A/N: Hello! I most sincerely never meant to take this long in between updates. I do apologize to everyone who's been waiting! As always, thanks to everyone who has read this far, and to everyone who's reviewed. Cheers!
Chapter 5 - The Beginning?
Hermione felt the spell burn her skin as it ripped past. It ricocheted off the stone wall next to her, slamming into Harry. "No!" She screamed as he collapsed against her, taking them both to the ground. Ron, standing only a few feet away, was with them in seconds.
For a very long moment, it seemed to Hermione everything was happening in slow motion. It seemed to take hours just to lift her head. Ron was crouched next to her and Harry, his hand slowly reaching toward them. Not far away, people were beginning to realize something was amiss, and moved with agonizing slowness.
In this state, Hermione's senses became hyper-acute. She could smell the lingering dust and smoke in the air from curses, hexes, and spells cast mere minutes ago. She could hear the whisper of wood sheathed between silk and skin, as a wand was hidden up the sleeve of a robe. She could feel the cold of the smooth and unforgiving stone floor seeping through her robes, soaking her skin, chilling her. She felt and could almost see the heat leaving Harry's unconscious body as his system went into shock.
With a jolting abruptness, things reversed themselves and suddenly everything leapt into fast forward. Behind them, Moody was barking orders. DA and Order members rushed to comply. Seemingly within seconds, surviving Death Eaters were rounded up, Voldemort's smoking remains confirmed his final demise, and the wounded were being tended to. Hermione and Harry were an island of stillness in the blur of activity rushing around them.
"Hermione! Are you alright? What's happened to Harry?" Ron reached out to them, but jerked his hand back in pain, swearing loudly as some sort of force field leapt to life around Harry. It crackled and spat, arcing angrily around Harry in flashes of blood red, deep violet, and sapphire blue.
Hermione let out a startled yelp, but held onto Harry. She braced herself, but after a confused moment, she realized nothing was happening. She looked at Harry, then at Ron. Too many thoughts collided in her brain at once. Who fired the spell? What was it? What's wrong with Harry? What happened when Ron tried to touch him? Why is it not happening now? What do we do for Harry? Is he going to be... She stopped herself. She knew he would be alright. It couldn't be in question. She wouldn't let it. He could not come this far, not to make it now.
"Hermione? Say something!" Ron's voice brought Hermione back. She saw the worry plainly on his face. With an effort, she pulled herself together.
"I'm okay." She looked back down at Harry. "We've got to get him to St. Mungo's."
From across the chamber, Lupin saw Hermione and Harry on the ground. He started to run to them.
Ron saw Lupin approaching, and said to Hermione, "You go on with Harry. I'll talk to Lupin, then meet you at St. Mungo's as soon as I can."
~~~~~~~
Hermione and Harry arrived in a heap on the floor at the Apparition point in the lobby of St. Mungo's. Two Healers rushed toward them even before Hermione could call for help. One of them, a petite witch with short dark hair, started to ask what happened.
She was cut off by a yell from her partner, a tall, lanky wizard with short, spiky brown hair. He had pulled out his wand to examine Harry, but as soon as he got within a few inches of him, a bolt of purple arced out, hitting his wand. He dropped it, shaking his still-tingling hand. The dark haired witch picked up his wand and handed it to him. He nodded his thanks, then turned to Hermione. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Hermione looked up at the Healer. "He was hit by something just a few minutes ago, but with what I don't know."
"We need to get you both up off the floor and out of the lobby before anything else." He gave Hermione and Harry an assessing look. "Can you levitate him?"
Hermione nodded. She hadn't let go of Harry since he collapsed against her. She realized she was extremely reluctant to break physical contact with him. However, it seemed necessary for the moment. She carefully extricated herself from him, gently laying him down. She performed the Levitation Charm, leaving Harry hanging limply a few feet above the ground. She tried not to think of how awful he looked as she followed the Healer to the fourth floor (spell damage), with the petite witch bringing up the rear.
~~~~~~~
Soon Harry was settled on a bed in a private room. The Healer wizard was standing a few feet away, arms crossed, looking intently at Harry. Hermione was at Harry's side. She laid her hand over his, needing that contact as much as she needed to breathe. Things had happened so quickly. Nothing seemed quite real. Something in the back of Hermione's head recognized she was in shock herself. She pushed that aside. Harry needs me, she thought.
The Healer witch saw Hermione's gaze locked on Harry's face. She spoke to Hermione with a quiet, reassuring voice. "My name is Esther Lightbody, but you can call me Essie." She smiled warmly. "I know you're worried about your friend, but we really need to look at that burn on your cheek, sweetie."
Hermione's free hand moved to her cheek. She'd forgotten she'd even been hit until Essie had mentioned it. "It can wait," Hermione said. At that moment all she cared about was Harry.
