Chapter Summary: Harry's life gets worse, Jessica's life possibly gets better and Adele shows why she's the wiser older sister.

Chapter 4

A soft, steady beeping brought Harry out of unconsciousness and he groaned at the pain in his back which seemed to be building in intensity. He squinted as a blurry figure stood from a chair in the corner and approached the bed.

"I'd ask how you're feeling, but that's probably a stupid question," Adele said as she sat on the edge of her brother's bed and slid his glasses onto his face.

Able to see his sister clearly, Harry could see that her arm was in a brace and sling but she looked okay otherwise. "What happened?" he asked, remembering only being on his broom.

"You had another seizure, a bludger smashed into your back, and you fell off your broom," Adele replied, her tone even. She wasn't exactly sure of what to say to her little brother. When Mum and Dad found out about Harry's accident, they'd both looked like they wanted to read Harry the riot act. But Adele wanted to talk to Harry first. "What were you thinking?"

Harry didn't know what to say mostly because he didn't know what he'd been thinking. He was just being stupid, trying to prove that a couple seizures didn't mean he had to give up what he loved most. Trying to sit up a bit, he let out a gasp of pain as it felt like someone was driving a knife into his back.

"Take it easy," Addie ordered, getting up quickly to help her brother, being mindful of the back brace he wore and the IV feeding him various medications. Once Harry was sitting up, she sat back down again and sighed, heavily. "You could have died, you know."

Harry tried to nod but when he realized he couldn't, he looked at Addie. "How bad?"

Addie sighed again as she considered what to say next. Deciding on being straightforward, she replied, "The doctors aren't sure yet. The bludger slammed into your back, fracturing your spine. They're not sure if the nerve damage is permanent or not." She didn't say anything else for a few moments, letting Harry absorb the latest blow. "Right now you're experiencing what's called spinal shock. Basically, that means no motor function below the waist and minimal sensation."

Harry couldn't say anything to that as he looked at his lower body. With the back pain settling back down to a manageable level, he was now more aware of the lack of feeling in his legs. What had he done? He'd suddenly gone from a normal teenager to epileptic to paralyzed all within the space of a few days. The worst part was the last he'd done to himself. He'd told Oliver Wood he was cleared to be flying and even when he'd felt lightheaded and his body started tingling again he'd just chocked it up to the usual exhilaration of being on his broom.

Looking up at Adele, Harry could tell that she wanted to chew him out for what he'd done, but at the same time, there was also a sympathetic look in her eye that indicated she not only understood why he'd gone up in the air but she would have likely done the same thing if their positions had been reversed. "How mad are Mum and Dad?"

Addie gave a short laugh and a sigh that seemed to say 'that's my baby brother'. "Dad's upset—partly because you can't play Quidditch now. Mum's livid because you went out flying after three seizures." Her expression darkened as she added, "But you need to talk to Dom."

Harry was puzzled about that. Why would he need to talk to his brother? "What for?" Harry asked, not understanding.

Addie put her hand on Harry's and replied, "Dominic thinks he failed you because he's blind. He thinks if he'd been able to see he could have kept you from getting hurt." Lightly smacking Harry's forearm she added, "I, of course—being the much wiser older sister—know that Dom, Jess, Izzy, and I could all have been in perfect health and the whole lot of us wouldn't have had a prayer of talking you out of going down to the Quidditch pitch."

"So… you're not mad at me?" Harry asked, hopefully.

Adele shook her head as she stood. "No, I'm very bloody pissed off at you, Harry," she replied, glancing at the door when she heard someone coming down the hallway. "But I'm going to wait and see if you recover from this before we get into it." Again Harry seemed puzzled and Addie finally explained, "If you get your legs back, you and I are going to have a very long talk about taking stupid risks."

It was than that Harry noticed his sister's use of the word 'if'. As in 'if he recovered'. And apparently there was a chance that he might not. "And… if I can't walk?"

"Harry, if… If you're never able to walk again, I figure… I figure that'll be punishment enough," Addie replied, sadly.

