Soul of the Enemy

By Willow Spirit

Disclaimer: I only own the plot. Everything else belongs to the wonderful J. K. Rowling.

A/N: thanks for the reviews guys! You're all awesome.

Chapter 4: Jane

As soon as his classes were over on Friday, Harry went straight to the hospital wing. He encountered Madam Pomfrey just as he was walking through the doors.

"Now don't you go upsetting her," Madam Pomfrey warned him sternly. "I agree with Dumbledore that something must be done to help this girl but I will not allow anyone to make things worse. If I see that this isn't working…"

"Don't worry, Madam Pomfrey," Harry tried to reassure the nurse. "I won't say or do anything drastic. I'll be perfectly calm and boring."

"Make sure that you are!" she said before disappearing into her office.

Once Pomfrey was gone, Harry turned his attention to the lumpy hospital bed. This time there was something different. Harry could already see half of girl's face from underneath the sheets. Obviously she had heard him speaking with Pomfrey. Harry gave her a little smile as he approached the bed.

"Hello again," Harry said softly. "I'm Harry. Do you remember me?"

And just like before, the girl gave no answer. She only stared at Harry from the safety of her sheets. Harry sighed.

"May I sit down?" Harry gestured to a chair that was near the bed. But after receiving even more silence, he decided to take a seat anyway. Once he was settled in, it was only a matter of finding something to say. "So…uh…what's a girl like you doing in place like this?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Harry froze in horror. Where did that come from!

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry," Harry couldn't apologize fast enough. "I can't believe I just said that! And here I was worried that Ron would be the one to say something inappropriate. I don't know what…"

And again, Harry froze. This time, though, it was for a completely different reason. In his rush to apologize he hadn't even noticed the change in the girl's eyes. One minute they had been unresponsive. Now they were absolutely sparkling with mirth. Harry also noticed that her hands were still underneath the sheet, but now it seemed like they were clamped firmly over her mouth as well.

"Are you…are you laughing at me?" Harry was in shock. The girl's eyes went wide, like she just realized that she had been caught. But they never lost any emotion. They just were bigger than before.

"I can't believe it," Harry said to the ceiling. "The girl is laughing at me."

Well, not quite laughing since technically she wasn't making any sound. But according to her eyes, yes, she was laughing her butt off at him. Harry didn't know if that made him feel better or worse.

"Well I'm glad you're amused," Harry muttered. "Here I am trying to be nice to you and this is how you repay me? What kind of gratitude is that?"

The girl suddenly stopped laughing. She looked frozen, like a small child who had just been scolded. Harry instantly wanted to kick himself.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry…again," Harry hung his head in shame. "I'm not really upset at you, just more embarrassed. It's great that you were smiling, though. I almost thought you couldn't understand what I was saying. Now I know for sure. You can understand us."

Harry looked up and received a huge shock. The girl had let the sheet drop down to her chin. Now her whole face was visible, and the sheet was wrapped firmly around her shoulders. She sat there staring at Harry again; only this time there was more to her usual blank stare. She looked very solemn, like she was so sorry about making fun of him. But there was also something more. It was something that he couldn't quite understand.

"So why didn't you let us know?" Harry asked her urgently. "Snape…that was the big, dark scary man, he was convinced you were a mental case. Why didn't you prove him wrong? And even if you can't speak, there are other was of communicating. It's just like Dumbledore said."

That's when the girl hung her head in shame. Suddenly everything clicked into place. The girl wanted to speak, but for some reason she couldn't. Something was preventing her from opening up to them. Whatever it was wouldn't allow her to talk about what had happened to her. Maybe she was afraid; afraid of what would happen to her if she did talk. Or maybe Madam Pomfrey had been right. Maybe she had suffered so many traumas that she was unable to relive those horrible moments.

All this went through Harry's mind as he watched her torn expression. Something in the core of his soul told him that this girl had been to hell and back. He could see it so clearly in her eyes. There wasn't any doubt about it. Her eyes, though they were a vivid green, looked so old and worn. It almost didn't seem possible for someone so young, and yet her eyes looked as old as Dumbledore himself.

