Harry Potter and the Shadows of the Watchgate

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-*~| CHAPTER 21 - The Ugly Truth |~*-
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For Ginny, it was a deja vu all over again as Ron and Hermione took Harry to the 'Potter-Ward' and was called by Madam Pomfrey to help.

For Ron, it was something that he was getting used to. He had been setting Harry on the bed when he heard him groan.

"Hermione, he's waking up!" he said in a panic-stricken voice, knowing too well that his friend would face less pain if he didn't.

"Agghh! I can never think under pressure!" Hermione screamed in frustration.

"I'd keep my voice down, if I were you, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said entering the ward, closely followed by Ginny and Madam Pomfrey, who made Harry unconscious again.

"That was quite a fall," McGonagall said bracingly, looking at Harry.

"If you all could wait outside, please," Madam Pomfrey said. It was not a request neither a command but everybody got the message, clear as the daylight.

-*-

Hermione cursed the time when she had thought, What if, he blunders along while catching the Snitch and Cho finally gets to him?

She had shuddered in utter anxiety but couldn't have helped feeling squeamish. And unfortunately, her thoughts had gone spot-on and even being an acknowledged know-it-all didn't help matters.

Oh, why, oh why, hadn't she searched Cho's real intentions when her suspicion-bell rang loud and clear whenever she was around Harry. What's the use of being an insufferable know-it-all, when you can't even help your own friends! she thought dismally.

"Hermione, calm down," Ginny said in a whisper, pushing Hermione's hands away from her face--which were clutching it painfully--leaving the pink nail-marks even more pronounced.

She sighed dejectedly, looking at Ginny and thinking, Why couldn't have Harry fallen for Ginny instead? She's sweet and would've loved him back rather than what Cho has done....

-*-

Ron had been sitting in the corner bench from the time Professor McGonagall had left for the office, waiting for Madam Pomfrey to come out. He was still in his Quidditch gear, unknowingly spattering mud on the clean infirmary floor.

He had left the girls to their own space because he didn't want to tread on their conversation, and actually, he wanted to be left alone himself.

The current incident had mentally drained him. He was suddenly missing his twin brothers, who could be real great prats if they wanted to be, but nonetheless were masters of turning a dreary situation to a light-hearted one in a jiffy. Even Percy could have worked to his dismay, even if he would have lectured them on some nonsense like the intricacies of a pewter cauldron or Merlin knows what, as he always did.

"Bloody Hell!" he bellowed unexpectedly, slamming his fist on the bench and trapping his mouth against the painful response it produced.

-*-

"Ron doesn't look so good," Ginny whispered to Hermione, seeing her brother slam his fist on the bench.

Hermione nodded her head in agreement, staring at Ron's lanky frame slumped over the bench.

Madam Pomfrey at last came out of the Potter-Ward and faltered, noticing the students. "You all are still here?"

Ron answered with a question of his own, "How is he?"

"He's not all right but he will be, soon."

"Er.... what injuries has he got--"

"--this time?" Madam Pomfrey supplied. She continued puffing with indignation, "Let me see.... a broken wrist, three contusions, and yes.... a broken leg, which will take a week to heal," she finished, pointedly looking at their Quidditch uniforms.

"But couldn't you heal it sooner?" Hermione asked in a small voice.

"Well, no! Of all the people, you should know better, Miss Granger, that tibia-fibula needs time to heal. Muggles may take months to heal it but magic still has some ancient remedies.... And for goodness sakes! Look at you, have you been scratching your face all day?" she asked, looking alarmingly at Hermione's long nail scratches on her face. She speedily steered her into the adjacent ward for cleaning up.

"Ron, look at you! You haven't even changed," Ginny said amiably, sugaring it with a motherly touch, successfully distracting him from his own reverie.

"And what have you been doing, Mum? De-gnoming the garden or playing as a proxy Chaser?" Ron retorted with a smile, pointing at her Quidditch uniform. Ginny wasn't spattering mud all over, but she was undoubtedly not cleaner than her own brother.

She grinned sheepishly in response and they both sighed collectively, catching each other's eye again.

"Don't tell me you are still fancy him?" Ron asked abruptly, not as an over-protective brother but as a concerned distant friend.

"Don't tell me you still haven't confessed to Hermione?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrows.

They both shrugged their shoulders and made faces at each other and caught each other in the nick of time again, seeing Madam Pomfrey return with a healed Hermione.

