Hey! Welcome back! I have a short chapter for you today, but this is sort of what I like to call the beginning of the end, even though we still have more then thirty chapters left lol. The next chapter is the start of a big turning point in the story. I hope you enjoy! Please review.
Harry tumbled out of the world of swirling green flames and onto Sirius. By some miracle, they had both made it to Dumbledore's office safely.
The Professor himself had just risen from his seat and walked over to where Harry had jumped off of Sirius.
The invisibility was starting to wear off now, and Harry could see parts of his arm and right leg. He quickly undid the spell with his wand, which he had somehow, miraculously, managed to hold onto.
"I am so glad you got out of there." Sirius said standing.
"What happened?" Dumbledore asked quickly.
"They tried to torture information out of him, and when that didn't work, they locked him up." Sirius explained.
Harry's body ached from being slammed against the wall, and he could feel the bruises blooming all over his arms and chest. His hands were shaking, though not as bad as when Voldemort had cursed him.
Worst of all, his left wrist had been shattered by the spell that had gotten through the bars. Needless to say, he hurt like murder.
"You have to get out of here." Dumbledore said urgently, walking over to them. "They will come here to look for you. Go back to the Burrow and stay there. Sirius, don't go out; they will be looking for you, too. I'll take care of everything."
Harry jumped to his feet, ignoring the painful protests his body was making, and allowed himself to be ushered towards the fire by Dumbledore.
He grabbed a handful of powder, but before he could toss it in, Dumbledore said, "Sirius, I will send for you later today to tell me what happened. As soon as it is safe."
"Great," Sirius said, and Harry tossed the handful of powder into the fire, which burst into the bright green flames once more.
"The Burrow," He said, his voice surprisingly steady, and Sirius followed him into the fire.
They both arrived at the Burrow a few moments later. Harry tumbled out of the fire and landed on his knees.
The world seemed to be spinning around him still.They had hit his head against the wall when they tried to detain him. He stayed on his knees for a second, waiting for the world to stop spinning. Eventually, he realized he could not stay like this despite the world still whirling around him.
He stood carefully, Sirius looking concerned, and shifted his eyes to a clock on the wall instead. Only an hour and a half had passed since Sirius had taken him to the Ministry. He couldn't believe it. It felt like much longer, at least four hours.
His eyes then traveled to the table. Sitting around it were Ron, Hermione, Ginny,and Draco. They had all jumped up when Harry and Sirius arrived, and their faces all mirrored Sirius' expression of worry.
"What happened!" Ron asked, amazed.
"Harry, what happened?" Hermione asked, examining their dirty clothes and Harry's odd behavior.
Harry walked over to the table and sat down. He discreetly pointed his wand at his left wrist and there was a sickening crunch as it repaired itself instantly.
"It was nothing." he said, pouring himself a glass of water and taking a drink. Sirius sat down beside him, and the others sank back into their seats.
"What do you mean nothing?" Draco demanded. "You weren't even gone for two hours, and you both are covered in ash, and you look like you were thrown out of the Ministry. And don't think I don't know what you just had to do to your wrist." His tone was understandably worried.
"They tried to break into my mind," Harry explained, "When they couldn't, they tortured me. I didn't want them to know I could resist torture, so I didn't block it. When nothing loosened up my mind, they decided to lock me up. Sirius and I had to make a quick escape, which is why we are covered in ashes."
He took another swig of water to fill the awkward silence that had fallen. Everyone was looking at him, not sure how to react. They all knew he could resist torture, but he hadn't this time. No one knew quite what to do.
Harry fiddled with his wand for a moment before he pointed it at himself and then at Sirius. Instantly, their clothes became spotless. His hands were still shaking slightly, but he clenched his fists tightly.
"Thanks," Sirius said, "Are you okay, Harry?"
"Still breathing" Harry said dismissively.
He started subconsciously feeling his arms. When he touched them, they ached with pain, alerting him to the fact that they were covered in bruises.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked, noticing his well-hidden discomfort.
"Nothing. It's okay." Harry said, taking another drink.
"Let me see your arm, Harry." Sirius said, gently reaching for his wrist.
"No," Harry said, jerking them out of reach. "I'm fine."
When he moved, pain exploded all over his chest, which confirmed his suspicion that there must be bruising there, too. He did his best not to cringe.
"If you are fine, then let us see." Ginny challenged.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Because we want to make sure."
Before Harry could say another word, Draco reached out and grabbed his right wrist in one quick movement. Harry tried to wrench his arm away from him, but it did nothing except increase the pain forming on his chest. Harry gave up and let Draco roll up his sleeve with his other hand, careful to keep his forearm to the table, hiding his Dark Mark.
His arm was black and blue. Some parts of it were bleeding slightly. The bruises ran up his forearm and to his shoulder.
Draco let go of his wrist and reached for his other arm. He didn't fight it this time but let his sleeve be rolled up.