She had been through a lot in her short life. That was something Harry could relate to. As he looked into her eyes, they reminded him of his own. Harry had to wonder, did his eyes look so old as well? But he already knew the answer. If anyone looked hard enough, they would see the same age in his eyes too. Once Harry realized this, he wanted nothing more than to help this girl. She needed a lifeline, a rock to keep her grounded. And he was going to be that rock for her.

"Hey," Harry tried to make her look up at him. "It'll be okay. You're at Hogwarts now. There are lots of people here who can help you. And I promise you that'll get through this. Whatever happened doesn't matter anymore. Alright?"

The girl slowly raised her eyes to meet Harry's. They were almost emotionless again, but Harry caught a hint of gratitude in them. It was a hesitant and careful gratitude, though it was a good start. Then, as if she was very tired, she laid her head down on her pillow. She simply stayed there in her bed, just looking up at Harry with her big soulful eyes.

"Well," a thought suddenly occurred to Harry. "If you're going to stay here until you get better, what will we call you? You need a name. Obviously we can't go around calling you The Girl, or Hey You. Uh…don't suppose you'd tell me your real name?"

Harry received a subtle 'I don't think so' glare from the girl.

"Alright, then, I'll just have to choose one for you. How about…oh, I know! We'll call you Jane. You know, Jane Doe, unidentified person. That fits you perfectly. I think you kind of look like a Jane anyway."

Harry almost laughed when the girl turned her head. She buried her face into her pillow with mild disgust.

"Okay, so Jane may not be the best name but it's what you get until you finally tell us your real name."

She raised her head to give Harry an almost glare. It didn't have much affect. Her hair was all in her face, and that just wasn't very intimidating. So she let her head fall back down to the pillow.

"You know this is how it's going to be," Harry tried to get her to look at him again. "At least until you're ready to face the world. You won't be in here forever, Jane. Take all the time you need. We'll be right here for you and we aren't going anywhere."

'Jane' smiled faintly as Harry used her new name. Well, it could be worse. Harry could have named her Nymphadora.

"I think I should go now," Harry slowly stood up from the chair, not wanting to alarm her. "But I'll be back. You'll have other visitors too. Ron and Hermione will stop by tomorrow. Hopefully Ron will behave himself, but I can't see how he could top my smooth opening line. Besides, Hermione will be here too. They're really nice people. I think you'll like them."

Harry gave one last glance to Jane before he turned to leave. He paused at the infirmary doors and looked over his shoulder. Jane was still gazing at him with a hint of wonder. He gave her a soft smile, and then left the hospital wing.

He didn't see Jane roll onto her back. He missed how she stared at the ceiling with a clear expression written all over her face:

What am I going to do now?

-----

Harry refused to talk to Ron or Hermione about his visit with Jane. They pestered him and asked oodles of questions but he wouldn't say a word. The only thing he revealed was that he had named her Jane. Harry promised them that he would tell them everything once they had a chance to see her too.

And so Ron and Hermione went to see Jane in the hospital wing on Saturday afternoon. Harry was waiting for them in the common room. They had identical expressions of anxiety on their faces when they came through the portrait door.

"Well?" Harry asked. Hermione and Ron exchanged a concerned look.

"Well, things weren't much better than last time," Hermione started slowly. "She was still hiding beneath her sheets. We could see about half of her face but that was about it. And she still didn't say a word."

"It was so bloody awkward!" Ron plopped himself down in a cozy chair. "We didn't know what to say. We were just sitting there doing nothing!"

"You mean you were just sitting there," Hermione rolled her eyes as she sat down as well. "I was the one trying to talk to her. You could have said more than one word comments."

"I didn't do much better myself," Harry interrupted them before they started arguing. "She didn't talk to me either. I did see her whole face, though, and she did kind of laugh at me at one point."

"She laughed at you!" Ron quickly sat upright. "What did you say to make her do that? How come we didn't make her laugh?"

Harry's face turned a nice shade of red. "I sort of told her a joke," Harry didn't bother to elaborate. "It just came out and then she started laughing. But she wasn't really laughing; it was mainly in her eyes. They weren't blank like before."

"I know what you mean," Hermione said. "The only thing that was really different this time was her eyes. You must have done something good, Harry. Jane didn't talk to us but I could see a change in her eyes. It's like you said. When we first met her, her eyes were so blank. But now they're more expressive."

