Chapter 8

St. Mungos

They walked into the reception area, where Harry followed Tonks up to an oddly familiar old witch wearing lime-green robes with a crossed wand and bone emblazoned across the front, similar to a couple others throughout the room. She pulled her identification from one of her pockets, "Madam Clark, we require your assistance immediately. Alert any available staff, there could be more injured on the way shortly."

The healer nodded conjuring a stretcher, on which Harry carefully placed the girl lying in his arms. She turned to one of her co-workers, "There's been an attack, alert the rest of the staff," before beginning to wave her wand over Susan. "Broken arm, fractured rib, concussion and mild Cruciatus exposure," she said, examining her patient, "nothing life-threatening. Come, we'll move her to a room and take care of her there."

Harry and Tonks followed the healer through the hospital, before she led them into an empty room, she stopped to levitate Susan to the waiting bed and vanished the stretcher. She cast a few spells over Susan, which seemed to help as her breathing eased and some of the color returned to her face, before turning to face the two of them, "What is your friends name, dear?" she asked, as she moved over to Harry and began casting spells at him.

Harry has his wand on her faster than she could blink, "What are you doing?" he asked, taking a step back. He felt uneasy having an unknown witch waving her wand at him. Just because she was a healer didn't mean she couldn't be one of Voldemort's supporters.

"I'm checking on your wounds young man, now stop moving so I can take a look at you," she replied, giving him a no nonsense look and moving forward, pushing his wand arm out of the way as she began waving her own wand at him again and began muttering softly.

"I'm fine," he said, still wary as he allowed her to push his arm down.

"Of course you are dearie, I'm sure all of that blood just happened to get on you by mistake." Harry looked down at himself in surprise as he noticed the dark wet spots on his shirt and the thick trail of blood running down his arm. With his adrenaline running he had forgotten about the wounds he had taken during the fight. He returned his attention to the witch in front of him as she quietly ranted while she started closing his cuts. "Teenagers, I swear, I don't know how Poppy deals with them all the time."

Harry looked at her strangely for a moment, trying to remember where he had heard that name before, "Wait, you know Madam Pomfrey?" he asked. He felt quite stupid as she looked up at him and arched an eyebrow. Of course they would know each other, it wasn't like there were that many healers in Britain.

"Of course, she's my sister." Harry looked at her surprised. She had reminded him of the school nurse, but he had assumed it was just her attitude and the fact that she was a healer. Now that he looked though, he could see the family resemblance. She finished closing the rest of his cuts before speaking again, "Now, what is the girls name? I need to log her in at the front desk."

"Susan, Susan Bones," he replied, as she gave him a piercing look after he forgot to give her last name.

"Bones? Any relation to Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE?" she asked.

"Yes, she's her niece," Harry replied.

"Oh dear," she said, her hand going to her mouth, "well I had better go and inform the front desk in case her aunt comes looking for her. I will be back shortly with some potions for Ms. Bones. You should sit down too dear."

After the healer had left Tonks turned to Harry, "We should head back to headquarters Harry. Dumbledore will be furious if he gets back and finds you not there."

Harry shrugged, "Let him be mad I'm staying here, at least until someone else comes. I know how awful it is to wake up in a hospital bed alone with no idea how you got there."

"Harry, it could be dangerous, someone could have recognized you."

"It's fine Tonks, Tommy-Boy is busy tonight. Besides Madam Clark won't tell anyone I'm here."

"How do you know that?" she demanded, fists on her hips glaring at him. It would have been an intimidating pose, if not for the small wince she gave at his casual naming of the Dark Lord.

"Well for one, you went straight to her, rather than one of the other healers that were closer to the door, so while she may not be a member of the Order, she's at least a friend," he said holding up one finger to signal his first point. He raised another, "Two, she's Poppy's sister, so she can't be that bad. Three, she may not have even recognized me."

"Harry, you're one of the most famous people in Britain, if you're not wearing a disguise you should assume everybody recognizes you."

"Tonks, calm down, it'll be fine," he assured her.

Tonks seemed torn for a moment, as if unsure what to do, but nodded in agreement as she saw the stubborn look in his eye. "Fine, but I'm going to go stand outside and keep an eye on things."

Harry shook his head as she walked out of the room and took up her position beside the door, glaring at everyone who passed by. He decided to focus on his Occlumency exercises, hoping that they would block out any post-attack visions as he waited for the healer to return, but his concentration was interrupted by a groan from the bed in front of him.

OoOoO

Susan groaned as she regained consciousness. Her mind seemed like it was shrouded in fog as she tried to remember where she was and what happened. She remembered talking with her Aunt, her first real chance to sit and have a discussion with her since she had returned home from school.

Her eyes popped open, there had been an attack! The last thing she remembered was two Death Eaters standing over her, about to kill her before someone stopped them. She groaned again in pain as she tried to force herself into a sitting position. She stopped as a hand gently rested itself on her shoulder and she looked up to find an older woman in lime-green robes leaning over her.