"I understand, but we can't wait too long," Essie said kindly. She started to pat Hermione on the arm, but a bolt of red arced from Hermione to Essie, making both of them jump, with Essie giving a startled squeak.
"Interesting," the other Healer said. "Not being able to touch either of you is going to make this a lot more difficult."
Hermione shot him a withering look, which he completely ignored.
"Essie, are you alright?" he asked.
"My heart's racing, but yes, I'll do," she said, then turned to Hermione, "That's Jonas, by the way. He has no manners."
Jonas shrugged, looking only slightly abashed. "I would've gotten around to introductions eventually." He gestured to Harry. "It's pretty obvious who this is. You must be Miss Granger."
"Hermione, yes."
"Hermione, can you please tell me what exactly happened?"
Hermione began, "Harry had just defeated Voldemort-"
"That's wonderful!" Essie interrupted, clapping, practically jumping up and down.
"Yes, quite," Jonas said.
Hermione looked from Essie to Jonas. She gave a quick shake of her head and continued, "Somebody fired off a spell that grazed me, struck the wall, and ricocheted into Harry. He collapsed against me, and we both fell. Our friend Ron tried to touch us, but some kind of field flared up, as it did when Essie tried to touch me just now. Only instead of just red, it was also purple and blue. I Apparated us here, and that's it. Harry's been unconscious the whole time. I think he might be in shock."
Jonas frowned. "Unfortunately that's not much to go on, but it's a start. I definitely don't like not being able to examine either of you properly. I'd like to try a finite spell on you both."
"Whenever you're ready," said Hermione.
Jonas raised his wand. "Finite!"
There was a bright flash of red, and a loud crack! Essie held her breath and slowly reached for Hermione. She made contact, and nothing happened. Essie smiled. "Well, that's a relief! Now we can look at that burn."
Hermione held still for Essie's examination. While Essie bustled about, Hermione watched Jonas approach Harry. So far she hadn't been too impressed. Jonas carefully brought his wand closer. A purple bolt shot from Harry to the tip of Jonas' wand.
Jonas looked disappointed, but not surprised. "Hermione, when Essie's done there, let's see what happens if you do the finite on Harry."
Essie had dabbed some wound-cleaning potion on Hermione's cheek, followed by burn-healing paste. She then checked the wound by running her wand a few inches above the area. "Wait a mo. Jonas, this is strange. You might want to take a look." Essie furrowed her brow.
"What is it?" asked Hermione.
Jonas ran his wand a couple of inches above Hermione's cheek. "Hmm…" He proceeded to scan around her entire body.
Hermione was quickly running out of patience. "Would you please tell me what's going on?"
"I'd love to," Jonas said as he finished his scan. "However, I'm not sure. There seems to be some sort of residual magic emanating from your burn, radiating out, surrounding you. I'm betting it's the same thing that's affecting Harry. Yours isn't strong enough to cause a reaction like his, but it's definitely there. Go ahead and try the finite and hopefully we can start treating Harry."
Hermione raised her wand, "Finite!"
Nothing happened.
Jonas slowly brought his wand near Harry, just until a bit of purple began to arc. "Damn." Jonas thought for a moment. "Ok, here's the plan. You're the only one who can touch Harry, and he needs treatment, so you're going to have to be the one to do it. You said you think he's in shock. I need you to examine him and tell me what you find." He started to give her instructions, but saw she clearly didn't need them.
Hermione thanked the powers that be for the Muggle first aid course she'd taken a few summers ago. She began moving her hands over Harry, checking his pulse, listening to his breathing, checking his skin for coolness and clamminess. Jonas watched. He was impressed with her efficiency and deliberateness, but most of all by how she stayed calm while an obviously close friend was injured. He thought she would make a decent healer, if she chose.
Essie leaned over to Jonas and whispered, "What's she doing?"
"Muggle first aid examination. Even though Muggles and magical people have slightly different physiology, it's still a good place to start. It covers many of the same things we check with the wave of a wand. It's really something all healers ought to be taught, just as a backup method. In this case, since she doesn't know how to scan with a wand, doing it by hand is quicker and more efficient."
Hermione finished her exam and looked up at Jonas and Essie. "He's definitely in shock. His skin is cold and clammy, his breathing is shallow, and he's got a weak and rapid pulse. No obvious broken bones or swelling anywhere. What would you like me to do?"
"We're going to have to use Muggle treatments, for now. We need to get him stable first, then I can teach you a couple of simple healing spells that should help." Jonas quickly conjured a blanket, rolled it up, and handed it to Hermione. She placed it under Harry's feet. Jonas conjured another blanket, which Hermione placed over Harry with obvious tenderness.
Essie watched, fascinated. "Is there anything I can do?"
