Morning was a hectic experience. Remus had arrived to have breakfast with him, and Harry had been subjected to at least a dozen tests before he could finish it. Snape had arrived an hour later, revolting potion in hand.
Harry drank it while scanning the potions professor over the rim. Snape looked a little better than he had the previous days. Granted, there were still those new lines of age on his face, and the grey hair still streaked his temples, but the pallor of his skin looked far better and the onyx eyes that had been dull and vacant when the man was quiet were now glittering with their normal cunning.
"What are you looking at, Potter?" Severus drawled, noticing the lingering stare.
Harry handed him back the empty glass and shivered. "Nothing, sir."
Snape cocked a brow and snorted but let him be.
A medi-witch hummed happily as she bustled through the doorway. She smiled widely at the three occupants, seemingly unabashed by Severus' scowl, and checked over Harry with quick precision. "How are you feeling, Mr. Potter?"
"Well, thank you." Harry replied, eyes following the woman as she bounced around his bed and checked the runes that glowed over his bedspread.
"Excellent!" She beamed. "Your paperwork has all been completed." She turned her eyes to Professor Snape and spoke directly to him. "You will have to sign him out at the desk before you leave."
The dark wizard nodded with a slight sneer that told the woman that he was far from daft. Remus and Harry shared a grin over it, trying their best not to let Snape see.
Then, as quickly as she had popped in, the woman was gone. Severus motioned for Harry to stand and with a mumbled spell Harry felt a bit cleaner and a fresh set of robes hung loosely around his shoulders.
"Well then, Mr. Potter. I'll sign you out. Say your goodbyes to Professor Lupin, I'll be back to retrieve you in a moment."
With a sad smile, Harry walked to Remus and hugged the werewolf tightly. Remus grunted and smiled into Harry's hair. "Easy, Harry. I'll see you soon enough, no need to break my ribs."
Harry smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."
There was nothing in the room that Harry could claim as his. The flowers the Weasley's had given to him, he had taken to the children's ward. He wouldn't need them, they were only flowers after all.
So he stood, looking around the small room that he had woken in a week ago. His memory was still fragmented. He would scare himself sometimes. Something simple would set off a memory he didn't remember and he would be sucked back into the hell of the war for a jolting moment before he blinked and it was gone. Harry wasn't sure if he should be thankful for the terror to be returning slowly instead of all at once, then again the questions of what happened were driving him insane.
"Ready?" Snape stood in the doorway, thick robe swaying at his ankles.
Harry nodded and gave Remus a final hug before following Snape into the hall. He looked over his shoulder once to see Remus standing outside his room watching with a small smile. Harry waved to him before he rounded the corner at the end of the hall and then Remus was gone from sight.
"Listen to me, Harry." Severus said quietly. Harry started, Snape had only ever used his given name a handful of times since the war had started, and it usually meant unwelcome news was coming. "There is going to be quite a lot of people rushing you once we leave the building. Reporters, gossip hounds, everyone has questions and the question of what has happened to you has been the biggest of all of them. We'll move quickly, don't look at them if you can help it, and for the love of Merlin don't talk to any of them."
A hard look and a sneer were aimed at him, Harry simply nodded and swallowed thickly. Suddenly he didn't exactly feel like he was well enough to leave. However, before he could mention his queasiness, the front doors of Saint Mungo's were in view and a second later they were on the sidewalk and rushing toward the Three Broomsticks.
Before they had even made it a block, great gaggles of people were whispering and pointing. Severuswho was walking behind Harry with one hand curled around his wand just in casehad a hand pressed to the small of Harry's back and was edging him along quickly. "Keep moving, Potter." He mumbled.
Seconds later wizards and witches began flooding the streets, shrieking and yelling excitedly. Harry's eyes grew wide and his pace picked up further until he was only a faster stride away from jogging. His head spun from the noise and bustle, he was thankful for the hand at his back that seemed to keep him tethered to the present.
"Mr. Potter how are you feeling?" One voice shouted over the noise and cheers. "The wizarding world is thankful to you, Harry, what will you do now?" Called another.
Harry gaped, opening his mouth to speak when Severus' harsh voice curled into his ear. "Not a word, Potter. Keep moving."
Their haven stood large in front of them and as soon as the doors closed behind them, Harry ran for the back wall with Snape in tow.
They were standing on Hogwarts' grounds a minute later. Harry stopped dead on the walkway and gaped openly at the sight as his heart clenched painfully in his chest.
"It looks a fright, doesn't it?" Severus whispered.
Harry nodded. Part of the Forbidden Forest lay in burnt timber and ruins. Ash and charred earth circled the damage by nearly twenty feet. The lake was still and black; lifeless. "The squid" Harry started.
