Hi! Lotsa great reviews for last chapter, thanks! Not much to say, other than enjoy and you better review or I will cry! School is as usual; suffocating homework and no free time. Sorry this chapter isn't as long; not a lot is happening... yet... (evil cackle)

Disclaimer: Yaaaaah, um, about that... er... I don't own Harry Potter? (flinches as she waits for the gasping and screaming and wailing to follow this totally unexpected statement that she hopes won't cause world disaster)

It Ends Now

Part 23: "Aftereffects"

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!"

Harry winced. When Madam Pomfrey was mad, she could climb quite high on the rungs of the decibel scale.

"You have been walking!"

"Er..." Harry couldn't think of any suitable response other than a lame one syllable.

Nice, Potter, he scolded himself. Madam Pomfrey was doing her morning check-up, and Harry's sore leg muscles had betrayed him.

"Even when I specifically said that you needed to give your legs a rest and wouldn't be able to walk for a few days, you completely disregarded that and did anyway! Now it will take even longer for them to heal!"

"Er... um... sorry?"

Unfortunately, she didn't reply, only muttered on about 'Like father, like son' and 'Potters driving her to early death'. She didn't catch the slight upturn of Harry's lips at her first comment.

"Mr. Potter, what on earth prompted you to go walking? A midnight stroll in the moonlight- no, on second thought, I don't even want to know." She then fixated him with a death glare that any grown man would have shriveled under. "Don't you even think about leaving this bed for the week you will be spending here healing!"

Harry sighed, responding dutifully, "Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

She whished on her heel, grumbling on in a now incoherent ramble. As soon as she was in her office, Harry let out a deep breath he'd been holding in and slouched down the pillows depressedly. Well, at least her berating hadn't been as bad as he thought it would be when she'd first discovered his strained muscles. He lifted up the pillow and made sure his invisibility cloak was still out of sight. The boy moaned. Now he was sentenced to eternal boredom for a week straight...

Another slightly dramatisized moan and then the boy threw a hand over his eyes to block out the sunlight. What else could he do but sleep? He'd be lucky if the mediwitch would even let him have visitors today.

But even as he drifted away into sleepy darkness, a smile graced his features as he remembered the night before. It seemed so surreal that he had actually thanked Snape, but the boy had done it and had relieved the small burden weighing down in his chest.

oOo

The week of confinement passed by as Harry'd predicted, although Pomfrey had taken mercy on him and let in visitors later on. After a last check-up, the boy was deemed able to leave, though his burned arm was still in a cast and sling and the bandages round his chest area had to stay. Harry also had to promise the matron he would come up to the ward every night for her to change the bandages and take his remedial potions. But anything was better than being locked up in that suffocatingly sterile white room that he'd seen far too much of this year.

Harry's classes resumed, and though he was behind on schoolwork, Hermione helped a lot and he soon was up to speed within a few days. The only class he hadn't found mercy in was Snape's work-wise, but surprisingly, Snape was using the famous Dursley game of "Pretend the freak isn't there". While the ignoring of the Boy-Who-Lived didn't irk the said heart-throb in the least, it was the fact that the snappy man hadn't said one truely insulting thing about Harry since the rescue (even the exchange in the Hospital Wing had been more teasing than cruel). It was as though while he still wasn't acknowledging Harry, he still was treating him more civilly than usual because of the lack of insults. And that, in a weird way, made Harry's heart warmer.

"Harry? It's time for Care of Magical Creatures," Ron said, rousing Harry from reverie. The bell had just rung, announcing their free period after lunch was over. He put a hand on Harry's shoulder, but drew back when Harry flinched violently.

"Oh! I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" the freckled teen asked apologetically.

"No, I'm fine," Harry said, rubbing the spot Ron had touched. It was weird. It felt as if he'd been scalded in fear at the touch, as if Death Eaters were terrorizing him again. He'd been back in the cell, if only for a moment.

"Alright," the red head returned, skeptically. "Let's go."

Harry nodded.

But the incident with Ron wasn't the only one of its kind. Over the course of the next couple days, flinches like that happened any time someone touched the black haired boy. The twitches and flinches ranged from mild to severe. A simple tap made Harry twitch. Unexpected bodily contact sent Harry into shivers and spasms. But waking him up was the worst and most violent, as Ron found out the next morning.

"Harry? Sleepyhead, wake up!"

He shook the boy, a bad choice.

Harry's eyes flew open in terror, and he yelled in fear. Luckily, the two boys were the only ones left, or Harry would have been mortified at what he did next. He threw himself from Ron, shaking and yelling as he dove into the corner, pulling himself into a ball of protectiveness.

"No more, please, no more," he whined pitifully. Ron was too shocked to react, but soon regained his senses and inched towards Harry.

"H-Harry?"

"Go away, filthy Death Eater," Harry mumbled, shielding his face. "I said no more!"

