Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N: Thanks a lot to all those who have reviewed so far!! Here's the next chapter, enjoy it!

Waking Up

"Hermione!" Harry Potter yelled, bursting up from his bed. His first thought was where am I? And then how long have I been gone? The last thing he remembered was fainting, after killing Voldemort. Now he was standing in a cold stone room, probably underground, with a plain bed in the middle, attached to what looked like a wizarding sort of monitor. He sat on the bed and thought for a moment. The main thought in his head was Where's Hermione?

As he thought, a man came into a room through a metal door smiling. He was short and thin, with wispy gray hair and light blue eyes.

"You're up! Took you long enough!" Harry looked at him suspiciously and thought about the multitude of questions he had, starting with,

"The last thing I remember is fainting after my fight with Voldemort, injured and dying. Now I feel fine, cured. How long has it been?" The man looked at him with a sympathetic expression, saying,

"I don't know if you're quite ready for that. I'll just start with telling you why you are here. After the fight with Voldemort, I was the only one there with you. I had watched the whole battle, and was afraid you would die because no one was coming. I knew I was the only one who had the power to heal you, for you had both mental and physical scars. So I took you with me, to my `underground hole' home. I put you in a coma of sorts so you wouldn't be hurt as I healed you. In about a year, you were fully healed so could wake up."

Harry looked at him apprehensively and said,

"So…it hasn't been too long after a year, then?" The man looked suddenly a little fearful and backed up a bit as he said,

"Well you see…the thing is…you didn't wake up when I would have liked you too. I think you might have been scared to have been captured or something. So…you slept…" Harry jumped up and slammed the man against the wall with his hands around the man's neck as if to choke him. Harry gritted his teeth and said,

"How long?" The man looked away but Harry squeezed his neck a little harder and said, "How. Long." The man nodded as if to say `I'll tell you' so Harry backed off.

"You might want to sit down." The man said, as he stayed pressed against the wall. Harry glared at him so he just shrugged as if saying `Or not'. He went on and said,

"Well…Harry…for all I tried you just wouldn't wake up…and…and…it's been eleven years." He said the last part softly and Harry just looked at him and said, as if to make sure he had heard him right,

"Eleven years." The man nodded and Harry just looked at him, saying,

"Hermione?" The man swallowed and whispered,

"She thinks you're dead. Everyone does, I'm the only one that knows." Harry glared at him again and said,

"Why? Why couldn't you have told anyone? Why did you have to keep it secret?" The man shrugged and said,

"At first, I was afraid people wouldn't let me heal you. Also, they don't know I exist. I was scared of exposure. After a couple years, I knew I couldn't tell because not only would I be exposed, I'd probably be killed. As it got to a decade, I knew I would have to keep it a secret forever." Harry let one tear slide down his face as he thought about his wife, and said,

"Well, while I'd like to kill you, I probably shouldn't. I'll be going now, but one last question. Who are you?" The man smiled grimly and said,

"I don't really have a name. Some call me, for a better loss of words, Merlin. I am not the wizard they talk about with Arthur and Excalibur, don't know if he even existed. I'm someone that watches…and helps every once in a while…for special people." He winked at Harry but Harry didn't smile. Merlin continued, saying,

"And you can go. But if you could, make up a story not involving me. You can tell those closest to you I suppose if you're sure you can trust them. But to the rest of the world, make up a story, something about how Voldemort had transferred you to a place where you couldn't get back or something. I'd rather people not know me." Harry started for the door but turned around, saying,

"Although I don't know if you made the right decisions, I might have died without you. So…thank you. And before I go, how's Hermione?" Merlin smiled at the thanks and said,

"She's had trouble coping over the years. I know you're worrying, but don't, she's not remarried. She does have someone helping her through things, though. I suppose I'll let her tell you about them, wouldn't want to get into family business." Harry smiled grimly but was a little confused at Merlin's statement. He walked out the door into a big room that had a mirror on one side along with a couch and a small kitchen on the other. He looked into the mirror and realized that he hadn't really changed that much. He was wearing a pair of muggle jeans and a green shirt, brand new. Guess Merlin dressed me…don't know how I feel about that…he shrugged it off and started for some stairs at the other side of the room.

He wondered where exactly he was, but when he opened a trap door and stepped onto a muggle sidewalk, he realized he was in muggle London. But people didn't seem to notice him at all; they just walked past as if someone hadn't just come up from underground. Harry closed the trap door and it looked exactly like the paved sidewalk. He shrugged and walked towards the nearest bus stop, thinking, Eleven years…feels like I never left…this is so weird…at least I know where I'll go!

*************

Hermione woke up and looked at the clock, groaning when she was 11-o clock AM. She had tossed and turned all night and finally gotten to sleep around 8. She turned around, almost forgetting that Harry was gone. She did this quite a lot. Seeing no Harry laying next to her, she shut her eyes tightly to prevent the tears that were threatening to come, and gulped. She sat up and put her favorite robe on, fluffy and white. She stood up and started for the bathroom, brushing her hair a little and teeth before going to the kitchen to make lunch or a snack.

She jumped up from crouching in front of the fridge when she heard the doorbell ring. Taking out the stuff she needed to make a sandwich, she closed the fridge and started walking towards the door. Wonder who it could be? Maybe Ron and Luna apparated over…don't know why they would have to use the doorbell thought. Probably one of those door salesman. She opened the door ready to say `No thank you' and was greeted by the sight of…Harry Potter. She stood there for a second with her mouth open and her eyes wide, thinking, No, no, I'm dreaming. He's dead. Dead. Her thoughts went away as he said,

"Hi `Mione," smiling at her hesitantly. She whimpered a little "Harry?" and then fell forward in a dead faint.

A/N: hehehe, cliffie…I know I'm evil, but u love me for it, right? I might get the next chapter out 2morrow but I don't know…if not then then I'll get it out Friday probably!

-Emily

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