Visitor from the Future

Chapter 5: Rescue

In an older part of London, a snowy white owl flew silently through the afternoon sun, flying towards a once-grand old home, in which a large number of witches and wizards currently were, a number of whom were sitting around the large table in the kitchen, arguing quite loudly.

"Dumbledore, he hasn't answered any letters since he's been with those people! Why must he stay with them? He should be here, with his REAL family!" Molly Weasley was begging Dumbledore, pleading really, worrying as only a mother can about a certain black-haired boy who was, in her mind, a son-in-everything-but-blood.

"I know you are concerned about him, Molly, but it is imperative that Harry remain with the Dursleys for at least some time, lest the wards protecting him fail," Dumbledore was trying to calm the woman down, but it was hard, seeing as how he had begun to doubt the choices he had made concerning a little boy almost fifteen years ago.

"Albus, I know you mean well, but locking people up 'for their own safety' doesn't work very well. You know that. Don't make the same mistake as last time, please." Remus Lupin's quiet voice betrayed the werewolf's emotions, which were less controlled, due to the full moon three days before. Remus' normally calm light brown eyes glowed with obvious concern for the young man he had come to love like a son, the young man who was, Remus knew, hurting a lot because of Sirius' death.

Dumbledore was just about to respond when a quiet tapping was heard at the kitchen window. Getting up and letting Hedwig in, every single person in the kitchen immediately quieted down, hoping that Harry was at last going to break the silence they had become accustomed to in the past few weeks. Hedwig flew to Remus, and held her leg out, showing a number of envelopes tied to it.

Remus untied the notes, and gave a quiet word of thanks to the owl, who replied by hooting quietly, then settling down on the arm of the chair, looking almost like a ghost. Remus flipped through the envelopes, and put all but one down. "Those are for Harry's friends, and... this one is for me." Remus tried valiantly to keep the hope he had felt spring up inside of him down, since this letter could very well be another one of Harry's "I'm fine," letters, totally lacking in the life and energy the young teen once had.

Molly shook herself slightly, scooped up the five letters, and bustled out of the kitchen, no doubt to give the children, all of whom were currently upstairs in the study.

Remus looked at the envelope in his hands for at least a minute before he too pushed his chair back, and left the kitchen, going to find somewhere quiet and private to read the letter. Reaching his room, Remus sat down on his bed, and slowly opened the envelope, and, with shaking hands, pulled the letter out. The letter was on two pages, which made Remus' heart leap, since Harry wouldn't take up two whole sheets of parchment to write, "I'm fine." Reading the letter, Remus felt tears come to his eyes, and he couldn't hold them back when he saw how Harry had closed out the letter. However, before Remus could dwell on the obvious leap of faith the teenage had taken in deciding to trust him with so much, a commotion downstairs caught his attention. Remus heard footsteps running towards his room, and the pounding on his door made the first tendrils of fear take hold yet again.

"REMUS!! REMUS!!"

Crossing the room quickly and opening the door, Remus came face to face with Bill Weasley, the oldest of the seven Weasley children. Remus felt that fear in his heart take even greater hold at the terrified look in the curse-breaker's eyes.

"It's-it's Harry! Tonks and Mad-Eye were there an-" Bill never finished what he was going to say, because the werewolf pushed past him and ran down the stairs, heedless of the portrait now screaming by the front door. The only thought in Remus' mind was, Oh, God, I can't lose Harry too. Please, just let him be alright. Please!

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"NO!!!"

The unholy scream that broke the silence of Pivet Drive, along with the bedroom window shattering in Number 4's upstairs, flooded true fear and terror straight into Nymphadora Tonks' heart, and even the heart of Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, who was standing next to her, talking quietly as they prepared to change shift.

"Oh, shit." With that muttered oath, Moody took off towards the house, drawing his wand as he hobbled towards the front door, and, had Tonks been able to see Moody's magical eye, she would have noticed that it was glued towards the smallest bedroom of the house.

Tearing into the house behind her mentor and Senior Auror, Tonks took the stairs two at a time, and for once, didn't trip. Reaching the bedroom door where she could hear Moody's furious shouts coming from, any color left in her already pale, heart-shaped face left her at the sight before her eyes.

There was blood everywhere. Lying near the foot of the small bed was a broken and bloodied figure, who Tonks quickly realized was Harry, twitching slightly.