"Well, run along! Harry's sleeping and you all need your sleep as well," Madam Pomfrey admonished.

They were rounding the Infirmary corridor when they heard the familiar thumps of Hagrid's footsteps.

"How's Harry?" he asked concernedly.

"He's okay, Hagrid. Madam Pomfrey did a good job on him; he's resting now," Ginny supplied helpfully.

"He's alrigh', eh?" he asked again, with a concerned look.

"He's healing, Hagrid," Hermione provided.

"Them ruddy fires! Bin looking all over the forest! Didn' know abou' him being injured an' all," Hagrid muttered.

It was then, when all of them noticed his patchy jacket charred from places and his right hand bandaged with a dirty looking handkerchief.

"What fires, Hagrid?" Hermione asked, looking highly interested.

"Dunno who' bin settin' 'em abou'. Happenin' since October, mind. It's normal yeh see? 'Cause cold an' all; student' light bonfire' all the time. But, never bin like this.... Ever..... Could've harmed them trees, an' with Magorian all angry, bin stoppin' meself goin' in there ter look around."

"Fires using Floo powder, Hagrid?" Hermione asked urgently.

"Yeah, but how do yeh--" Hagrid was cut by Hermione, as she hugged him tight, thanking him profusely.

"Oh, thank you, Hagrid!"

"Wha' fer?" he asked in a puzzled voice.

"You can figure that out on your own, Hagrid!" she said almost skipping.

"Ron, Ginny, I'll be along within an hour," Hermione announced and almost flounced in the opposite direction.

"What's up with her?" Ron asked in a bewildered voice.

Hagrid scratched his beard and looked at them thoughtfully and without saying anything traced his footsteps back towards the Entrance Hall.

"Well?" Ginny said.

"Must be onto something...." Ron said, scratching his own chin. "Reckon where Hermione went?" Ron asked raking his brains.

"Where Hermione always goes when unsure: to the Library," Ginny answered amusingly.

-*-

Harry came to in a very bleary room which looked oddly familiar. He tried to move but to no avail; he wasn't even able to move a single muscle of his body. Every nerve was ominously dead and he seemed not to be aware of anything except a throbbing pain in his forehead. He touched it with his stiff right arm and found it covered with bandages.

Daylight was peeking through the curtains of the ward and he could guess that he had been asleep for quite a while. He craned his neck to look around the hazy room when he saw a figure slumped over a chair.

He put on his glasses and found Lupin dozing on a chair. The light flitting through the window was casting a strange halo around him and even with the trace of morning stubble and graying hair; he looked almost like a higher being. Harry was just thinking about how much Lupin had helped him cope this term when he woke up with a start.

"Harry! You are awake," Lupin said with a start, and smiled at him.

"Yeah, I am," he answered groggily. "How long was I out?"

"About a day and a few hours."

"WHAT!"

"Well, you were given sleeping draught to ease your pain." Lupin gestured towards the cast on his right leg, which was dangling in air with the help of strings.

"We lost, didn't we?" Harry inquired in a small voice, as if he wanted to reaffirm the results.

"Yes," Lupin answered simply. "It was a game, Harry, it doesn't matter."

Harry snorted cynically but halfway through it turned into a cough, which almost slammed his heart to his chest.

Lupin worriedly made to call Madam Pomfrey but she was already entering the ward with a bellowed, "Oh dear!"

Harry's throat felt like it was filled with a forest of cacti on fire.

Madam Pomfrey performed a soothing charm over him and did some advanced magic on his throat, which at least stopped feeling scratched from inside and his lungs filled with air again.

"He still has contusions in the lungs; they'll heal in a day," said Madam Pomfrey, tipping a spoonful of syrup into his mouth.

Lupin made a grim face and asked the Matron, "How long would it take for him to walk about normally again?"

"About a week, I presume," she said checking his pulse and temperature.

Harry looked at his bedside again while Lupin and Madam Pomfrey talked. He was not amazed to find fewer get-well cards than the last time he was in the 'Potter-Ward'.

"Don't look so grim, Harry," Lupin consoled when Madam Pomfrey left them alone to see to her other patients.

"I think I lost more than just a match, Lupin," said Harry, laying back into his pillow.

