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The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Chapter ten: Recovery
Cho was becoming increasingly worried about Harry. She had suspected that this would be the hardest part of rescuing Harry. She looked down at his chest again, the deep cuts there were restricting his breathing and up here, where the air was much thinner, he needed to take deeper breaths. She ran her hugged him to her again and whispered to him,
"Stay with me Harry." She wrapped her arms around him tightly and prayed that he would be alright. He began to shake in her arms, she looked down at him and saw that he was unable to breathe, the cuts on his chest were stopping him breathing properly and he was slowly suffocating.
Cho leant forward further and kicked her thestral hard in the flanks. She felt it give another burst of speed but it still didn't feel fast enough to her.
"Come on!" She screamed in frustration. Harry was beginning to thrash around, spluttering and trying to breathe. She was tempted to fly lower but resisted. If she did then countless muggles would see her and then there would be even more problems. Cho saw Hermione catch up with her.
"Cho, what's wrong?" Hermione shouted at her.
"He can't breathe! The air's too thin and his wounds are stopping him breathing!" Hermione went pale. She took out her wand and aimed it at Cho's thestral. A second later a slashing curse hit the thestral in the side. The thestral let out a bellow of pain and sped away.
Cho lent forward until she was practically leaning flat on the thestral, shielding Harry from the biting wind. Cho inspected his chest again, to see if there was anything she could do. There were too many cuts for her to heal, she looked closely and saw that the cuts were healing and every time he tried to take a breath it would tear the cuts apart and so he wouldn't take such deep breaths. Hating herself for doing it but knowing she had to; Cho took out her wand and opened up every single cut on his chest. He screamed horribly and blood splattered all over her robes but at least he could breathe.
He was sweating heavily and his forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat. She hugged him to her breast and leaned down to place a soft kiss on his lips.
"I'm sorry, Harry." In the distance she could see the rising turrets of Hogwarts, "Nearly there, Harry. You're going to be alright." She looked behind her but could no longer see Hermione and the others.
Gritting her teeth and with a look of determination she kicked the thestral into a dive.
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The thestral landed in front of the doors to the Entrance Hall and a few seconds later members of the Order, McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore were sprinting out of them towards Cho.
Cho sat limply on the thestral. She was exhausted. The were shouts and cries as people saw Harry, nobody had been prepared to see him in such a state, his robes were covered in blood, they were soaking wet and caked with salt. He was covered in wounds and his hair was limp with sweat and blood. There was havoc as people surrounded the thestral and shouted instructions. In the middle of it Cho sat limply on the thestral, holding Harry in her arms.
"Let go of him now, Miss Chang, we need to get him to the Hospital Wing." Dumbledore said to her kindly. She nodded wearily and let go.
"Careful now!" Yelled a voice as they slid Harry off the thestral.
"Jesus Christ! What have they done to him?" cried someone as he was slid into the arms of Kingsley Shacklebolt. At that point Madam Pomfrey pushed her way to the centre of the crowd. She screamed when she saw Harry lying limp and bloody in Kingsley's arms.
"Quickly, get him to the hospital wing!" Kingsley turned and started running towards the double doors with Madam Pomfrey running beside him. Dumbledore turned to Cho.
"You did well Miss Chang and I cannot thank you enough." Without another word he turned and began to run after Kingsley and Madam Pomfrey. As the Order dispersed, Cho silently slipped off her thestral. Blinded by tears she raised her eyes to the sky, in the distance but closing fast were the rest of the DA. Too exhausted to wait for them she turned and slowly walked inside.
In her heart she knew that even if Harry did recover from his physical wounds then there were much deeper mental wounds that would take much longer to heal. She knew what Wizarding torture did to people, but to be subjected to it and remain sane, well, there would be consequences. Severe consequences. Harry would be emotionally weak and destroyed. She would just have to help him get through it.
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The double doors were swung open and Kingsley, Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore sprinted through them. It was just after lunch and people were beginning to return to their classes. The stopped and turned when they heard the doors being thrown open. They stood stock still at the sight that greeted them.
Kingsley's robes were soaked through with Harry's blood. His hands were covered in it. Harry was no longer unconscious and was screaming terribly with the pain. The blood was pouring out of his wounds and covering his skin.
His face was a mass of cuts and his jaw was clearly broken, he couldn't open his eyes because of all the blood flowing around them. The hood of his cloak had been punched into his wounds and every time the cloak was pulled it ripped into the cuts. His robes were slashed and torn and horrible cuts and bruises could be seen clearly. Not long after Kingsley had run through the doors then people began to scream and cry and push forward to see what had happened.