"Is alive." Snape finished for him. He took Harry by the elbow and pulled gently to get him moving again. "The darkness of the water is from the ink. Before the fighting had started, it began to stain the water. It was one of the first omens that the war was starting."
Following the professor, Harry looked up at the school and blinked away a fresh brew of tears. The northeast tower had fallen, rubble lay for hundreds of feet beyond it. Black soot had charred two of the outer walls where fire had burst from the stained windows and fire licked out of them. The gate itself was bent and warped. In the distance he could see what had once been the Quidditch pitch, now with no stands and only charred beams. The whole place looked entirely deserted.
"Is there anyone left?" Harry whispered, not speaking any louder for fear his voice would crack.
"Yes. A great many of the teachers found help and survived. Most are home now while volunteers are helping to clean up what mess is left."
Entering the castle hadn't made Harry feel much better. The Great Hall was barren. There were no tables, no banners, only a great empty hall that smelled of smoke. The high cathedral ceiling was actually seen, no magical skyline. Harry looked up at Severus, the tall man was gazing into the hall as well, an unreadable expression on his face. "We can't seem to make the smell go away permanently." He spoke as though to himself. "No matter, there are far bigger things to fix before we have to worry about airing the building out."
There were places along the floors and walls that were far brighter and cleaner than the remainder. Harry wondered why for a while as he followed the potions master toward the infirmary until he noticed that one of the impressions was the shape of a bodya fallen body. He stopped looking at them after that.
Madame Pomfry was in the hall when they made it to her wing. She gave Harry a watery smile and hugged him tightly when he was close enough. She pulled away with a sniff and held onto his shoulders while she looked him over. "How are you feeling, Mr. Potter?"
"I...I don't know." Poppy nodded. She'd had a similar reaction when she had returned to Hogwarts after going in to Diagon Alley for supplies.
"Well, come in here then. You'll have to stay here in the wing for the next few days until I'm sure you're able to stay on your own." Madame Pomfry opened the doors and ushered Harry in. Severus stayed in the entry and nodded to them both as they walked through. When the doors swung open again the hall was empty.
Most of the beds had occupants. Even a month later there were students and adults alike lying about with various ailments and injuries. Harry got several nods and a great many grim smiles. For the most part he nodded back, just like everything else he had seen in the past few minutes, it was a bit overwhelming.
Madame Pomfry led him to a bed in the back corner, a little farther from the other patients and by an open window. Normally, Harry would have been thankful to have something to look out at while he was resting. The view out this window though, was not something that would bring him ease.
"You take it easy, Harry. I'll be back in an hour or so to give you your medication, then you may have something to eat." She smiled sadly at him and bustled off. Harry watched her go and tried to tune out the murmurs and groans of those around him as he lay back to sleep.
"Wake up, Potter." A stern hand was shaking his shoulder.
Harry woke up with a grunt and stared blurrily up at the smirking face of Severus Snape.
"Get up. You need to drink this." A strong smelling vial of potion made Harry recoil. Harry looked around for Madame Pomfry and found her helping a wailing boy on a far off bed.
He took the medicine grudgingly and drank it while holding his nose. Harry's eyes trailed to the window and Harry frowned deeply, he had forgotten the destruction in his sleep. It had been thankfully free of dreams.
A newspaper sat haphazardly on his bedside table. Voldemort is Dead! Screamed the headline. The Light has Won! Harry frowned deeply at the titles.
Snape took the bottle from him and followed his gaze to the paper. He snorted and pushed the paper off of the edge of the desk and watched it flutter into the waste bin. He sighed and stood, ready to make his leave.
"It says we've won." Severus stilled and turned back to Harry. The young man was staring out at the ruins of the Forbidden Forest, a deep frown on his face.
"That's what they say, Potter." Green eyes met Black. Severus sighed and set the empty vial on a nearby table.
"How is this winning?" Harry asked, eyes watching the creatures of the Forbidden Forest slowly clearing up the great chunks of charred earth and trees.
"The truth does not exist." Severus said quietly. "Winning is a misconception. A perversion of a truth."
Harry thought of Hermione, Dumbledore, and Ron before his eyes searched among the beds and found their way back out the window at the ruin of the grounds. He felt ill. Anger, at what exactly he didn't know, flushed through him so intense his hands shook.
A cool hand wrapped his wrist and Harry looked up at Snape. "Get some rest, Potter. There are still pieces left to pick up and you'll have to deal with it just like the rest of us." Harry nodded, hands clenched into fists. Severus released him and looked down at him for a moment. A young man with so much death and responsibility wrapped around him he could suffocate...and yet he still continued his struggle to the surface before he drowned.
"Don't believe everything, Harry. You'll find the truth, you already know it." Severus kept Harry's gaze a moment before the closest thing to a smile Harry had ever seen touched Snape's lips. "You wrote it."