Adflictation Lair

Chapter Three: Victim of Agony

Voldemort slammed the mahogany, French doors open with both his pale, long fingered hands, unveiling the entrance to a large, dark room lined with Death Eaters. Each Death Eater bowed his head upon the Dark Lords entrance.

He strutted down a long aisle with an arrogant smirk on his face, hidden by the lowness of his dim, black fiber-ridden cloak. He surveyed the room, looking into the eyes of his most prized followers and let out a screeching laugh, "We did it! The plan went perfectly! Those stupid muggle relatives of Potter are dead! It went perfectly!" Voldemort repeated as he continued walking down the aisle, towards his throne at the front of the room.

He reached his magnanimous chair at the front of his hollow, and turned towards his many shrouded followers, taking his seat slowly and gracefully. "You may rise my faithful followers."

The cloaked Death Eaters raised their heads in awe of their risen master.

"As I was saying, the Dementors did their duty and crushed the muggle automobile the muggles were driving in and sent them to hell!" He turned to his right staring at one of his masked death eaters. "We have my most faithful servant to thank for organizing this plot so brilliantly. Thank you Bellatrix."

The remaining Death Eaters shifted uncomfortably in their place.

" And the rest of you shall prove your loyalty tomorrow. Follow me, and nothing shall be wrong. All of you know what you're supposed to do, we attack tomorrow night! Leave now, and prepare for you duties my loyal Death Eaters. Bellatrix stay," the Dark Lord commanded as all the Death Eaters filed out of the room, Bellatrix stepped in front of Voldermort's throne and bowed.

"Rise my faithful daughter," Voldemort cackled in a stone cold voice. "Tomorrow you will resume your place as the muggle receptionist, watch for any signs that Dumbledore is trying to get in contact with Potter." Bellatrix nodded her head. "I trust that everything is in order for tomorrow night."

"Yes my Master."

"Make sure that nothing goes wrong. Months of planning can not go wrong. If everything goes as intended Potter will be mine!" Voldemort let out a shrieking laugh.

A laugh that burned Harry's scar, 400 miles away and woke him with a jolt.

I....................I

Harry sweated and panted as he contemplated the information he had just acquired in his dream. He was panicking; he didn't understand what it meant. What did he mean they attack tomorrow night? Attack where? What the bloody hell is going on?

Harry suddenly felt his stomach roll dangerously; knowing what that meant he painfully sat upright feeling his bruised back twist painfully. He frantically looked around the room as much as his neck brace would allow; looking for something to empty the contents of his stomach in.

His stomach gave a painful lurch and he felt bile rise up his throat, burning his esophagus the whole way up.

He went to jump out of the bed, instinctively the first thing in his mind, but forgetting about his knee brace he lost his balance and painfully fell onto the cold, tile hospital floor.

The movement caused his stomach to turn, without being able to control it any longer he started to release all the contents from his stomach onto the pallid floor, his injures screaming in protest from the uncomfortable position he was in.

Vaguely, he heard the door open and an old lady cry out, "I thought I heard- Oh! Dear!"

Moments later he soothingly felt comforting hands run around his back in tiny circles.

"Shhh. It's alright dear. Don't panic," the nurse reassured him softly.

Finished, Harry gagged from the awful taste the vomit had left in his mouth, almost making him throw up again. He started to shiver and the ailing feeling he had been having lately came back at full force.

"Don't be embarrassed dear." the nurse told Harry, noticing the blush on Harry's face when he had looked at the mess he had just made on the floor. "Let me get you out of those clothes and get you a new pair,." she replied getting up and walking over to a cupboard to retrieve a new gown.

"I'm sorry," said Harry quietly in a very hoarse voice.

"It's okay dear. It wasn't your fault," she stated as she came back with a new hospital gown and untied Harry's dirty one, which had caught some vomit on the way to the floor.

Harry shivered more when he felt the cold breeze drift around his whole body as the gown was taken off and he was momentarily exposed in just his boxers. The nurse quietly tied the clean gown around his waist and helped him get back up avoiding the mess he had made.

Harry smiled in thanks as the nurse helped him to lie back down on his hospital bed. "I'm going to take your temperature, okay dear? It seems to me you may have the flu or some other ailment," she told Harry as she carefully placed a thermometer underneath his tongue and waited for it to beep.

It beckoned a few moments later. She looked at it and sighed, "102 degrees! That's not good. How long have you been feeling sick, sweetie? Where does it hurt?" asked the nurse in utter concern.

