence that followed, Ron began to fidget. "So," he asked, looking uncertain, "you really let Greengrass into the library?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I did. Hermione as well, in case you've forgotten. And I already told her there's about dark magic than I'd expected. I think the Blacks spread that rumour to scare people. Or posturing?"

"Well, Bellatrix turned out pretty dark, didn't she?"

"And Andromeda, her sister, didn't," Harry countered. "It might not be in the blood, you know?" He was about to add the same could very well be true about Hogwarts houses, but Hermione returned, followed by Daphne.

"So you're awake," she greeted with a weak smile.

"For now," Harry joked. Meanwhile, Hermione busied herself with diagnostic spells, and while Harry wasn't the best at recognizing them, he had a feeling Hermione had intentionally repeated a few just to have a reason to stay closer to the bed. Ron slunk back into the corner of the room, his hand covertly travelling to his pocket. Did he honestly expect Daphne to attack now?

"You gave us quite a shock, you know?" Daphne chuckled. It didn't sound very convincing, but Harry waved it off.

"Wouldn't be a normal year if I didn't end up in the hospital wing at least once. I heard you helped Hermione get into the library?"

"I... Yes. She asked; we tried it. We managed to work it out."

"I didn't have enough time to find anything truly useful," Hermione added. "Maybe there isn't anything in there about spells of that kind."

"Might be," Harry replied. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Daphne purse her lips in annoyance. "Or maybe," Harry added, "that spell really was one of a kind."

"You don't look that good," Daphne said, frowning.

"Worse than normal?" he joked. "Well, tired, apparently."

Daphne grabbed his hand, making Ron tense, ready to strike. "Your hand doesn't feel cold, though," Daphne spoke after a moment, smiling weakly. "That should be good, right?"

Their eyes met, and Harry smiled back at her, nodding and knowing Daphne's action had little to do with checking him over. It did feel quite nice to hold hands and draw strength from the small gesture.

The moment was over far too soon for his liking, as Hermione cleared her throat. "As touching as that little bit of bonding is," she told them with a wry smile, "I still need to do a few spells, some of which won't work properly with other people nearby."

As if stung, Daphne let go and jumped back. "Sorry," she replied sheepishly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Now then, blood pressure seems to be fine. The injuries seem to heal decently, from what I can tell. I can't get a good reading on the arm, which might be the result of the unknown magic. There might be something about similar interferences in one of the books, of course, but... Anyway, any pain, Harry?"

"No," he told her.

"Well, that's something, but you really should rest as much as possible." Hermione sent Daphne a meaningful glance who understood the hint well enough.

"That's fine," she forced out with a somewhat dishonest smile. Turning to Harry, she added, "Here, I brought you something." From one of her pockets, she drew a pouch and pulled a single cookie out of. "I guessed you wouldn't get that many visitors. Or presents."

"Probably not," Harry agreed. When she handed over the cookie, their hands touched once more, making Harry smile.

All it took was Hermione clearing her throat to remind both that they weren't as alone as they hoped they were. With a hasty nod to both Harry and Hermione, Daphne left.

"Odd one," Ron commented, coming over and watching as Harry put the cookie on the night stand.

"It's the thought that counts," Harry disagreed with a pensive smile.


A bit of catching up. It also allowed me to remove the problem of the twin cores without having Voldemort go shopping for a new wand like some first-year student.