Harry wasn't sure what was worse. Being forced to wait in Grimmauld Place until the news of Mr. Weasley being attacked and put in the hospital or the never-ending feeling of being sluggish and disoriented.

Every mental command—Pick up his trunk, grab Hedwig, try and study a book to pass the time—was interrupted by a static filled fog that either erased the action or made it last for an eternity.

And he didn't understand why he felt like this. That doll or rather…Ness surely couldn't have hurt him a hundred, maybe thousands of miles away from the Ministry of Magic…could it?

PSI was a strange and frightful thing to think about. So, Harry shoved it out of his mind the best he could as he sat in his room, trying to ignore the static as he awaited the dreaded stampede of worried friends. After Sirius had informed that they needed to wait to avoid suspicion Harry had booked it into an empty room the best he could to try and clear his mind.

Not in the mood to try and work pass his somehow numb tongue to explain what had happened to the others yet. But of course, time waited for no man, and five minutes after struggling to do mundane tasks and push past the static the door flew open.

Revealing his worried friends looking at him, desperate to learn what had happened to his father. Apparently, the static interrupted his hearing a bit as well, or perhaps that was the bubbling guilt stewing inside him making it hard to process their desire to learn what had happened, how he had nearly attacked Mr. Weasley and had to be stopped by Ness who then blasted the man in the process.

He wasn't sure if this was on purpose or not, Ness had great control over his PSI…At least he hoped the boy did, so for the attack to go haywire seemed unlikely. Plus, he had been trying to get Mr. Weasley to leave for his own safety before the mind-numbing attack had gone off. So perhaps it was an accident.

"One that doesn't excuse your actions." An evil little voice hissed as Harry forced himself to focus. He didn't have time to wallow in guilt, he needed to explain what had happened before it grew to hard to talk. It had been an embarrassing disaster when he tried to inform Dumbledore what had happened when he heard himself stumbling over words and letters.

With a dry swallow Harry looked up from his tingling hands, wondering how he could explain the story properly. "Right, so, I was dreaming about this dark hallway. And your dad was standing in front of this door for some reason. Maybe even 'uarding it."

"'Uarding?" Ron repeated, scowling when Ginny shushed him and gestured for Harry to continue, the Weasleys' sitting on the other bed or on a forgotten chair as Harry spoke.

"He dozed off and this 'nake came out of the shadows—it was going to murder him and-,"

"So, the snake got him?" George interrupted, frowning when Harry shook his head the best he could. "N-no, the snake never touched him. A doll attacked him—'ccidently."

There was a long moment of silence as they processed this. Fred and George exchanged looks of disbelief while Ron looked torn between laughing and getting angry. Ginny just looked sick.

Did she know about the doll? Or…did she know something related to it? He made a mental note to ask her about it later as Ron exploded, "Is this a joke!?"

"Ron-," Ginny tried reaching out for her older brother when Ron waved her off, "How could a doll attack and nearly kill dad?!"

"It didn't 'ean 'oo!" Harry replied, raising his voice a little to be heard, or maybe to feel more in control of the situation that was rapidly spiraling out of control. "It 'as behind the door Mr. Weasley was guarding—I think it was trying to leave and didn't realize he was there since they looked at each in surprise but the 'oll' saved him!"

"Then why is dad in the hospital?" Fred asked, his voice oddly empty. "You said it yourself, he nearly died."

"The doll, it spotted the snake before Mr. Weasley had a chance 'oo and yelled at him to get to safety before attacking it, they wrestled for a bit and the doll yelled at him to get behind the door before it unleashed this 'eird electric 'ttack with explosions."

"And Dad got caught up in the blast since it happened so fast." Ginny guessed, her eyes tearing up as Harry nodded. "A doll. A blooming-," Ron started when Harry nervously added, "I…I think 'Ess was somehow controlling the doll."

Chilling the room as Ginny stiffened then relaxed, possibly understanding how he could have done it as Fred and George blinked in shock before George spoke up, "Ness, as in Ness Earthbound, the boy who tried to protect that git Malfoy?"

"He also tried to prevent you three from getting booted off the Qudditch team." Ginny sharply reminded them, making her stance clear in the brewing storm as Fred, George and Harry grimaced at the memory of Ness entering some sort of shock induced coma after being blasted by Madam Pomfrey by accident.

"Er, right, 'Ess was somehow controlling the doll—I think he had a dream as well—since it knew who Mr. Weasley was."

"Possibly…but why would you both dream about the same thing?" Ginny wondered as Fred and George exchanged frowns, wondering the same thing as Ron fumed. "Probably to cause more trouble that's why."