"Um...for a day or so. My stomach hurts, my head and throat," Harry responded as he glanced at the nurse's expression.

"I'm going to have to check this out with the doctor. What you need now is sleep. I'll tell you everything in the morning. You'll be okay. Anything else you- oh dear!

Harry's body interrupted her as it started to wrack with coughs, not being able to stop them he looked desperately at the nurse. She frantically walked over to the sink and filled a glass of water and put a straw in it. Hoping this would stop the horrible coughs.

Harry drank the cold water which stopped his coughs and allowed him to breathe in some much needed, fresh air into his lungs.

"Better?"

Harry gave a murmur in response, while closing his eyes. He heard the nurse set down his cup, clean up the mess he had made and give his hand one last squeeze before she left the room.

Exhaustion swept over his body, forcing his mind to shut off, letting him forget the perilous delusion.

I........................I

Amy had gotten to work at exactly dawn. She had planned on visiting Harry but right when she got to her job everyone hounded her with work and she wasn't able to grab a break until lunch.

She knocked on room 631 and she happily opened the door, noticing that Harry was up in a sitting position and a nurse was trying to persuade him to turn the television on to keep his mind off the accident.

Harry looked horrible, he had bags under his eyes; she suspected he hadn't gotten much of sleep last night. He also looked like he was shivering uncontrollably even though his forehead was showing beads of sweat coming off him; he had to be running a fever.

"But, you don't understand, I can't watch TV. I need to get out of here. When can I leave? There are some things I need to go check out. I need to get back to my uncle, he isn't well."

"You can't leave yet sweetie. Just watch some TV. It's good for you. It will keep your mind off things. You need to get better. And be a good little boy!"

Harry was starting to get angry, "I am not little! Watching TV isn't going to make me any better! Why can't I just sit here and not watch TV?" he growled.

"Because-"

Amy interrupted, "Hey Mrs. Thomas, why don't you just leave me and Harry to talk for a while? I promise, I'll try and get him to watch TV," she added sarcastically.

The nurse didn't seem to pick up on the disdain. "Well, um, why do you need to talk to him?"

Amy went and put an arm around the spacey woman's shoulders and started leading her towards the open door. "Stuff of a personal matter, you understand of course."

"Well-I'll go get him some lunch and-" but before Mrs. Thomas could finish her sentence, Amy shut the door in her face and turned towards Harry, a smile plaster on her face.

"So how is my favorite patient doing today? Are you feeling okay? You look a little peaky."

"I-I'm not feeling very good. I had a really bad nightmare last night, I just can't remember what the bloody hell it was about."

Amy's face softened, "Oh I'm sorry sweetie. Was it about that dreadful car accident?"

"Sort of, I think, but I can't really remember." Harry said, looking very confused. "I wish I could though, it seemed kinda important."

Amy looked at him, sympathy covering her pretty face. "Are you sure your okay dear? You seem to be running a fever," questioned Amy, as she put her hand to his clammy forehead to find a horrible burning fever.

"I-I'm fine. Mrs. Thomas said I had the flu. I'm sure it's okay," reassured Harry.

"Umm, Harry, where did you get this?" Amy asked running her finger over Harry's lightning-bolt shaped scar.

"Oh, umm, I got that in a car-accident when I was a baby. That's when my parents died."

"Oh! I'm sorry! You haven't had much luck with cars have you?"

Harry heard his door slowly open, and was disappointed to see the dense nurse walking through the entrance to his room.

"I have brought you a delicious lunch. All for you, sweetie!" exclaimed Mrs. Thomas, coming through the door with a lunch tray in her hand.

Harry sighed. He had hoped he was never going to see her again. Mrs. Thomas placed the food tray on his lap, containing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some alphabet soup, and something he thought looked like a roll, but wasn't quite sure. Mrs. Thomas stood there intently waiting for him to start eating. Harry gave a glance at Amy but all she did was roll her eyes towards the direction of Mrs. Thomas.

"Eat up!" demanded Mrs. Thomas happily.

"I'm not hungry!" protested Harry, not wanting to eat anything that would upset his stomach.

"You need to eat it dear, otherwise how will you ever get well again?"

Harry slowly took a few spoonfuls of the soup, which tasted awful. He hoped she hadn't made it.

"I'm done," stated Harry in a tone that no one would argue with.

Mrs. Thomas glared at Harry disapprovingly and carefully grabbed the tray from Harry. She walked quietly out of the room with a frown on her face.

"Harry are you sure there is no one else I could contact for you?" wondered Amy as she saw the worried expression cross Harry's face again.

