Chapter 6: Vigil

Everyone who had been at the Weasley house arrived at Saint Mungo's by floo less than a half hour later. They were told to go to a waiting room outside the ward where Harry was being treated and minutes turned into hours as they waited for word on his condition. Once a Medi-Wizard came by but could only tell them that the healers were still working on him.

Eventually an older healer named Endlemire, according to his badge, came to the waiting room and shook Mr. Weasley's hand. "Arthur, good to see you again."

Mr. Weasley replied, "Malcolm, I'm so glad Harry's got you looking out for him. How is he?"

"Is Mr. Potter's family here?" Healer Endlemire asked, looking past Mr. Weasley's shoulder at the small crowd of people behind him.

"We are essentially Harry's family. Is he going to make it?"

Healer Endlemire said, "Given the condition he was in when he arrived here Mr. Potter is extremely fortunate to be alive. He lost a fair amount of blood and he was suffering from dehydration and an infection from a puncture wound in the side of his chest. He also shattered the bones in his left arm and hand and has multiple broken ribs. But these were simple maladies for us to rectify."

There were sighs of relief from several people in the room when Hermione stepped forward and asked, "But if Harry's wounds were easy to treat, why did you tell Mr. Weasley that you aren't sure he will be okay?"

Healer Endlemire looked around at all the worried faces and explained, "We were able to stabilize him physically. The concern now is the state of his combined mental and magical energy. I have not seen the likes of this since the last war, and never in someone so young. We only had a handful of cases back then, but they were all the most seasoned Aurors."

Healer Endlemire refrained from telling them that inexperienced Aurors never survived long enough to make it to the hospital.

"Is Harry going to be alright, or not?" Remus asked stepping forward. "What exactly is wrong with him?"

The Healer answered gravely, "Based on results from our diagnostic spells and the fact that Mr. Potter had some kind of confrontation with You-Know-Who, it is my guess he has been subjected to an intense mental struggle and severe torture; what ever happened to him has left him dangerously weak."

"That poor boy!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed in horror, swaying like she was going to faint. Mr. Weasley caught her just in time and led her to the nearest couch.

Remus swore under his breath and turned to stare out a small window. Ron sat in a chair hanging his head and muttered to himself, "We should have found some way to have gotten him out of there!"

Hermione sat down next to Ron and took his hand into hers also berating herself in much the same way.

Ginny walked over to her mother and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and asked the Healer, "But he is going to recover, isn't he?"

Ginny was struggling to keep her fears in check. Hearing the Healer's theory of what had happened to Harry was making her feel sick, but he was still alive. There was still hope.

Healer Endlemire said, "We have replenished as much of his magical energy as possible using all known spells and charms, but I'm afraid it was not enough. His recovery will depend more upon his mind and body's ability to replenish itself."

"I don't understand what you are saying," Tonks said. "Harry has to heal himself?"

"That's pretty much the way of it," replied the Healer. "All witches and wizards have an essence of magical energy within them that their brains have been wired to manipulate. That is the main difference between Muggles and us. In the healthy wizard or witch, there is a balance between their magical energy and their mind's ability to control it. Stronger, more powerful wizards have been able to build both sides of this balance; much like an athlete will build their body's muscle strength while honing their mental state to compete effectively."

Ginny asked, "But what does all that have to do with Harry?"

Healer Endlemire patiently continued, "I believe Mr. Potter was forced to try to defend himself against a combined mental and physical attack. I have seen his symptoms before in Aurors who had been ruthlessly interrogated by Death Eaters during the last war. Those who survived to tell us what happened often spoke of several Death Eaters striking them simultaneously until they were weak and worn down.

"The magical and mental energy required to defend oneself is quite high, especially if there are multiple assailants. If that is what happened in Mr. Potter's case, it would seem the assault was so intense that his energy levels have been depleted to dangerously low levels. Combining that with his physical injuries, his reserves would be drained that much more. We have replenished his energy levels enough to keep him alive but his own mind and body must now do the rest. With his lack of formal training in mental defense, it's a miracle he survived to this point. He must truly be a gifted wizard."

"So he just needs time to heal and build his energy levels back up?" Ron asked.

"That is essentially what needs to happen. However, there is a complication," replied the Healer. "Mr. Potter's energy levels have not shown signs of replenishing like we would expect. It seems his ordeal weakened him to the point where our healing spells can not raise his energy levels enough for his mind and body to take over his recovery. You must be prepared for the possibility it may never happen."

