In His Eyes

In His Eyes Chapter 06

Harry heard the murmur of muted voices. Was he dead?

He couldn't move, but slowly and painfully, he opened his eyes.

He was in the Hospital Wing. So he was alive after all.

Several people were sat around his bed. Sirius was there, snoozing in his dog form, and Mr and Mrs Weasley were down the bottom of his bed, whispering. Lupin was next to Sirius on the one side, with Ron and Hermione on the other, Ron snoring slightly with his mouth hanging open. Dumbledore looked as if he had just walked in, which he probably had.

None of them had noticed he was awake. He felt incredibly groggy, as if he had had a sleeping potion. On his bed side table, next to him was a mountain of cards and gifts. How long had he been here? He felt some feeling come back into his arms and legs, and tried to sit up.

Everybody was either dozing or looking tired, so Dumbledore exclaimed, 'Ah Harry! You're awake!' just loudly enough to wake everyone up. Dumbledore smiled at Harry as Sirius awoke with a start, growling, and everybody else stretched, and then grinned in surprise when they saw Harry. He lifted his hand to scratch his head. A thick layer of bandage met his touch.

'H-how long have I been in here?' Harry asked in a voice that didn't sound like his own through lack of use.

'Three weeks, and six days, mate,' Ron said.

'We were just considering moving you to St Mungo's,' added Lupin.

'Yeah, that was one nasty bang.'

'Hang on,' said Harry, frowning as he tried to remember, 'I thought he hit me with a killing curse?'

'He did!' Hermione ranted with wide eyes, 'And you blocked it, even though that isn't supposed to work, and you just got knocked back onto a large piece of broken glass. That's why your head is bandaged up!'

Sirius transformed and said, 'We thought we'd lost you, Harry, it took Madam Pomfrey days to get all of the glass out of your skull.'

Harry sat up as best he could. 'So...what happened?'

Dumbledore sat down in a chair that had appeared out of nowhere. 'Well, Harry, as you probably remember, I broke the glass wall, that was separating me from you and Voldemort, and he fired a killing curse at you, which you somehow blocked, but we'll go into that later. Then Order and Ministry members turned up, including Fudge himself.' He turned to Mrs Weasley, 'Molly, you obviously got my note.'

'Yes,' she replied crossly, but then smiled at Harry when she saw him looking.

Dumbledore continued, 'We were just rallying round, to fire spells at Voldemort, when we turned around and he was gone. Then everyone saw you, and we rushed you back here.

'But you've been unconscious for three weeks and six days, the price for blocking a killing curse, I dare say,' he finished, and then looked around at everyone clustered about Harry's bed.

Madam Pomfrey entered the room and said, 'Right everyone, out. You should leave Harry in peace.'

Sirius, who was in dog form again, growled.

'Oh--very well then, except for the dog,' she added, when Dumbledore explained to her that it would not leave Harry's side.

Everyone promised Harry that they would be back later, and left.

Sirius jumped up into an available chair, and after Madam Pomfrey had left, transformed.

He smiled at Harry and said, 'How are you feeling?'

Harry grunted. 'Not too bad, my head is throbbing like mad though.'

The Hospital Wing door opened again, and Dumbledore strode in, his eyes twinkling. 'Now then, before we delve into why everything happened as it did, I have something for you Harry.' He reached into his robes and pulled out the small-ish glass phial filled with silvery liquid.

He set it on his bedside table, but had difficulty finding a space, because of all the gifts from his well-wishers.

'I don't want it,' Harry said at once. 'I -I mean, thank you, for retrieving it,' he added, remembering his manners, 'but if all that stuff Voldemort said happened to me was true, I don't want to know.'

Dumbledore smiled. 'I thought that would be your answer.'

He sat down next to Sirius. There was a short silence, until Harry burst, 'Sir, how did I block the killing curse? It's impossible.'

Dumbledore thought about it for a moment. 'Well, Harry, it is obviously not impossible, you are living proof of that. I believe that because you have extraordinary power within you, It seems that a little of that shone through all those nights ago. Your mother's love protected you from being branded a Death Eater too, but I think that that, combined with your strength that night was enough to save you. Just that once. Look at your arm.'

Harry lifted his left arm, it looked bruised and cut, but there was no red mark.

'I think I am right in saying that Voldemort himself tried to put the Dark Mark on you, so a little of his power went into it. That power was used up three weeks and six days ago.'

Harry suddenly felt quite sleepy.

Madam Pomfrey entered at that point with a goblet full of purple liquid.

He took his sleeping potion, and at once began to sink deeper into his pillows. He saw Sirius the dog curl up on his chair, and Dumbledore smiling at him.

His eyelids closed, and his head slumped onto his pillow.

He slept.

End

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