"Um, well let me see. Um there is this neighbor I use to go over to her house a lot. You could try her. But I don't want to bother you with all my problems." suggested Harry smugly, knowing it could be dangerous for Amy to get in contact with someone from the magical world but it looked like the only option he had.

"Um yeah sure. What's her name and the address?"

"It's number 2, Wisteria Walk. And her name is Mrs. Figg. She lives in a blue house with loads of cats. Um and if you could, please tell her to mention everything to Albus as well?"

"Okay, um sure. Should I tell her how your feeling and your injuries and ah stuff?"

"Never mind that, just go and tell her what I told you."

Confusion was written over Amy's face. But she thought it would be better just to go then to question Harry.

I........................I

Mrs. Figg heard a loud rapid knock on her door. She quickly stood up, shoving Mr. Tibbles from her lap to the floor. She swiftly walked to the door, hoping for news of Harry, whom she had not seen in several days.

She opened the door to see a young lady she had never met before. She blinked blankly, wondering why this woman was there.

"No Thank you! I am broke, I have enough containers to last me a lifetime, I don't want anything you are selling and I most certainly don't have time for this," Mrs. Figg said rather aggressively for the tatty woman she was and slammed the door in the young woman's face.

She turned around to walk back to her couch but was interrupted by the quick knock once more. She opened the door furiously, "I thought I told you I-"

"No wait! My name is Amy, are-um-are you Mrs. Figg?"

"Yes-yes I am. What do you want with me?" said the old, tatty-looking woman.

"Oh thank god! I'm from the hospital, Harry sent me-"

"Harry? Harry is in the hospital? Oh dear! What happened? It he all right?"

"No, no, it's alright Mrs. Figg. Harry's going to be fine. There was a car accident.

Unfortunately we lost his aunt and cousin, but Harry's alright."

Mrs. Figg stood there, shock crossed her face. "No," she whispered.

"I'm sorry you must have been close with them."

"No! You foolish girl, don't you see? They were his only protection! He's vulnerable now! I have to contact Dumbledore!"

"Dumbledore?" Amy asked confused. This woman is crazy! What the bloody hell does she mean by vulnerable? She thought.

Mrs. Figg snapped back to reality, "I'm sorry, dear, was there anything else?"

"Ummm, Harry just told me to tell you to mention this all to Albus. Is he some kind of guardian? If so we need him to come to the hospital soon to fill out some paperwork. But Harry won't be able to be released until later. I haven't told Harry this but a social worker is coming tomorrow to speak to him about his uncle." Amy rambled.

Mrs. Figg gawked at her. "You silly girl, don't you know of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? We don't have time for all of that nonsense! We have to get Harry out as soon as possible!"

Insane! This bloody woman is insane! Amy thought as she shook her head.

"Then beware! I warn you now he is coming!" Mrs. Figg said harshly.

"Umm...yeah I'm just going to go now," Amy pointed to her car. "You might want to go visit Harry, he's in room 631. And you might want to get yourself checked out while your there," she added under her breath as she turned and ran to her car.

Mrs. Figg returned to her home, went to her fireplace and grabbed a jar of floo powder. She threw a handful of the dust into the fireplace, stuck her head in and yelled, "Grimmauld Place!"

At the fire of Grimmauld place Mrs. Figg's head suddenly burst through the flames of the kitchen. The kitchen table was laden with many order member, most of whom Mrs. Figg did not recognize.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Mrs. Figg shouted. "I need Dumbledore!"

"I'm right here, Arabella. What is it?" Albus answered

"Is it Harry?" Arabella heard Remus Lupin's voice shout over the now hushed crowd.

"Yes, Remus calm down. He's going to be all right but we have to act quick-"

"Oh my Merlin! I can't lose another one Arabella! Harry's all I got now!" Lupin yelled hysterically at the startled looking woman.

"Lupin! Pull yourself together! Let Arabella finish!" Minerva McGonagall quietly scolded across the table at Remus.

Since Sirius's death Lupin had let himself go. He had cried for days and hadn't taken a shower in weeks. The only comfort he had was the letters written from Harry, but even those did little to calm him as he knew Harry was still with those awful relatives of him. He had just lost Sirius three weeks ago and losing Harry would be disastrous.

