Albus rolled over. Soft fabric grazed his cheeks, and the scent of fabric softener entered his nose. He blinked slightly. Wherever he was laying was dark. Blue light illuminated his shoulders which were curled up next to his face. He couldn't decide whether he wanted to investigate where he was or wanted or go back to sleep. Instead, he tried to remember why he wasn't in his four-poster bed at Hogwarts.

What happened last? He- he was in the gardens. Why was he in the garden? He remembered Stella behind the waterfall and running across the grounds with a wheelbarrow. He remembered being wet because he had attacked the merman who had Stella by the tail and the man's spear- the man's spear had stabbed his side! That's why he was in this ward.

Al laid on his back to stare at the ceiling. Wait a minute; this wasn't the hospital wing. The hospital wing was smaller and smelled of parsley. The ceiling certainly wasn't this high and definitely didn't smell like rubbing alcohol and tea leaves.

Albus sat up suddenly. Squinting through the darkness. He saw many other beds across from him, some of which harbored other patience. None of them he recognized as Hogwarts students. The windows on one side of the wall were round and curtained. His bed was large and a mound of something covered his bedside table where his glasses were. Albus slipped them over his nose and swung his blankets from his legs. Something crinkled as he moved and feeling his side, he found that his gash bad been bandaged. But on a more important note, he was wearing one of those revolting hospital gowns. Al turned his nose upward and stood from bed.

Why was he in a hospital? The accident hadn't been that large. Surely Madam Pomfrey could have mended it.

The floor was cold on his bare feet as he walked from his bed. Was he allowed to leave? He didn't think he would get in trouble for it. There was a deep groan in a bed near the door.

"Water," croaked an elderly man.

Al started toward him, thinking of Stella.

"Water."

"Sir?" asked Al, stopping beside the bed to gasp as he noticed a great horn protruding from the man's head.

"Young boy, do you have water?"

"No, but, I think you do." Al took a pitcher from the man's bedside table and poured it into an empty glass before handing it to the man.

He drank quickly, allowing dripples down his chin.

"What happened?" Al asked after a moment of staring.

The man smacked his lips together, savoring to drink.

"Urstwhile," he said gruffly, handing the glass back to Al.

"What?"

"My name, Urstwhile."

"Oh, uh, Potter," said Al, not thinking that the man had heard his previous question.

Urstwhile widened his eyes and looked at Al closer. "Potter? I was beginning to think I'd never see you about."

"Really? How long was I out?"

Urstwhile yawned and laid back down, muttering, "Eh, I wasn't- wasn't counting."

"Mr. Urstwhile?" Al tried, but the man had already fallen back to sleep.

How long had he been out? It couldn't have been more than a couple of nights. Albus shook his head and started toward the exit. He was sure he knew where he was now. St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries was the only type of place to treat people with horns growing from their head. The door squeaked when he pushed it open and the first thing he did, was read the sign over his door.

Room of Recovery

Recovery? How bad was his accident? It was only a scratch! A very painful scratch, but still. The halls were dark, and his feet made slapping noises as he continued down the corridor. On the other side of adjacent rooms came sounds like cats purring, adults crying like infants, flapping, and whistling. Alone, at night, in a hospital corridor, Albus was afraid.

He was becoming tired, and his legs began to hurt from walking though he had so far done little. Why was he so sore? It was as though he hadn't used his legs for days. Albus yawned deeply, and his head began to fall, but at this point, he didn't know his way back to his room, so he continued down stairs. At one point, he bent low and slapped the floor before remembering that this wasn't one of his and Scorpius' stunts. Scor wasn't even here.

He shuffled down halls and stairs and wards until he emerged into an open room. Traffic could be heard from outside, and a woman sat behind a desk with her head on her arms, fast asleep. Chairs lined the dull beige walls and in one of them, was his father.

"Dad!" Al called, then silenced himself as the woman behind the counter snored loudly.

Albus crept closer. Harry Potter sat in a dull green chair with his head back and asleep. His hair was messier than usual, and his round glasses slid down his nose. He was still in his work robes and looking exhausted. Al sat beside his father, not wanting to wake him up. Al's head began to loll again, and he rested it on his dad's shoulder and dozed as well.

"No, Ginny, I just woke, and there he was."

"You didn't carry him or anything?"

"Of course not; he was conscious."

"But he didn't stir when you had him brought back up?"

"No."

Albus squinted and wrinkled his nose due to the blinding light shining in his face. He opened one eye and tilted his head so the beam of sunlight would fall beside his pillow, not on his face. He was back in the hospital bed in the recovery ward. This confused Al. He had very faint memories of walking down the corridors and finding his dad. Perhaps that was just a dream. He peered across the room and saw a familiar horn visible over the foot of Urstwhile's bed. So, he wasn't a dream.

His mother, Ginny, was talking frantically with his father directly beside him while a few healers carried breakfast trays among the patients.

"Mom?" Al croaked weakly.

Ginny spun around, and a tear sprung from her eye.

