Chapter 11: Awakening

Hermione was concentrating as hard as she could to terminate the spell but it was Harry who was now in control. He had moved so quickly that her mind barely had time to register that he held Ginny by the throat.

Just as George was about to grab Harry's hand that held Ginny, Hermione yelled, "Don't touch him! You'll make it worse! Ron, concentrate on pulling it back and help me!"

She still could not remove her left hand from Harry's chest so with her right hand she attempted to pry Harry's fingers away from Ginny.

Ron grabbed at Harry's wrist yelling in rising panic, "Let her go! You're choking her!"

The force from within Harry continued its relentless pulling. With a mounting feeling of dread Hermione could tell they were the ones who were now beginning to weaken while Harry continued to grow stronger.

Fleetingly the thought came to Hermione that this was exactly what Nadia and Ivan had feared might happen. The instant before he had awakened they had gotten a glimpse into the nightmarish torment that Harry had suffered at Voldemort's hands; that had to be what Harry thought he was still fighting. Their only chance was to find some way to get through to him that he was truly back in the company of friends.

Ginny was starting to feel weak; she couldn't breathe and Harry was continuing to draw energy from her. Hermione and Ron were trying to pry away his fingers that clasped her throat but he was too strong for them. Unable to fight any longer Ginny stopped resisting and Harry pulled her toward him.

Harry could sense his enemy weakening and the power flowing into him was still growing stronger. Soon they would all be free of the threat for good.

Harry yanked the form he was holding closer but then he noticed the scent for the first time. It was familiar and comforting. It brought to mind thoughts of flowers and of Ginny. Doubt clouded his mind and he relaxed his grip slightly which caused the power flowing into him to diminish. His eyes darted to the others he just noticed were leaning over him. He recognized the blurry forms of Hermione and Ron but he could not understand what they were doing here.

Hermione said urgently, "Harry, listen to me! You have to let Ginny go! You're in Saint Mungos…"

Then he heard Ron yell, "Let her go, Harry! You're going to kill her!"

"Ron?" Harry whispered as his eyes went back to the third form that had now collapsed on top of him.

Harry cried, "Ginny? Oh, my God, Ginny!"

At that moment the spell was broken causing both Hermione and Ron to fall backward. Harry struggled to sit up while he tried to turn Ginny to face him. What had he done?

He felt like he was awakening from a terrible dream where the details were beginning to fade rapidly. His mind was having a hard time reconciling what he saw before him now; he had thought it was Voldemort whom he was about to destroy.

Harry grabbed Ginny by the shoulders and tried to turn her so he could see her face. "Ginny? I thought it was him. I didn't realize—"

George rushed forward when he saw that Hermione and Ron had been released from the spell.

He slapped Harry's hands away from Ginny and said angrily, "Get your hands off her!"

He gently turned her over and she continued to hang limply in his arms with her eyes closed. He shook her gently and said, "Ginny? Come on, Sweetie, wake up. Show us you're alright."

Hermione and Ron shakily moved forward and watched Ginny worriedly as Fred came running into the room.

Fred said, "I heard yelling and then nothing. I couldn't stay out there anymore—"

He halted to take in the scene before him.

"What happened?" He asked in alarm.

"He choked her," George said nodding toward Harry angrily. "All she wanted to do was help him and he tried to kill her!"

"He what?" Fred asked in disbelief looking at Harry who was staring at Ginny. He was horrified by what he had done to her.

Hermione said unsteadily, "It's not what you think."

"Not what I think?" George retorted and then he looked down quickly when he heard Ginny moan and start to cough. Fred and Ron both moved over to her with concern deeply etched on their faces.

Ginny slowly opened her eyes and whispered hoarsely, "Did it work? Is Harry alright?"

Relieved, Ron said, "The spell worked. But how are you?"

Ginny slowly sat up with her brothers' aid. She rubbed her throat and whispered, "I'm okay."

She turned to look at Harry who was now lying back down. He was relieved and thankful that Ginny was alive but he could not look at her after what he had almost done to her.