"Is that likely?" Harry wanted to know. He knew Adele was always honest and straightforward and he wanted that right now.

Adele hesitated for a long time before she slowly sat back down on Harry's bed. "The good news is that your spinal cord wasn't completely severed," she replied, wishing she could give her brother better assurance. "But there was serious nerve damage. Right now… it doesn't look good."

Harry didn't like the way Addie was answering him. It was as though she wanted to spare him from further bad news. "Addie… Just tell me."

Addie let out a long sigh and sat up just a bit. "Okay. Right now, the doctors and healers say there's only about a 5% chance of you regaining full use of your legs. Most likely outcome…" Her voice choked a bit as she went on. "You won't be able to walk again."

Harry took that in and thinking about the other day, he felt even worse.

Paralyzed…

Just thinking the word seemed cruel. Harry wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about this. What could he do? And more than that, what would happen to him now? If he couldn't walk he'd be in a wheelchair, surely. At home, his parents would have to make sure the house was reorganized to accommodate him and they'd already had to do that once for Dominic.

Looking up as her parents came into the room, Addie noticed how quiet they were and just gave Harry a last look and a gentle hug before she stood and left the hospital room, closing the door behind her.

Preparing for the lecture he knew was coming, Harry just waited until his parents were sitting on either side of his bed before he simply asked, "Well?"

Lily took a deep breath and said, "I'm not going to say anything, Harry."

Harry was floored by that. "But—"

"'But' nothing, Harry," Lily replied, calmly. "It's too late to say anything. It's done. There's no undoing it."

James gave his son a disappointed look as he asked, "Why would you take that sort of risk, Harry? You knew about the curse, so why would you…?"

"Dad," Harry replied, trying to get his mum and dad to understand. "At first I thought that my scar was… and then with the seizures, I thought… I thought I'd already been affected. I figured if I got hurt, Madame Pomfrey could just fix me up." When his parents said nothing, he sighed. "Addie told me it was bad." After another silence, he asked, "So what now?"

As upset as Lily was with Harry, it nearly broke her heart to hear her son talk about his injury with such acceptance. "You'll be in the hospital for 2-3 months," she replied, trying to focus. "Then physical therapy and… and learning to get around in a wheelchair, most likely."

"And school?" Harry asked, wondering if he'd even be able to go back to Hogwarts.

"We'll figure it out," Lily promised him with all her heart. "Same for the house, your dormitory…"

"Quidditch?" Harry asked, certain that he was in for a lecture now.

But to Harry's surprise, James let out a snort of laughter. "Harry… is that all you think about?"

"I get that from you, Dad," Harry said, not feeling like smiling in response.

"No Quidditch," Lily said, trying not to cry. She'd hated the game ever since she was a student for the main reason that she'd seen some pretty awful injuries resulting from flying around on brooms up to 100 feet in the air. And now two of her children had been injured because of the godforsaken sport.

x

Out in the hallway, Adele practically jumped when Dominic suddenly appeared at her right elbow. Smacking her twin with her good hand, she snapped, "Don't do that!"

"How's Harry?" Dom asked, wondering if his little brother was awake.

"He's awake," Addie said with a shrug, even though her brother couldn't see her. "Mum and Dad are with him right now."

Dom nodded, wishing he could see his brother—actually see that he was alright. "This is my fault," he said, running a hand through his messy black hair, making it even more catawampus.

When Dom started moving about anxiously, Adele put a hand on his arm to still him. "Dom? Dom." When her twin stopped moving, she said, "This is not your fault. Okay? You didn't make Harry go up on that broom."

"I didn't try to stop him, either," Dom protested. "I could have said something to Oliver Wood or Mum and Dad."

Adele pulled her brother into a one-armed hug, biting back a wince as the action jostled her right arm. When Dom hugged her back, she said, "There's no way you could have stopped Harry. You know as well as I do that our brother is bloody stubborn as hell." Pulling away slightly she added, "Just like someone else I know."

"It's just…" Dom hesitated, not sure if Addie would understand.

"It's just what?" Addie wanted to know.

Dom sighed and finally said, "I've always looked out for Harry, you know?"