"And just who are you calling a 'filthy Death Eater', you clod!" Ron exclaimed, an edge of teasing in his voice as he reverted back to normalcy. He was lost; he didn't know what to do and was just trying to get a reaction from Harry by sarcastically retorting.

Luckily, it worked. Harry slowly stopped shaking and stumbled up from his position, blushing and embarassed. But Ron was a good friend; he only laughed at his joke and never mentioned the incident again, for Harry's sake.

Although the next morning he refrained from touching Harry, and used the yelling method, which worked much better in getting Harry awake without another episode.

Still, although Ron and Hermione didn't discuss these weird flinches and overreaction with Harry, they did amongst themselves, and in worry. What was causing this? Was Harry in pain? In trauma?

Finally, the worry got to them and they decided to talk to Madam Pomfrey. If anyone knew anything about Harry's health, both physical and mental, it was her.

"Madam Pomfrey?"

The said nurse glanced up from giving a first year Pepper Up for a nasty looking cold.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley? Miss Granger?"

"Could we... talk to you for a moment? Alone? It's about Harry," Hermione spoke up, eyes pleading.

"Harry?" she repeated, concern filling her face. Then she chuckled. "What has he done now? Is he not wearing his cast?"

"It's nothing with his injuries... we don't think, at least," Ron replied. Madam Pomfrey looked around at the little patient she'd been helping.

"Well, off you go."

Ron could have sworn the first year looked angry at having to leave just at the point of revelation, but didn't disobey the sometimes moody mediwitch. Probably another Harry Potter adorer... god, they made him sick. Really, he could give them lots of dirt about Harry that would dash their obsession of him! Like how Harry sometimes drooled in his sleep, and had bad breath in the morning... the list went on and on. Ron would have smiled at his thoughts, were it not for the serious situation.

"Yes?" Pomfrey prompted, after making sure the nosy first year was gone.

"Lately... Harry's been flinching when anyone so much as touches him. Sometimes he gets it so bad he has a panic attack, like when you wake him up in the morning," Ron explained. The older witch looked contemplative, then said,

"Yes, I encountered that too. The first time he woke up he struggled out of my hold and right onto the floor."

"Why is he having such an adverse reaction to touch though?" Hermione inquired.

"My guess is some lasting trauma from his time in You-Know-Who's hideout. He went through a lot, if his injuries allure anything. It's no surprise he flinches at touch, especially unexpected. It probably brings him memories or flashbacks of the torturing."

"What can we do?" the best friends asked in unison. Pomfrey shook her head.

"Nothing, I'm afraid. Only time and Harry himself can heal this trauma. Don't worry too much; you'll find he will get better with time. Soon, you may be surprised to find he has not flinched or had a panic attack at all. But until then, just keep everything normal and take care of him as you always have. He means a lot to all."

"Thank you," Hermione said. "This helps a lot."

Pomfrey nodded, then grinned humorously. "And do remind him to take his potions tonight. He tried to skive off yesterday... that James Potter reincarnation!"

A chorus of laughs erupted from the trio, breaking the serious moment.

A/N: I am a review fanatic. Feed my addiction. Nurture my being. :-D

Thanks for reading! I know it was shorter than usual, but go with it! I don't have much writing time! Next chapter: "Death". Oooh, let the speculations begin!

REPLIES TO REVIEWS:

Haunted: I'm glad you did! I hope everything went well for you and him and thank you also for PMing me! Made my day! Enjoy this chappy!

darkmarkgirl: Yes, that's the downside of Author's Notes that get deleted. But still, I can't stand it if the chapters are out of order! Perfectionist me! Me too; and I'm glad you liked it so much! This story will follow the rest of the school year but I will probably do some sort of epilogue. Enjoy!

kittyrunner: Thank you, and you are so very right about Snape! Now you update your story soon too; it is unbelievably awesome and you have such a talent for writing! You've left me in suspense. Enjoy this chapter!

lilacBookstar: You are right on the spot with your comment! He is so obviously covering it up :-) Very true. Thanks for the review; enjoy!

Englishgirl: Thank you; loved your review! Hope you do again! Enjoy!

Riker15: No, YOU are awesome :-) Thanx!

TwilightsCalling: Yay, luv your reviews and emails! Best ever! Hau! lol. Mmm, cake sounds so good right now! Glad you enjoyed the chapter and enjoy this one!

jayley: You're right, but she is also exasperated because she's trying to give Harry medicine and he's fighting her. It's not cruel exaggeration, just slight exaggeration. I also put she was a mixture of concerned and exaggerated. Though I probably could have used a better word. Thank you so much for reviewing and enjoy!

hyper-swain: Oops! One of my earlier mistakes. Must not have noticed while I was editting. Thanks so much and enjoy!

Gabwr: That's OK. I always look foward to yours. Enjoy this chapter!

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AngelMoon Girl