Ginny stated adamantly, "If anyone can recover from something like this, it's Harry. He is not one to give up or to stop fighting!"

Healer Endlemire looked at her sympathetically. "Let us hope you are right. We nearly lost him once earlier this evening and we had to perform multiple emergency reenergizing spells just to keep him alive. If his body and mind can sustain his current energy levels, there is always a chance he will eventually start building them up himself.

"Now, I must get back to my patient. Someone will let you know if there is a change in his condition."

"Healer Endlemire, when will we be able to see him?" Ginny asked.

The Healer replied, "If we find Mr. Potter continues to hold his own, I think several of you should be able to visit him briefly within the hour."

Ginny said, "Thank you, and please, do everything you can for him."

Silence reigned in the waiting room as they watched the Healer disappear behind the ward doors.

Ginny remained standing, her thoughts tortured by her imagined horrors of what Harry must have gone through to end up in such a state. Her eyes caught a slight movement by the window. She saw that Professor Lupin had his face buried in the crook of his arm which was braced against the wall.

She walked over to him and said, "Professor Lupin? Harry will be okay. We all have to have hope. He will recover… he just has to…" and the tears she had been holding in broke. Lupin turned to her and each gave the other a comforting hug.

Lupin replied, "I'm sure he will. He has to when there are so many people who love him."

Just over an hour later, a Medi-Wizard came into the waiting room. "You are Mr. Potter's family?"

At the affirmative nods, the Medi-Wizard continued, "I can take four of you in to see him, now."

At once everyone in the room started to step toward the door until Mr. Weasley held up is hand saying, "Since we all can't go, why don't you go, Remus? Along with Ron, Hermione and Ginny. The rest of us can wait until later."

The four followed the Medi-Wizard through the doors and down the hall toward Harry's room.

Outside his door, the Medi-Wizard turned to them and said, "He has not regained consciousness, but you should talk to him. We don't know how much he may be able to hear, but sometimes talking to an unconscious person has been known to help speed recovery. I can only give you a few minutes with him tonight."

When they walked into the room Hermione gasped audibly and Ginny froze in shock at the sight of Harry in the bed. He lay with his face turned slightly toward them looking extremely gaunt and as pale as death. There were deep, dark circles under his closed eyes, a bruise marred the left side of his face and his lips were dry and cracked. If they had not been told he was still alive they might have thought otherwise because they could barely detect that he was breathing. The covers of his bed had been pulled up to just above his waist so they could see his entire chest was wrapped in bandages. His left arm and hand were also wrapped in the same white dressing. Another ugly bruise ran around his left shoulder downward and disappeared under both the bandages around his chest and arm.

Ginny walked over to the bed and took his right hand into hers, feeling some reassurance that it was warm to the touch.

"H-hi, Harry. It's me… It's Ginny. I-I'm here with Ron and Hermione and Professor Lupin. The healers would only let a few of us come in, but everyone else is in the waiting room. I can't tell you how happy we all are that they found you."

"That's right, Mate," Ron said, stepping around to the other side of the bed. "You… um… gave us quite a scare. But I'm sure you'll be up and around in no time…"

Ron had never seen Harry looking this bad; not after he had fallen nearly 50 feet off his broom when the Dementors attacked him during a Quidditch match in their third year, nor even in the hospital wing after the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

"Hey, Harry, Remus here. I'm glad to have you back. Tonks sends you her love. You just concentrate on getting better now, you hear?"

Hermione sniffed and said, "Hi, Harry. Please try hard and get better. You were only away from us for a few days but we really missed you. I'm sure everyone else will be coming in to visit you tomorrow. We… we really love you and we need you," and she started to cry again.

Ron put an arm around her comfortingly as the Medi-Wizard came back in to tell them their time was up.

"You have to get better, Harry. Please," Ginny whispered and she gave his hand one last squeeze. "We'll be back to see you tomorrow."

Over two weeks had passed and there had been no change in Harry's condition. They were all granted the chance to visit him in turns but Ron, Hermione and Ginny were the ones most often to be found at his bedside.

Mr. Weasley, Professor Lupin, and Mad-Eye Moody had just left Harry's room when Fred and George stopped by. They had taken the unprecedented step of closing their joke shop early so they could come by the hospital. Since everyone had been encouraged to talk to Harry as much a possible, the twins were giving Harry a lengthy explanation of the most recent problems they were having in the development of their newest product line. Suddenly they all heard loud voices coming from just down the hall.