"I know," Adele replied, understanding completely. "But incase you've forgotten, you're not alone in the category of 'Eldest Potter Sibling' you know."

Dom stiffened slightly at that but he knew she was right. "I just feel so helpless, Ad."

"Yeah, I know," Addie murmured, softly. "Look, honestly… being the protective older sibling isn't something I'm used to. I always just kind of left that to you. You know, since technically…"

Dom's hearing, while much more acute since losing his sight, still wasn't able to pick up what his sister mumbled at the end of the sentence. "Since technically… what?"

Adele let out a resigned sigh and repeated, "Since technically… you are… older than me."

Dom's face broke into a smile and he let out a soft laugh as he said, "Wait, you… you're actually admitting that between the two of us—even though we are twins—that I'm the eldest."

"You were born first, so…. Yes," Addie ground out between clenched teeth before punching her twin hard in the upper arm. After a moment, though, she said, "I'm sorry I never helped with keeping an eye on Harry. I should have, you know? You shouldn't have had to do everything alone." She smiled and put a gentle hand on his upper arm where she'd punched him a moment ago. "Especially since someone should have been looking out for you, too."

"When Voldemort found me and Harry," Dom said, quietly. "I knew I should do something. Run for cover or something. But I was just frozen with fear." He made his way to a bench nearby and sat down slowly, hearing Adele's footsteps following. When he heard her sit down next to him, he went on. "I watched Voldemort fire that curse and I thought… I thought 'At least Harry wouldn't die alone. At least I was with him'. When the curse backfired and I saw Harry was still alive… I thought that just proved that I was the only one who could keep my little brother safe."

Adele put her arm around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

Dom reached out a hand and gave Addie's knee a gentle squeeze. "You think I'm a bad brother?"

"I think you're an overworked brother," Adele replied, her head still on Dom's shoulder. After a moment, she asked, "So what do we do about Harry?"

Dom shook his head, not sure. "We just do the best we can. What else can we do?"

"Lock him in his room forever?" Addie suggested.

Dom let out a wry chuckle and asked, "You think that would actually work?"

Adele straightened up and turned to look back at Harry's hospital room. "Probably not."

In the Hogwarts library, Jessica Potter sat in a quiet corner looking through every book she could find on the curse that had plagued her family including several from the Restricted Section. With her brother now affected, Jess now knew that there was obviously no way to avoid the curse, but maybe—just maybe—there was some way to undo it.

The hours ticked by as Jess went over ever word of the books she'd collected. She'd even found some information she didn't already know but how to turn it into something that she could actually use to help her brothers and sisters was something that was eluding her. There was plenty of information on casting the curse itself and what the curse would do to the people affected but very little about how to hold it off and next to nothing about countering it. Most witches—once affected—used permanent forms of birth control to prevent having multiple children but that was hardly an option in this case.

When she moved her right leg, Jess winced as she readjusted her position. She hated thinking of her own disability, especially since Harry was now going to have to deal with a spinal cord injury complicated by epilepsy. But something she'd very briefly discussed with her parents a few years back was popping up in her mind again.

With the curse preventing regrowth of Jessica's leg, James and Lily had been against the idea of amputation. But Jess had been looking into things the past year or so and with current magical advances on artificial limbs, she'd have a far more normal life than with the leg brace and crutches.

Looking at her right leg, Jess could see the crisscross of scars from surgeries and she wondered if this would be the right thing for her.

Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, Jess looked up as Hermione sat down at the table. "How's Harry?" Hermione asked, without preamble.

Jess rubbed her eyes and shrugged. "He's in spinal shock right now. The doctors aren't really hopeful right now, but…"

"So what are you doing here so late?" Hermione asked, taking note of all the books and scattered papers.

Holding out one of the open books on top of the pile, Jess pointed to the heading and said, "Proprius primoris malum. Latin for 'permanent first injury'."

"This is the curse on your brothers and sisters?" Hermione asked, reading what little there was about the curse in the book.

