Chapter 16
Strange noises filtered slowly into Harry's consciousness, gently poking at his sleepy mind. He felt heavy, like his whole body was made of lead, yet strangely doughy at the same time. His limbs, torso, neck and head were all melded together, Harry couldn't move, in fact he couldn't rightly say he even knew where to start. Where did his torso end and his legs begin? Was he laying down, was his head attached to his feet? His mind was too foggy to answer these questions so instead he tried to form words to express his discomfort. However, his mouth, if he still had one, was swollen and full of what could only be described as thick jelly.
The noises pulled at Harry's attention as they became louder and closer. Almost discernible now, Harry strained with what he thought were his ears, to understand what was around him. Growing even louder the noises began to separate into a range of low and high pitches. Falling and rising in no recognizable pattern Harry concentrated hard on opening his eyes, the last remaining sense available to him besides his garbled hearing. A darkness that Harry hadn't noticed was invaded by fuzzy flecks of light. Harry managed a few slow blinks, with every second the fog around Harry's' mind was retreating, the sounds were becoming clearer and his body was regaining its sense of alignment.
The heaviness on his limbs didn't albeit but suddenly as if someone has flicked on a light switch, Harry was aware of himself again and his hearing was crystal clear. "...as I was saying before you interrupted me Alastor, Draco Malfoy has been questioned about his intentions"Albus Dumbledore's clam voice said somewhere to Harry's right. "and I can assure he is no threat to the Order. Severus agrees with me, all we can do now is keep him safe." Harry heard the beginnings of what could only be Mad-Eyes protests but was silenced by Dumbledore. "Of course we'll keep an eye on him, several in fact. In case any unexpected occurrences arrive."
Mad-Eye made a noise halfway between a grunt and a sigh but made no further comment. Harry blinked several times, his vision was still darkened and he now was aware that his head was resting face-down on his folded arms. His breath blew back at him, warming the small space made between his face and the surface of the wooden table. As his eyes adjusted to the dim, blurry light Harry concentrated on what was obviously the Order meeting taking place around him.
"...Fudge is still in St. Mungo's" Kingsley Shacklebolt was saying, "He's reportedly going to be there for a few months at the very least."
From somewhere to Harry's left McGonagall spoke, "has Scrimgeour been officially elected Minister yet?"
"They are taking a vote now," Kingsley replied, "we should know soon, but from what my sources are saying he will have no opposition." Muttering filled the room around Harry, "We are watching his Undersecretaries but as Severus can't be sure which one has him under the Imperius Curse we cannot act yet."
A ministry official under the Imperius; well that didn't shock Harry, look what happened to Moody, but the new Minister of Magic under Voldemort's control. Harry' innards twisted at the thought.
"Indeed," said Dumbledore's soft voice from across the room, "we mustn't draw any attention to Severus as this plays out. What of Mr. Mumphry?"
"It has been reported that Mumphry was sent to St. Mungo's after what they think was a violent thestral attack." Replied a high, breathy female voice that Harry didn't recognize. "They can't be sure as none of the witnesses were able to see the thestral. He will remain in St. Mungo's for an unknown period of time, but will recover."
"Hmm, hmm, very well. It had to be done." Dumbledore said almost absently, "And you're sure your time away will go unnoticed by Voldemort, Severus?" A quick electric pain surged down Harry's scar.
"Yes," Snape's baritone voice said from close to Harry's right. The sound reverberated warmly down Harry's spine, which was now starting to ache from his bent over posture. "He is concerned my lengthy departures will start to arouse your suspicion."
A few very weak laughs went around the room, "Better he is more focused on keeping your status here well kept," Dumbledore paused then said, "for Harry's sake, I hope your time here will strengthen your bond." Everyone started speaking at the same time, then stopped suddenly again. "We have discussed this already tonight." Dumbledore said with a tone of finality.
If Harry could have moved he would have sent Dumbledore a murderous look, and protest that HE hadn't been included in the discussion, and that HE thought that the matter wasn't finished at all. But as it happened Harry could no more protest that blink hard several times in anger.
The conversation had moved on while Harry was wrapped up in his own thoughts and Lupin was speaking now. "Hagrid sent word that the Ministry has been up to Hogwarts again. Most rooms are still refusing them entry and Hagrid heard them talking about installing Probity Probes around the castle." Lupin's voice seemed tired and withdrawn, but he continued giving his report. "He is still hiding in the Forbidden Forest, says the school is still being closely monitored, but the house elves are keeping him informed."
"How much longer can we wait to regain control of Hogwarts?" McGonagall asked, her voice determined "if we don't act soon the Ministry will ban us all from remaining there. The students can't be left in the Ministry's hands."
"Agreed!" said another unfamiliar voice, "we need to reach out and soon!"
"The public knows You-Know-Who is back," said Molly Weasley, "we should speak out, clear our names and remind the Ministry that Fudge has been a fool." Mummers of agreement went around the room.
"Soon we will, it won't be long before we will know how to handle Scrimgeour. As for speaking out, none of us here can, we cannot draw attention to the members of the Order. I have faith that those who see the light will rally support. They know that Hogwarts is the safest place for their children during times of war, as it has always been." Dumbledore sighed, "I will be more worried if Scrimgeour does clear our names and allows us to return immediately."
"The Dark Lord will not want attention drawn to Scrimgeour's term as Minister as of yet." Snape's voice one again went rolling down Harry's back like liquid honey. "He may be planning to let us return so our movements can be more easily monitored."
