Chapter 6 – Recovery
Shortly after Bill left, another healer came to inform them that a number of additional family members had arrived and were in the waiting room. With the three already in the room, additional visitors would have to come in one at a time and someone needed to decide the order. The healer seemed quite harried and conveyed the impression that their family was a bit of handful. Restraining a small laugh, Ginny decided she would be the one to tackle the problem, leaving Ron and Hermione linked to Harry. She followed the healer down the hall, where the healer pointed at a door and then quickly left. Ginny entered the room and found her entire family waiting, as well as the Grangers. She was a bit startled to see Phil and Jean, but then Molly spoke up.
"Hi dear. When your patronus came through, I started notifying everyone and sent your father to collect Jean and Phil. I assume Hermione is here and I knew they'd want to know."
Jean Granger reached over and gave Molly a quick hug. The two women had become good friends and usually saw each other a couple times a month. Meanwhile, Ginny looked around the room and took it all in. Everyone was there, including all the children. Apparently no one wanted to stay behind to babysit. Ginny took her fourteen month old son from Angie and cuddled James briefly before she delivered the news on Harry's condition. The room quieted as everyone tried to grasp that their beloved adopted brother and son had come very close to leaving them. Ginny broke down as she finished and her mother hugged her tight. Once Ginny settled, she began lining people up for visitations. She started with her parents, then Hermione's and worked on from there. When all had been decided, she took her mother and led her to Harry's room. Ginny still clutched baby James and hoped that no one would notice the extra visitor. He was really too small to count anyway.
As soon as Molly made her way in the room, she rushed to Harry's bed and took his hand. She kept up a stream of babble for several minutes before pulling back and giving Ron and Hermione brief hugs before leaving to allow Arthur to come in next. As Molly left, Ginny moved to her husband's side and placed James' small hand on Harry's cheek.
"Harry love, we're here. You feel that? Your son is here. He needs you Harry. We all need you. Fight Harry my love, please fight."
Arthur arrived next and spent a couple minutes with Harry. Ginny was distressed to see her father crying and embraced him. Then she handed him his grandson and Arthur left to allow others a turn. The next to arrive was Jean, and Hermione ran to her mother. Jean held her daughter for a minute before making her way to Harry. Although she had no legal attachment to him, Jean knew that her daughter was deeply attached to Harry, so she cared for him as well. Years ago she had been unsure which friend Hermione would pick and had been initially surprised when her daughter chose Ron. Hermione had explained to her mother that Harry was like a brother, for lack of a better term (or course that was before the horcrux hunt). Jean accepted that and decided to treat Harry like an adopted son. From what Hermione had told her, he deserved an extended family after the childhood he had endured. Jean left after a couple minutes and Phil came in next. After that a steady stream of Weasley siblings and spouses cycled through the room. Other than James, the children were all left in the waiting room. After almost an hour, Audrey was the last to visit and Ginny followed her back to the waiting room. She thanked her family for coming and promised to give her parents regular updates to pass around. Then Ginny returned to Harry's room to continue the interminable waiting process.
The next four days passed slowly. Ginny, Ron and Hermione all stayed with Harry continually, thanks to the help of their family caring for their young children. James was brought to visit twice a day by Molly and Hermione and Ron's three month old, Rose, was brought four times a day by Molly, Arthur, or Jean with Molly. Hermione remained in the room, nursing her daughter from Harry's bedside. Ginny was glad that she had weaned James a couple months previous so that she didn't have to worry about that. She still missed him, but she knew he was quite fine and most likely being spoiled horribly. The days eventually settled into a routine with the three of them taking alternating shifts to sleep for four hours at a time. The staff had brought in an additional bed for them to use while they waited, as well as having meals delivered for the three of them. They also gradually got to know the different shift staff and healers. The Prophet had published an article two days after the raid with detailed information, including the fact that Harry Potter now lay near death. Word had also traveled around the hospital that the other two members of the golden trio were holding a bedside vigil for Harry. Soon, anyone with the vaguest excuse made their way to Harry's room.