Jonas answered, "Yes, actually. I need you to get a vial of stabilization serum. In the meantime, I'll be giving Hermione a crash course in healing spells."
~~~~~~~
Jonas was extremely pleased with how quickly Hermione picked up the spells. She not only seemed to have a talent for it, but had a work ethic and determination he wished even half the healers he trained had.
Unfortunately, as brilliant and quick a study as Hermione was, Harry wasn't responding very well. The spells would work wonderfully, but only for short amounts of time. Healing spells were draining to the person casting them, especially if done repeatedly over a lengthy period. Jonas saw that Hermione wasn't going to be able to keep it up indefinitely. However, it was obvious she'd damn well try.
Essie had come back with the serum. She gave it to Hermione, with instructions on its use. The serum could be dribbled onto a patient's lips, and then would seep through into the mouth and be absorbed under the tongue. The serum seemed to help a little, but it only really bought a bit of time in between repetitions of the healing spells.
Jonas had hoped the serum and spells would work longer. They needed time to try to figure out what the spell was that hit Harry, and how to reverse it. Until then, they were only treating the symptoms, and not the root cause. It was a temporary fix, at best.
After Hermione had administered a couple of rounds of treatment to Harry, Essie pulled Jonas aside. "She really needs a break."
"Yeah, I know." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Maybe you can take her to the lounge around the corner for a few minutes once she's done another round of spells. He'll be ok for a little while."
Essie nodded, and moved to Hermione. "Dearie, you need a little break. At least a cuppa to restore your strength a bit."
Hermione refused at first, but caved to Essie's insistence she needed to rest in order to keep her strength up for Harry. Hermione got as far as the door when a bolt of red lanced into her. She gave a startled yell, jumping backwards. The bolt had come from Harry. She rushed back to him, but nothing else happened.
Jonas said, "Hermione, would you mind trying to walk out again? Slowly!" he added.
Hermione did, and when she reached the door, the same thing started to happen.
Essie shook her head. "So you're the only one who can touch him AND you can't leave his side."
"Great," Jonas muttered to himself. "Essie, we're going to need extra vials of stabilization serum, as well as a few other things," he said quietly, and began giving instructions to Essie.
Hermione was exhausted, but her mind was still clear. She knew it wouldn't be for long though. The adrenalin rush of taking care of Harry had held her up until now. She could feel the effects of that starting to wear off, with the inevitable encroachment of fatigue on its heels. While she could still think clearly, she came up with a plan.
~~~~~~~
Harry had finally done it. Voldemort was obliterated. Harry barely had time for it to even register before he felt the spell slam into him, hurtling him into darkness. He felt as though he were being side-along Apparated against his will. He tried to fight it, but a moment later was unceremoniously dumped head first onto the ground.
The smell of damp earth and cut grass were sharp in his nose. His eyes were watering as a result of his face-plant. He couldn't see anything, and thought maybe his glasses were broken or had come off. With one hand he felt his face, finding his glasses present and intact. With the other hand, he pushed himself up and looked around. Wherever it was, it was dark and seemed to be night. He stood up, brushing himself off, and surveyed his surroundings.
The only light came from brilliant stars shining sharp and hard in a deeply black sky. A tall hedgerow loomed nearby, stretching several yards to Harry's left and right. There was a gap in the middle of the hedgerow. It reminded Harry for all the world of the entrance to the maze of the third task of the TriWizard Tournament.
Not again! Harry thought, quickly followed by wondering where he was, how he got there, and how he was going to get out. He tried to Apparate, but instead of the squeezing sensation, he just felt like he was pushing against a solid wall. Annoyed, he picked a direction at random and started to walk.
His eyes had adjusted to the dim light, and he could see fairly well. He walked along the hedgerow, trying to see where he was, or if there were any buildings or people (or anything else) around.
He walked for what seemed like several minutes, with only the grass beneath his feet, the hedgerow on his right, and the night sky above. He looked to his left, but saw only grass and sky receding into the darkness. Eventually he came to another opening in the hedgerow. He thought he ought to mark this one somehow, in case there were more. Everything looked exactly the same. He dragged his heel through the grass, digging into the dirt, and made an "X."
He continued in the same direction for several minutes more. He came up to another opening - with an "X" marked on the ground in front of it. No! Harry thought. He turned around and ran in the opposite direction, only to find himself right back at the very same opening.
You've GOT to be kidding me!
Things were starting to get to him. It wasn't enough that he'd had the toughest year of his life (in a life that certainly was never easy), culminating in the most major confrontation in all of wizarding history. It couldn't just finally be over. No! He hadn't realized how frustrated he'd been getting. It wasn't even just his current predicament. Everything he thought he'd dealt with and gotten past came crashing down on him. It never ends! He let out a yell from the depths of his being, followed by a string of profanity that would have made Ron proud.
