Chapter Fourteen

"When he wakes up, I'm going to kill him." Were the words that welcomed Leo back into consciousness.

"That's not much motivation for me to wake up, now, is it?" Leo replied, opening his eyes. Roger was standing over him, a look of intense fury on his usually friendly face. Leo's smile slowly faded. He tried to sit up, but his abdomen was both too pained and bound too tightly for him to move.

"Shut up, Leo. Shut up or I swear I'll hex you into oblivion," Roger threatened, brandishing his wand. Leo had never seen Roger act this way.

"Is Harry—?" Something happening to Harry was the only reason Leo could think of that would cause Roger to be in such a rage. But Harry was apparently the last thing on Roger's mind.

"He's fine. Which is hardly what I can say about you after that idiotic stunt you pulled. What were you thinking going into an unknown building full of Death Eaters alone?"

"Death Eaters?"

"That's what I said. Who else would have kidnapped Harry Potter? If you had just waited before running off and doing something stupid, you would have gotten all the information and you wouldn't have been on the verge of death. They weren't going to kill him, by the way, they wanted to make him the new Dark Lord or some nonsense."

"I didn't know—"

"Of course you didn't know. Because your stupid arse just charged into the situation without thinking. Why did you do that, Leo? Why didn't you get me? I'm your partner! I'm your best friend!"

"Shacklebolt—"

"No, shut up! I don't want to hear it! You almost died in there, Leo. If we hadn't come when we did, you would be dead right now. And for what? To save Harry bloody Potter? To save some guy who doesn't give a dragon shit about you? What about us? Where would we have been if you had—If you didn't—To hell with you!" Roger's voice cracked and he turned away, looking up at the ceiling.

"Roger, I—" Roger growled with rage and pointed his wand at Leo.

"Silencio!" The words abruptly died in Leo's throat. "I cannot believe you'd be so stupid. I cannot believe you'd practically kill yourself for him. I can't work with someone who'd put his life in jeopardy like that, someone who doesn't trust his best friend. So if you want to risk your life foolishly, you can do it with someone else." Leo bolted upright but immediately flopped back down. He pushed the blankets aside and found that he was covered in bandages and whatever gashes they'd been protecting suddenly reopened, causing brilliant red splotches to bloom on the once white surfaces. He tried to shout at Roger not to leave, that he could explain what had happened, but Roger's silencing spell was still on him. He couldn't lose Roger; they'd been friends since their school days. They'd stuck by each other no matter what ridiculous situation they'd gotten themselves into, why would Roger leave him now? How could Roger leave him now?

Leo found his wand at his bedside table and removed the silencing charm from his throat, but he knew Roger was long gone. Leo sighed, closing his eyes and ignoring the burning pain on his chest and stomach. A part of him wanted to hope that Roger was just angry, that he didn't mean what he said and was just upset at seeing his best friend so unnecessarily close to death. But the other part of him, the part that knew Roger best, was positive that Roger wasn't just throwing around fury induced threats.

"Are you awake?" A soft voice asked him. Leo opened his eyes and turned his head. Cho was standing there, holding a tray containing more bandages and some potions. "Oh thank God!" Cho put the tray down, grabbed Leo's face and showered him with kisses on his cheeks and forehead. A feeling of warmth spread over Leo, causing tears to form in his eyes. He forced them away, though, opting to chuckle weakly at Cho's enthusiasm.

"Is this part of my recovery?" Cho giggled but the feeling of warmth turned cold as he saw that she was crying. "Please don't cry. I really can't handle that right now."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. When I heard—when I saw—they all thought you were dead at first. Everyone worked all day and night to save you. They said you took on thirty Death Eaters alone, is that true?"

"I thought there were only twenty."

"Oh, Leo, you idiot!" Cho scolded, stopping what she was doing. "What were you thinking? Don't they teach you not to do things like that in Auror training?"

"At that moment, Cho, Auror training was the last thing on my mind."

"Well, that was stupid."

"I'm very aware of this. Roger did not hesitate to tell me all about it."

"Roger was scared. We all were. Everyone has come to visit you these last few days: Terry, Michael, Adrian, Eddie. Poor Harry didn't leave until Roger forced him to." Leo did not want to think about what it meant for Harry to have been at his bedside for so long. He really didn't want to think about anything.

"Roger doesn't want me to be his partner anymore."

"He was so scared," Cho repeated. Her voice cracked slightly and her eyes began to tear again, causing Leo's heart to ach horribly. "I'd never seen Roger cry or scream like he did until Healer Marco told him that we might not be able to save you. Healer Marco almost banned him from the ward." Leo closed his eyes again. He would have given anything to not have heard what Cho said. Her being there was not the relief he had hoped for upon first seeing her.

"I'm tired," he said softly.

"Okay. I just need to change your bandages first then I'll give you a potion to help you sleep."

"Thank you."

"I'm glad you're all right, Leo." Cho set to work changing his bandages, which were almost supersaturated with his blood by then. She worked quietly and efficiently, only speaking to ask him if they were too tight. When she was sure she'd done a good job and he wouldn't suffocate, she handed him a potion, told him to drink the entire thing, then headed out, leaving Leo alone save for the fellow in the bed next to him, who seemed to be in quite an awful state. Leo drank the whole potion like Cho had told him and instantly felt himself drifting off to sleep.

He was in such a delirious state that he was almost sure he saw Harry Potter standing at the foot of his bed before he completely passed out.