"Wha-," Ginny started when George cut her off, "What are you talking about Ron? If anything Ness seems to be preventing it." Maybe it was the shock of the news effecting Ron as the boy gave a bitter scoff, oozing with anger and maybe even hate towards Ness.

"This just proves that Ness is behind the attacks at the castle!"

"No, it doesn't-," Ginny started a scowl starting to form as Ron snapped, "Yes it does! He can control dolls! What's stopping him from controlling the suits of armor or the paintings!"

"His sense of morality!"

This was bad. Harry tried to stand up, pull Ron back and maybe calm him down a bit—maybe even confess that he was the snake and desired to murder their father but his body. Wouldn't. Move.

Fred and George were stunned as the youngest Weasley's bickering rose in volume, the sound cutting in and out as Ginny defended Ness from Ron's sadly valid accusations.

Ness was a PSI user, he had been proven to disrupt the area and wizards around him, even if it was completely by accident. He had outright stated that he wished Hogwarts would close down and that he didn't view Dumbledore in a positive light, plus Professor Kale had warned them that Ness had started a chain reaction, a deadly one as Hogwarts battled foes inside and outside of the school.

Everything they had learned over the year, experienced this far all pointed at Ness being the culprit, either indirect or directly. The only sliver lining to defend the boy with was how he still helped them out despite being on opposite sides of opinion, worlds and roles.

Was…Was Ness really behind this? A loud jarring yelp of pain jerked him out of his static filled stupor. Bringing him back to reality as he looked up, his mouth already dropping to see Ron staggering away from Ginny, holding his now black eye as he looked at his little sister in surprise.

Ginny Weasley. The once shy and timid girl who had braved being Tom Riddle's Pawn and had grew into a motherly—yet fiery defender—had just punched her brother. Her face twisted into look of pure fury that would have been a perfect—no, an even better rage expression than Ms. Weasley's if it wasn't for the near invisible tears slipping down her face and her shaking shoulders as she fought to hold back the dam of tears waiting to break free.

Her hand was tightly balled into a fist, trembling as she pulled her arm back breathing deeply to try and collect herself before she spoke. They were all sure she would be yelling or screaming, but the cold, shaking tone she took made them recoil.

Fred and George in shame at not being able to break up to two people they'd never even dream of seeing arguing this badly and Harry at omitting the fact that he was guilty to and had been affected by Ness's attack as well, maybe proving that it wasn't Ness's intention to blast Mr. Weasley but protect him.

"You, pig headed idiot. You don't even know Ness, you don't know that he's been terrified of his friends and family dying because he's been dragged into Hogwarts, you don't know that Ness was the spearhead in taking down Barty Jr., you don't know that Ness was barely at 100% but still doing his best to be kind and polite to everyone after nearly dying to protect his loved ones, you don't know that Ness is unable to use let alone look at his right hand or that he can't stand the presence of powerful magic or simple spells. You. Know. Nothing about him."

"The evidence-," Ron started his eyes widening as Ginny lunged forward to punch him again only to be pulled back by George as Fred grabbed Ron, pulling him aside to ensure that Ginny didn't slip free and try again as she moved onto yelling, "You know BLOODY NOTHING! You don't even TRY to understand what he's been going through! Just like how you ignored Harry's—YOU'RE BEST BLOOMING FRIEND- honest statement of not entering the cup! Even now! You're ignoring the fact that HARRY'S been attacked by Ness as well! TWICE NOW! And yet you don't see HIM pointing fingers at a boy's who been suffering maybe even MORE than he has for making a small mistake! NOW DO WE?!"

"Harry's been attacked?" George asked, recoiling as Ginny tried to stomp on his foot, "Ow! It's an honest question!"

"Yes!" she snapped after a few more futile attempts to stomp on his foot, "Once at the graveyard and now at where ever Dad was guarding! It's why he's slurring and twitching so much! He's been affected by a status effect!"

"It's true." Harry meekly offered as all eyes focused on him again, flinching as the statement moved to rekindle Ron's anger. "Great! So Ness is lashing out at everyone we know and care about—,"

"I was the snake."

They looked at him, Ron's glint of vindicated anger fading as he looked at Harry as if he was some alien who didn't belong on earth. "You—you were-," Ginny started before she trailed off and mumbled a pity laced, "Oh Harry."

"I was the snake." Harry repeated, feeling sick to his stomach as he pressed on, "I wanted to attack him, kill him even. It was just—overriding all of my thoughts. If Ness hadn't blasted me, then Mr. Weasley might have actually died before we could have gotten help."