"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" Bellowed Dumbledore. Kingsley ran up the marble staircase, Harry was no longer screaming, he was taking deep shuddering breaths and his face was screwed up. Eventually his breaths became shallower and his body stopped thrashing.
"Quickly!" Shouted Madam Pomfrey. They rounded a corner and the doors to the hospital wing came into view. Dumbledore threw open the doors and Kingsley ran through them.
"There! Put him on that bed!" Kingsley did as he was instructed. Harry had been lying on the bed for a few seconds and the sheets were already soaked through with blood. Madam Pomfrey ran to a cabinet and grabbed an armful of potions.
"Get out!" She yelled at Dumbledore and Kingsley. They obeyed without question. Dumbledore turned to see Madam Pomfrey waving her wand and a screen shot up, shielding Harry from view. But the screen could not hide the screams. Screams of pure agony. Dumbledore continued to stand there watching and listening until the first dark patches began appearing on the screen.
He turned and slowly brushed away the tears.
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The atmosphere in the castle was tense and scared. Almost the second that he had appeared through the double doors everyone knew that Harry Potter had suddenly reappeared broken and bloody, lying limp in the arms of a stranger and screaming terribly.
No one had any idea what had happened to him. The guesses were wild and inaccurate. There were many speculations at where he had been. People held their breaths and waited for news. Once Harry had announced the prophecy to the DA it became common knowledge in the school. They waited for news that he would be alright, that he would pull through yet again. Although no one denied that this was the worse he had ever come back to Hogwarts looking like, even after the battles he had fought in. The image of him covered in blood and screaming horribly, with his robes ripped and his face and body a mass of wounds, was burned into the minds of those who had seen it. This was the worst image many had seen, the closest they had come to the war. Nothing hit home the realities of war harder then a wounded, dying comrade being brought back, his body broken and his mind destroyed. Especially when that comrade was your only hope.
Dumbledore sat in his office with a few of the Order gathered around him.
"What do we tell the students?" McGonagall asked shakily. Dumbledore shook his head. He didn't want to think about it.
"I don't know." He said wearily. There were gasps of shock around the room. Dumbledore was never indecisive. His decisions were swift.
"We must tell them something!" McGonagall insisted.
"We will tell them the truth, when the time comes. Right now we need to do everything we can to make sure that Harry heals. Remember, it is not just his body that has been destroyed. He has been subject to Wizarding torture for over forty eight hours. He will be emotionally destroyed as well. We have to get him through that before we explain how he came to be in this state."
"And how long will that take?" Asked Emmeline Vance. Dumbledore shook.
"He will never recover emotionally. He will get better but he will never be completely healed. Just because he is still sane now, doesn't mean that he will stay that way." There were a few cries of fear around the room, but most people had expected it. "We have to help him recover quickly but we cannot push him, or he will just retreat into himself and that will make it worse." A silence fell over the room. Everyone had been present when Cho Chang had landed the thestral, clutching the broken body of Harry Potter, a scene that many had hoped that they would never have to witness. Everyone was remembering that scene. Someone at the back of the room spoke up.
"Why didn't they just use veritaserum?" It was Snape who stepped forward to answer.
"There are potions that can be taken before things like that, which can counter the effects of veritaserum. Many of the more potent amongst them can counter it for up to a week. In rare cases it has been known for someone to resist the effects of veritaserum for up to a month. That is why veritaserum is rarely used during torture. It is considered that if you have done something that warrants torture then you will have certainly taken a potion that will counter veritaserum." Dumbledore spread his hands and looked around the room. His eyes lingered on Molly Weasley. He had never seen her looking so furious. She saw him looking at her.
"What were you thinking, Albus?" She asked softly, the tone of her voice misleading, "The boy is sixteen." Dumbledore sighed and paused before answering.
"Molly, some things have to be done."
"Like sending a sixteen year old boy to carry out an assassination. Albus, he is sixteen, not only that but he is our only hope. Yet you send him on a mission that is practically suicide? What were you thinking?"
"I sent him because I knew I could trust him. Because I knew he would get the job done." He said sharply.
"So he is just a pawn in your game?" She said scornfully.
"No. He is more than welcome to do things however he wants. Unless you are forgetting, he has a hundred Aurors at his command; if he disagrees with me then he has sufficient power behind him to force me to change my decisions."
"But you know he won't do that! He is too good a person!" Dumbledore put his head in his hands. He knew the meeting was spiralling out of control rapidly.
