Ginny was sitting next to Harry's bed when she arrived. Her eyes were red, but from lack of sleep or tears, Dora could not tell. "Anything from the Healers?" She asked Ginny, who shook her head. "How are you feeling? Have you had breakfast?"

Ginny shook her head again. "I wasn't hungry this morning."

"Where's James?"

"With Mum. I just couldn't stay at home. I know I can't do anything, but if he's... if he is aware of his surroundings, maybe being here is comforting for him."

Dora nodded.

"I mean, Hermione said she wasn't... when the basilisk got her..." Ginny said quietly. "So maybe they're not."

Dora hoped that was the case. She had gone to get Ginny and came back to the hospital so quickly that the Healers had hardly spent time with Harry, so his eyes had been opened when they first arrived, which made the entire ordeal more unnerving. They had since closed his eyes and he simply appeared to be asleep, but that did not make anything less unnerving when working with a spell they knew nothing about.

What if Harry and the other victims were conscious? Listening to the Healers around them talk about the chance this could be permanent if they couldn't find a cure, talking about possible long term effects... Dora couldn't imagine how awful it would be if they were conscious.

Mandrakes had not worked. Reviving spells, reviving potions, nothing had broken through the curse.

During the duel after Rodolphus had pulled her off of Harry, he had tried to cast the same curse at her. She had been faster this time, and it rebounded back at him. Now he was in a locked and guarded room, suffering the same fate as the others. She didn't care if he was revived, but the rest had to be. How unfair for them to live the rest of their lives in whatever state they were currently in.

The old Healer that had brought Ginny to Harry on the first day entered. His name was Healer Lewis, Dora later learned. "Ah, Head Auror Lupin, I did not expect you today." He said.

She still found the new title odd to hear. "It's not really for work, but I do need to ask if there's been any updates."

"I was actually about to begin asking the patients' families for permission to try something new." Healer Lewis said. "The Ministry would have to answer for Lestrange-"

"Leave him until the rest are cured." Dora said. "He will only awaken to Azkaban anyway."

Healer Lewis nodded and then turned to Ginny. "Mrs Potter, we have concerns that their bodies will begin to deteriorate if we can not wake them soon. There is only so long a body can remain in stasis before complications could arise." He said. "We would like to give them a small dose of Draught of Living Death. We believe it could be possible to slow down any damage that the spell is causing using that."

"You want to use a sleeping potion to put them further under?" Ginny asked.

"Temporarily." Healer Lewis said. "We believe a Mandrake Restorative Draught should work-"

"But it hasn't." Ginny said.

"No, we believe we need to make a few adjustments to the potion and perhaps by doing that, we can reverse this curse."

"But it's been weeks, how much longer are we stuck waiting?"

"I'm afraid we don't know." Healer Lewis said. "It's complicated-"

"Complicated, yes, but is it impossible?" Ginny demanded, jumping to her feet. "We deserve to know if this is something that can be reversed, or if we should start planning funerals!"

Dora put her hand on Ginny's shoulder. "Healer Lewis, does this mean the Wiggenweld Potion is no longer an option?"

"It did not work. Our plan to is brew a potion that combines the two, and perhaps the two together could be what we need. We just want to slow the damage that being in this state could cause."

Ginny looked to Dora. "What do you think?"

"It's not about what I think, it's about what the Healers think the best option is. And what you want for Harry." Dora said, and Ginny sat down again. Finally, she nodded.

"The other option is we look at the other side and we let them pass peacefully."

Ginny shook her head. "I want my husband back, try the draught." She said, and Dora squeezed her shoulder.

Three weeks later, at the beginning of July, she was summoned to the hospital with the news they could wake three patients with the first batch of potion they had brewed. Their choices were Harry and the two who had been cursed the longest. Ginny was already there when she arrived, and held Dora's hand tightly as they waited to see if it work. Dora was technically there for work, as she would have to get statements from the other two who woke up, but she also wanted to give Ginny her support. The Healers had warned them that this would simply wake them up, it would not reverse all of the curse's effects. Harry would be unable to move for an unknown amount of time.

It was only twenty minutes after the potion was given to Harry that he began to breathe on his own again. It was another ten that he opened his eyes.

When Harry woke up in St Mungo's, relief flooded through him. He couldn't see much, everything was a blur, but he could tell Ginny and Dora were there. "Harry!" Ginny sounded relieved, and he felt her grab his hand.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Viventem statuam." Dora said. "It's a new spell, it's a bitch of a spell to treat."

"New spell, great." Harry muttered. "What did it do to me? And, can I have my glasses back?"

"We never found your glasses. You'll have to replace those and stay blind in the meantime." Dora said and Harry scowled. "The Viventem curse turns people into living statues. Like I said, it's really hard to cure. New spells always are, until Healers get a handle on it."

"Well, how long could it take? I feel perfectly alright-"

"Harry, you've been out for three months." Ginny said. "It's July."

"And perhaps you haven't noticed, but you are still paralyzed." Dora said. Harry had not noticed, he had not even tried to move. He seemed to lack the energy. "The Healers felt confident that they could wake you, but it's still going to be some time before the rest of the effects wear off."

"How long?" Harry asked.

