I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. ONLY EMERALD AND THE PLOT AROUND HER AND SOME OF THE MADE UP CHARACTERS I MAKE ALONG THE WAY. BUT THE MAIN PLOT AROUND HARRY I DO NOT OWN!

When the Slytherins were done they left me broken in the courtyard. Everything hurt, and I couldn´t get up. Why couldn´t I get up? Why on earth had they done this to me? What had I done to deserve it?

These questions just kept on coming as I lie there. My throat hurt from all the screaming and crying, and my eyes were so blurry that I could barely make out shadowy shapes. And my head throbbed. Like crazy too! All in all, I felt like I was in a small bubble of pain and loneliness. For a while this was all I could feel, until the fear and anxiety arrived, and with it came also the desperation.

I tried in pure desperation to get up once again, fighting my own body and instincts to at least fake some strenght, but of course failed miserably. I really did not want to still be around when or if they decided to come back. I was so tangled up in my own head that I did not hear the footsteps approaching, so quiet and careful. Out of nowhere I felt something cold touch my cheek, and strangly enough I found myself leaning into it. A soft cry unwillingly escaped my lips only seconds later when the hand and also the coldness disappeared. I felt so weak, and I could feel myself slipping away slowly because of my now "paralyzed" senses. It was quite a shock for me when that person carefully lifted me up in his or hers arms and carried me away. Just before I let myself slip into the darkness, I managed to groggily make out a pair of black, onyx eyes watching over me.

A few hours later

Cold. Something very cold and damp had been placed on my forehead. The pain had been eased slightly, but it was still there, nibbing at me constantly. Everything was so unfamiliar. The strong smell of dust and what seemed like potions ingrediences filled my nostrils, almost overwhelming was I? Several times over I tried to open my eyes. I wanted to get at least the slightest glimpse of the room I was finding myself in. Not having my eyesight at my disposition made me feel disorientated and panicky. It made me aware suddenly of the cruciating headache I was having. If it had been there all along I did not know, nor did I care.

I let out a soft whimper as time passed, as I slowly became aware of all the pain erupting throughout my body. It could´ve been seconds or minutes. I couldn´t tell. Time felt unreal to me. I heard movement to my far right, and then a pair of quick footsteps, approaching where I was lying. I felt a pair of eyes on me through my eyelids. Probably checking my injuries, I managed to conclude. A cold hand touched my cheek briefly,and the cloath on my forehead was removed. Dripping of water, and then it was back. By then I had entirely given up on opening my eyes, so my full focus was getting my hands to move. Luckily I could feel my fingers slowly respond, one after the next, moving achingly. After a while I could move my entire hand. Never once did the person stop watching me. I could feel it. The stare. It created goosebumps across my arms and back.

I must´ve been gaining my strength for a long time before I managed to get enough to control my arms, since it all left me close to exhaustion at the end. The feeling of weakness crept upon me, sending waves of uncontrollable shaking down my body. I loathed that. Uncontrollable. At last my arms found the strength to lift themselves up to my face, placing my palms firmly there. My hands felt almost cold against my burning skin!

"I do not think it is very, wise, of you to move too much straight away, Miss Potter."

I knew right away who had come to my aid. Who had taken care of me, and who was now standing at my side to make sure that I didn´t do anything stupid. You´d have to be brain dead not to. With a voice that sounded more like a croak than anything else, I replied.

"Where am I? What day is it?" I paused, but continued in a panicky, small voice "Did I miss any classes?"

The man chuckled quietly at my side.

"So alike your mother, always worrying about school..." I could hear him whisper. I wasn´t so sure if he was talking to me at all. Soon after he picked up his voice again. "It has only been about, 12 hours, since I discovered you in the courtyard, miss Potter." he paused. "And I would say, if you behave and move quietly." he put pressure on the last word. "You can leave in only a few hours."

"How -" I started.

"They are not too bad. I will let you see when you are strong enough to open your eyes."

I nodded weakly, shocked over the fact that he knew what I was going to say before I even said it. Once again I got that feeling that he knew me better than he let on, somehow. It didn´t really make any sense to me.