"Harry, wake up!"

Chapter 2

Harry's eyes flew open at the urgency in Hermione's voice and he sat upright in bed. Big mistake, he thought, the pain in his leg causing him to fall back down on the pillow. Slower, this time, Harry opened his eyes and looked around him. Hermione was standing on his right, holding her wand aloft and looking smug. Harry realized his own wand was between him and Hermione on the side table. Ginny was on his left, holding his hand, and crying softly. At the foot of his bed stood Ron, Neville and Luna. He smiled weakly at everyone.

"Oh Harry we were all so worried about you!" Ginny said through the tears. "You have been asleep for ages and I didn't know if you were gonna wake up and you looked so helpless and-"

"Ginny," Harry said, voice raspy from lack of use. Hermione immediately produced a glass of cold water which Harry graciously accepted. "I'm fine. Aren't I Hermione?" He looked up at her with a lopsided grin that may have worked on some past Hogwarts teachers but not Hermione.

"Oh no you most certainly are not fine but at least you'll live," Hermione scolded. At this, Ginny burst into tears and Harry could see Hermione fighting the urge to roll her eyes. It was clear to him that Hermione was not a fan of Ginny Weasleys. Harry had picked up his relationship with Ginny shortly after the battle at Hogwarts. Hermione never outwardly disapproved of the relationship but Harry thought she secretly believed Ginny was not good enough for him. Now at the age of 24, Harry wasn't sure if Ginny was really the right girl for him. Of course he has always had a special place in his heart for Hermione but after she rejected him all those years ago, he never tried to pursue her.

Hermione and Ron stayed together for a few years but while Hermione wanted to constantly try and improve herself, Ron was content to stay at home and work occasional freelance jobs for the Ministry of Magic. Hermione knew that they were never a good match for each other but she tried for years to make it work. The final straw came when Hermione graduated from the Healer's school and Ron couldn't be bothered to show up because he was too busy teaching the garden gnomes to yell obscenities at the neighbor's cat. That was two years ago and Hermione was too busy in her career to really focus on men.

Hermione cleared her throat loudly, "Um, so Harry will need to stay in the hospital for a few days to make sure this wound heals properly. We will monitor it," she motioned to Dr. Luna Lovegood, "but it will probably be best if you all go home and let Harry get some rest." Ginny protested loudly but after reassurances of love and a gentle push from Luna, everyone filed out of the room except for Hermione. Ron cast a quick glance over his shoulder as he walked out but neither Harry nor Hermione noticed.

"Ahh, much better," Harry said as he settled back into his pillow. Hermione pulled up a seat closer to the bed and put a soft hand on his arm.

"Harry," she said, "this was really bad. You almost died on my operating table." Her eyes welled up from fear and lack of sleep. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't told me what curse hit you." A fat teardrop landed on Harry's arm and he put his hand on top of hers.

"It's fine Hermione," he said. "I'm fine. I will never leave you." She looked up and found his eyes searching her face. She gave herself one moment to decide then quickly stood up.

"Before you can rest, I need to check the wound and make sure it is healing." Hermione realized her mistake too late. The gash extended over the better part of his leg and, now that he was conscious, both of them would be very aware of Harry's lack of clothing during the exam.

"Er, right," Harry said. "Do I just lift this gown all the way up?" Harry asked as he started to lift up the front of his cloth gown with a mischevious grin on his face. The uncomfortable spell was broken as Hermione laughed.

"NO!" she yelled in mock horror. "I'll just pull aside the bottom portion of the gown if that's fine with you?"

"Pull away," he waved. As she pushed aside the folds of his fabric, Harry was able to see the extent of his leg for the first time. Hermione had scraped away all of the frozen, dead skin and stitched the living cells of his leg back together. Yet, there was still an indentation in his leg where the extra skin used to be. Harry took a deep breath, causing Hermione to look at him sharply.

"Does it hurt?" she asked

"Not really. It's just… hard to look at, is all." He turned his head away. "It didn't seem that bad a minute ago. You must be a miracle worker."

"I have my moments," replied Hermione with a grin. She turned back to the task at hand and frowned. The gash was already starting to scar over but it was gnarled. Harry's bare thigh would never look the same. Miracle worker though she may be, Hermione had never dealt with a black magic that froze the skin clean off and she had trouble with the regrowth process. She began to gently push around the scar and check for infection. Her wand hand did a quick scan and found no residue of the dead skin.

"Well?" Harry asked from the top of the bed, refusing to look back down at his leg. "Am I gonna make it, Doc?" Hermione pulled the gown back over his leg.

"Of course you'll be fine but it will never look the same. You will be able to run and walk but, oh Harry, you will have such a scar! I did everything I could," Hermione said as she walked away from him, tears spilling down her face. Hermione struggled to control her emotions but the past 24 ours with no sleep and the stress of having Harry so close to death was overwhelming. Hermione realized how deep her feelings for Harry went. Their friendship was the most important thing to her and his life meant everything.

Hermione saw something bright out of the corner of her eye and realized that Harry's patronus, his stag, was dancing around the room. At her look, the stag walked towards her and bowed. Harry weakly held his wand and smiled at her.

"Hermione, this is not the first time you saved my life and it probably won't be the last. Thank you." Harry flicked his wand and the patronus between them disappeared leaving only a heavy feeling in the room and a sense that more was to come.