"Ms. Bones, I must ask you to calm down and not to move, you are currently in the hospital. While your injuries are not too severe, too much movement could aggravate them, so I need you to lay back and relax." Susan let herself fall back into her pillow and relax as her eyes took in the room around her. The healer grabbed the first potion from the bedside, "Here, take this, it should help with the headache," she said, handing it to her.

Susan refocused on the woman standing above her, took the potion and quickly swallowed it, a look of disgust passing across her face as she did. The look quickly passed, to be replaced with one of relief as the fog and some of the pain quickly left her mind.

"There, that should help with the concussion," said the Healer, before handing her another potion, "and here is some Skele-Gro for the broken bones. Oh don't look at me like that, I'm sure you wouldn't prefer the broken bones," Susan scowled, unsure whether or not she agreed. She had taken Skele-Gro when she had broken her arm as a child and remembered it being both painful and disgusting. She drank it nonetheless, forcing it down before the healer handed her a third potion. "And this one should help with the soreness from the Cruciatus," she said, watching Susan drain the last potion before reclaiming the empty vial. "Now, there have been a number of other attacks, so I must be going, but if you need anything or something feels wrong, do not be afraid to have your boyfriend here call for a healer."

'Boyfriend,' she thought to herself, 'but I don't have a boy-' she cut off as she noticed the other person in the room.

"Wait, I'm not her-" but he cut off as she had already left the room. She noticed him shake his head, before returning his attention to her. She recognized him immediately. What was Harry Potter doing in her hospital room and why did the healer think they were dating?

"What happened?" she asked with a wince as the Skele-Gro began to do it's work.

"There was an attack on your house and you were injured. We brought you to the hospital."

"We?" she asked looking around the room, as if expecting another person to pop up from behind the curtains.

"Tonks and I," Harry said, gesturing towards the door, "she's standing guard outside." She looked towards the door and could just make out a woman with pink hair standing beside the door, watching people suspiciously as they walked by.

"What about my aunt, is she alright?"

She looked at Harry as he glanced around uncertainly, "I'm not sure, we came straight here after we found you," he stopped as she jerked in pain, "Are you okay? Do you need the healer?"

She gritted her teeth through the pain that suddenly assailed her before quickly dissipating, "No, it's gone." She looked up at him, "How did you know we needed help?"

She watched as he looked away from her, fidgeting under her gaze, "We got some information just as your wards fell, we came as soon as we could."

She was about to continue questioning him when her body was wracked by another burst of pain. Harry was at the door before she could stop him, "Tonks, go get Clark," he said before he coming back to check on her. She grabbed his hand and squeezed as the pain intensified for a moment, before it dissipated again.

The healer came in a moment later and Harry moved to the side to allow her access to her patient. Susan watched as she waved her wand over her, muttering an incantation. After a minute she stopped and looked down, "Hmm... it looks like you're experiencing some aftershocks from your Cruciatus exposure."

She turned her head as Harry spoke to the healer, "Is there anything you can do?" he asked.

Healer Clark shook her head, "I'm sorry, but no. Normally the third potion I gave her should relieve the pain, but it doesn't fully effective on some people. How long were you held under the curse?"

A small spasm of pain shot through Susan, "I don't know, it felt like forever," she replied truthfully.

She turned towards Harry as he answered, "Only a few seconds I think, I didn't see it, but I heard her scream."

The healer nodded at him, seemingly relieved, "Alright, with such a mild exposure, the after effects should only last for an hour, maybe two at most."

Susan gaped at her in disbelief, "Mild exposure?" she asked, getting angry, "That was supposed to be mild exposure? I've never felt anything like that in my life!" she said.

"I know it seems unbelievable," the healer said, looking down sympathetically at the girl on the bed, "but trust me, it could have been much worse," Susan noticed the healer's sympathetic gaze move over to Harry, who looked away sheepishly.

The healer smiled at her, "Now, I want you to relax until the worst of your symptoms pass and then try to get some sleep. If you need anything do not be afraid to ask." Both teenagers nodded as she left the the room.

As soon as the healer left Susan saw Harry walked towards the door, "Wait," she said as he turned back towards her looking straight into her eyes, "please stay with me," she asked timidly. She didn't know him very well, but she didn't want to be alone right now.

He gave her a weak smile, "Don't worry, I'm not leaving," he replied, "I was just going to tell Tonks to go leave a message for Dumbledore. He's probably realized I'm missing by now." He walked outside the room and spoke quietly to their pink haired guard. She frowned at him and they argued for a minute, before she nodded and left in a hurry. He walked back into the room and settled into the chair beside her bed, "Tonks is going to go tell Dumbledore where we are and then find out what happened to your Aunt."

