AN: I know I'm late and I'm sorry! I told you people it would happen! I'm working on a Chemistry project, getting ready for finals, working on Christmas present, etc. It's kinda stressful to worry about my story too but I am determined to get it done.

Thank you reviewers! You have made me incredibly happy and I really appreciate your support and suggestions. I still do not have a beta but I hope you can enjoy the story and ignore the errors.

I will not be responding to all my reviewers, it takes up too much room and detracts from the story. I felt bad so this chapter is longer…woohoo!

In addition, I forgot a disclaimer so…I own nothing but the craziness in my head.

Question and Answer time:

Will Dudley be a wizard?

No. No. No. Dudley has never shown any signs of magical ability, it is not plausible that he would suddenly become a wizard.

Will Shaklebolt help Harry? What about Remus and the others?

One thing I do know is that Shaklebolt and Remus will be important to Harry at this difficult time. I've always loved the both of them and they have been very supportive of Harry so…

Surely the war couldn't be over just because of Harry's eyesight…

Never make assumptions. This is fanfiction and if you were blind, your trust utterly betrayed, would you be keen to help the people who ruined your life?

"If you have to hid Harry's eyes do it with a black cloth that wraps around his head"

No. Harry's eyes will not be hidden. To do so would show the world that he was shamed by what happened to them. At the moment and briefly in the future he will e, but Harry is strong and he will beat this. Also, this is incredibly cliché.

p.s. the other reason this is soooooo late is that I have the flu. I've had it for about 5 days and I am utterly miserable.

Last time:

"We've done all we can for Mr. Potter but I'm afraid there is nothing we can do about the loss of his eyesight. The best we can hope for is that he will adapt easily and be able to live his life with relatively few modifications," proclaimed Healer Peverell.

At this announcement, Bumble…err Dumbledores' eyes lost their telltale twinkle, Molly Weasleys' own eyes filled with tears, and Kinglsley Shaklebolt allowed himself to feel for the first time in years.

"The war is lost' he thought, 'but perhaps there is still hope for the future"….

Now:

The sound of anxious whispers filled the blinding whiteness of private room 143 in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. The whisperers in question were from Molly Weasley, Albus Dumbledore, and Minerva McGonagall.

Frankly, the noise was irritating one Harry Potter and disturbing his (much-needed) rest. After all, it had only been four days since his "accident" and he needed all the (magical healing) sleep he could get.

His nose twitched with the effort he put into not screaming at the faceless noise to shut the ruddy hell up. His body felt like it was burning, his head was pounding, and his eyes…his eyes felt nothing.

It was odd that they were so void of feeling, they did not tingle from the infirmary lights (no doubt that's where he was, he could identify that "overly clean" smell anytime anywhere), and they didn't feel heavy with sleep.

He felt…exhausted. His body felt weak, his head was pounding, it was like he had slept for weeks and, at the same time, he had slept for only a few second.

Sitting up on the hard infirmary bed, he groaned and opened his eyes. Nothing. 'This can't be right' he thought. He blinked his eyes closed and opened them again. Nothing.

This was beginning to worry him. Everything was dark and he knew that everything should be blindingly white. He reached his hand up to his eyes wondering if they had been wrapped so that he would be able to sleep easier.

Nope, no gauze, but wait…there was something on his eyes.

Harry lightly ran his fingers over his unseeing eyes. There were deep scars on both eyes. They didn't feel like normal scars, old and smooth. They felt jagged and new, they hurt when he touched them. They hurtall the time now that he was thinking about it.

He was starting to panic. What had happened before he woke up? Where was he? Most importantly, why couldn't he see?

He was shaking. As he curled up in fetal position, cradling his face, he cried. He didn't know why but there was something wrong with him. Would his eyesight ever come back?

Suddenly he became aware of hasty footsteps. The clicking of heels on tile was followed by the opening of a door, its soft creak ringing in his overly sensitive ears.

"Mr. Potter," an unfamiliar voice questioned softly, "are you awake?"

"He blearily opened his eyes, forgetting that he would only see darkness. He quickly slammed them closed, tears leaking out of his useless eyes.

"Mr. Potter, I know you're scared but we need to talk about some things. Come on, sit up dear, you've been asleep for three days." the, now identified as female, voice shushed.

He allowed her to pull his body into a sitting position. He was tired, so tired, and all he wanted to do was curl up under the covers and cry. He knew, however, that he needed some answers.

