A/N: Sorry, but we've been fighting over how to wound Harry bad enough. Mal wants to baby Harry, so it couldn't be anything too serious. *Tad and Seeker stick out their tongues at Mal*
I hope you find the chapter is worth the wait!
Love,
Seeker and Tad (who wrote this without Mal's consent.)
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Once his head began to clear, Harry tried to move, but the pain was overwhelming. His whole body felt like he had been beaten with sticks and stones. Come to think of it… he opened his eyes. It was so dark he couldn't see the tip of his nose. He knew what must have happened. The wall had collapsed.
Harry could hear people around him. Some were shouting out orders, some screaming in pain from the fallen bricks. Somebody moved a rock above him and a crack of light crept through his stony confines. Another rock was moved.
"I think I found one, Pete!" Came a male's voice as yet another brick was pulled from on top of Harry. "Come help me out!"
"Help." Harry said and cleared his throat so the men could find him. "Help!" Harry whispered through the pain. He cleared his throat again and said as loudly as he could "Help!"
Suddenly two pairs of hands broke through the rubble and attached themselves onto Harry's shoulders and torso. He was yanked through the bricks into the light.
"Eh, Pete, this one's that Harry Potter boy." Said his rescuer. "Can you stand?" He looked at Harry.
Harry couldn't move his neck or head from the pain.
"Atta boy!" Said the man called Pete.
"Could you please just get me out of here?" Harry whimpered, looking at him. "I don't feel so-" The strong hands supporting him left his side as he felt his own eyes roll to the back of his. The immense pain finally overcame him. The breath caught in his chest as he fell to the ground and fainted.
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Mrs. Weasley put her head in her hands. The events of that morning were still so upsetting to her that she hadn't stopped crying for hours. She was sitting in the living room of the Burrow and she had no intention of moving until she got word of Harry.
Arthur burst through the front door just then, calling to her, "Molly! Molly where are you?"
She made no effort to smarten herself in front of her husband, she simply ran to him and he wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed. After a while she calmed down enough to look up into his eyes and ask shakily, "How is everybody? Did they find Harry- is he all right? Arthur I-"
"Shh, shh." Arthur said, and pet her hair. "Everybody is fine. Harry is beaten up, but he is alive and he's in the hospital."
"Where are Ron and Hermione- are they…?"
"They are with Harry at St. Mungos, waiting for him to wake up." Arthur said.
"He's not awake?" Molly implored, "What-"
"He fainted." Arthur said. He pulled out of the hug and held her shoulders. "He's fine Molly, stop worrying."
She nodded reluctantly. "I guess there isn't anything more that we can do. Did you give them floo power so they can get home?"
"Yes." Arthur said. "Now let's get some sleep-"
There was a knock at the door. Arthur paused on the stairs for a moment, before walking down again and opening the door, muttering "Who could it be, this late…."
There was a tall, thin man dressed in black, tattered robes that were smoking at the ends slightly.
"Yes?" Arthur said, fingering the wand in his pocket. He didn't trust this person, and he hadn't said a thing yet.
"Is Ron Weasley in the house?" Asked the man in a slick monotone voice.
"No." Mr. Weasley said firmly. "May I ask who you are so I can inform him later?"
"I'm nobody of consequence." The man said, turning around slowly. "I'll find him out… later. Good night to you." He disappeared into the blackness of the night.
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Harry jolted out of his sleep. Thinking about the odd dream he had just had, he looked around. He was in a white room. The sheets on his bed were white, the walls were white. The only thing that wasn't white in fact was a golden crucifix hanging on the wall opposite of the bed, in Harry's clear view.
Oh lord, I've gone to heaven. He thought to himself, still looking around. And there's an angel. A woman dressed in a white dress was coming near to him. He gulped.
"Oh you're up." She said in a not so sweet voice. Suddenly his vision cleared. The angel was an overweight redhead woman holding up a very large needle. "Hold still."
Never mind.
She took the needle out of his arm and wiped it masochistically on her dress. "I'll be back in two hours." She was almost out of the door before adding, "You have some guests."
Harry's eyebrows rose. Where the hell am I? It hit him as soon as Ron and Hermione came rushing into the room, looking worried.
"Harry!" Hermione said. "You're all right! We were so-"
"Worried?" Harry finished, cutting her off. "When are you not worried about me? I swear, I think I hear you say that 6 times a year."
Ron laughed and Harry smiled over at him. Hermione crossed her arms. "Sorry, I'll never care about you again Harry."
"It's just silly." Harry said, shrugging. "I mean, when have I not been okay after something like this?"
"Well…" Hermione thought back and drew blanks. "You wont always be so lucky, Harry! It doesn't do to be so sure of yourself."
"Do you know when you get out?" Ron asked, tactfully changing the subject.
"They haven't told me anything." Harry said. "But if you really want to know, you can talk to that extremely frightening woman who let you in."
Ron and Hermione looked at each other and laughed, only half understanding.
"Well, we're really glad you're okay." Hermione said. "I don't care how often I say it, Harry. We'd miss you if you died." Harry snorted and she continued. "But it's got too be 2 o'clock and I'm really tired- so is Ron, I think so-"
"Go, then." Harry said. "You shouldn't have even stayed. Didn't they tell you I would be fine?"
"Well, yes, but we thought we ought to stay anyways." Ron said. "You know, seeing that you're our best friend and whatnot. So we're leaving you now. Bye Harry."
They waved and walked out of the room, smiling. Harry took a deep breath and fell onto his fluffy white pillows.
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"Wake up Mr. Potter." Came the gruff voice of his nurse. "Yes, that's it. Wake up. You're physical therapist is here."