Two days after Harry's arrival, the lead healer, Anne Jones, delivered the carefully worded news that she was seeing very slight signs of improvement and she was encouraged. Ginny wanted to scream and shout, but Healer Jones had cautioned her that it was still too early to anticipate Harry's recovery. Then, on the afternoon of the fourth day, the healer announced that she was seeing significant signs of healing and awareness and that she was decreasing the impedimenta spell. The change took a couple hours to take effect, but Ron and Hermione assured Ginny that they felt more of Harry available to them afterward. Another three days passed and they reached the one week mark. The healer decided to take the spell down from 50% to 25% and stayed to monitor Harry for pain or distress. When Harry's vitals remained stable, Healer Jones left to make her rounds and even Ginny could see the change, as she noticed Harry twitch slightly when he felt her touch. Another three days passed and Healer Jones gathered two assistants and carefully removed the impedimenta, as well as turning the potion infusion down. Two hours later, Harry began to regain consciousness. He muttered slightly and then drifted back to sleep. After an hour of monitoring with no issues, the senior healer left, leaving two assistants to continue monitoring Harry. The next morning just before ten, Harry finally opened his eyes for the first time in eleven days. Ginny, Ron and Hermione were all waiting at his side as he gradually came around. Each of them planted a kiss on his head before he drifted back to sleep.
Over the next couple days, Harry's wakefulness periods increased in length and he gradually started to talk. He was still in significant pain, but the healers kept him well dosed via the potion infusion. He asked several times for details on the raid, but Ron kept delaying him, insisting that Harry still needed to heal. Two weeks and a day after his arrival, Harry was taken off the infusion and started on normal, oral potions. At the same time, he was moved out of the critical care unit and started on brief sessions of physical therapy. Moving to a standard care ward meant that Harry was allowed more visitors at a time and soon a number of Aurors followed Bill Robards in to check on Harry. Bill had been a regular visitor at the hospital, but had encouraged the other Aurors to wait until Harry improved before visiting. Now it seemed that they all wanted to be reassured that Harry was definitely healing. The family also visited more frequently and tested the capacity limits of Harry's room.
Two days after Harry was moved to the regular ward, Bill Robards visited again and Harry finally insisted that he be given details of the raid. Ron had heard a bit, but still didn't know everything. He had been too focused on Harry to care. Bill seemed to hesitate and Harry was getting anxious for details.
"Bill, I see you are hesitant. I am sure Ginny and Hermione will step out if you have security concerns."
"What? No Potter, that's not the issue. I'm just worried about putting too much on you before you are fully recovered. As for your family, Ron confided certain details that I needed to know when he insisted on staying by your bedside. I see that upsets you a bit, but not to worry, the details are safe with me. Ron had me swear under a blood bound secrecy oath. So, given what has already been entrusted to me, I feel safe with Ginny and Hermione remaining. As long as you are sure you are ready?"
"Yes Bill, I need to know. Thank you for your understanding on other matters while I was healing."
Bill nodded and drew his wand to begin placing heavy privacy and silencing wards around Harry's room. Then he turned back to Harry and found Ginny sitting on the edge of the bed, with Ron and Hermione in chairs on the other side. Taking a breath, he briefly organized his thoughts before beginning.