"That's it," Jess replied with a depressed sigh. "There's nothing about reversing it, though." After a moment, though, she said, "Hermione, do you mind if I bounce something off of you?"

"Go ahead," Hermione replied, leaning back in her chair a bit.

Jess leaned forward and after a moment she started explaining about her own disability including the surgeries over the years and the fact that even with countless hours of physical therapy she was still unable to walk without the crutches. "I just keep thinking," she finished, getting to the point. "That things aren't likely to get much better for me and they're going to get worse for Harry."

Hermione had already picked up on what Jessica was thinking but had let the older girl talk out the situation. "If you're able to walk uninhibited," Hermione said, thinking on the problem. "You'd be able to help out with Harry. Right now your parents would have to deal with Adele's physical therapy, helping Dominic with his disability, making sure Isabelle is doing alright, and helping you while also dealing with Harry's current injury."

"Mum and Dad could use the assistance," Jess said with a shrug. "And I'd like to have a more normal life."

"Have you ever talked about this with your parents?" Hermione asked, curiously.

"Once or twice," Jess admitted. "But they never really liked the idea. Since healers wouldn't be able to regrow my leg, Mum didn't want to put me through all that."

Hermione considered things carefully. She understood what Jessica was thinking but her hesitation had nothing to do with James and Lily Potter, but rather what Harry would think.

Hermione knew that Harry had been through a lot in the past few days and she also knew that if Jessica did go through with what she was considering that Harry would think that it was somehow his fault. With that in mind, Hermione said, "I think you should talk to your parents and Harry first."

Jess nodded, quietly. She'd figured that would be the response but she was also hoping that Hermione would approve of the choice. But it was true and Jess knew that she couldn't make her decision without her parents' approval.

When Jess had arrived at the hospital Saturday afternoon, she, James and Lily had stepped out into the hallway to talk. Realizing what he needed to do, Dom had finally gone into Harry's room and pulled a chair over to the side of the bed. Harry was quiet, no doubt waiting to be chewed out for flying the other day. Leaning forward and feeling for Harry's hand, Dom said, "I know why you did it, Harry."

"Yeah?" Harry asked, sounding surprised. Dom figured he'd tried to sit up on his own, judging by the sharp his of pain coming from Harry's direction.

Wincing in sympathy, Dom nodded. "I've been looking out for you since you were a baby," he replied with a sad smile. "When I lost my sight I kept trying to do everything the way I'd always done it. I didn't want to let the blindness define me."

"Just like I didn't want to give up flying just because I was suddenly epileptic," Harry replied.

Dom gave his brother a smile. "Exactly. But both of us are going to have to change some things, alright?"

"Like what?" Harry asked, not sure if he understood.

Dom leaned forward a bit and replied, "Like… You need to stop taking stupid risks. And I need to start asking for help sometimes."

"I don't make things easy, do I?" Harry asked, thinking of all the times Dom had tried to guide him without success.

"Neither do I," Dom admitted.

"This wasn't your fault, you know," Harry assured his brother.

Dom smiled and said, "Harry, little thing about big brothers: They watch out for their younger siblings. When something bad happens, big brothers wonder if there's something they could have done to prevent it."

Harry started to reply when he yawned, feeling worn out. "I think I'm going to grab a nap," he said, yawning again.

Dom nodded in acknowledgment and stood, making his way to the door, stopping when he heard his sister and parents still talking.

"—don't like this, Jess. I mean, we've tried to avoid this since you were a baby," Lily was saying, sounding a bit upset.

"But Mum," Jess replied, sounding both annoyed and determined. "This would give me a real chance at a normal life. I wouldn't have to worry about the brace. I'd be able to walk."

There was a pause and Dominic wondered if perhaps his family had seen him. But then he heard his father saying, "Lily, Jessica's right. And I think we should have done it in the first place."

"But James—" Lily protested at first. But with a sigh that signaled she was admitting defeat, she said, "Alright. I'll speak to the healers in the morning."

Dom didn't say anything as he went back to the chair by Harry's bed and sat down, listening to his brother's breathing and the indistinct murmur of conversation from his parents and sister.