Fred and George turned ash white, mumbling, "Right, it took you a while to get out of the dorms…" in horror as Ron looked at him. His anger replaced with a blank look.

"Is—is this a joke?" Ron finally asked, swallowing heavily when Harry shook his head no. "I was the snake." He simply said, "Ness…Ness was the hero."

"Like HELL-,"

"Shut up pig!"

Harry tuned out after that, their yelling and attempts to murder one another drowned out by angry static. When he came back to a static free world Sirius was the only other person in the room.

"Where-," Harry started when Sirius merely shook his head no, "Fred's with Ron, trying to make him see a bit of sense, or maybe calm down at being furiously angry at you." That was to be expected. Harry moved to intently study the floor as his Godfather continued, "And Ginny, is taking a long walk with George to try and find a payphone."

"A…A payphone?"

"She wants to call a friend, calm down a bit and maybe not murder Ron." Sirius explained gently pushing a cup of hot coco into his numb hands. "I heard the yelling, but I didn't think much of it until I heard someone trying use a spell to blow someone's head off."

"Ah." Was all he could manage as he took a forceful sip of the hot coco, barely registering that it was freshly made and burning his numb tongue. They sat there for a moment, taking in the night sky, or maybe early morning given the small hints of light creeping up onto the dark sky.

The sun had just began creeping over the horizon when Sirius spoke up, "It wasn't your fault." Prompting Harry to look at him in disbelief.

"It's not." Sirius insisted, but his tone was gently as he watched the pale pink sky lighten, "Did you want to attack Mr. Weasley?"

Heavens no! Why would he want to attack the man who was practically an uncle to him!? The answer must have been written on his face since Sirius nodded, "Then there you have it, it's not your fault. You were just somehow roped into the wrong place at the wrong time…for some reason."

"Sort of like Ness." Harry grimly thought, his thoughts bouncing back to Ginny and Ron's argument, how Ron had been right. Ness had the motive, the power and skill to possibly—no, absolutely shut down Hogwarts, and no one would be able to stop him since no one knew what he was truly capable of.

The gears had been turned on, all because he hadn't been careful and warier about Voldemort's schemes. Allowing Ness to be pushed to his breaking point of self control.

"All because of me."

"If anything, you helped save the day." Harry looked up at his Godfather in disbelief earning a scowl and a curt, "For gods sake, you're even worse than James when he's been proven that he can't take care of everything by himself."

"How did I-,"

"Who woke up and alerted Dumbledore to Arthur's injury?"

"Me but-,"

"That's right, you. Not Ness, you."

"But he forced me to wake up!"

"How?"

"He er, somehow blasted me with this electric explosion to stop the snake, forcing me awake." Harry admitted, cringing as his hand twitched a bit, "If he hadn't done that then I might not have made it in time."

"But you did." Sirius argued, "Now stop beating yourself up and pick a different topic." Harry looked at him in disbelief before he swallowed his next degrading compliant and asked about how Ginny and Ron looked as they were separated.

"Awful." Sirius deadpanned with a small cringe, "Ginny can make a cat jealous with the damage she left behind and Ron was ready to strangle her." He paled as Sirius recounted the black eye, bruised cheek and bleeding nail thin gashes Ron had and the crooked nose, bruised stomach and an even worse black eye than the Ginny got.

"What were they even fighting about?" Sirius asked after a moment for Harry to process the horrifying information, "I thought it was about you being the snake and Ness being there as well but…"

Harry looked at Sirius for a long, long moment before he sighed, feeling sick as he explained how he and Ness had gotten into the argument- something he had originally glossed over when he told Sirius before it had gotten impossible to contact him—which had Ness accusing Dumbledore for being a rotten headmaster and wishing that Hogwarts would close down, then about how the school hauntings were random and seemed to sometimes help him and Ness out.

Like during his first and last detention with Ness before the paintings had started screaming, how Ness was still trying to be friendly to everyone and had helped them set up the Defensive Aegis and balance out the objections of having Slytherin classmates learning with them.

Then how Ness had jumped to protect Malfoy after the boy had willingly provoked them during their Gryffindor V.S Slytherin Quidditch match, severally damaging Ron's confidence and pride as he, Fred and George were banned from Quidditch for the rest of their lives before wrapping it up with how Ness had seemingly attacked Mr. Weasley while trying to protect him from the snake, leading to the argument of Ron accusing Ness of purposely attacking Hogwarts and attacking their dad and Ginny angrily defending him by bringing up how much Ness had suffered for the past year and accusing Ron of being a horrible friend.