"Albus! Oh, sweetheart, you're awake!" She began kissing him all over the face.

"Mom! Stop!" Al cried, turning red.

"Oh, I've missed you so much!"

Harry sat beside Al and ruffled his hair. "Been a bit, huh?"

"But- but wasn't I just-?"

"Yeah, you wandered from your room and found me downstairs," he laughed slightly. "We had you brought back up."

"Oh, okay. I was just wondering if I had mad."

Nobody spoke. Harry and Ginny were both watching him closely, beaming. Albus was starting to become slightly awkward.

"Where's- where's Scor, and Rose, and-"

"They're all outside," Ginny interrupted.

"They've been here the whole time?" Al exclaimed, feeling sorry.

"Uh, no," Harry said, rubbing the back of his head. "Son, do you know how long you've been out?"

"No," Al replied, not liking the look of his father's face. "What? Has it been a week already? Dad! I'm gonna miss the Quidditch match!"

His parents didn't say anything; they both looked somber.

Al's eyes grazed the room. He looked at a small table beside his bed to find a foot of parchment that looked like homework. Then his eyes landed on the mass from his bedside cabinet from the night before. Piles of sweets covered the desk. He saw get well cards, newspapers, and packages, and- and Valentines, and… and…

He looked back at his parents, catching on.

"It's February?" she shouted. "But it was mid-January when I passed out!"

"Son," said Harry kindly, placing a hand on Al's leg and shifting his eyes, thinking. "It's the beginning of May."

Albus just stared. He was at a loss. He had missed three and a half months of school, of Quidditch, of- "Stella!" Al exclaimed.

"Who?"

"Uh, nothing! What happened? Why was I out so long? I didn't die!" He remembered what dying felt like.

"How about I get Rose," said Ginny. "She's been practicing the whole speech."

Al waited impatiently as Ginny left to fetch Rose. Harry was still silent and looking sad.

Al was about to say something when the door to the ward flew open, and Rose barged in followed by James and Lily.

"ALBUS!" she cried, jumping on his bed and squeezing him.

Lily climbed on his bed as well and curled up in his arms, and began to cry.

"Nice to have you back," James smiled, taking Al's glasses from the pile of gifts and slipping it over his brother's nose.

"Albus! You idiot!" Rose called suddenly. "Why didn't you go straight to the hospital wing! This whole thing could have been avoided!"

"That's enough, Rose," said Ginny with her eyebrows raised.

"What happened?" Al asked, sitting up.

"Well," Rose started. "I haven't gotten it all worked out yet. Your healer, Madam Pillk, was really confusing, but I'll give it a shot; try to keep up. From the beginning, after you were walking along the lake's edge during breakfast and fell on a merperson's spearhead wedged in the ground," she winked at Al. "We rushed you to the hospital wing. But Madam Pomfrey was frantic when she learned that the spearhead was soaked in water demon venom. She tried for a good hour to close the wound, tried everything, but nothing worked, so she had you sent here. The reason you were out for so long, Al, is because the healers had to shut your body down. You were in more than a coma, you were pretty much dead. They had to stop your heart, and your breathing, and your brain. See, your body was trying to heal itself. It was sending blood cells to the scene of the attack. But the poison that was spreading quickly through your body killed every last cell on first contact. Your heart couldn't keep up. Your cells would die, you were losing so much blood, not outwardly. But your body was so cluttered with dead blood cells that they were clogging your major arteries, even your heart. You started going into cardiac arrest; it was scary. So, what ended up happening was, the healer – for lack of better words – put you to sleep. They needed to get your body to stop sending cells to the wound so they could magically mend it. But, they had to mend it slowly, otherwise when you wake, your body would go into shock. That's what we were told and that is the best way I can describe it to you."

The room became silent as Al thought. "So, so, I've missed everything?"

"Not everything," said James. "You did miss Valentine's day, and two Slytherin matches, and our Gryffindor match against Ravenclaw, and a lot of homework, but the good news is, you don't have to take exams this year! Well, they're having you do your missed work during the summer, and then you'll take a private exam at home; Neville has offered to oversee it. But you have one more Slytherin match, which you can't participate in, of course, but you can at least be awake while it's going on."

This didn't cheer Al up at all.

"Why did I wake up now? How long do I have to stay?"

"The healers were slowly bringing you to. We didn't know what day you would wake, so one of us stayed every night. And, they'll want to keep you for a couple more weeks until you've made a full recovery," said Harry.

"But I feel fine!" called Albus, sitting up still more. "I want to go now!"

"They won't let you do that, hun," said Ginny, fluffing his pillow and pushing him back down. "You still have a lot of crap in your system."

Something banged on the outside of door and muffled shouts were audible.

"Oh! That's Max and everyone! Let them in Aunt Ginny!" called Rose excitedly.

"Excuse me," said Ginny, standing up and making her way toward the door.