"Harry, I don't know how much you remember of the raid, so I am going to backtrack a bit. It may be repetitive, but I hope it helps. The information I have is from a combination of memories from persons on each of the three raid teams. Everything with the raid went as planned for about the first ten minutes. Your team took the side entrance and infiltrated the building, clearing four initial rooms. Evan Flint had laid heavy wards externally, but had not put any in place inside, except around a vault in the basement, but that's getting ahead a bit. Once your team cleared the initial side rooms, you met up with team 3, who had come in from the front entry. They'd cleared the initial rooms up to the point when they met and joined your team. You gave them the task of clearing the additional rooms around the hall as your team continued forward toward the dining room and team 1. Ron's team had taken down almost everyone in the dining room, but four decided to run rather than stand and fight. Since the back entry was blocked, they made for the side entrance and encountered your team. They were taken down quickly, but then you were ambushed from behind. It seems that one of Evan's guests had been in a loo behind a hidden doorway that had not yet been detected and cleared by team 3. The man's name was Pragesh Davidson and he exited the loo, firing in all directions. You took the worst of it. You notice that I use the past tense for him. After you went down, the teams were quite enthusiastic in their response and he died immediately. Seconds after you fell, Ron arrived at your side, grabbed you and apparated straight to the hospital. He broke a half dozen rules, but I understand why now. After Ron left, the rest of the operation took only minutes to complete. Sixteen suspects, including Evan Flint, were transferred to the Ministry's holding cells and their trials are scheduled to begin in a couple weeks. The investigation and cleanup of Flint's mansion took a few days longer. We uncovered enough personal papers that putting him in Azakaban for life should be easy. We also found a well protected vault in the basement that stored many of the more valuable materials his organization dealt in. We confiscated everything from powdered centaur hooves to unicorn blood. I participated in the vault clean out and I can say it was truly horrific. Besides the solid case we have against Evan, the legal department is firm in convictions on all but two of the fifteen others we arrested. It took a good two weeks before our department completed the work on the case, but now we've handed everything over to the legal department. Some Aurors may be called to testify, but we are close to washing our hands of this mess."
"Wow, so the raid actually went well. I mean, I was injured of course and I'm sure there were lessons learned, but in the end the organization was shut down."
"Indeed Potter. It's the culmination of years of hard work by everyone in the department. We can now focus on other issues that we've had to set aside for a while. I can say I'll be quite glad when you and Weasley return. We never seem to have enough hands for what the work requires."
Harry and Ron continued to discuss small details of the raid with Bill for a few more minutes before he had to leave. After he was gone, Hermione turned to Ron with a look of pride on her face.
"Wow Ron, that's the first details I've ever heard on any of your cases. I understand better why you and Harry do the job. I know it frustrates you a lot of days, but I can see why it's worth it."
"Thanks love. This case was a big one. Not all cases are that spectacular."
Harry nodded in agreement and then declared he was tired. He had a lot to think on as he drifted into a quiet nap.
Three weeks after the raid, Healer Jones came by to visit and talk with everyone. Molly, Arthur, James, Rose, Andi Tonks, Teddy and Charlie were all visiting when she entered and they all greeted the senior healer with thanks for her care of Harry. She seemed a bit embarrassed before settling into a chair by Harry's bed.
"Well Harry, I have good news. Your recovery has been truly remarkable given the severity of your injuries. Your concussion is fully healed and all your organs are functioning once again. Your pancreas and gallbladder are still not operating fully, so I would recommend a careful diet, but that should resolve before long. As for your leg, the damage is healed over as best can be expected. I know your walking is unsteady right now, but with ongoing therapy you should regain close to full mobility. I'd like to keep you here a couple more days, but if everything still goes well, you can go home. You'll still need to attend outpatient therapy sessions twice a week. I must say, several weeks ago I doubted you would make it. You have a remarkable resilience. It's almost like you refused to give up. I've been a healer for twenty two years and some patients just seem to have something deep in their soul that refuses to leave. Anyway, I'll let you rest. I know today's therapy was intensive."
Healer Jones left and Harry was looking tired, so the rest of the family excused themselves, leaving just the four of them in the room. Once the room was clear, Ginny was able to speak as she embraced Ron and Hermione.
"Thanks to both of you. I know the healer can't explain Harry's recovery, but I know it was because you stayed linked to him and held him here. I know my oldest brother has never completely understood my acceptance of your bonding, but I've been proven right. You brought Harry back for me."
Harry squeezed her hand and looked at his wife. "Actually Ginny, they were a large part of my recovery, but so were you. I can't explain how I knew, but I knew you were with me also. I even have the impression that James came with you. Is that right?"
"Yes my love, I had hoped that feeling your son nearby would help."
Ginny climbed up on the edge of Harry's bed, kneeling so that she could hug him completely. Hermione then came around and put her arms around Harry as Ron reached from the other side and the four of them surrounded Harry in love.
Two days later, Healer Jones made good on her promise and released Harry. He returned home, weak but happy to be back where he belonged. He still had a lot of work to do, but he knew he would do well with his wife and soulmates' support the whole way.