Ginny noticed the spell had healed the incisions on his chest so all that remained was a faint red outline of a triangle. Looking at her hand Ginny saw that it had also been healed. The only other remaining evidence of the spell was the amulet still around Harry's neck and the drying blood that stained the side of his chest, his pajamas and the bed sheets.

Slowly she reached for his hand and whispered, "Welcome back, Harry."

As she squeezed his hand he looked back at her, concern and guilt clearly showing in his eyes.

He said, "Ginny, I'm so sorry. I can't believe that I almost… I thought…"

Ginny whispered, "It wasn't your fault."

George asked skeptically, "He tries to choke you and you say it wasn't his fault?"

Hermione was shaking from the aftereffects of the spell but she cut in wearily, "Fred, George… we'll try to explain but first we need to get the room back in order before the Medi-Witch returns. Could you move the bed back and get rid of the bloodstains? I'm not sure I'd be able to at the moment."

George pulled Ginny's hand out of Harry's and led her away from Harry's side.

Casting an angry look at Harry, George said, "I'd feel better if you kept your distance from him at the moment."

"George, take it easy. Just do as Hermione asked," Ron said as he unsteadily got to his feet. "Harry wasn't really trying to hurt Ginny."

Fred pulled out his wand and levitated the bed and Harry back to their original place; he then vanished the blood stains.

Ron walked over to Harry and held out his hand in greeting. He said with a smile, "Hey, Mate, it's good to have you back. It sure took you long enough to realize we were trying to help you."

Harry clasped his hand in return but he was still concerned about Ginny. "I thought it was a trick. I thought it was like the Department of Mysteries again. I can't believe I nearly—"

Seeing that Ginny was recovering, Hermione went to Harry and handed him his glasses. Tears started to glisten in her eyes and she suddenly leaned forward to pull him into a hug.

"Oh, Harry, we thought he had killed you! It was so horrible and we couldn't do anything to help you. You can't believe how good it is to finally see you awake!"

Harry hugged her back and as they parted he put his glasses on. He looked back at Ginny again and his worry heightened when he noticed the marks his fingers had left on her throat and wrist. She was trying to move away from her brother and back to Harry's side but George continued to hold her in place. Harry couldn't blame him.

He looked back to Ron and Hermione and asked, "What happened? How'd I end up here?"

Ron answered, "After you left to go back to get the bag we thought you were taking too long so we went to look for you. When we got to the clearing they were already there with you. We couldn't hear what you were saying but we saw… well, it looked like they were using the Cruciatus Curse on you. We wanted to help you but the pact wouldn't let us move any closer. He hit you with a green light and it threw you back into a tree. We thought it was the killing curse."

Harry said, "So that must have been how I broke my arm."

Hermione sniffed and said, "You also broke a few ribs and your hand and you had a pretty deep wound in your side. You didn't move when you landed so we thought you were dead. I'm so sorry! If we had known you were alive we never would have left you there. We would have found some way to help you!"

Harry said, "There was nothing you could have done and they probably would have killed you. But I still don't understand how I got here. Once they untied me I was able to get away using Fred and George's fake beans."

He dared a brief glance at the twins. George was still angry and he looked as though he was ready to hex Harry should he show any signs of going after Ginny again. Fred's expression had remained unreadable.

Harry went on, "I ended up in a field somewhere and I heard someone coming. I tried to hide but I couldn't seem to move fast enough. I thought it was one of the Death Eaters. That's the last thing I remember."

Ginny had finally pulled herself away from George's grasp and she sat down on the bed.

Taking Harry's hand into hers she said, "That was one of the Order's members. Dad said they had someone assigned there in Ireland. Luckily he was the one who found you and brought you here."

Harry was feeling extremely guilty about what he had done to her and he looked away from her. He pulled his hand out of hers.

Crossing his arms he asked, "So how long have I been in here?"