"I want to know why I wasn't informed of the situation immediately!" said an angry, familiar voice.

"Maybe because it's none of your damned business!" they heard Professor Lupin's heated reply.

The angry voice came again, "Anything involving Harry Potter, especially something as severe as his disappearance or that he is near death is the business of the Ministry!"

Hermione's eyes widened and she whispered to the others in the room, "It's the Minister of Magic, Minister Scrimgeour!"

"Minister, you need to understand…" they barely heard Mr. Weasley's quieter voice reply. "The Order felt it was best to keep recent events quiet until we had a better idea of what had happened. I'm sure you understand the effect such information may have had on the Wizarding community. There was nothing to be gained by others knowing we thought Harry had been killed."

"It's not like we've been working on some great conspiracy, Minister!" Mad-Eye Moody said gruffly.

"Listen to me, Moody! I've given the Order of the Phoenix a great deal of latitude since Dumbledore's death. Some have thought too much! If you continue to withhold information from me I may have to reconsider the legality of the continued existence of such a rogue group! Of course, you could never possibly appreciate the time and preparation my office requires to devise a public communication strategy and mitigation plan for when the boy dies—"

Professor Lupin countered angrily, "What are you talking about? Harry is not going to die!"

"Apparently you have not spoken to his Healers recently. I just did and they were more than forthcoming with information on Potter's condition. I had planned to pay my respects to the boy but I now think my time will be better spent elsewhere. Good day, gentlemen!"

They heard the Minister's angry footsteps disappear back down the hall and out of the ward.

In Harry's room, looks of distress were exchanged. George walked to the door and poked is head out, gaining his father's attention. Moments later Mr. Weasley and Moody solemnly walked into the room.

"I assume you all heard the conversation with Minister Scrimgeour?" Mr. Weasley asked. At their affirmative nods, he continued, "Remus has gone to look for a Healer so we can find out what is going on."

Mr. Weasley walked over to Ginny who was sitting in what had become her usual place where she could hold Harry's good hand.

Her father placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "We know he's a fighter, Sweetheart. I'm sure things aren't as dire as the Minister made them sound."

Ginny could do nothing more than nod as she fought to contain the threat of fresh tears.

Moments later Professor Lupin returned with Healer Endlemire who immediately said, "I am truly sorry for what just happened. The two Healers who spoke to the Minister should have known better than to discuss Mr. Potter's case before consulting with me. They will be reprimanded. However, I'm sure you are more concerned for Mr. Potter, so I will get to the point. You know that his condition has barely improved since he was brought in." To which they all nodded apprehensively.

Healer Endlemire continued, "Physically, his body is healing; more slowly than normal for a Wizard, but his bones are mending. However, this morning's tests showed a slight degradation in his energy levels. This is not life threatening yet but it indicates there is becoming less of a chance he will make a recovery. We will continue to monitor him closely. I am sorry."

"So you believe that his condition will continue to deteriorate?" Lupin asked.

The Healer replied, "We can not be sure. All we know is that for some reason, Mr. Potter is not responding to treatment. If I didn't know better, I would say that there is something blocking his ability to heal. I can find no explanation for it but there is nothing more that we can do."

Silence filled the room as they digested the distressing news. Mr. Weasley finally said, "Thank you for being honest with us. We'll just have to continue to hope and pray that he does get better." Healer Endlemire nodded understandingly and left the room.

Lupin exclaimed, "I find it hard to accept there is nothing else they can do for him! With all the magic and all the knowledge in this place, they say nothing more can be done? It just doesn't make any sense!"

"I know, Remus," Mr. Weasley said, a mixture of sadness and worry reflecting in his eyes. "But just over two weeks ago, we thought we had lost Harry for good, and he managed to come back to us. We can't lose faith in him to make the rest of the journey back."

Then he said to Ginny, "It's getting late, Sweetheart, and you've been here all day. Why don't you go home and get some rest; you can come back to visit Harry in the morning."

Ginny looked back at Harry's pale face and said, "Can't I stay a while longer? Please, Dad? I don't want to leave yet and I hate to think of him being alone any more than he has to be."

Never one to deny his only daughter anything that was of great importance to her, Mr. Weasley acquiesced. "Alright. I'll send word to your mother that you will be staying a while longer and that I will be by to pick you up after the Order meeting tonight."

