Echo in My Mind

Chapter 3: The Duel

"What is that you express in your eyes?

It seems to me more than all the words I have ever read in my life-"

Walt Whitman

~*~

Ginny didn't know how long she had been lying awake for. Harry's head was curled onto her chest and the last of his tears were drying from her shirt. He had cried himself into exhaustion and was now sleeping peacefully. However, Ginny knew she wouldn't be getting any sleep unless she moved Harry off of her. His shallow breaths traveled the short distance to her shirt and the material was thin enough that the breath continued on to tickle her breasts.

She decided that she could just move Harry off but she couldn't do that. She enjoyed having Harry's head right below hers. It seemed like a special privilege to her to have the head of the person she loved on her chest.

Suddenly Harry shifted and raised his head off Ginny's chest. He sat up, muttering "Accio shirt" as he did. An emerald green shirt came through the shut curtains and landed before Harry. He picked it up and handed it to Ginny.

"Your shirt's wet and I'm sorry about that seeing as it was my fault. Use this one and keep it if you want. It's getting a bit small for me anyway," he said.

Ginny sat up and pulled off her white long-sleeved top, swapping it for the short-sleeved shirt Harry had given her. She watched Harry lay down on his side under the covers as she pulled the shirt over her head. Then she got under the covers and snuggled up next to Harry.

"It smells like you, therefore I keep it," she whispered.

Harry laughed into her hair and Ginny greatly enjoyed the feeling of his body next to hers. When his laughing died down, Harry spoke.

"This has been a really trying night, Gin. It's like my whole life is turning into one emotional roller-coaster." He sighed and it blew through her hair. "I honestly can't believe I forgot about Sirius. How did I forget, Ginny?" His voice had taken on a desperate tone. "I feel so ashamed that I could just forget the link to my only godfather. It was a link to my parents too, did you know that Ginny? We used to pass messages back and forth through Sirius. I've actually had a conversation with my parents. It's what I've been dying to have my entire life. Yet with a few things about a war and a new school year I forgot about it all. How would you feel if you forgot your family?"

Ginny knew his questions didn't want answering. His voice cracked and trailed off as a few tears rolled down his cheeks and onto the top of her head. Ginny laid her arm across her waist, on top of Harry's. Her hand grasped his lightly and squeezed it. Harry squeezed it back in return, letting her know he was okay.

Okay, Ginny thought. But certainly not any better.

"Get some sleep, Harry," she said. "At this rate we'll be sleeping with our heads in our waffles at breakfast."

That sentence granted a weak chuckle from Harry who was really too worn out to do anything more. He obeyed Ginny and closed his eyes. His breathing slowed after a while and Ginny knew he had fallen asleep. A few moments later she joined him in slumber.

~*~

"Are you sure it was them?" Hermione asked the following morning as they waited in the common room for Harry and Ginny.

"Who else would be coming into the room and sleeping on Harry's bed besides Harry and Ginny?" Ron said.

Hermione sighed. Ron had a point there. He would recognize his only sister and his best friend even if he were blind, which in the darkness of the dorm room he nearly was.

Ron mistook Hermione's sigh of defeat as one of anger. He thought she didn't believe him.

"I'm telling the truth! I peeked through to curtains to ask where they had come from and I heard what I heard! Harry can talk to Sirius in his head!" Ron nearly yelled.

"Shut it, Ron," a firm voice said.

Ron whirled around, knowing the voice wasn't Hermione's. The door was open to the boys' dormitories and two people were standing in it. One was a girl with red hair, and the other a boy with black. Ginny looked angry enough to strike and Harry looked... Ron couldn't even begin to describe how Harry looked. He had turned as white as a ghost, his mouth open slightly as if he was about to speak but he couldn't make a sound. His green eyes shone with unshed tears.

He sat down hard on the bottom stair, causing Ginny to jump at his sudden movement. He blinked furiously trying to keep back tears.

"Harry, are you all right?" Hermione asked, the 'all right' barely leaving her lips before Harry shook his head no.

"My life is a bloody emotional roller-coaster," Harry said, not bothering to hide the small laugh and smirk.

"Harry!" Hermione said in a disapproving voice. "Don't use such language."