"No, no, no, no..." the quiet moan left the Metamorphmagus' lips as she ran over to the injured boy, and any control she had over her Metamorphmagus gifts was lost as she took in the injuries on his body. His back looked like ground beef: the shirt was in bloodied rags, sticking to the deep lash marks crossing his back, which had exposed the translucent white of bones, including the spinal cord. Harry was twitching slightly, but they seemed to be the involuntary movements of someone suffering from nerve damage. Checking for a pulse, and finding only a week and thready one, Tonks felt the warm tears slide down her cheeks.

"Harry? Oh, kiddo, stay with me. Please-please, just-just s-stay wi-with me, okay kiddo?" Tonks just repeated it over and over as she frantically racked her brain for some way to help him, completely oblivious to the fact that she was kneeling right in Harry's blood, her robes becoming saturated by it.

"To-Tonks?" Harry's whispered voice floated up to her, and she was unable to hold a choked sob back when she heard the pain, exhaustion, and fear in his voice.

"It-it'll be- it'll be okay, kiddo. You're s-safe now. You're not alone an-anymore, sweetie. It's okay." Placing her hand over Harry's bloodied one, she let him know that she was here, and that he wasn't alone. She repeated the mantra over and over again to the boy, barely registering when others came over to help Harry. Madam Pompfrey, the school nurse at Hogwarts, had been contacted, and floo'd right over, and couldn't stop the gasp of fear from leaving her when she saw the student she had come to know very well, since Harry was no stranger in the Hospital Wing, due to Quidditch, as well as his many "adventures" throughout his five years at Hogwarts.

"Auror Tonks. Auror Tonks, I need you to help keep Mr. Potter calm while I get him ready for transport. Okay? Auror Tonks?" Seeing the pale blue-grey eyes of the Metamorphmagus look up at her, overflowing with tears, Madam Pompfrey repeated her request, and, getting a ghost of a nod in return, turned to Harry, and began attempting to stabilize him for transport. Checking him over, and seeing that Harry had to be moved now, she pulled out the portkey to Hogwarts she had been given, and placed it so it was touching Harry, and gently took Tonks' hand and placed it on there as well. Just as she was about to leave, she heard another voice in the already crowded room.

"Oh, my God! Harry!"

Remus' part cry, part shout, part moan reached her ears, and, looking towards the pale and shaking werewolf, she said, "I'm taking him to Hogwarts, Remus. I'll do everything I can," and activated the portkey, whisking the three people towards the Hogwarts castle, and the Hospital Wing.

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Heedless of the portraits shouting at him, Remus tore through the halls of Hogwarts, flew up the stairs, towards the Hospital Wing, where Harry was. That vision of Harry lying there, soaking in blood, with Tonks kneeling next to him, tears streaming down her face, would remain with Remus, haunting his dreams for some time to come.

Reaching the doors to the Hospital Wing, he threw them open and ran into the room, looking around wildly for Harry. Seeing the curtains pulled around the last bed, closest to Madam Pompfrey's office, Remus stopped, dead in his tracks, and was barely able to get to the edge of a bed to sit down on before he collapsed. He lowered his head into his hands, and closed his eyes, trying to steam the flow of tears, and tried to stop the sobs wracking his frame.

"Remus?"

He didn't even look up as he felt a small hand on his shoulder, and only allowed more tears to spill into his hands as Tonks slowly placed her arm around his shoulders. He could tell she was crying too, and they sat there for quite a while, consumed by their grief.

Shortly after his sobs slowed, and he finally looked up, towards Harry's bed, the doors to the Wing were once again thrown open, this time by Molly and Arthur Weasley, along with Professors Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, who was the Deputy Headmistress and the Head of Gryffindor House, the House Harry was in. The four new arrivals looked towards the two people sitting on the bed, and finally Tonks offered an answer for the unasked questions.

"He's back there. Pompfrey wouldn't... she wouldn't tell me anything."

Molly sank down onto the edge of another bed, her hand at her mouth, her eyes wide and fearful, knowing that Harry must truly be injured gravely if the Hospital Matron wouldn't give any information about his condition.

All six adults fell silent, each staring at the curtained-off area of the Infirmary, fearing the worst for the boy they all had come to care for greatly, like family. The small vigil remained in the hospital wing for the rest of the night, waiting, and hoping for Harry to make it through the night.