"I think she could understand us too," Ron added.

"Of course she could understand us!"

"You could tell?" Harry was suddenly very alert. "Did she do anything when you were there? Did she make any faces at you guys?"

"Uh, faces, Harry?" Hermione looked at him like he was loony.

"You know!" Harry threw his hands in the air. "Expressions? Like sadness, happiness, or down right annoyance!"

"Not really," Ron said.

"Yeah," Hermione added. "She'd be a superb poker player."

"Poker?"

"I'll explain later," Harry said. "Alright, Hermione. Spill. Why do you think she's a poker player?"

"Well, she's obviously hiding something. Maybe she doesn't want everyone to know what happened to her. But whatever she's hiding, she's a lot smarter than she's letting on."

"How can you tell?"

"It's in her eyes, Harry! Jane is a smart girl. She could be just as intelligent as the rest of us. The only problem is, we can't find that out unless she talks."

No one said anything for a few moments. They were all thinking of the same thing, and Harry finally voiced their thoughts. "Then we have to gain her trust. Maybe that will get her talking again."

"Oh, no," Ron rolled his eyes. "I know that look. Harry's made up his mind. Nothing's going to stop him now."

"Oh, shut up," Harry felt like throwing something in Ron's general direction. "I just want to help the girl. The trouble is, I'm going to run out of ideas. I won't know what to say to her after a while. So what can I do to help her?"

"We should bring her books to read," Hermione said after some thought. "She must be awfully bored in the hospital wing. Reading would help her pass the time."

"And that's Hermione's solution to everything," Ron pumped his fist into the air. "Books!"

Ron earned himself a good slap upside his head.

-----

Professor Dumbledore was sitting at the Head Table, finishing his lemon pie, when Professor McGonagall came and sat in the seat next to him. It was Sunday night, meaning that the weekend was finally coming to a close.

"Hello Professor," Dumbledore smiled pleasantly. "I assume you heard Madam Pomfrey's news?"

"Indeed I have," McGonagall said seriously. "I must say, I don't know what to think. I'm somewhat surprised to hear that those three are doing so well with Jane."

"Ah, yes. Jane. What a lovely name. A wonderful idea, really, giving the girl a name. I'm

glad that Harry came up with the idea. It's very original. It seems to be working well."

"Poppy told me that she was actually showing her face," McGonagall shook her head in disbelief. "And to think we couldn't do anything for her. Now here she is interacting with the students."

"I thought that might happen," Dumbledore nodded gravely. "We are not as young as we used to be, Minerva. Our age is finally starting to show."

"Fiddlesticks," McGonagall huffed. "At any rate, Jane's progress is remarkable. She'll be up and about any day now."

"Perhaps," Dumbledore looked to the Gryffindor table. "Although it may take a while for them to gain her full trust."

McGonagall followed Dumbledore's line of sight to her house table. There she saw Harry sitting with Hermione and Ron. Harry was leaning over the table to whisper something to his friends. McGonagall strongly suspected it had something to do with his latest visit to the infirmary this afternoon.

"They are doing a fairly good job at keeping this a secret," McGonagall was rather impressed. "I don't know if the other students know about Jane or not."

"I believe that a few people know," Dumbledore said. "Not much has been said about her so far. But knowing this school, there will be a full report on Jane by the end of the week."

"Is that such a good idea?" McGonagall frowned. "Perhaps there is something we can do to stop it."

"I think we should leave it be for now. Everything should be fine as long as Jane remains in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey will keep her safe. Rumours and stories will have no affect on Jane while she is there."

"And what will happen if she wants to leave the hospital wing!" McGonagall was positively concerned. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was positively clam. In fact, he had a genuine smile on his face.

"She will eventually want to leave. And we should let her when the time comes."

"Wonderful," McGonagall. "This school doesn't need anymore excitement."

"Ah, Professor, but it cannot be helped. Things are going to get quite interesting around here."

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A/N: hey, there. I don't read minds people, so pretty please, review.

Next Chapter: a field trip to the library…Jane and Harry run into some unexpected company on the way back to the infirmary