Harry's reaction to her gesture caused an icy knot to form in the pit of Ginny's stomach; she placed her hands in her lap and looked down at the floor.

"It's been nearly four weeks now," Ron answered. "The healers weren't sure if you were going to pull out of it. You may not have if Hermione hadn't gone to see Nadia and Ivan. They gave her an old spell and that talisman for us to use to wake you up."

Harry took the amulet off to get a better look at it. He also noticed the knife that was lying on the side of his bed for the first time.

Surprised, he asked, "You used another old spell on me? And this knife, too? What exactly did you do?"

Hermione said, "We used them to transfer enough of our energy to you so your body could take over your magical healing. It's probably better to hold the details for another time."

She took the knife and wiped it off. She then placed it and the amulet back into their respective boxes.

Hermione looked back at Harry and said gently, "It must have been so horrible for you. You were in terrible shape when you first got here; and then what we saw while we were trying to bring you back. What happened?"

Harry glanced down at the bed unable to look any of them directly in the eyes. He did not want to discuss the details of what had happened; nor could he bring himself to tell them that he had put Ginny's life in danger because he had not been strong enough to stop Voldemort and Snape from getting into his mind. He was afraid of how they would react if they found out; or worse they might think they would have been better off had they had left him unconscious.

Harry answered carefully, "He tried to persuade me to tell him what I know about the, er…" Harry stopped and looked at Fred and George.

"They know about the Horcruxes," Ron said. "When we thought you had died we went back to headquarters and told them pretty much everything. It didn't seem like there was much of a point in keeping it quiet anymore."

Harry continued, "He wanted to know what I knew about them and what Dumbledore might have told me."

Ginny had turned back to watch Harry's face closely and frowned as Hermione said, "But during the spell we saw what he did to you and how you fought him. I thought he wanted to know about something else other than the Horcruxes—"

Harry cut her off and raised his voice slightly, "That's all he wanted. Whatever else you think you might have seen must have been just another one of my nightmares or something. Things were getting a little, um… hard to deal with…I was having a hard time thinking straight before I managed to get out of there."

Hermione placed her hand on his arm and persisted, "Its okay to tell us, Harry. No matter what happened, we'll—"

"Would you drop it!" Harry said forcefully causing Hermione to jump and pull her hand back.

He was saved from further questions by the entrance of the Medi-Witch. She let out a shrill screech upon seeing Harry conscious and sitting up in bed. Almost immediately several other Medi-Wizards and Witches appeared; they were followed closely by Healer Endlemire.

"This is quite a surprise, Mr. Potter. Welcome back!" Healer Endlemire said as he approached Harry's bedside. He held out his hand in greeting. "The name is Endlemire. I have been your Healer for the past few weeks. How long have you been awake?"

Harry shook the Healer's hand and said, "Not long. They were filling me in on how I got here."

"Hmm, I see," Healer Endlemire replied.

He adjusted his glasses higher on his nose and bent forward to look closely at the faint red lines on Harry's chest. He then turned back to the others in the room. His gaze stopped on Hermione who shifted uncomfortably as she attempted to keep the boxes containing the amulet and knife from his view.

"Would you all mind going out to the waiting room while I examine my patient, please?"

They could tell by the tone of the Healer's voice it was not a request.

Before they got to the door, Healer Endlemire called after them, "You might wish to inform your parents along with the other Order members of Mr. Potter's miraculous recovery."

In the waiting room Hermione turned to Ron and Ginny and asked, "Why wouldn't Harry admit that there was something more Voldemort wanted from him? You saw it, didn't you? There was something else he wanted to know, wasn't there?"

Ron said, "There may have been something else. I mostly remember feeling the pain Harry was in. Maybe it really was just part of a nightmare like he said?"

George said gruffly, "More to the point— you owe Fred and me an explanation as to why you think Harry was not trying to kill Ginny. Apology or not, those bruises on her neck aren't a dream! And to think I thought he really cared for her!"