Ginny extended a hand down to Harry and he took it and used it to pull himself up. The second he was standing Ginny pulled him into a tight hug. Harry hugged her back though unsure of what the sudden enthusiasm was for.

"You had me scared something was really wrong," Ginny said. "I love you and I don't think I've said that for a while. I don't want you forgetting that."

Harry smiled. "The roller-coaster just started to go up." Ginny buried her face in Harry's chest as she laughed. "I love you too, Ginny."

Ron's stomach gave a growl. "Hate to break up the love fest people but I'm hungry and breakfast is calling me."

Harry and Ginny released each other reluctantly and joined Hermione and Ron to go down to breakfast. When they arrived in the Great Hall there were a few eyes staring at them. More accurately, they were staring at Hermione. Hermione noticed this fairly quickly.

"Do I have something on my face?" she asked.

"No, dear. They're just admiring your beauty," Ron stated as he took Hermione's hand and guided her to a seat.

Two owls flew in, delivering the Daily Prophet to Harry and Hermione. Since Hermione was wrapped up in thanking Ron for the compliment Harry took the paper for her and laid it next to her plate. The owls left then, since the subscription was a yearly one the two teens only had to pay once a year to renew the subscription.

Harry unrolled his copy of the paper and scanned the headlines. He froze as he saw the headliner.

You-Know-Who Changes Target

By Elena Jenkins

We have all heard the news of recent attacks on Muggle homes run by You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters. This morning brings grave news. Not only were there more attacks on Muggle families but families of Muggleborn witches and wizards.

As in the First War, we here at the 'Prophet' knew it would only be a matter of time until we began reporting Muggleborn attacks. You-Know-Who seems to be taking a similar path to the one he took on his first rise to power. The attacks on Muggles were at random and only to give us a taste of the power he has. Soon, we fear the attacks will come on our own kind.

Surprisingly however, the attacks have not been spread out over the land as they were during the First War. They seem to all be occurring near Surrey, England, and a few surrounding towns. It remains a mystery to us why he is only targeting people in those areas...

Harry dropped the paper at that point. Innocent people were dying around Surrey only because of Harry. The teen could sense Voldemort's current plan. He knew the Dark Lord was after him; it was blatantly obvious now, even though he'd known it ever since he'd heard the prophecy. The plan was to strike close to Harry's 'home' and make him fear for his relatives before either killing them or moving closer to Harry at Hogwarts. Either plan was meant to scare Harry.

The other thing that began to worry him was the fact that attacks had started on the families of Muggleborns. That meant Hermione's family was in danger and even more so since Voldemort knew how close he was to Hermione. Just by becoming friends with him, Hermione had painted a large red target on her back.

I wouldn't blame her in the slightest if she deserted me now, Harry thought sadly. Even other students can tell she's in a considerable amount of danger. The kids that were staring at her all had a copy of the 'Prophet'.

"Harry?" Hermione said. "Why are you staring at me?"

Harry blinked as his eyes refocused. "What? Oh, sorry, I didn't realize."

He looked away from Hermione. The delicious smell of the morning food filled his nostrils and it drew his attention. As he reached out to grab a piece of toast he suddenly felt so sick he nearly vomited right there.

"I can't eat," he said, stating what he thought in his mind was the obvious. "I'm going to class."

Ginny snatched his wrist as he stood and turned to leave. With her other hand she grabbed a piece of toast and shoved it into his free hand. With a small smile Harry thanked her for it, knowing she wanted him to eat something this morning.

"I'll come as soon as I'm done," Ginny said.

"Don't rush yourself. It's not like Moody can start the class without you, you're up in first round dueling today," Harry said.

With a smile in return Ginny released his wrist. Harry turned and started out the open doors. As soon as he was positive he was out of Ginny's sight he banished the toast to the nearest trash bin. He hadn't been lying because he really didn't think he could stomach anything.

He trudged up the stairs, passing groups of students on their way to breakfast. Impatiently he waited for a staircase to finish moving so he could get to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. All Harry wanted was a desk to lay his head on; possibly go to sleep, but definitely talk to Sirius for a while. He had forty-five minutes until class started and he was going to use it to the fullest.