"There is nothing we can do now, Molly. It has been done. We got Harry out of there and now we need to help him recover. That's all there is to it." People began to file out of his office. Many of them looking scared but there was a hint of anger directed at him underneath it all. When they were gone he sighed and shook his head. There was going to be trouble. They all knew the importance of Harry and they all disagreed with sending him on the assassination. Dumbledore didn't back down. He knew he was right. Harry had to be the best he possibly could if he was to defeat Voldemort and that meant being able to survive in situations like the one he had just been in. He cocked his head to the side, he was sure he was right in sending Harry, things that needed doing in war had to be done and, as young as he was, Harry had a great deal of experience under his belt. More than most and so he could be relied on, and in times like this, you needed people that could be relied on. Dumbledore stood up, deciding to go and see how Madam Pomfrey was doing
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Ron anxiously paced the Room of Requirement. The five Guardian lieutenants sat around a table watching him. He ran a hand through his hair, turned and opened his mouth as if to say something to them but then changed his mind and continued pacing.
The Guardian lieutenants were silent as well. None of them could think of anything to say to calm Ron down. Cho had appeared about twenty minutes ago and told them that Harry had been rescued and that the rest of the DA were returning with Hermione shortly. Ron had been desperate to ask what sort of condition Harry was in but decided against it. Cho had been in a terrible state, her eyes were red from crying and it had been difficult to string two words together coherently. He was even more tempted to go and find someone but he knew that wasn't wise. He would receive a hundred different stories and it would be difficult to know which one was the truth. There was nothing he could do but wait.
A few minutes later the door swung open and Hermione stepped inside the room. The Guardian lieutenants sat up urgently and Ron ran forward and grabbed her in his arms. She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder, the adrenaline long since gone from her body.
"Hermione, you're alright!" He exclaimed happily, momentarily forgetting about Harry in the relief he was feeling that his girlfriend was alright. He bent down and kissed her.
"Oh Ron." She sobbed. He suddenly remembered about Harry and felt a cold dread settle in his stomach.
"What? How is he?" She sobbed harder and didn't answer.
"Hermione?" he said urgently.
"He's…He's alive but-" Ron and the Guardian lieutenants let out a collective sigh of relief. Ron was grinning broadly; he wanted to run through the castle screaming in happiness.
"But he's," Ron's face fell, "Oh Ron, he's in a terrible state, he's covered in blood, not one patch of skin can be seen, you can't recognise him, his face is a mass of blood and cuts and his chest is torn to shreds. That's only some of it, I've never seen someone so horribly wounded before." Ron staggered backwards, his face pale and horrified. Hermione reached for his hand.
"Come on. We need to go and see him." She said, Ron nodded dumbly. He had horrible visions of Harry wounded and bleeding. He couldn't think straight. He looked at the guardian lieutenants. They were pale and slumped over the table. Ron briefly registered that it was proof of the loyalty Harry inspired in people, they had only served under him for a short while, and had rarely come into contact with him, and yet they were as worried as most people. Samia looked up at him.
"No, you go ahead. We'll go later." Ron nodded and allowed Hermione to pull him out of the room. He walked in a daze, not really knowing where he was going, allowing Hermione to take him there.
A few minutes later they arrived at the doors to the hospital wing. They could hear muffled cries coming from behind it. Hermione gave Ron's hand a reassuring squeeze and tentatively pushed open the door.
There was no mistaking where Harry was. Around one of the beds was a bloodied screen and the muffled cries of pain were coming from behind it. Slowly Hermione and Ron walked towards it.
"Who is that?" Came Madam Pomfrey's from behind the screen. She sounded weary and agitated.
"Hermione and Ron." Hermione said. The screen was pulled back and Hermione took a deep breath and swallowed hard to prevent herself from crying out. Madam Pomfrey stood there, her normally pristine, blue and white robes were covered in blood, behind her the screen, the bed and the area around it was soaked with blood. Hermione felt Ron's hand tremble in her own and she squeezed it tight.
"Do you want to see him?" Madam Pomfrey asked. Hermione hesitated before she answered. If the blood was anything to go by, then no she didn't want to see him. But then again, Harry was her friend and she owed him her support. She nodded and Madam Pomfrey stepped aside. She and Ron took a few uncertain steps towards him. They slowly approached the bed and stopped by his side. Hermione took a good look at him and fought hard not to scream, burst into tears and run from the hospital wing. Next to her Ron collapsed heavily into a chair, his face ashen.
"What happened to him?" He asked; his voice hoarse and disbelieving.
