Author's Note:

Thanks for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews. I think it's really interesting to see what you all think this story is going to include. Some of you have some ideas that are pretty close, actually. I might have to do something special for those people. (Perhaps they should get to see that chapter a day before everyone else?) Anyway, I'm also extremely happy to say that this story now has over 2,000 views, and it seems to have people reading it all the way through so I'm glad you all find it as interesting as I do. In fact, because I'm so happy about all of this (the reviews and the views I've been getting), I've decided to thank you all by posting a new update early. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Professor McGonagall entered the Infirmary, two anxious Gryffindors behind her. "Madam Pomfrey, are you ready to go?"

Hermione and Ron rushed over to Harry's bed, firing off questions at him. "Give me one moment, Minerva. Children!" Three heads looked over to Hogwarts' resident mediwitch. "Stay calm. Mr. Potter will need his rest soon, and if he exerts too much energy he may have a relapse. Do you understand?" The same three heads nodded. "Now, Professor McGonagall and I are going to a meeting in the Headmaster's office. None of you are to leave until one of us returns. If a student comes in I'm assuming at least one of you can floo from my office to the Headmaster's for me, correct?" Ron nodded. "Behave yourselves. If my Infirmary is in any condition less than perfect when I return there will be consequences. Good evening."

Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall left the Infirmary, and the three Gryffindors resumed their talking. "Oh, we tried to come in to see you when you were unconscious, Harry, but she wouldn't let us in. She told us to go back to Gryffindor and wait. Well, of course we couldn't wait, so we went to the library. We've been in there ever since, at least until McGonagall came to get us."

"She even made us miss dinner."

"I'm sorry, Ron. Dobby!"

Dobby the house elf appeared in the Infirmary beside Harry's bed. "Master Harry Potter is well! Dobby was so afraid for Harry Potter. What can Dobby do?"

"Could you bring us some food? We all missed dinner."

"Anything for Harry Potter, sir!"

"Wait, Harry, are you allowed to eat yet?"

Harry thought for a moment. "I don't know. She never told me if I could eat. Err, Dobby, could you just bring food for Ron and Hermione then?"

"Dobby will do whatever Harry Potter asks of him." Dobby disappeared with a Pop! and the Gryffindors were alone once more.

"You might be able to eat. What potions does she have you taking?"

"I'm not sure what it is, but I'm taking the potions that are sitting on the table right there. I'm supposed to take them four times a day. Oi, Ron, I might be able to spend the beginning of the summer at the Burrow, at least until I'm done taking these potions."

"That's wonderful, mate. Hermione, maybe you could stay with us for the beginning of the summer, too. How does that sound?"

"I'll have to think about it later, Ron. There are more important things to focus on. Harry, why are you taking potions when you don't know what they are?"

"The only thing I'm concerned about is that they work. Earlier I was in pain, and I couldn't move. I feel great now. They're working. I can feel myself getting stronger. At the beginning whatever happened to me was bad enough that they had to give me a potion to protect my organs. If this is working, I'll keep taking it as long as I have to."

Dobby appeared with a Pop! "Dobby is bringing food for Master Harry Potter and his friends. Dobby saw the Madam Pom-fer-ey and Mister Snape and was told to be bringing Master Harry Potter some soup." Dobby set a large tray on Harry's bed. "Can Dobby be bringing anything else for Harry Potter and his friends?"

"No, Dobby, that's all. Thank you."

"Dobby is happy to help Master Harry." With a Pop! Dobby was gone again.

Hermione pulled the top off of a bowl and smelled the soup inside. "It's just chicken broth, so it should be safe. If Madam Pomfrey is okay with it, you should be fine if you drink it. Ron, you can have the plate of chicken." Hermione gave the bowl of broth to Harry and picked up a sandwich for herself.

"Mate, what happened to end you up in here in the first place?"

Harry stared into his bowl for a moment, reliving Voldemort's return in the graveyard. "Cedric. He's dead."

"Yes, Harry, you came back holding him. He was already dead when you arrived."

"He was murdered."

"By who? You didn't do it, did you?"

"No, it was Pettigrew. Voldemort ordered him to kill Cedric."

"That's impossible, Harry. Voldemort is dead. You defeated him when you were a baby, and then you defeated him again in first year. Nobody could have survived that."

"He's back. The Tournament Cup was a Portkey. Cedric and I had agreed to take it at the same time, together. We ended up in a graveyard, and Pettigrew Avada'ed him. Then he, he tied me up, to a gravestone, and he cut me to take my blood and bring Voldemort back. Voldemort was a miserable sight; he was so proud of what he'd become, and then he started calling his Death Eaters to him. Almost all of them were there. They're still loyal to him. Voldemort, he, he tried to kill me, too. Something funny happened with our wands, though, and they came back, all the people his wand had killed. Cedric, my parents, all of them came back, and I managed to escape by grabbing the Portkey again. I'd promised Cedric I would bring him back. A, a spell, I don't know what it was, but it hit me as I was leaving. It was painful, so painful. That's all I remember until Madam Pomfrey woke me up here."

Hermione and Ron were both pale, neither of them eating. They were just staring at each other, then they would stare at Harry, and then they would stare at random objects. Nobody knew what to say.

"Oh, Harry!" Soon all three of the Gryffindors were hugging, unable to imagine losing any member of the Golden Trio. "We have to tell Dumbledore."

Ron stood up and ran to Madam Pomfrey's office, intent on using the floo to reach Dumbledore. "Hermione, it was awful."

"I'm sure it was, Harry. You don't know what spell you were hit with?"

"No, they weren't sure either until Professor Snape looked at my memories. It was a horrible feeling, like he was inside my head."

"Did he use Legilimens?" Harry nodded. "He was inside your head, Harry. I can't believe you let him do that."

"I didn't have much of a choice, 'Mione. They didn't know what was wrong with me, and I couldn't talk. He had to do that if I was going to live. You know how Madam Pomfrey is when she tells you that you have to do something."

Ron raced back into the Infirmary. "Dumbledore already knows. Snape let him see the memories while he was brewing the potion. They know everything. Charlie is here, too. He said he's already talked to Mum; you're coming home with us for the first few weeks of summer holiday. You'll have to go back to your relatives for a while, but you'll be able to stay with us the last week so you can get your books for school next year. Hermione, we'll see you then, won't we?"

"Yes, I suppose so, Ron. It's not a trip to Diagon Alley if you all aren't there. You said Snape brewed the potion for Harry?"

"That's what Dumbledore said, but Madam Pomfrey has run enough scans to know if something was really wrong with Harry because of it. She said he'll be fine as long as he continues taking whatever this potion is four times a day."

"Did they say what was wrong with me?"

Ron shook his head. "No, but I doubt they would tell me anyway. You'll probably have to ask Pomfrey yourself if you want to know."

"Did they tell you what the potion was?"

"No, they didn't tell me that either. I was a bit too concerned about You-Know-Who's return. Besides, Harry seems perfectly fine. I'm sure he'll survive. He's conquered worse, you know."

"I suppose you're right, Ronald, but I know what I'll be doing this summer with my free time. I just have to find out what's wrong with you, Harry."

"Thanks, 'Mione."