The staircase stopped moving and Harry took the stairs two at a time. He reached the Defense room and pulled the heavy door open. It was dark, since no teacher or student had been in the room yet this morning. Harry went to his desk at the front of the room and sat down with his head in his arms and his eyes closed.

"Hey, Sirius. You up yet?"

There was a long pause. "Well now I am, you prat. What right have you got to wake me up this early in the morning?"

"The fact that I have forty-five minutes until class starts and I couldn't eat breakfast," Harry replied in a laughing tone.

That statement seemed to wake Sirius up. At once his voice was filled with a caring tone and concern.

"What do you mean you couldn't eat?"

Harry sighed. "Voldemort's starting to attack Muggleborns' families and Hermione's family is at a great risk. For some reason it made me feel too sick to eat. I've been getting that a lot lately, being too sick to eat. It's hard to tell if I'm actually sick or just making myself that way."

"How long has this been going on for?" Sirius asked.

"A while. Before I came back to school I think. Honestly everything from the summer seems like a millennium ago."

Though Harry couldn't see, Sirius had moved to the kitchen and was brewing some coffee.

"I'm so sorry I forgot about this connection. I still can't believe I let it slip my mind," Harry began.

"Stop saying you're sorry, Harry. There have been plenty of times when I forgot about it too," Sirius said as he sat down with his coffee.

Sirius heard footsteps coming into the kitchen and he looked up from his coffee. The sleepy face of Lily Potter stood before him.

"Sirius?" she asked. "What are you doing up at such an early hour?"

"Your mum's down here interrogating me on why I'm up so early, Harry. If anyone gets blamed, it's you," Sirius said through the link.

Harry laughed. "Oh, I wish I could see this. Go on and tell her your pathetic excuse. You can't blame me because I'm not there."

Sirius turned to Lily. "Your prat of a son woke me up. This connection is a blessing and a curse in one."

Lily gasped. "You're talking to Harry?"

Sirius nodded. Lily ran over to the window near the table Sirius was sitting at. She looked out of it and saw a dark classroom with Harry sitting at a desk with his head buried in his arms.

This window wasn't an ordinary window. In Sirius's book on alternate universes they found a way to charm a window to look into a different world. It was a very complicated charm, even more so to have it focus on a certain person at all times. It took Lily's excellent Charms work to make it happen. After a few tries she had gotten it right. Occasionally for the past few months they'd been looking in on what Harry was doing. They'd seen a few Quidditch practices, a few classes, and some of the alone time with Ginny, though they tended to give Harry his privacy with those.

"Is he all right? Why is he almost asleep?" Lily asked worriedly.

Sirius paused. "Should we tell him about the window?"

"Not yet," Lily said. "Give him some time to work out his problems so there isn't a chance he'll get mad when we tell him. I mean it'll be a shock for him to find out his parents found a way to look in on his life."

"All right," Sirius said. "Just let me rephrase what I'm going to ask him."

"Harry, are you tired or something? You sound like it," Sirius asked his godson.

Harry nodded and Lily saw. "Yeah. I didn't get much sleep last night."

Sirius noted for the first time how tired Harry's voice sounded.

"Go to sleep. I'm sure someone will wake you up before class. Catch me later, okay?" Sirius said.

"All right. Thanks, Sirius."

Sirius didn't say anything in return. He got up and watched Harry through the window with Lily. The way his shoulders rose and fell it was obvious he had fallen asleep quickly.

They watched for a while as a few students trickled into the room. Ginny came in first and she sat down next to Harry after placing a small kiss on his upturned cheek. Hermione came in next, dragging Ron who was eating a piece of toast and held another in his free hand. Two minutes later Draco walked into the room. They formed a small group around Harry.

Suddenly Harry jerked upright, very much awake. He looked around wildly for a moment before settling down.

Immediately a chorus of, "what's wrong?" was heard.

Lily smiled as she heard her son's next words.

"It feels like someone's watching me."

Sirius laid a hand on Lily's shoulder. If only Harry knew who was watching him, Sirius thought.

~*~

Five minutes into the duel quickly proved why Ginny was put into the sixth year Defense class. She seemed to be a natural at dueling. Her opponent, Terry Boot from Ravenclaw, was fighting a losing battle.

Ginny fired spell after spell at Terry. Harry had to admit that he was pretty good to have fended off Ginny for that long. Then again, he was just constantly using shield charms, not even launching his own offence.