When he finished it was at least 4:30 and Sirius was just…looking at him, trying to comprehend the emotional roller coaster the two had been on before crashing into the station just in time for Christmas.

"Well then." Sirius finally said, "You've all had a…busy year."

"Half year." Harry corrected, earning a mumble curse from the older man as he tried to figure out what to say. He didn't get a chance to say anything since someone screamed.

Jolting them to their feet and forcing them to hurry downstairs to see Mrs. Weasley, Profess—sorry, Lupin, Fred and Ron in the kitchen. Fred looked sick as Ron merely looked at the fridge as they stood by the entryway. Clearly trying to replace an ice bag as Mrs. Weasley looked at her son in horror while Lupin tried to calm her down.

"Right," Sirius grunted, "Lupin walked in a couple minutes after George and Ginny headed out for a walk. Wanted to wait for Molly to prepare her for the news."

"What on earth happened to you?!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, almost dropping her tea cup in shock as Ron inched back, abandoning his need for ice as he mumbled, "Just an argument."

"With who?! Fred!" Fred cringed and tried to laugh it off, "Sorry Mum, Ron and I got into a disagreement and it er-," his attempt to cover for Ginny blew up in his face as she and George returned, Ginny actually limping and mumbling curses under her breath as George tried to lighten the mood, joking, "Well, maybe next time you can beat the payphone."

"Ginny?!" They jumped as the Ms. Weasley connected the dots, promptly screeching, "You two got in a fight!? What on earth—and while your father is—What is going on here?!"

Ginny pointedly looked at Lupin's cup and mumbled, "Just a disagreement with Ron."

"More like attempted murder." Harry thought, wondering if Sirius was thinking the same thing as the man looked up at the ceiling to hide his expression.

"A disagreement that leaves you both bruised and bloodied?!" Ms. Weasley pursed her lips, looking hysterical before she collected herself, pointing at the two empty chairs across from her, "Both of you. Now."

Ginny and Ron flinched, murderous anger flickering in their eyes as they debated obeying their mother, or doing the smart thing and resuming avoiding one another for perhaps another hour. Or a year. But the barbed warning of, "Do I need to repeat myself?" quickly answered their debate.

"No." Well, Ron's debate since he started to slowly shuffle forward only to stop. His eyes wide at Ginny's active defiance of their mother. Harry was now wondering if that spell Ness used affected everyone, leaving them crippled with opposite day symptoms as Mrs. Weasley blinked in surprise.

Repeating Ginny's answer in disbelief, "I'm sorry, but did you just say-," she started when George and Fred stepped forward, "We'll explain Mom," Fred started, "Just calm down." George pleaded.

"I'm going up to my room-," Ginny started when Mrs. Weasley shot her a glare that made her hesitate, and the icy statement of, "You are not going anywhere until I get to the bottom of this." Made her stay.

"Molly, it's been a rough night, maybe we should let Ginny, Ron and Harry turn in for the night?" Lupin asked, quickly sensing that this was much worse than a simple sibling spat, "Harry especially since he's been injured." Ginny added earning a groan of, "I was hoping I was wrong." From Sirius who had noticed his weird flinches and inability to gauge temperature at the moment.

"How was Harry injured?!" Mrs. Weasley demanded as George tried to start explaining. "I was the snake." Or try to as everything went to hell in a hand basket as Ginny groaned, "Oh dear."

While Fred and George exchanged weary looks and Ron bit his lip, almost drawing blood as Mrs. Weasley screeched, "WHAT?!"

Lupin merely put his tea cup down and offered through the chaos that they should have breakfast. Which was another mess as Ginny and Ron purposely sat as far away from one another as they could and not be in leg's reach to kick one another. Creating a fiery tension between the two as Fred and George silently ate some ham and eggs.

It was a godsend when Sirius bluntly explained what had happened and ended the conversation with, "And now we're going to bed so we can greet Arthur with something close to a smile."

Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth, maybe to scold Ginny and Ron or take a side but swiftly closed it. "Right, bed everyone."

Morning, or rather afternoon came far to early for Harry's liking as he sluggishly moved to put on a clean set of clothes, mentally cursing whatever was affecting him as he tried to pull on his sock only to be interrupted by a burst of static.

Mrs. Weasley's frantic, "Come on! Up and at em! We're going to be late!" didn't help either, cutting off hastily made commands to move faster and creating more bursts of static. After getting dressed (Somehow.) the fog returned, blotting out the tense and down right uncomfortable car ride to the hospital.