"They don't know." Ginny said. "It took them so long just to figure out how to remove the petrification, let alone how to bring you back to consciousness."

"Mandrakes don't work anymore?" Harry asked. If they had worked after a basilisk attack, why not now?

"That's the first thing they tried." Ginny said. "And no, it didn't work."

"What happened to Rodolphus?" Harry asked. There was silence and Harry started to dread the answer. "The bastard escaped again?"

"Not exactly." Dora said. "He's not in Azkaban, but he's not exactly free. I- uh, he tried to use the same curse on me and my shield charm rebounded it. He's also in St Mungo's, but there's been no rush to reverse the effects of his own curse on him. I'm sorry I wasn't able to rebound it for you."

"Shouldn't he face trials like the rest?" Harry asked. "Leaving him cursed doesn't sound ethical."

"Well, yes and he will... but, there are other victims of this curse. They want to focus on them first. The potion's been a bit difficult to brew, so the priority goes to those who aren't murderers. You and two others were woken today. It'll be another week before they can brew more potion to wake the rest. And then we'll deal with Rodolphus."

"I remember you talking to me after I was cursed." Harry said. "You said you read reports about this-"

"Yes." Dora said. "It's what Dawlish and I were working on with some Unspeakables. We don't know for sure that it was Rodolphus who created it but it seems like it... and at least we knew what it looked like and the incantation. Otherwise, I might have thought you actually had died. It was so fast, I couldn't even hear your heartbeat."

"Where is Dawlish? Shouldn't he be here to get my statement? Surely he knows I was being woken up-"

"The Head Auror needs to be here to take your statement as soon as you are ready to give it. However, he is no longer Head Auror." Dora said. "I am."

"When did that happen?" Harry asked in shock.

"May. Dawlish had a heart attack. Decided he'd rather spend his time with his family."

Ginny was holding his hand uncomfortably tight. Harry figured it must be a good sign if he could feel that, even if he couldn't return the gesture. "Alright, well what happens now? When can I go back to work?" Harry asked.

"When you can move, for one." Dora said. "You'll be off work for a long time, Harry."

"What about desk duty?"

"Harry." Ginny scolded gently. "Let's at least get you out of the hospital before you start demanding work shifts."

"And replace your glasses. You couldn't do desk work without those anyways." Dora added. "We should tell the others, Gin. They'll want to see him."

That was definitely true and Harry had nonstop visitors for days. When Hermione and Ron visited, he was surprised to see Hermione was pregnant again. They had been about to start telling people when Harry got cursed, so he had missed the announcement. They were hoping for a boy this time. Even more shocking was Ginny telling him she was pregnant too and that she was due at the beginning of January, which meant she had just gotten pregnant when he had been cursed. The two kids would share a Hogwarts year, because Hermione was due in November. While Ron and Hermione had planned to have theirs now that Rose was three, Harry and Ginny had not planned theirs. But, Harry was still excited. Molly was still not excited at the idea that Ron and Hermione had planned to never get married.

"It's just paper, why does it matter?" Ron would argue. "She wouldn't even take my name if we did get married!"

That was true. Rose's last name was hyphenated, and the new one would be too. That did not appease Molly.

It wasn't until September that Harry got to go home, finally able to move on his own, even if his body was still stiff from disuse. And then Dora gave him disappointing news- she wasn't letting him back to work until after the baby was born. The Healers were not clearing him for work yet and he'd be due for paternity leave soon anyway, so there was no point.

Luckily, he had replaced his glasses and got the pleasure of reading all of the nonsense Rita printed about him while he was in St Mungo's. He also read the articles about Dora's promotion, just for fun. He asked who the 'concerned' Aurors were, but she had shrugged and said she had no clue.

"Rita says you're trying too hard to separate yourself from the little baby Harry everyone knows. She says the new glasses reek of desperation." Ginny said, crawling into bed next to him one night. She was writing Quidditch pieces for the Daily Prophet, which meant she had to encounter Rita in the office often. News of Ginny's second pregnancy triggered a dramatic article about how suspicious the timing was, considering Harry's condition. Harry just figured it was Rita's way of admitting she couldn't do maths.

Harry rolled his eyes. He didn't like the unfamiliarity of his new glasses either, but he could get used to it if it annoyed Rita Skeeter. These new glasses were not as round as his old ones and the frames were thicker by a fraction of an inch. They were very nearly the same, yet different enough that people apparently noticed.

"Rita says a lot of things." Harry said. "All rubbish."

"You know, I like the new ones." Ginny said.

"Do you?"

"Mhm. That, along with the fact you've slacked on shaving again, it's all very nice to look at." Ginny said. Harry's facial hair did not grow nearly as fast other men's, he knew. Ron would have a full proper beard if he gave up shaving for longer than a week. Harry would not, and he could hardly classify the facial hair he woke up with in St Mungo's as anything close to a beard. So he had shaved when he got home, and then got a bit lazy.

"So, you don't want me to shave tomorrow morning?"

"No, I think you should keep it." Ginny said. "Rita thinks you look like a vagrant when you don't shave."

That settled it to Harry. His boredom at home meant he had no problem doing things that irritated Rita Skeeter.