The head in the fire spoke, "Harry's in trouble! We have to move fast. There was a car accident and he-he," Mrs. Figg took a deep breath, "He's in a muggle hospital, and apparently he has sustained some serious injur-"

There was a sudden uproar among the order. Many were muttering of how horrible and tragic this was, and others were shouting out ideas of how to get him out of the hospital. Tonks had let out hysterical tears, while Kingsley and Moody tried to comfort her. Lupin looked the worst though, he had fallen to the floor in grief and looked insane, crying into the palms of his hand. He kept muttering words under his breath such as 'no' and 'all my fault.'

"Please!" Mrs. Figg yelled loudly trying to catch everyone's attention, "Please listen, there's more."

A loud bang came from the end of Dumbledore's wand, and silence immediately came over the room. "Thank you. What is it Arabella?" Dumbledore said looking intently at her.

"As I was saying, Harry has sustained multiple injures but nothing fatal. But both Harry's aunt and cousin have been killed in the accident. Which means he no longer has protection in the muggle world."

There was no uproar, but everyone in the room had turned towards Dumbledore, the twinkle behind the half moon glasses was now gone.

"Voldemort," he muttered under his breath, but every ear in the room heard it.

I..........................I

Harry lay in complete agony, not only from physical pain but from the lack of knowledge he had of the wizarding world. What if Amy didn't get to Mrs. Figg? What if Dumbledore doesn't find out?

There was no doubting that Harry was scared. He had never felt so helpless in his life. He didn't have his wand to protect him, and even if he did he couldn't use it to contact the wizarding world.

After being in the stiff bed for the whole night he was beginning to become increasingly uncomfortable and he needed to use the loo rather desperately.

He pushed the red button that Amy had mentioned to him to use whenever he needed assistance.

A nurse came in a few minutes later, looking at Harry confusingly, not knowing why she was there.

"What do you need, sweetie?"

"I need to use the loo. And my back is starting to hurt from staying in this bed so long," stated Harry as the nurse walked over to Harry standing next to his bed.

The nurse looked stunned, "Why, dear?"

"Pardon?" asked Harry really confused.

"Why do you need to use the lavatory?" she asked with a very confused look on her face.

"Well, ummm...I haven't gone since last night. So I kind of need to use it." Harry said. Wasn't that obvious? He thought to himself.

"But, dear you're suppose to use one of those," replied Mrs. Thomas as she pointed to what Harry feared was a bed pan.

"Oh, no. I think I can just wait, then," said Harry wide-eyed, he was desperate but not that desperate.

"No, dear really it's okay. Lots of people use these. It's no problem. I'll even help you! How's that?" the nurse replied, with a happy glint in her eye.

"N-no," stuttered Harry as he glanced fearfully at the bed pan that the nurse had placed on his bed, "Can I please just use the loo over there? If not I think I'll just...um...wait," asked Harry desperately while he pointed his right index finger towards the lavatory door across his room.

"I really don't think it's a very good idea, sweetie. Are you sure? I can help you. Come on it will be fun!" said the nurse happily as she gave Harry a very sweet cocky smile.

"Um...please?" asked Harry again sweetly.

The nurse gave in at Harry's innocent face, "Oh. All right but let me help you walk there okay?"

Harry nodded, as he pulled the covers back over his bed and allowed the nurse to unhook his IV. He didn't realize how much it would hurt his knee to limp across the short distance. The twinge made Harry feel like he was walking a marathon and he was relieved to finally make it to his destination.

Nurse Thomas walked Harry into the bathroom, prepared to help him do his business. Harry looked at her in shock.

"What are you- um-doing?"

"Why I'm helping you of course. Now you know how to go like a big boy don't you? Or do I need to bring out the trainers?"

"Excuse me? Yeah, I know how to go, I'm fifteen not five!" Harry nearly yelled, frustrated with the spacey nurse.

"But Hun, you're sick right now, you're mentally unstable. I think it'd be best if I stayed with you."

"No! I only have a fever. I remember how to go. Please leave me be."

A half an hour later, with a lot of arguing and convincing, Harry finally found himself alone in the bathroom, ready to finally do what he came to do, with Nurse Thomas waiting anxiously outside the compact restroom.

Harry walked into the oddly small bathroom and glanced at himself in the mirror and for the first time since the wreck he realized how badly he looked. His hair was plastered to his head for the first time in his life, due to the beads of sweat that had fallen from his scar-ridden forehead; his eyes had shadows underneath them from lack of sleep, sickness, and stress.

He limped over to the toilet and silently relieved himself glad to have gotten out of the small bed for a while.

"Harry! Harry, dear! Are you okay dear? What's taking you so long?" asked the nurse in a very concerned voice.