The cold tension in the room morphing into ice as the realization that Mr. Weasley was in the hospital dawned on them. Growing worse as Mrs. Weasley spoke to the nurse to see her husband, explaining that they were family as the tired young woman's face shifting into a pinched expression of pity before she masked it with a neutral expression.

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Weasley is in the middle of being prepared for…" the woman trailed for a bit before she sighed and knit her hands together. "Miss. Your husband is being prepared to be sent to a muggle hospital to get better treatment than what the healers here are prepared for."

A bucket of ice-cold water fell on their heads, muffling the world as the statics increased in bursts. "How bad is it?" Fred asked, trying to support his mother who was just looking at her, trying to process that her husband was badly injured that not even magic could heal him.

"Well, by our standers, not that bad. But…" she hesitated before changing the topic, "He's currently on the fourth floor for Spell damage. Fin Tiro is currently tending to him."

"Thank you." Lupin said, gently ushering them up to the fourth floor, past the magically ill and bustling doctors—healers carrying something around. The fog had returned with a vengeance and was refusing to let up, probably from the shock just crashing down him. That happened to people who endured a traumatic episode or something, right?

They went through shock and drifted through events until something grounded them. He was a little surprised that he hadn't gone through it earlier…or maybe he had but Sirius hadn't noticed in his haste to figure out what was going on and maybe fix it.

"Harry and I will wait out here Molly," Lupin said, gently pushing her forward with a small smile, "Family first."

"R-right." She mumbled, squaring her shoulders and marching inside with the others trailing behind her like ducks. He jumped when he felt Lupin gently squeeze his shoulder, "Doing alright Harry?"

He managed a smart uh as they sat down on a lumpy waiting bench outside the Spell Damage Ward, waiting for the okay to see Mr. Weasley.

"…No." Harry finally decided, "I'm…not okay."

"Sirius told me you've have an…interesting school year thus far." Harry swallowed a bitter laugh as he flinched from a burst of static. "More like chaotic. Nothing makes sense now, safe is dangerous and I'm suddenly the failure of a chosen hero."

"Now what makes you say that?"

Oh, I don't know. Maybe because thus far Ness was being a better hero? A better leader? He didn't want to acknowledge it, first perceiving Ness's constant appearances and helpful demeanor as just that, a trait from America and the lingering burden of having to play hero or something when he was entering his preteens.

But now? Ness was in charge, he saved Sirius, he caught Mad Eyed Moody, he protected him from Voldemort, he ensured that the DA wasn't falling apart and now, he had saved Mr. Weasley.

While he had been two steps behind, as usual. Stumbling around like a naïve idiot unburdened by life and seemingly Voldemort's return.

"Why." Harry finally managed, pushing past the self loathing and frustration as he looked up at Lupin, "Why is that I'm the chosen one when Ness is busy being the real hero?"

Lupin paused seemingly surprised by this topic but quickly brushed it aside, "Perhaps because he already was a hero." He answered, "Harry, you're 15. You aren't going to save the world-,"

"I am. Since I'm the boy who lived, the boy Voldemort wants to kill." That meant they were destined to fight or something, right? He didn't want to believe in the stars, but given how Ness had arrived here on Dumbledore's orders, to protect him from a future threat…

"True, true. But why are you comparing yourself to Ness so much?" Lupin asked, "I get it, he's the outsider who's been making names and getting everyone on his side. But what does this have to do with you?"

Everything he wanted to answer, but he knew that wasn't true. Before the Goblet of Fire, Harry wouldn't have even Ness's name let alone where he came from. He was just Ginny's friend who was possibly here to protect him or something.

But now? What was Ness?

A monster, an inhuman being blessed with terrifying powers that no one could handle? Someone posing as his friend? Although now that he thought about it they were really never friends…

"Perhaps you're so hang up on him because he's your anti." He jumped and looked up to see a young woman with bright blue hair in childish pigtails carrying a basket of fluffy teddy bears with big colorful bow ties around their necks.

She sort of looked a toy herself given her frilly but somehow professional dress with a white coat resting over it that stood out among the patients and healers. "And you are…?" Lupin asked, growing a little defensive as the woman merely blinked at them then caught herself.

"Whoopies daisy! Sorry about that loves!" the woman struck a cutesy pose and chirped, "I'm Maybell Jones! Volunteer for long term injuries and the tea shop upstairs!" she flashed a name badge at them and added, "Also a muggle doctor consultant." Prompting her to flash a muggle doctor license at them before she put them in the basket.

"I see…You're helping Tiro then?" Lupin questioned, relaxing a bit.