"Broken jaw, broken leg, fractured wrist, two broken ribs and one fractured. Numerous cuts, bruising and concussion." Said Madam Pomfrey next to them. They looked at Harry in silence. He was virtually naked apart from a few scraps of cloth. His body was covered in sweat, his torso was covered in a criss cross of wounds and there was a mass of bruising around them. Hermione looked at his face. Madam Pomfrey had obviously cleaned off most of the blood, but there was a massive cut running across his face and some smaller wands. His jaw was swollen and bruised and his face was screwed up in pain.
"Oh my God." Hermione said in a small voice.
"He was lucky." Madam Pomfrey said. Hermione turned to her, disbelief etched on her face.
"Lucky?" She demanded, "Just look at him. He was anything but lucky." Madam Pomfrey looked at her coldly.
"He was very lucky. It could have been a lot worse. Most of the open wounds were caused by a knife and as there is no magic around them they will be easy to heal. A few however, were caused by magic and they will take longer. Right now I am waiting for the Skele-grow to finish. It should be done in a few seconds." They waited for a minute before Madam Pomfrey took out her wand and muttered a few spells. Most of the cuts on Harry healed and left him looking much better. A few spells later and all his bruises had faded. Hermione and Ron let out a collective sigh of relief. Apart from a few cuts he looked all right. Madam Pomfrey heard their sighs.
"Physical wounds are no problem thanks to the many spells for them. The real problems we are going to have are going to be the emotional ones. He is going to need a lot of help when it comes to healing those. I will keep him in here to see how he reacts to them but he is past the worst stage. We managed to get several blood replenishing potions into him before he bled to death," sure enough there were several empty bottles with the label Blood Replenishing Potion lying around, "And then we were able to heal his broken bones. By tonight he should be stable enough for visitors."
"So what's with all this?" Ron asked, sweeping an arm to encompass the copious amounts of blood around.
"The spells and the cuts from the knife ripped bits of his robe into his wounds. Had they been left there then they would have caused infection, I had to get them out, the only problem was that they had been forced in deep so I had to reopen his wounds to get the cloth out." Her voice was weary and Hermione knew that she had worked hard to keep Harry alive and that things had been more serious than she was letting on. Hermione suddenly noticed that Harry had a gag in his mouth. She frowned slightly.
"What's that for?" She asked, indicating it.
"He was breaking through the silencing charms I used." This time she definitely sounded tired, her normally stern voice quiet and weary. She remembered Harry arching his back and screaming in pain as she cut into his wounds to retrieve the scraps of robe, she remembered the blood spurting everywhere. She closed her eyes.
"But he's better now. He's going to be fine?" Ron asked anxiously. Madam Pomfrey smiled sadly, I hope so, but I don't know.
"Yes. He's going to be fine." Ron looked satisfied and highly relieved, but there was still a hint of worry on his face. Hermione, on the other hand, was not fooled. She knew how perilous the situation was, but she restrained from commenting. Madam Pomfrey turned to them.
"You had better go. I don't want him to wake up. Not all of the cuts can be healed and, even though the rest have, he will still be extraordinarily weak and in great pain. You can come back tomorrow." Ron and Hermione nodded. Hermione bent down and kissed him on the cheek.
"See you tomorrow, Harry." She felt the worry come back to her as she took one last look at him and saw the bloody cuts still on him and the look of intense pain on his face. Ron nodded.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." He didn't trust himself to say anymore. He was extremely worried about his best friend. More so then he let on. He knew that Harry wouldn't be alright, not in the long run but he knew he had to be strong, pretend that everything was going to be fine. For if he let his defences slip just a little bit then he knew he would lose it. Although it might not look like it to an outsider, Ron had never been more scared. He just had to keep a tight hold on his emotions, for if he didn't then he would lose control and just break down. Harry had never been in worse shape. He was not only wounded badly, he was weak, vulnerable and emotionally destroyed. It would take more then a few spells to get him through this.
Hoping and praying that he would really be alright, Ron followed a tearful Hermione out of the hospital wing. The fate of the Wizarding world was hanging by a thread, and Ron knew it.
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Cho hurried towards the hospital wing. She had just met Ron and Hermione and they had told her that she could go and visit Harry, not wanting to miss an opportunity she hurried towards the hospital wing.
The doors came into sight and she burst through them. She instantly caught sight of Madam Pomfrey. She was waving her wand and the blood on the screen disappeared. Cho blanched and fought hard when she saw the amount of blood around. Madam Pomfrey looked up sharply.
"Five minutes, Miss Chang, I just need to clear up this." Cho nodded and waited patiently. After a few minutes all the blood apart from that which had soaked into the sheets was gone. Madam Pomfrey nodded at her and retreated to her office.