"Who are you?" he whispered gruffly. Days without using his voice had left his throat scratchy, his lips chapped and dry, and his brain slow and lethargic.

"My name is Healer Peverell, I'm the Head Healer for the ER at Saint Mungo's. You were brought here four days ago by Mr. Shaklebolt and your cousin Dudley Dursley. Your aunt…she hurt you Harry. Do you remember?"

Harry's blurry mind supplied fragments of what had happened four days previously. The burn, the stabbing, and then…my eyes. She had cut across my eyes, stealing the only piece of my mother I had left.

"I remember," Harry whispered brokenly, "I remember." Then the tears started pouring out of his dead eyes, made worthless by his family's hate. The emerald reminders forever lost to the world.

Healer Peverell watched on sadly, wondering how something like this could have happened. Everyone in the wizarding world pondered why "The Boy Who Lived" hadn't been placed with a loving wizarding family like the Weasleys' or a politically powerful and kind family such as the Bones'. However, everyone trusted that old fool Dumbledore too much to question his plans for the world's savior.

'Now we are paying for our unwavering trust,' she thought 'but more importantly, Harry is paying for it. This isn't the way his life was supposed to turn out! Lilly was a wonderful mum, working hard to become a healer. James was a little immature but he would have made a great father if he had had more time. They never should have died, but we can't change the past. Harry never should have been placed with those…those…muggles!' she thought viciously.

"Harry, it's important that you know that none of this is your fault. Your aunt was very wrong to do that to you, she is very…sick. We need to know if you want to press charges. Mrs. Dursley is already in custody of the muggle police and is going to be on trail for attempted murder. If you want to press charges, the Auror's would gain custody of Mrs. Dursley and she would have a higher chance of going to prison." explained Healer Peverell.

"Would she go to Azkaban?" Harry asked tiredly, his voice tinged with worry.

"I don't know Harry. Since she's a muggle, I doubt they would send her to a wizarding prison but the wizarding world is outraged by what happened. 'The Daily Prophet' has already written a fairly accurate story about the incident and have followed up several times since. If you decide to press charges on your aunt, you would be allowed to choose which reports to let into the trail. You would also be allowed to choose who gets the full story. Because the papers know how important this story is they have only reported the bare facts and little speculation."

"What are you going to do Harry?" Healer Peverell questioned.

"I want to press charges. If she's done this to me, there is no way to know for sure what she has done to other people, other children. I always thought she was a bit batty but I never though…I never thought she was capable of murder. She was always so…normal" Harry commented sadly. His mouth relaxed as he quickly tied. For the amount of time he slept he still felt tired.

"Alright Harry, it's time for you to get some rest. I'll inform the papers that you will be pressing charges and I'll have my assistant contact some lawyers for you. Is there anyone else you want me to tell?" she questioned

"Tell…tell Dudley, my cousin. He has a right to know…what will happen to his mum. She might not have treated me great but…she always loved him. Make sure…he knows that." Harry said as he drifted off to sleep.

"Of course, Harry. Have a good rest dear," Healer Peverell reassured. A single tear rolled off her cheek as she heard him mumble in his sleep. Such a strong boy, so much on his shoulders, it was only a matter of time before he crumbled.

She exited room 143. She closed the door quietly behind her. She went to her office, called her assistant and told her of Harry's decision. She hung up, she sat down in her overly cushy chair, she had a cup of tea and she cried.

She did not cry out of pity, or sadness. She cried because she knew Harry did not need to suffer. She cried because no one had expected this kind of life for the Boy Who Lived.

She cried because for the extremely short time that she had talked to Harry she had found him to be a wonderful boy. A wonderful man. He had never been allowed to be a child but she could see the insecurities in him. His face showed a tiredness she had only seen in the old, his speech was far too mature for his age. On the contrary, his mannerisms were infantile, his gentleness that of a young boy, and his smile…his smile was so much like his mothers.

He would never be the same person he was before. He would never be as brave or as sure of himself, but he would heal. If there was one thing Harry had shown it was resilience.

'He'll get better' she thought, 'I'll to everything in my power to make sure'.

Her eyes glowed furiously as she schemed. That was the only thing it could be called as she used all of her Slytherin intellect to plan ways for Harry to avoid pain, old rivals, and new villains.