"Yup! Mr. Weasley…ah…" Maybell grimaced then changed the topic, swiftly moving onto Harry, "Say! Have you been hit with an electric spell?"

"'r," he managed before the woman hummed, "You have! You have! Hold on a second!" she rummaged through the basket and pulled out a lollipop, "It's a Secret Herb Lollipop! Great for clearing the mind!"

"Wait-," he didn't get a chance to finish as Maybell unwrapped the herb green treat and shoved it in his mouth. Filling it with a bitter and almost undefinable taste as he worked his numb tongue around it. Surprised to feel the numbness fade away almost immediately.

"Now, about this Ness dude, he's your anti since he's suuuuper different than you but has a lot of your core features!" Well, not really but he could see why Maybell could jump to that conclusion. "I suppose so." Harry mumbled out, grimacing as the woman joined them on the couch with a bounce and rambled on.

"So, he's like your Anti Sonic! Evil Sonic! But he's not evil and is just, ten times better than you at your favorite hobbies or daily activities!"

Better at being a leader? Check, better at keeping the peace? Check, outright dislikes Hogwarts? Check.

"But you can't beat yourself up about!" Maybell exclaimed her eyes burning with fiery determination, "You just have to be your own person! Separate yourself from him and stand out as who you want to be!"

"You're…really passionate about this." Lupin noted with a small frown. Maybell gave an energetic nod, "Oh of course! It's like issue 11 of Sonic the Hedgehog being played out before me! Granted I'm missing a lot of the back story but still!"

Lupin gave an unamused, "Uh huh." As Maybell grabbed Harry's hands, "So don't give up kiddo! Just because this kid is your anti doesn't mean it's the end of the world! No one can take your spot at being the popular kid at school!"

"Uh… Thanks." Harry managed as Maybell got up and fixed her pig tail holders, "Now if you excuse me! I'm off to break some bad news!" her demeanor changed, growing a more serious as she walked forward, only pausing to glance back at them, "Say, you wouldn't happen to be with the Weasleys…would you?"

"We are." Lupin answered, frowning nervously as Maybell glanced at the door then back at them, "Is that a problem…?"

"No, come with me please." They exchanged a wary expression before they reluctantly followed the once bouncy woman into the room. Harry taking a deep breath through his teeth as he saw one bed with curtains drawn around it.

A private ward. Which meant that Mr. Weasley was in terrible condition and needed to be isolated in the empty white room. A tall slender man wearing deep green robes was trying desperately to placate Mrs. Weasley who looked ready to strangle the man as he stressed that he needed to wait for a consulate to properly explain what had happened.

"Apologies for being late, I was talking to some troubled visitors." Maybell said, pulling a clipboard out of her basket of seemingly endless goodies as she approached the curtained bed and the Weasley family.

"And you are?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her tone irritated and frustrated as Maybell coolly studied them before flashing a doctor's id that muggles usually wore towards them, "Maybell Jones, Muggle Doctor who's studied in Emergency Medicine Specialist." She placed the id on her coat before checking her clipboard.

"Now, I believe your asking about the decision to move Mr. Weasley to a muggle hospital, preferably HealthSouth New England Rehabilitation Hospital after his treatment is taken care of."

"Rehabilitation?" Fred repeated, looking sick as George snapped, "What does that mean?! Why does Dad even need Muggle care?!"

"Simple, the doctors—sorry, healers can't heal him with magic. We'll need Muggle ways to take care of the damage." An icy chill settled on the room, sucking the air out of their lungs as Lupin stepped forward, steadying Mrs. Weasley who looked ready to fall over in shock and horror.

"Jones, could you elaborate on the damage?" Maybell—or maybe Jones given how different the woman had suddenly become—looked at Lupin then at Mrs. Weasley, "Are you ready to hear the damage-,"

"For gods sake yes!" Mrs. Weasley all but screamed, "What happened to my husband!?"

Jones cleared her throat and began reading from the clipboard aloud, "After being found at 12:34, December 24 in the Ministry forbidden section, basic treatment was applied to the various amounts of electrical burns and shallow breathing indicting an internal broken bone. Intern healers and on sight healers found that the basic stabilizing potions they brought were non-effective and supposedly made it worse. Forcing them to use flimsy basic care until they returned to the hospital. There, it was found that Mr. Weasley was supposedly hit by a lightning bolt chest down and explosions, leaving third degree burns on his chest and torso and explosive marks and scaring on his arms and legs. His head was oddly clean of wounds.