Right as Terry's shield charm died and he was saying the words to renew it, Ginny fired three stunning spells in a row. They hit Terry before he could finish the words. Cheers went up from all but the Ravenclaws and Slytherins when Terry fell onto the floor. Professor Moody performed the counter to the stunning spells and declared Ginny the winner.

"If you don't mind, Professor, I would like to see Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley face off against each other," said a voice from the back of the room.

All the students turned in their seats to see Professor Dumbledore standing in the back of the room by the door. His bright blue eyes carried that familiar twinkle in them.

"Of course, Professor Dumbledore. We can bump the next two groups to tomorrow," Professor Moody replied. "Potter, Miss Weasley, up you get."

Harry and Ginny stood next to each other at the front of the room as Dumbledore spoke once more.

"Start with your wands please. If you happen to lose them, don't be afraid to use your hands. Fight like you mean it, as if this was a matter of life and death."

Harry and Ginny stared open-mouthed at the headmaster. He had just given them permission to use wandless magic. Never before had they been allowed to use it in public outside of when they were behind their bed curtains and they were sure they weren't being watched.

"Let's get a move on it, duelers!" Moody yelled.

Harry jumped at the sound of his Professor's voice. Ginny however was already waiting for him.

"No going easy on me, Harry," Ginny said.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Harry said as he bowed and stepped back.

"On my count," Moody started. "Three... two... one... go!"

Spells were fired so fast that no one could keep up. Heads whipped back and forth between the two duelers. Harry dove out of the way of a stunning spell that was aimed directly at his chest and fired a stunner of his own as he slid. It was above her ankles so Ginny had to jump high to avoid it. Unlike Harry, she didn't fire a spell. This gave Harry a chance to get up before the duel became heated again.

The students had stopped cheering, so engrossed in the duel to make a sound. There was an occasional scream from a girl when either Harry or Ginny would be hit by a spell that injured them. Currently Ginny's leg below her skirt was cut, the blood trickling down and soaking her sock. Harry's lip was bleeding due to a poorly aimed spell. His tongue was constantly coming out to lick the blood.

The duel had been going on for fifteen minutes with both sides seeming to run an offensive position. Still, Harry felt himself getting nowhere. He felt limited by the number of spells he could do with a wand. He longed to feel the pure magic rushing through his body again. He was craving the power without realizing it.

Suddenly he stopped firing spells except for a single shield charm. Gasps could be heard around the room as Ginny slowed her attacks.

"Harry, you wouldn't dare," she said shakily.

Harry's eyes glinted and Ginny knew there was no stopping him. Instead, she made a split second decision to go along with it. This is what Dumbledore wanted, after all. She could almost see Harry counting down the seconds until the real duel was about to begin. Out of the corner of her eye, as she stopped her attack completely, she could see both Professors making their way towards the front. Ginny nearly laughed, they had no clue what was happening. Only she could read Harry like that.

The whole class was silent, watching with bated breath. Harry stared at her, knowing she was counting down too. He mouthed the word 'five' and Ginny nodded. She began to silently count down with him. Harry's shield began to waver. He too noticed the teachers coming closer.

"Someone catch!" he yelled, tossing his wand into the group of students.

Barely a second later he had a shield charm being maintained with his left hand and was firing spell after spell towards Ginny with his right.

"Damn you!" Ginny screamed as she tossed her wand carelessly into the crowd. "You didn't wait until one!"

She got her shield up with her left hand just in time to block the first of Harry's barrage of curses. Quickly she started launching her own offense.

"Never play fair, Ginny," Harry yelled in return.

Hermione screamed when Ginny fired a spell that grazed Harry's shoulder. It tore through the material of his clothing and set it on fire. It also began to burn his shoulder. Harry screamed and waved his hand over it, extinguishing the fire. Suddenly he began to move forward. He stopped firing spells all together, putting both hands together to strengthen his shield charm. He kept advancing towards Ginny.

Ginny continued to fire spells at Harry even though his shield was so large it was nearly impossible to get anything past it. About twenty feet away from Ginny, Harry stopped, getting rid of his shield. He ducked as a spell went whizzing over his head and suddenly he lunged at Ginny, knocking her clean off her feet. She landed with a thud on the hard floor of the classroom, Harry on top of her. There were a few whistles and teasing remarks from the class but they were immediately told to shut up by the people very wrapped up in the duel.