Lupin looked at him thoughtfully. "Do you know McGonagall specifically told me to inform you that she's not at all upset at the results? She was devastated that you would feel pressured just because she told you to get the Cup. Harry, there are more important things in life than winning or losing and you would be able to understand this more than anyone as you have been through these turns of time before.... You are all right and that's the only thing that matters," Lupin finished, patting his arm.

Harry didn't know how but somehow Lupin could always make him feel better, no matter what.

"And I would rest, if I were you." As if remembering something, he said, "Before I forget, your friends have sent you their warm wishes. They didn't budge last night before they were shoved out of here, but you probably know that already. They'll be here as soon as today's classes end. Now, rest." With these words Lupin tucked him in and went out of the ward.

-*-

If it hadn't been for too much squealing, Harry would have continued dozing.

"Look at his face! It's healed!"

Harry could guess that voice from anywhere, it was Hermione. She in turn almost shrieked with joy seeing him awake.

"Miss Granger!" exclaimed Madam Pomfrey coming inside the ward, looking appalled at her behavior. "You're supposed to set an example of discipline, not otherwise."

"Oh, sorry," said Hermione, sheepishly grinning at the Matron.

She was followed by Ron, Ginny and Luna, who came over and sat near his bed, giving him encouraging smiles.

Madam Pomfrey, after checking over Harry went out, warning them to keep their voices down.

"How bad was it?" Harry asked bracingly, trying to get things out in the open.

"Oh, all will be fine in a week," said Hermione, patting his cast-leg lightly, while Ron and Ginny exchanged dark looks.

"I wasn't talking about me. I was asking about the game," said Harry, exasperatedly.

"Tense?" Hermione provided, trying to be funny but failed miserably.

"You can tell me, I'm a big boy now! I can even guess that the entire House must be horribly disappointed at me," said Harry, sighing to his pillow.

"Well, not all of them," Ron said helpfully, causing the girls to glare at him.

"It wasn't your fault, Harry!" said Hermione fervently.

"It was Cho's fault," Luna said with a knowing air.

"What do you mean it was Cho's fault and not mine? I lost the Snitch! Like a blundering idiot, I let her catch it! How moronic is that, can you imagine?" Harry bellowed at them. "It was just near my buggering fingertips and I let it go, I let it--"

Ron cut in between, "Harry! It wasn't your fault, mate, so just shut up will you?" he finished rolling his eyes.

For once, Luna and Hermione agreed on the fact that Harry was blaming himself with no reason, as they rolled their eyes at him and had the same expression of too-much-knowledge on their faces.

"How can it be 'not my fault'?" Harry asked angrily.

"Cho was using a Love Potion on you, Harry," said Hermione airily, while Ginny grimaced in silence.

"A what?" Harry couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes, Harry, she used the legendary Love Potion on you--a mild version of it. She has been starting numerous fires with Floo powder to get Ashwinder's eggs, which are the main ingredient," said Hermione, making a face.

"You can guess the wickedness of that girl by her actions. Not only she made you her tail-wagging pup but she killed all those poor Ashwinder larvae," Luna supplied in her spacey way, scrunching up her nose.

Harry smiled to himself; his friends were giving him stupid explanations to cheer him up and get the blame off his head.

"I know what you all are trying to do and I appreciate it, but please... don't blame it on some stupid hogwash!" Harry exclaimed.

Ron puffed up. "It's not hogwash; they're telling you the truth! If they weren't, then tell me why you always acted weird around Cho, when you told us you didn't have any feelings for her?"

"Well... I dunno." Harry shrugged.

"Well, because she was using you! And don't tell me, you don't remember the night she almost threw herself at you!"

Ginny's head snapped up from its foreboding, while Hermione gaped, looking from Harry to Ron. Luna simply flicked her nails in an uninterested way, as if this particular information was not new to her.

Even when it was not Harry's fault, he felt so ashamed that he wanted the earth to part and go inside in its cold folds. The shadow of the hurt that he saw in Ginny's eyes was nothing but heart wrenching.

"It isn't your fault, Harry," Hermione repeated, trying to console him.

"It was a potion, wasn't it? So, how could it have worked when she didn't make me drink anything?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"As I told you, Harry, it was a mild version of the Love Potion. The one using it has to drink it and then activate it by taking a drop of the same potion and rub it on one's skin to trigger the effect of the potion, which is to make the targeted person see them as the most beautiful being, and go nutters," Hermione answered knowledgeably.