"From there it was confirmed that magical treatment wouldn't be effective, the only thing working after Mr. Weasley woke up around 5:31 AM and confirming that he was having a hard time talking, processing information and struggling to move his fingers and hands was oddly American magical lollipops treated with muggle herbs to cure small amounts of paralysis and give energy boosts to the user.

"Thus far, we have covered his burns with band aids dipped in burn medicine to alleviate the pain, but until we can get an x-ray and Mr. Weasley in a stable and coherent state, the healers can't do anything else." Jones looked up to a shell-shocked room, finishing with a curt, "These are the reasons why Mr. Weasley requires a muggle hospital and possibly, rehabilitation therapy."

"Therapy?" Ron echoed, "H-hold on, he isn't going to be good as new?" Jones pressed her lips together, as if holding back a remark as Tiro took over with a small cough, his expression laced with pity and shame.

"Sadly young man, he's going to be lucky to get back to 65% in terms of health. Muggles don't have sure fire cures and often deal with a lot of hit or miss health cases. From what Jones has informed me, it'll be a miracle that Mr. Weasley isn't diagnosed with having strokes and require constant help from the amount of inhuman damage he's suffered. His nerves may be severally damaged and his muscles might lock up at random times, preventing him from walking."

"And that's considering that the tests the Muggles run on him are 100% successful." Jones added, her face devoid of any emotion as she spoke, "We've never had a wizard gone into muggle care, at least not for something this serve. They may have trouble finding the damage and causes behind it since he was attacked with an odd form of magic."

There was a muffled feminine sob from somewhere, maybe Mrs. Weasley since Ginny was just looking ahead, not seeing anything as Jones spoke.

"So, all in all, 50/50 chance that Mr. Weasley is close to recovering but better than the 0/10 chances he has here at St. Mungos." Jones finished placing the clipboard on the table along with a giant fluffy teddy bear. "Any more questions?"

No, that was an obvious answer as they looked at Mr. Weasley in quiet shock and horror. Jones walked out after that, leaving Tiro and Lupin to gently assure Mrs. Weasley that it was going to be alright, that the man was lucky to be alive from his 'dangerous' job as they just watched. Processing the information Jones had bluntly dumped on them.

Not beating around the bush to ensure that the pure-blooded wizards got the message. Magic was useless in this situation. Only time and muggle care would help now.

A sharp bang ripped everyone away from the horrified thoughts of not being able to do anything, to entrust their loved one to muggles who might not fare better than the healers, as a multicolored blur rushed into the room.

Tonks his mind supplied as the young woman doubled over, breathing hard and oblivious to the tense air in the room, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it earlier! I was caught up with work and wanted to accompany you to-,"

"Tonks." Lupin interrupted, gesturing around the room as Tonks looked up, her voice dying as she took in the somber mood. "Oh…it's that-," she cut herself off as Mrs. Weasley stiffly turned to Fred and George, her voice a strangled whisper, "Boys, why don't you go up to the café, get some tea." The order clearly for all of them as they numbly nodded.

"Do you want anything?" Harry asked, feeling like an outsider as he stepped into the hallway. Into a different world as the warmth returned.

"No." she rasped, barely able to stop herself from bursting into tears as Harry closed the door. His stomach twisted into violent knots as they headed up to the fifth floor for some lunch.

Or to pretend to get some lunch. No one was hungry, not after the bombshell Jones had dropped on them. And yet here they were, sitting the café drinking cold cups of tea as they listened to worried family members mutter and nibble on cookies and brownies. A small handful of people being upbeat and lively as they traded warm but quiet "Merry Christmas!" around.

"Merry Christmas." Harry looked up from his still cup of earl grey tea, grimacing as Ron sneered, "Yea, merry Christmas to everyone but us."

"Ron…" George tried, looking torn between bringing up the obvious, 'At least he's still alive' or agreeing with him as Ginny took a sip from her tea cup. Her lips a fiery white as she held back whatever comment she had.

"This is all that bloody git's fault." Ron went on, struggling to keep his voice down as Ginny's grip around her cup tightened, "If he hadn't come to Hogwarts—if he hadn't attacked dad!-,"

"Ron, we don't know for sure what happened." Harry tried, swallowing a bitter pill that Ron was right, if Ness hadn't come to Hogwarts then-…Then what? Ness had managed to help save the day, if he hadn't shown up…would he still be alive? Using the portkey to head back to Hogwarts?

"You saw what happened!" Ron hissed, "You saw him attack dad and-,"

"I think Ness healed him." Ron stopped and glared at Ginny, who was looking at her cup, "That's why magic won't work. Ness got there first before he had to leave."