After a bit of arguing, Max, Scorpius, and Olivia came sprinting into view. Harry and Ginny left to speak to the grumpy healers who were trying to keep them out.

"Finally!" called Scorpius. "I was beginning you think you'd never wake!"

Olivia propped herself onto the bottom of his bed, and Max sat on the side, looking exhausted but cheerful.

"Guys!" Al exclaimed. He couldn't tell if be felt joyful to see them all there, or depressed at all he had missed.

"We have so much to tell you!" said Olivia, slapping his leg.

"Really? Is it about-?" He stopped to look at his two siblings still beside his bed. "Uh, could I have a minute?" he asked.

"I'll get you some breakfast," said James with a wink at his brother. "Come on Lily, help me carry it all!" And they both left the room.

Albus was confused to find James so willing to leave. "A lot less nosey now, isn't he?" said Al.

"He's just happy to have you back," said Max. "You should have seen him! Broke into tears, he did."

"Really?"

"Al! Sugamina is up and running better than ever!" Rose exclaimed.

Al's heart dropped a little. Could it be so much better without him?

"Rosebud here had taken on general, she's worse than you Al," said Scorpius.

"How's Stella?" Al asked the question he most wanted answered.

"She's great!" said Rose. "She does blame herself for this whole thing, but she'll be thrilled to know you up. Yoman has been taking excellent care of her! He brings her food and drinks and spends a lot of time behind the waterfall helping her read. He's no good with grammar, though."

"You can hardly tell she hasn't got the functions to speak above water properly!" said Olivia. "She still has the accent, but otherwise, she almost sounds human."

"Rose, tell him about the-"

"Oh my God, yes!" Rose remembered. "There was a search through the school for Stella. Apparently, the chief merman came to the surface to alert Hagrid who informed Professor Kemp who was instructed to investigate her whereabouts in the school. The wounded merman that you had attacked said that he thought he saw five Hogwarts students taking Stella and running. Hagrid suspects us more than ever now. I mean, you turn up in the hospital with a merperson spear head at your side the same day and around the same time that Stella was taken above land. I think the merpeople now believe Stella to be dead; they can't live above water after all. But Olivia vouge for your actual whereabouts during the event and for some reason, everyone believes her."

"Punctuality," said Olivia proudly.

"Oh, Al!" called Scorpius. "Wait until you get a load of Hagrid's new pet! It's hilarious! But we haven't been to see him as often; he keeps trying to interrogate us."

"Off topic, Scor," said Max.

"But this!" Rose started, finally reaching the point she was really excited to divulge. She pulled from her robe pocket, a tattered old book. Al took it curiously. "Do you know what this is?"

"Imperative given the look on your face," said Albus.

"This is the biggest lead we could have possibly hopped for. We found it in the Marauders safe under Max's floor. It was extremely difficult to uncover; the thing was hidden under two layers of rock guarded by spell. Look, look, look! I got a scar because of it; fire shot up. We ended up having Hugo get it; we were he only one small enough to unwedge it."

"Are you going to tell me what it is soon?"

"The Marauders actually documented their steps to become animagi in. This. Book!"

Al's heart stopped. He tore it open for the first time. Among splattered ink, magical dust, and enchantments were words and notes and pictures all regarding their transformation. And it was all in James Potter's handwriting.

"With this!" Scorpius started. "We should have Stella humanized by the end next semester! We're leaving it with you when we go back to school; we can't stay here over night."

Al didn't say anything; he didn't have to either. His friends beamed up at him.

The following weeks were not completely boring. He opened his gifts and sweets and his Valentines, some of which were from girls he didn't even know existed. He received a series of visitors as well, all on separate days. He was visited by all of his cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents, of course, then the Gryffindor Quidditch team whose visit lasted all day. The Slytherin team came to see him and gave him a play by play from the last two matches. They told him that he had been replaced by Missy Vervus who was a speedy seeker but not in his same league. He was seen by Professor Dalbert, Yoman, the whole Merik family, and Draco and Astoria, though he had never had a proper conversation with them before.

Rose, Max, Scorpius, and Olivia had to attend school but visited every day and didn't attend the last match of the season, Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw. They all camped on Al's bed with food and drinks to watch through the magic hand mirror that Rose had given to Roxanne so she could let them view the game live from the commentator's box. Ravenclaw won the Quidditch cup, but it was still a heart-stopping game.

Albus spent the days where his friends were doing school and his father was at work, trying to catch up on his homework. It had become much more complicated and he wasn't allowed to brew potions atop his bed or in the hospital at all. What he could do when giving his brain a break from school. Was study the mysteries book that had once belonged to the Marauders. Every time he opened it, he found something that was crucial in Stella's reverse transformation.

He had been told that he would be well enough to go back to Hogwarts during the last week of term for the feast. This was rather sad as he wanted to be back right now. But he also was sure the healer knew what she was talking about. He did feel drowsy and weak, though he wouldn't admit it. Instead, he laid back in his white linin bed for the night, hoping to sleep the days away until he could return to Hogwarts.