Harry's opened his eyes to look at the bright light of the full morning. Somebody handed him his glasses, which he put on immediately. Slowly the room slid into focus. He blinked a few times before saying, "Physical therapist?"
"Yes, to help you with your leg."
"What are you talking about?" Harry said, looking at his legs. They both looked fine to him.
"Your right leg is going to be a bit of trouble." Said another woman that Harry hadn't seen. "Now, come on Mr. Potter, sit up from your bed. All your other breaks were fixed hours ago. Nothing should hurt you. Good boy. Now, swing your legs off the bed for me. No, no, Mr. Potter, don't stand up yet, you aren't ready for that. Now move your left foot for me. Ah, well done. Now swing your left leg. A little bit farther than that. Does your knee hurt? A little, eh? Hmm, I'd better write that down."
"What's happened?" Harry asked in a slight panic. "What's wrong with my leg?"
"Nothing that will impair you too much, no need to worry, it's just very weak," Said the physical therapist.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"You broke it." She said, as if this was obvious.
"You can fix that though. Look! You have. It's fine. Just stiff… I mean, I should be fine and-"
"Stop babbling." The nurse commanded. Harry glared at her fiercely. She pressed her lips together and glared back.
"You hit a growth plate." The physical therapist said calmly. "There's always a problem when you hit a growth plate, magical remedy or no. I'm sorry. Don't worry, Mr. Potter, you'll walk just fine! It's just going to take practice."
Harry looked at her incredulously. He had walked into a nightmare, which was the only logical answer to this madness.
"Now, give us your arms, Harry." The physical therapist said. Harry flinched when he heard his name. He was getting used to being called Mr. Potter. He numbly gave the women his arms, which they supported firmly. "That's it. Now, slowly, GENTLY stand up."
Harry did so and nearly collapsed. His leg gave a twitch and he wavered, only to be gripped firmly and stabled again by the nurse and the therapist.
"Good try, Harry, good try. Now let's try this again." Harry sat and stood up four more times before getting it. "Ah, you're quick." The Therapist praised. "You'll be fine in no time."
"I'll be a laughing stock in school if I can barely stand." Harry muttered.
"Nonsense!" The therapist chuckled. "You'll be fine. I told you that. Now, let's try taking a step."
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That night, around 6:30, Ron and Hermione appeared in Harry's room, smiling. He scowled at them. "Hey." He said, almost harshly.
"Hi Harry!" Hermione said, still happy. They sat in chairs around Harry's bed. "How was your day?"
"Awful, and yours?" Harry said.
"It's got to be boring in this hospital room. We should bring you a book or
something." Hermione said.
"We went to the paddock today." Ron said. "Just to get out of the house. Fred and George have a new jelly-legs gag cooked up and we were a bit afraid we'd never walk again if we ate anything today…." Ron and Hermione laughed.
Oh the irony, Harry thought bitterly, but forced a smile. "That would be a bit unnerving."
"Oh, I'll say." Hermione said. "Fred and George are quite a pair."
"Harry, when are you going to get out of here?" Hermione asked. "Today just wasn't the same without you. No offense, Ron." Ron shrugged.
"They won't tell me." Harry said. "They don't know."
"What could they possibly do with you now though?" Ron said. "I mean, your bones are healed- even all those scrapes you had are gone."
Harry let out a short hallow laugh. "You have no idea how much they have to do with me."
"Harry?" Hermione asked slowly, looking a bit frightened.
"I can't walk." Harry spat. "Well, I can, if you call three steps walking. When I broke my leg in the wreck, I hit a growth plate. Something about that screwed up the spell they use to fix breaks."
Hermione's face fell and she said in a deflated voice, "You're kidding me, right?"
Harry ran his tongue over his teeth. "You want me to show you my walking skills, because I'd rather save my dignity."
Ron wasn't looking at Harry when he asked, "But you're going to be able to walk eventually, right?"
"Eventually." Harry said. "The therapist says I learn quick and it shouldn't take long but the Nazi Nurse out there says I'll probably have a really bad limp."
"Well that's not so bad then!" Hermione said. "I mean, lots of people have limps!"
Harry glared at her words and said pointedly, "Like whom?"
"Like…um…Mr. Filch?"
"Oh, well you just made my day." Harry said bitterly. "Thank you, Hermione."
"At least you lived." Hermione said quickly. "I don't know if you heard or not, but four people died when that wall crumbled. I think a limp is a little better than losing your life!"
"It still sucks." Harry said. "At least the dead people won't get laughed at in school."
"IS that what you're worried about?" Ron said, looking at Harry oddly. "Get off your high horse, Harry. If anything, they'll be supportive of you. Four people died Harry. There were only 15 people in the accident. That's almost a third dead."
Harry had nothing to say to this. His nerves had been frazzled before this and this news didn't help. His heart sank. The curse shot at the wall was meant for him, not the other 14 in the accident. 4 people had died because of him two days ago. Harry had un-intentionally killed 5 people now, in the course of a month and a half.
Harry Potter was a murderer.
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A/N: Well, I hope it didn't bore you too much. I tried really hard (this is Tadariada, by the way. I wrote the last half of this chapter) to make it interesting, do tell me if I failed. Actually, on second thought, don't tell me. I want to hear how much you loved it, not how much you hated it. Ugh. Decisions, decisions.
Anyways, now that its summer and all three of us are out of school, the chapters should come up more frequently. Sorry again for the wait! WE LOVE YOU ALL!
~Tadariada (plus Malena and SEEKER-2000, in spirit, of course)