"And you know this how?" Ron demanded, "Did your boyfriend-,"

"Harry." Harry blinked and dumbly pointed at himself, "Me? What did I do?"

"You aren't flinching or struggling to talk. Doctor Jones gave you something, didn't she?"

"…Yea, this herb lollipop."

"She mentioned that the closest thing to magic that would work was an American wizard lollipop that used muggle herbs. Something that healed PSI induced Paralysis." Ginny stated, looking up with a dull, protective flame in her eyes.

"So, dad might have a chance to be healed in no time if Ness tries it?" Fred asked, sounding a little hopeful.

"Maybe, it explains why dad doesn't have any head injuries."

It was a small ray of hope, but better than nothing to learn that Ness could finish undoing his mistake, that Mr. Weasley would be able to live life like before without any linger pains or physical reminders of that night. But just like that, a storm cloud swallowed it up as Ron spat, "Great! So, let the person who made this mess in the first place finish the job!"

"Ron, it's better than nothing." Harry pleaded, "Besides, Ness probably saved him from dying right then and there-,"

"After causing it?! What is making you guys so blind to the problem!?" Ron demanded, his scowl deepening as they rushed to shush him. Already attracting a couple annoyed and pity filled glances from other customers.

"Every bad thing—every attack—was caused by him! And you're just up and agreeing that he can save the day!"

"Well he has a better track record than me," Harry found himself grumbling. Torn between agreeing with Ron and protecting Ness, "Besides, we only know one part of the story! We don't know what exactly happened from Ness's-,"

"Fine! Since you're all on the Ness is god parade! Why don't we just go bloody ask him!" Ron spun to Ginny who looked ready to punch him, or maybe gouge his eyes out, "You know where he is, right?"

"Mostly." Ginny all but growled, "Luna said he was staying with a friend since there were winter storms in America."

"Then let's go."

"Ron, we don't know where his friend-," George started when Fred mumbled, "It…isn't that bad an idea…" earning a desperate look from his twin who grimaced in reply, "He has a point George, we're just going to go around in circles until we get answers."

"True but…" George's compliant died in his throat, his eyes nervously flickering to Ginny and Ron. He didn't want another fight to break out, he didn't want anyone else to get hurt.

But at this rate…it would be better to rip off the band aid than to let the wound fester and grow… "Alright," Ginny looked at him, torn between annoyance and understanding as Harry got to his feet, "We'll go. We'll ask what happened and leave." He tried hard not to look at Ron's relived expression or Ginny's as the young Weasley got up to call Luna for help. Leaving them to create a cover story for why they were just going to disappear from the hospital after seeing, or rather hearing about what happen to Mr. Weasley.

Man, this is the BEST Christmas ever for the Weasleys! (Sarcasm)

And this is only one third of them. Did Percy, Bill or Charlie ever give their two cents on the original attack...? Well, Percy is excluded since he's a jerk at the moment and might not even be told since he's a Ministry number one fan but, yea. Did they ever find out? Normally I wouldn't be wondering since its normal for loved ones to inform others about attacks or a sudden stay at the hospital but...this is Phoenix business. So would they count since they're old enough to know that something's up behind their dad being attacked? :/

That aside, does anyone know a good website with the all the Harry Potter timeline and events? I used to use Lexicon since they were super informed and I didn't like jumping back and forth in my writing to read a couple paragraphs from the book to figure out what event to talk about next, but for some reason I keep getting errors when I'm trying to look into the second half of Book 5 or anything related to it.

Also, don't worry about Maybell's last name if you remember her, it's intentional. :3

Reviews! :D

M1nhTre37: Thanks! It's nice knowing that my ideas aren't too outlandish to be considered off cannon- I have pet peeves when someone writes something that doesn't make canonical sense and never bothers to explain how or why it happened to fit in with their story universe.- also nice to know that my current plan of 'fix small plot holes I accidentally forgot that I wrote for another arc by connecting them to something else- isn't ruining the flow. ^-^; I'm very forgetful with small details...

HelenTheMoon: Well, keep in mind that Giygas wasn't threatening just Ness's planet but the entire universe. And the knowledge of some impending doom lingering the future your planet can make people very fearful and not able to think straight even if they don't know WHAT is attacking them or WHERE it truly is... Also, thanks for asking since I had everything set up expect HOW the 'layers' came into play. It originally sort of just happened until I read your review and thought about it for a moment. /;

CybeastFalzar: Random directions in storytelling are fun. :3

Thanks for the reviews! :D