He turned a concerned eye to Ron and Hermione, who were both looking troubled over the news the Healer had delivered. "You two take care as well and try to get some rest. Don't give up hope."

"We won't Mr. Weasley," Hermione said quietly.

"We really must be getting to the meeting at Headquarters now, Remus. Fred, George, see you there?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Sure, Dad. We'll be there in a bit," George replied.

Hermione had moved over toward the window and was staring out at nothing in particular. Ron looked between Hermione and Ginny at a loss for anything to say, so he took a seat in a chair on the other side of Harry's bed.

"Professor Lupin is right," Ginny said at last. "It's hard to believe that there is nothing they can do for him. It just doesn't seem right, especially with all he has done for us and for our family. He saved me from the chamber; he saved Dad, and you, Ron. Why can't we find a way to do the same for him?"

The twins walked over to Harry's bed and George said, "Listen, Harry. You've beaten the odds before. You can do it again. Besides, if you don't, our kid sister may hex you into the next century." Ginny gave her brother a slight smile.

"Hang in there, Sis," Fred said, giving her a brotherly hug, and then the twins also left the room.

Hermione, who had remained staring out the window turned back to Ron and Ginny suddenly and said, "I need to go away for a few days. I need to… think."

"What?" Ron asked surprised. "Where are you going to go?"

"I'd rather not say and I honestly do need to be alone for a bit. Don't worry. I'll be okay. It's just something I need to do."

She walked over to Ron to give him a kiss. "Just do me a favor. Send a note to me with Hedwig tomorrow night; she will know where to find me. Let me know how Harry is doing one way or the other. I'll send a note back, letting you know that I'm fine."

Ron was about to protest but then thought better of it, wisely noting the look of determination in her eyes, "Sure, Hermione. If it's that important to you."

"It is, Ron, and thank you," Hermione answered.

She walked over to the bed and gave Ginny an encouraging smile; then she gazed down sadly at Harry's still form.

"I know you are fighting in your own way, Harry. Hang in there." She looked at Ginny, "Both of you." She bent down and placed a kiss on Harry's cheek.

"I'll walk you out," Ron said to Hermione, and then turned to his sister, "You sure you'll be okay until Dad comes back?"

"I'll be fine, Ron. This is where I'd rather be, anyway," Ginny replied and watched them leave the room.

Ginny turned her gaze back to Harry. What horrors had that evil monster put him through to have weakened him so much? She shuddered at the thought; she had known since her first year at Hogwarts how cruel Tom Riddle could be. She could only image how much worse he had become over time as he had transformed himself into Voldemort.

Ginny knew the danger Harry, Ron and Hermione were facing when they had left to search for the fifth Horcrux. Harry had told her about Voldemort's plan for immortality not long after Ron's near fatal incident with the fourth Horcrux.

During a brief visit to the Burrow, Harry had pulled her aside and explained that he needed someone who could provide the Order with important information should none of them make it back. Harry's contemplation of such a possibility had frightened Ginny beyond anything he had ever told her before; but Harry said he needed a favor from her and that she was the only one he could trust completely. Until they were successful in finding and destroying the fifth Horcrux, he was not ready to tell the Order of their plans. He feared members of the Order would try to stop them or somehow interfere and hinder their efforts.

Harry had made a copy of several important entries from Dumbledore's journal and had written out a multi-page parchment detailing Voldemort's plan and what they had discovered and done about the Horcruxes so far. He placed the documents within his vault at Gringotts and gave his vault key to Ginny.

Harry had not wanted to endanger her any more than she already was from her association with him, but the Order of the Phoenix would need as much information as possible if the worst happened. He had not even told Ron or Hermione about this part of his plan, and he knew he would choose death before revealing what Ginny held in her possession. Harry had made her promise that she was to retrieve the information from his vault and give it to the Order only on the condition they did not make it back. Ginny had agreed, but every day it was a promise she prayed she would never have to keep.

Ginny must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew, her father was back, telling her it was time to head home.

"Back so soon?" she asked, bleary-eyed as she sat up in her chair.

"It's nearly midnight, Sweetheart," her father said gently. "Say goodnight to Harry, now. You can come back first thing in the morning."

She caressed his cheek and after placing a soft kiss on his lips she whispered, "Keep fighting, Harry. I need you back… we all do."