Harry didn't bother to ask from where she got all this information as he was well aware that she must have researched it in the Library. He tried not to think about 'going nutters' while he asked confusedly, "Rub it on skin?"

"Any exposed part. Most of the users store the potion in a vial and use a drop from it on a finger and rub it on the skin with their thumb."

"And this works?" Ron asked curiously.

"Yes, Ron." Hermione looked at him questioningly, as if wanting to say more but holding herself in check.

It was then that Harry remembered about the thumb-rubbing. Whenever Cho met him, her thumb worked against her index finger. He had labeled that to be a sign of her nervousness but now when he thought about it, this could have been the hint he was looking for.

"But, why?!" Harry asked in frustration.

"D'you really want to know?" Hermione asked seriously.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed exasperatedly.

Hermione exchanged looks with Ron, as Luna got prepared to impart her contribution to their dialogue.

"I knew that there was something fishy going on, but really, couldn't put my finger on it till I overheard Cho talking to Marietta," Luna began, as if unfolding a conspiracy.

"No one really sees me in the Ravenclaw common room, as I mostly hide behind either Quibbler or some other book. So, you can imagine me as a piece of furniture lying about, as nobody gives me any heed," she paused to look around them, while Hermione waved her hand to signal her to hurry it up, while the rest of them listened with rapt attention.

Totally unperturbed, she continued as if not noticing Hermione at all, "As I was saying: one day, there I was, engrossed in one of the classic editions of Quibbler when I heard too much whispering. I recognize individual whispers as well, so I knew that Marietta was scheming something evil, but found something to the contrary.

"It was Cho, who was issuing orders to Marietta. They were talking about brewing a potion in their room during lunch break when everyone was out. Cho knew all the ingredients and method; they only needed twenty three minutes to prepare it. Hearing this, I tuned a little closer and found that she was ready to catch the Golden Snitch after all. I didn't understand who they were referring to until Cho caught the Snitch in the match. She was obviously referring to you." Luna looked at Harry meaningfully, as he made a disgusted face along with everybody present in the ward.

"But, why did she have to go to such lengths? Only to win a match, she concocted a Love Potion?" Ginny looked unconvinced.

"You're right, Ginny. We can only guess as we don't have any concrete evidence except Luna's statement," Hermione answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I think, Cho was simply angry and felt humiliated after Harry dumped her last term. May be that anger built into something more after realizing that Harry didn't become the ideal boyfriend she wanted."

"I'm telling you, she's simply evil!" Luna provided vehemently. "Just look at the rumors she spread about Harry snogging her to death when I found that nothing such happened."

Harry winced, realizing that they all knew what had happened in the Room of Requirement.

"Rumors?" Ron asked, looking interested, while Harry looked as if ready to pounce on his best mate.

"You know, that their rendezvous really went well and Harry wanted her back, which he proved with his passionate kiss," Luna provided candidly, while Harry made a choking sound.

"I didn't kiss her!" Harry said resolutely, mustering all his courage.

"Yeah, it was Cho who flung herself at Harry, not the other way around," Ron defended.

"Still, all of these attention-getting techniques doesn't necessarily make her evil, neither does trying to win over and dumping Harry, which seemed to be her plan. It can simply be an ego problem or a tick-off that caused her to take such a severe step," Hermione tried to rationalize. "Losing Cedric wasn't easy for her and losing Harry might have caused her to do the opposite of crying her eyes out."

Harry's head snapped up from its brooding state, where he was actually scowling at himself. "I thought our breakup was a mutual decision.... By the end of term, I wasn't really in a state to do anything, how could I have continued with a relationship which just didn't fit? And wasn't she going out with Michael Corner?" Harry looked at Ginny for affirmation.

She nodded her head. "He ran after her the moment she signaled to him," she said in a relieved voice, without any traces of bitterness.

"So, what went wrong?" Ron asked thoughtfully. "Why did she have to do this entire scary-witch thing?"

"I dunno... I never harmed her intentionally. I would definitely ask her why she did all this," Harry said decidedly.

"It might not be such a good idea, Harry," Hermione warned.

"But why?"

"If you remember, someone is already pining to kill you. I'm not saying it's Cho, but she can be. You should never underestimate anyone--"

"Especially a Ravenclaw," Luna cut in between.

"That, we'll have to find out soon enough," said Ron resolutely, while Harry looked at Ginny's up-turned face towards the setting sun.

~*~