He felt marginally better.
It seemed to Harry the only thing to do next was go on through the opening.
He did so, and the sight that greeted him was staggering. It was as if he'd stepped out into space. The grass and hedgerow disappeared, giving way to the dark sky and its piercing stars. Before him was a sphere of practically infinite proportions, with millions upon millions of points of multi-colored lights streaming out from the center in all directions. As he stared at it, he saw that it was rotating very slowly. Upon closer examination, he realized the points of light were actually images, strings of images, all somehow linked to one another, yet branching off in every direction. Different ones came into view as the sphere slowly spun.
Harry picked an image at random, and as he focused on it, it sprang to life. He saw himself, only not quite. It took him a minute to figure out what was different, then it clicked. He had no scar!
The thought boggled Harry's mind. It had been such an integral part of who he was for so long, he couldn't imagine what life would be like without it, without having gone through everything that scar brought with it.
Harry reached out toward the image of himself without the scar. Suddenly, he was that Harry, with access to all his memories, and all his thoughts and feelings, and everything that made him who he was.
It was brilliant! It felt like putting on the most comfortable clothing in the world, looking like a million galleons, and feeling every inch of it. He felt so happy and carefree. His life was everything he ever wanted. He had just graduated from Hogwarts, and was slated to become a professional Quidditch player with the Kenmare Kestrels. He was doing what he loved, surrounded by people he loved.
Then something even more wonderful, more amazing, something unimaginably great hit him. His parents were alive.
His mind was flooded with an entire life's worth of memories of his parents as they raised him. Every birthday, holiday, accomplishment celebrated. Every word of encouragement, every hug and kiss, every moment hummed through his being. It was beyond anything he could have dreamed.
And he realized, it wasn't really him. The image started to crack and come apart, and Harry was suddenly outside of it, himself again. He was reeling from the experience. He looked around, surrounded by seemingly endless images, all of himself. Still curious, he looked at them, but this time was careful not to get too close.
He saw himself in Slytherin house robes, laughing and joking with none other than Draco Malfoy. That Harry had the same swagger Malfoy did. How revolting, Harry thought. He picked another image and saw something far worse. He saw himself on his knees, pledging his loyalty to Lord Voldemort. Harry felt violently ill. He looked for another image as quickly as possible, and stopped when he caught sight of flaming red hair - flaming Weasley hair.
He smiled as he saw himself with Ginny. The smile faded as he saw they were at Dumbledore's funeral. He realized it was the moment he was going to tell Ginny they couldn't be together anymore. Only that didn't happen. Instead, he said nothing. She slipped her arm around him, and they left together. This particular image had a sort of nimbus around it. Harry noticed other images had light around them, too, but only certain ones here and there. He wondered why. He noticed those images had other ones branching off from them. He followed the chain of images branching off of the one of him and Ginny. That chain showed Ginny helping him hunt for Horcruxes. Farther down, the chain branched again. Down one side, Ginny was safe. Down another, he was horrified to see her killed.
He looked at some of the other "lit" (as he thought of them) images. One was of the moment he first put on the Sorting Hat. Down one chain, he became a Gryffindor, but down the other, a Slytherin. That chain seemed to be connected to the image he saw before of himself chummy with Draco.
Decisions, Harry thought. The lit images were moments he had made decisions that affected the direction his life took. Fascinated, Harry moved through the sphere, looking at all the alternate possibilities depending on what decisions he made, or didn't make. He became so absorbed by it all, he completely forgot about trying to figure out where he really was, how he got there, or how he was supposed to leave.
~~~~~~~
"We don't have much time, obviously," Hermione said. "There isn't long enough in between Harry's treatments for me to get any meaningful rest. I think the time would be best spent trying to break the spell cast on Harry and me. In order to do that, I have a couple of requests, one of which is a bit, well, unorthodox."
Jonas raised his eyebrow. Essie looked worried.
Hermione quickly listed ingredients for a potion that would allow her to function without sleep for at least two or three days. It had the beneficial side effect of being a brain stimulant. It was also highly dangerous, and fairly illegal.
Jonas crossed his arms. "You honestly expect me to sit here and watch you brew something that will more than likely kill you? In case you hadn't noticed, I do happen to be a Healer."
Hermione bit back a retort. Instead, she remained calm. "I respect that bringing me those ingredients puts you in a bit of a spot -"
"It's not that," Jonas interrupted. He saw before him a young woman barely out of girlhood, who had just been through things he couldn't even imagine. Now here she was, nearly dead on her feet, literally fighting for her friend's life. His demeanor softened. "Look, Hermione, I can see where you're going with this. I agree the sooner we end this spell, the better for both of you. However, that potion is not the answer. I know you're used to having the weight of the world on your shoulders, but you are by no means alone. And as is happens, I've got a plan."