"George, he wasn't trying to kill Ginny!" Hermione insisted. "When he grabbed her he thought she was Voldemort. I told you one of the risks was that he might confuse our connection to him with whatever Voldemort did to him. During the spell we connected with his mind; we saw some of what happened to him and just that little bit was terrible! It was like Voldemort was really there in the room torturing him again. We could see it. We could feel it. But why would Harry be so secretive?"

"Come on, Hermione, think about it!" Ginny said wondering why someone who was usually so intuitive had suddenly become so dense.

She could tell that Harry had been holding something back from them but they should not expect him to talk about his ordeal so soon.

"Voldemort nearly killed Harry by torturing him. I'm sure we only saw a glimpse of what he went through and that was horrible enough. Would you want to talk about that after just waking up, much less at all? I can't blame him for not wanting to discuss it. But I do agree with you about one thing."

Ginny turned to her brother and said, "I know Harry did not realize what he was doing. You know he would never purposely hurt any of us."

"She's right," Fred said to George. "Harry's a good bloke; I have a hard time believing he would have done what he did if he had been thinking clearly. Especially to Ginny."

It was Fred's defense of Harry that finally made George reconsider. "Maybe…but I still plan to keep a close eye on him when Ginny is around."

"George!" Ginny snapped irritably, straining her bruised throat. "You don't have to keep an eye on me because of Harry or for any other reason! I wish all of you would stop treating my like I was eleven years old again!"

She took out her wand and pointed it at George. "Maybe you need some reminding that I can take care of myself."

Ron took a few steps backward. He pulled Hermione with him and was grateful that Ginny's threats were not focused on him for once. However, Fred stepped forward and placed a hand on Ginny's arm so that her wand was no longer trained on his twin.

He said, "Take it easy, Sis. You know George isn't trying to insult you and that we only have your best interest in mind."

Ginny continued to glare at George but placed her wand back in her pocket. To George's relief, her gaze shifted from him to the waiting room door as Healer Endlemire came in.

Ginny walked up to him and asked, "So how is he? Harry is going to be alright now, isn't he?"

The Healer nodded and said, "I believe that Mr. Potter will make a full recovery. I plan to keep him admitted for observation for a few more days and then he will have to rest and limit his activity for several weeks. It will take a while for his energy levels to get back to normal."

"That's great news! Come on, Ron. Let's send word to your mum and dad and the others," Hermione said and she turned to leave.

"Just one moment," Healer Endlemire said, looking over the top of his glasses at them. "Would one of you mind giving me an explanation as to what transpired to bring Mr. Potter's energy levels up? I may be old but I'm not blind. I do recognize newly healed incision marks when I see them; especially when I know they were not present on Mr. Potter's chest earlier in the day."

All but Hermione suddenly became fascinated with the carpet under their feet as they avoided the Healer's gaze.

"Well you see, sir…" Hermione began tentatively, "We really can't tell you. What I mean is… we are not allowed to tell anyone because, um, well, we had to swear that we wouldn't…"

Healer Endlemire asked incredulously. "So you are telling me you were involved in performing a spell on one of my patients yet you can not tell me what was done?"

"Yes, sir," Hermione said meekly.

"I see," the Healer replied giving her a hard look. "I can not force you to provide me with an explanation but you might think about reconsidering. It might be helpful in saving lives in this war."

"Yes, sir," Hermione said again.

Ginny asked, "Can we go back in to Harry now?"

Healer Endlemire replied more kindly than they would have expected considering Hermione had just refused to answer his questions. "I'm sorry, but I must insist that Mr. Potter be allowed to rest and that all visitors wait until tomorrow to see him. Rest is very important if his energy levels are to get back to normal."

Before he turned to walk away he said, "You should get some rest yourselves. Energy transfers no matter what type of spell is used can be very taxing."

The five of them stared in astonishment as he went back through the door and down the hall toward Harry's room.

Fred broke the silence and said, "Let's get back to the Burrow. I think Mum and Dad deserve to finally hear some good news for once."