Harry sighed, "almost done!"

"You didn't wet yourself dear, did you?"

"No! I'm alright!" Harry answered desperately as he heard the doorknob turn and the nurse trying to get in, afraid he had hurt himself some how.

I................I

Mrs. Figg quickly grabbed a red duffle bag and threw a shawl over her lean shoulders and called a taxi.

The taxi arrived within five minutes and she jumped in. "Memorial Hospital please, and step on it!"

The driver drove a bit too slowly for Mrs. Figg's taste but ten minutes later Mrs. Figg paid the man in muggle money and ran up the white, marble steps to the entrance of the humongous hospital.

She avoided talking to the receptionist, who looked vaguely familiar. She had a nasty look on her face from being overwhelmed and angry with the amount of people speaking to her. I wonder where I have seen her before, Mrs. Figg wondered.

She hesitated before knocking on door 631. There was no kidding herself anymore, she was scared, scared beyond anything she could imagine. What's he going to look like? Is he really going to be alright?

"Come in," she heard the young boy's voice say.

She slowly opened the door and nearly had a stroke at the site of Harry. None of Harry's injuries looked too serious, but he looked like he was in so much pain. How could this happen to Harry? Harry- the boy who lived. He's so sweet and compassionate! It just isn't fair! Mrs. Figg thought still shocked at the site of Harry.

"Oh, Mrs. Figg! You have no idea how relieved I am to see you! Did you tell Dumbledore? What's happening? Is everything going to be all right?" Harry asked in one breath.

"Please settle down dear and I will explain everything I know, though it's not a lot," Mrs. Figg replied.

Harry took a deep breath, "Okay, go ahead and tell me."

"Well once that girl-"

Harry interrupted her "Amy?"

Mrs. Figg nodded her head and continued, "Amy arrived at my house and told me that you were in the hospital, I contacted Dumbledore immediately. The order is coming up with a plan to rescue you tonight. We should have you out by tomorrow if everything goes as planned, hopefully we won't have to used magic but sometimes it just can't be avoided."

Harry's head started to buzz. Tonight isn't that bad. I just want to get out of here. "What about my stuff. It's all at the Dursley's."

"Oh now honestly! We don't have time for stupid questions like that! Now, I am going to find a fireplace. There has to be at least one in this humongous place. You stay here, I'll be back soon, I just have to go tell Albus where your at and all that."

Before Harry could ask anymore questions, Mrs. Figg had walked out the door, leaving him alone by himself once more.

She bustled through the hallways of the busy hospital, not knowing that she had caught the attention of somebody. She looked through different rooms, and finally found an empty office with a fireplace.

She looked out the room once more, making sure the hallway was deserted. The room was dark, she walked over to the fireplace and lit it.

"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" Mrs. Figg heard a voice speak from a corner.

"Who's there? What do you want?"

"I want to know what you are doing here?" the voice said from the darkness.

"I-I-I'm a d-doctor here," Mrs. Figg lied in a frightened voice.

"Sure, you are. What's your name and rank."

"D-Dr. Guthrey, what business is it of yours?"

A shrieking laugh came from the corner of the room. The receptionist from the front desk took a step forward. Mrs. Figg was able to see her by the fire radiating from the pit in the wall. Through the scarce light Mrs. Figg saw the receptionist reach inside her white dress and pulled out a wand, transforming herself into a face Mrs. Figg knew only too well.

"Bellatrix!" she said in a hushed tone, "What are you doing here?"

Bellatrix let out a harsh laugh, "I think the question is what are you doing here?"

"I heard Harry was in a car accident and came to see him."

"Oh? Is that all? Or did you also happen to let him in on some other little details?"

Mrs. Figg contorted her face into a confused expression. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh don't play stupid, you know what I'm talking about!"

Mrs. Figg kept her face, "No really, what are you talking about?"

Bellatrix frowned, "Fine, you want to play? Well let's play you stupid squib! AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Mrs. Figg fell to the floor - dead

I................I

Amy walked into Harry's room about fifteen minutes after Mrs. Figg left. "Hey Harry, feeling any better?"

"Umm, yeah. Mrs. Figg just came to see me. She'll be back any second. Thanks for doing that for me. I owe you big time!"

"Oh it's no problem. But are you sure that lady is quite sane? She talked about some really weird stuff."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, Mrs. Figg can be rather weird sometimes, but don't worry everything's going to be alr-"

But Harry was cut off by hundreds of popping noises, as Voldemort's follower's apparated into the hospital, ready to kill.

I...........................I