"Exactly my thoughts too Severus." Several others made noised of agreement with Dumbledore. Harry was shocked, he had forgotten about Hogwarts. It hadn't even entered his mind that most of the schools Professors were fugitives on the run. He hadn't been planning on going back to school even before all of the events of the summer had started. What about Hermione, Ron and the rest of the Gryffindors? Hogwarts, though proven not to be entirely impregnable from darker forces, was the safest place for his friends. Especially if Harry wasn't there. Pondering this new predicament was interrupted by the Orders meeting. Harry pushed his personal thoughts aside and listened intently to the rest of the meeting.
They continued as if going down a list, giving reports of their own, or colleagues, activities. Debating heatedly over actions to take and new plans to be placed in motion. All seemed to be determined in the end by Dumbledore's word. Harry soon realized that the Order of the Phoenix was a lot wider spread that he had imagined. Sure there were Ministry officials form many departments, the Hogwarts staff, but also people from St. Mungo's, Bill kept an eye on Gringotts; while Charlies efforts to recruit people in Romania had succeeded and they had cultivated even more support from abroad. Harry tried to absorb as much of the information that he could. Some of it Harry didn't quite understand, as the Order didn't need the back story to fill in details like Harry did, and many of their statements were out of context and could mean several different things. Someone named Brockwit Booth was delivering a package, another was keeping his eyes and ears open at a place called the Vanishing Pig. Another person was gathering, what Harry thought were called pinch-points, but he couldn't be sure he heard that right.
He listened for maybe two more hours. The pain in his shoulders and back subsiding into numbness, then the meeting seemed to end without much commotion and only a few "good-nights." Chairs were scraping against the floor and papers were being shuffled, rolled up and stowed away. Harry had noticed how little Snape had actually spoke in the meeting and assumed that his information, Voldemort's latest exploits, had been discussed before Harry had regained consciousness. Wondering about how Snape was going to get Harry back to the house made Harry think of another question. One that he should have been his first; who had woken Harry up? Did Snape know he was awake? Someone had to have put a spell on him to keep him motionless and to stop the effects of the Dreamless sleep potion. Had it been Snape? Surely Snape wouldn't give Harry something he desired, like information. Perhaps it was Lupin, or Mad-Eye both perhaps seeing different values in keeping Harry informed. For Lupin, maybe a show of affection and kindness towards Harry, and Mad-Eye, well, constant vigilance said it all.
However, once again Harry's' thoughts were interrupted. He now felt someone lightly moving the hair on the back of his neck. " I noticed this," Snape's voice said quietly above Harry, "This morning. Potter says he hasn't conjured it but-" Snape trailed off as another voice began to speak, Lupin.
"He can't have-" Lupin whispered. Harry could feel people closing in above him, their warm breath tickled the back of his neck as they leaned closer.
Dumbledore's voice was now added to the mix above Harry's head. "This is surprising.."
"DON'T" Snape snapped and a breeze ruffled Harry's hair. "Don't" Snape said again less harshly, "touch him, until the week is up."
Nobody said anything for a moment, and Harry itched to move. " I don't understand, how could this be possible?" Lupin asked.
"How indeed," Snape said coldly, " how am I to continue working if I must watch, him, constantly. The trouble Potter gets-"
"Severus please," Dumbledore cut him off, "I've apologized already. And, and this mark I am sure was not from Harry's own doing. But I-" he trailed off, "I must look more closely into this to be certain. Keep this quiet until I have more answers."
"So you don't recognize the markings then?" Snape asked, "I consulted my text but found no matches either."
"I can only guess their meaning, and hesitate to say further until I am certain. A grimorie mark can mean many things."
"What about Harry?" Lupin asked, "he is going to pursue his own investigation sooner or later."
"If he asks," Dumbledore hesitate, Harry waited unblinking for him to say once again to keep Harry in the dark, "you should tell him but I don't want this getting out of hand." Harry's jaw would have dropped if he had the power to move. "Try not to add any more burdens to Harry, it may yet be benign, as soon as I know more I will inform you."
Snape didn't verbally respond but must have agreed because Lupin and Dumbledore exited the room. Something piercing hot went from the top of Harry's head to the tips of his fingers and toes, his spine relaxed and his arms slid forward before Harry found he had the ability to stop them. Forcing his aching back up into a sitting position and opening his mouth to speak, Harry looked up into Snape's black eyes, he paused. In that wasted moment Snape gripped Harry's sore upper arm and pulled him to his feet, "don't speak."
Still weak, Harry shut his open mouth and tried to shake off Snape's grip. Had Snape really been the one to enable Harry's eavesdropping? Harry didn't know but tried to step away from Snape anyway. His feet were clumsy and Harry stumbled forcing Snape to let go of his arm and instead wrap his own around Harry's waist.
"Come on Potter." Was all Snape said before leading them out of the main house. Harry's middle felt tingly and warm where Snape held onto him. Even the bruising grip now encircling his other arm felt rather better than the rest of his drained body. Sickened and relieved were too of the strangest feeling to have at the same time. He hated that Snape had been given this power over him.
By the time Harry and Snape reached their room Harry was exhausted. Snape deposited him once again on the bed and moved to the cabinet. With effort Harry kicked off his shoes one at a time, each of them making a dull thud as they fell the short distance to the floor. Laying back into the pillows Harry breathed deeply and a calming warmth spread through his head and shoulders. Before Snape had turned around, spared a disdainful glance at Harry's sneakers, and finally laid eyes on the sixteen year old on his bed, Harry had fallen asleep. For the first time in several days, or weeks even, Harry fell asleep without a potion or from a fever.
Several times throughout the night Harry woke in a haze and sleepily shifted towards something emanating warmth beside him and promptly fell back to sleep.