This side, too, was covered in bruises, but they were not as bad, and only one spot was bleeding.
The others looked shocked and alarmed, all except Draco. He was used to seeing Harry beat up.
Harry took out his wand and pointed it at his arm. "Sanara," He muttered, and a strange-looking violet light burst out of his wand and almost engulfed his arm before sinking into his skin.
When it was gone, though, all of the bruises remained. It had stopped bleeding, though. Harry frowned and tried his other arm. Again, the bruises remained, but the bleeding stopped.
"They won't go away." Harry said, rather obviously.
"Here, let me try." Draco offered, so Harry held out his arm.
"Sanara," Draco said, but still, the bruises would not budge. Draco scrunched his forehead and tried again. "Sanara," he said, more insistently this time. Nevertheless, Harry's arms stayed as multicolored as ever.
"Why won't they come off?" Ginny asked, looking concerned.
"Not sure." Harry said, taking his wand and trying the spell once more. Yet they stayed, stubbornly black and blue. Harry put down his wand, defeated.
"What spell are you guys using?" Hermione asked, curious, "I've never heard of anything like that before."
"We've been using it since we were young; it usually works." Draco said, "I have no clue why it wouldn't be working now."
Everyone looked at Harry's arms as though they were a complex puzzle that needed to be solved. Harry eventually got tired of everyone staring at his arms, so he rolled his sleeves down once more.
Harry was looking around for something to change the subject, but then there was a blast of flames, and a message with Sirius's name on it appeared floating over the table. He reached out and picked up the envelope. As soon as he had read what it said, he jumped up.
"The Aurors just left Dumbledore's office. He wants me to go back and tell him what happened. You stay here, Harry." Sirius said.
"No, I want to come too. I want to tell him what happened. I want to talk to him about something." Harry insisted, also getting to his feet.
"No, Harry, stay here. The Ministry will be on the lookout for you. Stay here, where it is safe."
Harry sighed. He could see Sirius would not be persuaded to change his mind, and if he was being quite honest, he really did not want to go with Sirius.
"Fine," Harry said, his voice soft and calculated. He had another plan in mind anyway.
As Sirius stepped into the fire, Harry excused himself from the kitchen. He caught Draco's worried glance as he left, but he couldn't be bothered to care right now.
He was tired from the lack of sleep he had gotten the previous night, and contrary to popular belief, Harry was not invincible. Though the cuts may now be gone, his nerves still felt shot from the rounds of torture he had been forced to endure.
As soon as he was upstairs, he ripped open the first door he found and sank to the ground inside of the bedroom. Now, he allowed himself to shake, to tremble with the pain that accompanied torture.
He closed his eyes and focused on breathing, trying to deny the pain pounding through him. He drew out his wand with shaking hands and pointed it at himself.
"Insertia," he muttered. At once, he felt his body relax, and the shaking in his hands became much less pronounced.
He sighed with relief and let his wand fall to his side. He leaned his head back against the closed door, eyes closed. After a second, though, he started to feel the all too familiar sensation of Voldemort in his head.
He had barely shoved his fist into his mouth before his scar burst open with a vengeance. This pain was different than before. It was stronger, much worse than anything Harry had felt thus far. His heart was racing, and his stomach was churning as Harry was sent into Voldemort's head with another painful lurch.
He was standing among his Death Eaters, a sense of power emanating from him. He looked around as the room quieted.
"Today we have confirmed that Harry Potter,"
A muttering rose at the sound of Harry's name. Harry raised his hands, and the room went silent.
"We have confirmed Harry Potter is currently residing in one of the Order of the Phoenix safe houses. Though he defeated Rockwood, other spies have told me his mind was as impenetrable as ever. We have to silence Harry Potter. There is only one way to do that, and you all know what it is." The crowd all jeered at this, but they stopped quickly.
"We must target all of their safe houses. This poses a problem because…" Then Harry stopped.
He turned and looked into a mirror hanging on the wall next to him. Harry could see the green reflected in his scarlet eyes.
"Noooooo!" Voldemort's scream turned into Harry's scream, and his eyes burst open again.
Harry was on his back, his shirt drenched in a cold sweat, and his stomach was twisted into knots. It was no surprise that his head was pounding worse than ever.
Between everything that had happened today and his scar hurting, it was too much. He closed his eyes, trying not to think about his vision. Instead, he focused on his breathing.
He thought of nothing for a while, trying to focus only on his breath. Eventually, it evened out, and his stomach unknoteditself. He sighed and sat back up, leaning against the door again.
He cleared his mind of all thought and closed his eyes, his body fatigued. Really, it wasn't so bad here, alone in this empty room.
In fact, the ground was quite comfortable. It was nice to get away from everything, just for a few moments.
He felt darkness pushing against his eyelids, and, contrary to his better judgment, he caved, sinking into sleep's welcome embrace.