Cho hesitantly stepped forward next to Harry and all the worry and fear evaporated as she felt her heart melt at the sight of him.
Although most of the wounds had been healed the scars were left and his face was still screwed up in a painful grimace. She sat down on the chair next to him and began stroking his forehead lightly. She felt the tears begin to fall as she looked at the scars on his body and the cuts still remaining on his chest and arms. She bent down and wrapped her arms around him and placed her head on his chest.
"I'm sorry Harry, I'm sorry that you had to be put through this." She felt him begin to stir and sat up. "Harry?"
"I thought I said not to cry." His voice was quiet and hoarse. He screwed his face up in pain and arched his back. She stroked his head, after a second the pain seemed to pass and he smiled weakly at her.
"Hi Cho."
"You're alright!" She exclaimed happily. He shook his head slightly and grimaced, though whether because of the pain or that fact that he realised he was lying in sheets covered with blood she couldn't tell.
"I'm not. I'm in so much pain and I can't remember what has happened to me. I just remember hate and fear and pain, more pain then I could ever have imagined possible." To her surprise tears began to roll down his cheeks.
"Oh Harry." Cho bent down and hugged him tight. "We'll get through this, I promise. We'll get through this together. She lifted her head and kissed him. Gently at first then harder. He responded eagerly, though it hurt to do so.
He tilted his head and ran his tongue along her bottom lip, begging entrance. She opened her mouth and kissed him harder. She felt her tongue touch his and the familiar thrills ran through her body. She brushed her hand through his hair and he tilted her head back and began to nibble at her jaw. She smiled and moved her head and he began tracing kisses along her throat. She felt his hands playing with the hem of her t-shirt under her robes. She pulled back playfully.
"I don't think you're quite ready for that just yet." Harry who looked absolutely exhausted and in immense pain nodded.
"Perhaps you're right." She bent down again and gave him one last gentle kiss.
"I'll come and see you tomorrow."
"Okay, see you Cho." He lay back and fell asleep almost immediately. She smiled down at him before exiting the hospital wing.
A/N VERY, VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ.
Okay several very important issues to address here, the main one being that I am once again flying back to Malaysia for the Christmas holidays, (For those that do not know my dad is in the RAF and is currently posted out there) and I will not be able to update out there so the next update will be on January the 14th , once again I must stress that this is not just an excuse for me to "forget" about this fic. I promise you that the next update will be on the fourteenth and I thank you for your patience.
Do not be fooled by this chapter, Harry has not suddenly gotten better, over the next few chapters he will be really struggling with what has happened and he will not remain in a fit state for long. The next few chapters are going to be Harry struggling and in constant pain and Ron, Hermione and Cho trying to get him through it.
Finally, I hope there was enough Harry/Cho in this chapter, plenty more to come! Remember, the next update will be January the 14th, I promise.
Aizan19 – Thanks for the review. More romance coming up, hope there was enough in this chapter. Thanks for you support.
MMockler4Tonks - Thanks for the review. Thanks for the support, more H/C coming up.
Anonymousy - Thanks for the review. New chapter for you! Don't die, mate, you miss what happens in this chapter!
The Phoenix King - Thanks for the review. Roger Davies is indeed making an appearance in the next few chapters, just wait and see.
Dragon Sword Master - Thanks for the review. Nothing to forgive, mate. I'm sorry as well, I was having a really bad day that day and your comment just made me lose it. Not your fault. So it's cool. Let's just forget about it. A small lemon? Wait and see, I'm not saying yes and I'm not saying no. Hope there was enough Harry/Cho for you. A lot more to come.
Real-Fan05 - Thanks for the review. Congrats on being the 100th reviewer. Hope you like the fics.
The Enchantresses - Thanks for the review. Here's an update for you.
HoshiHikari - Thanks for the review. You'll find out what they did to Harry later. Yep, the auror knows.
Milardo Peacecraft - Thanks for the review. You'll find out what happens to Harry soon… Hope this chapter was good enough, better ones coming, I personally don't like this one, it was difficult to write. I'm not sure what I will do with Neville, I'll have to think.
Colm - Thanks for the review.
Sita the Marshmallow Lord - Thanks for the review. Thanks, now you know why they didn't use truth serum.
Goddess Usaqi - Thanks for the review. I'll check that fic out. I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter. Hope this one was as good and that it had enough H/C in it. I'll check out Reilly's books as well. Thanks again.
IHarryPotter - Thanks for the review. No I don't.
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing.
Fireboy