Ginny felt a wall of pure magic building up inside her. It pushed against her hands, desperate to get out. Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. Harry had told her about it enough. Her pure magic was finally being released in its fullest.

Harry's hands pressed down hard, his fingers intertwining with hers. Ginny raised her elbows off the floor, pushing back against him with all her strength. She could feel the pure magic pulsing through her body and to the tips of her fingers but she held it back, knowing she would need that buildup later.

Harry's mouth began to form words, words Ginny was sure would end the duel if she didn't do something. She gave her magic the release it was looking for. The effect was instantaneous.

There was a brilliant flash of white light and a loud boom. Harry was blown backwards, his fingers ripped from Ginny's. He flew towards the wall at an amazingly fast speed. There was nothing to stop him from hitting it, and he did. There was a sickeningly loud crack as his head hit the stonewall. Harry slid down the wall and landed with in a heap on the floor. He lay unmoving.

Ginny sat up and stared wide-eyed at Harry. Even from across the room she could see the trail of blood on the wall where he had slid down it. She counted ten seconds and there was still no sign of movement. The Professors were hurrying over to Harry. Most of the class had stood up to see if Harry was all right.

Before she knew what she was doing, Ginny stood and sprinted to Harry, falling ungraciously into a kneeling position in front of him. She grabbed his hand, checking his wrist for a pulse. She felt one, but it was very faint.

Suddenly she heard a whisper. Then she froze and knew no more.

~*~

Ginny felt herself thawing out. She could blink her eyes again and she flexed her fingers as the ice melted from them.

Why am I covered in ice? she thought.

"Ah, Ginny, it's good to see you thawing out early. Harry's spell was weak so it's no wonder it didn't take you the full hour," Dumbledore's face loomed above hers as he spoke. "That was quite an impressive duel."

"Thank you, sir," Ginny said as her memories of the duel came flooding back. "Harry! Oh Merlin, what happened to him?"

"Look to your left."

Ginny rolled onto her side and gasped at the sight of her boyfriend. He lay unmoving and his chest rose and fell slowly. A large bandage was wrapped around his head and Hermione was holding a washcloth to his shoulder. His uniform shirt had been unbuttoned and pushed off his arm. Ginny gasped as she saw that Harry's upper arm was covered in a massive burn. She watched Hermione sigh and move her free hand under her chin to prop it up on the bed. Ron and Draco, who were also there, could only watch helplessly as Hermione applied the cool cloth to Harry's arm and shoulder.

I did all this.

Draco seemed to have heard her gasp because he turned to her with a grim look on his face. Seeing her eyes open, he came over to her. He sat down on the edge of her bed and offered her a slight smile.

"Harry will be fine. He hasn't woken up since he blacked out after using that last spell though. Pomfrey says he most likely has a concussion and a fractured skull. He'll be out of it for a few days. Whatever you did to him was really powerful. I've never seen anyone get thrown against a wall with such force. Even so, you lost. Harry got you with the Impedo Glacialis but it was so weak you were only frozen for half an hour," Draco informed her.

"But he will be all right?" Ginny asked with fear lacing her voice.

"He'll be fine in a few days."

"Can I go over to him?"

Madam Pomfrey came over to Ginny's bed. She waved her wand over Ginny and muttered a spell. A purple aura surrounded Ginny for a few seconds and then went away.

"All right, you're free to go. Just try not to overdo any spells for a while, it's weakened you as well as hurting others," the nurse said. "Yes, you can go over to Mr. Potter."

Ginny jumped up and went over to Harry's side. She didn't hear Madam Pomfrey tell Draco that Blaise would be awake within the next twenty-four hours. As a matter of fact, in Harry's plight Ginny had completely forgotten about Blaise.