They sat in silence, broken only by the occasional whimper as she was assaulted by another wave of pain. She noticed quickly that her spasms were becoming weaker and further apart. 'I guess she wasn't lying when she said mild Cruciatus exposure,' she thought to herself, as the pain of her last spasm left her. Her mouth opened into a wide yawn and she could feel her eyelids dropping. It wasn't long before sleep claimed her.

OoOoO

Harry sat in his chair in the corner watching the door carefully with his wand clenched tightly in his hand. He looked down at the girl sleeping on the bed in front of him before returning his gaze to the door. It had been more than an hour since Tonks had left and he was beginning to get a little nervous. If anyone knew he was there they could come for him at any moment, yet he couldn't leave Susan by herself, because she could be a target too.

He felt a massive burst of relief as Tonks finally came into the room, "Wotcher Harry," she said, striding through the door.

"Tonks, what took you so long?" he asked as he rushed to greet her.

"Sorry Harry, had to be lectured by Dumbledore. And then again by Mad-Eye," she said impatiently.

Harry looked back at her guiltily, "Err.. I guess that's my fault, sorry about that."

Tonks sighed and shook her head, "It's alright Harry, it turned out for the best. Besides, I did say I wouldn't keep you caged in at Grimmauld Place."

Harry nodded. He knew he'd still be in for a lecture, but they had been smart about their attack and hadn't taken any unnecessary risks, so he hoped it wouldn't be too bad.

"Is my Aunt okay?" Harry turned his head, noticing that Susan had woken up at some point in their discussion.

Harry nodded as Tonks looked at him, seemingly asking whether or not she should answer, "Well she's in rough shape. It was a little touch and go for a while there, but the healers say she is going to make it."

"What happened?" Susan asked, sitting up with only a small groan of discomfort.

Tonks hesitated, chewing on her lip as she tried to decide what to tell her, so Harry took over, "Voldemort attacked your house along with some Death Eaters," he said, Susan flinching at the sound of the name. Tonks glared at him, "What?" he asked, "Would you want it kept from you? She deserves to know."

Tonks sighed, looking over at the girl laying on the bed, "Fine, I'll give you the short version. You-Know-Who attacked with a dozen Death Eaters and your Aunt managed to hold them off until Dumbledore showed up with some reinforcements, but she was injured in the fight."

"Was anyone else hurt?" Harry asked, worried about Remus.

"All the Aurors guarding the Manor were killed, and Kingsley was a little banged up, but he should be fine in a day or two," she said after a moment.

"So Moony is alright?" he asked.

She nodded, "No worse than you, just some small cuts and bruises."

"Did they capture any more Death Eaters?" he asked.

Tonks shook her head, "No, but two of them are dead, on top of the one we found at the rear entrance."

Harry nodded, he supposed it would be too much to hope for to capture more Death Eaters while also dealing with Voldemort. "So how come it's just you that came back? I was expecting Dumbledore to send half the Order to make sure I wasn't hurt."

"Awful high opinion of yourself you have there Harry," she joked. Harry just rolled his eyes as she continued, "He thought about it, but I convinced him that seeing as no one knows you're here, that it would be safer for me to get you without drawing attention to ourselves."

He frowned as he noticed the scared look on Susan's face, "Tonks I'm not leaving Susan here by herself, I told you that before you left."

She just nodded impatiently, "Yeah, I heard you the first time, that's why we're taking her with us as soon as she's cleared to leave," she turned as Healer Clark strode through the doorway, "which will hopefully be right now."

They waited in silence as the healer waved her wand at Susan, before returning it to her pocket and addressing her, "Well your health seems to have improved enough for you to be released, though I would prefer that you stayed for observation," she said, scowling as she looked over at the Auror, "Your Aunt however, requested that you leave as soon as possible with Auror Tonks."

"So she's okay?" Susan asked worriedly.

"She will need to remain here for a week at the very least, but she will recover. As for you, I recommend you take it easy for the next few days. I want you to relax and get lots of rest, and if you have any more episodes of pain you should go see my sister," she said, causing Susan to look at her confused until she saw Harry mouthing, 'Pomfrey.'

Susan nodded and slowly got out of the bed, wavering as she made it to her feet. Harry quickly moved beside her, allowing her to steady herself on him. They made their way outside before Tonks turned to him, "Alright, we'll need to go to the park across the street," she said putting a hand on his shoulder.

Harry looked at the girl beside him, "Are you ready?" She nodded and he looked at Tonks, giving a countdown before spinning in place, focusing on the park across from Grimmauld Place.

They arrived with a small crack and Harry steadied her before crossing the street onto the sidewalk in front of #12. Tonks handed a small slip of parchment to Susan, who read it before looking up in shock as a house seemed to materialize from in between its neighbors. Tonks quickly led them inside before turning with a flourish, "Welcome to Number 12 Grimmauld Place."