Harry's right hand was curled on his stomach. His left hand, which had been lying at his side, was now being held by Ginny's hand. Her thumb stroked over it.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I'm so, so sorry," she whispered.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to find Ron staring down at her. The look in his eyes told her that he was there for her if she needed a shoulder to cry on. Ginny swallowed hard, feeling a lump rising in her throat. Before she knew it her eyes were filling with tears. She stood, letting Harry's hand fall gently back onto the bed. Ron's arms wrapped around her and held Ginny tightly, rocking her like Mrs. Weasley used to. Ginny began to cry quietly. Ron stroked her hair, whispering words of comfort to her.

And Hermione just kept on dabbing at Harry's burns.

~*~

Blaise's dream began to slip away from her. It faded into the blackness of her mind. She felt herself blinking, adjusting to it.

Blinking? she questioned.

Then it hit her. She was awake, finally. In the dark she couldn't recognize where she was. She assumed it was the hospital wing. A little light was coming through the window behind her and it illuminated the bed across the room from her. A figure was lying in it.

"Harry?" she spoke, her voice rasping from days of not being used.

The boy on the bed didn't move. Blaise could see the black hair poking out from under bandages. What did I miss?

"Miss Zabini, welcome back to us," Madam Pomfrey said as she made her way over. "You've been out for about two days."

Blaise sat up with a little difficulty. She was still weak from the outburst. Madam Pomfrey grabbed her upper arm to support her.

"What exactly have I missed in those two days?" she questioned.

Blaise was staring past Madam Pomfrey at the bed across from her. Harry slept on, oblivious to everything around him. The nurse caught her gaze.

"Under Headmaster Dumbledore's orders Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley faced off in a duel in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Apparently Miss Weasley blasted Mr. Potter into the far wall. He has a concussion and a large gash in the back of his head."

Blaise's eyes widened as she heard the news. She hadn't expected that. Maybe a battle or a Bludger to the head at Quidditch practice but not being blasted into a wall by Ginny Weasley.

"I thought Har- Potter would be able to hold his own against a Weasley, let alone the Weaslette," Blaise said, using Draco's old name for Ginny.

Madam Pomfrey chuckled lightly. "Headmaster Dumbledore explained what's been going on since he feels all of you will keep ending up in here more and more. I know all about how you are friends with Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley."

Blaise smiled sheepishly. "Oh."

Madam Pomfrey nodded. "I would like to keep you here for another day at least, possibly up to three, for further inspection. You are still quite weak and I don't want to send you back out with your magic slightly haywire. You may find it acting up for the next few days. From what I heard, you caused quite a scene in the Great Hall. As a matter of fact, Mr. Malfoy should be by in a while to see you."

Blaise nodded.

"Now lay back down so I can check over you."

~*~

Draco pushed open the door to the hospital wing. He had only grabbed a quick breakfast before heading down to the infirmary. He wanted to see Blaise and Harry. Blaise had priority, but if she wasn't awake Harry would do just fine. Even though Draco knew the other boy wouldn't hear, he wanted to tell him just how much Ginny was proving she cared about him.

Ginny had taken this very hard. No one could shake her overwhelming sense of guilt. Draco had seen her going into breakfast with Hermione and Ron practically crying. The blond noticed that the group looked strangely empty without Harry.

As he shut the door behind him, he looked around the room. Draco smiled as he saw Blaise sitting up on her bed with a few pillows propping her up. He made his way over to her bedside.

"Hey, welcome back," he said.

Blaise offered a weak smile. "It's good to see you. Apparently I've missed a lot."

Draco knew she was referring to Harry who was still lying motionless on his bed. They both turned as the door opened again and a red-eyed Ginny Weasley stepped through. Hermione followed her in, leading Ginny over to Harry's bed. It looked as if Ginny could barely see because her eyes were so full of tears. She made it seem as if Harry had died, not just knocked into a concussion for a few days. Yet Draco sympathized with her. He had felt like his world wasn't right either when Blaise had gotten herself knocked out too.

"Ginny's not taking all this to well, is she?" Blaise said a little sadly.

Draco shook his head. "She is the one who got him in this state so it makes sense for her to overreact a little."

They continued to watch as Ginny took Harry's seemingly lifeless hand in hers and burst into tears. Hermione stood behind her unsure of what to do. Ginny turned to Hermione and gently asked her to leave. The brunette nodded and turned to leave. Her eyes fell on Blaise and she immediately made her way over.

"It's great to see you awake again, Blaise," she said. "Professor Snape's been harder on me than ever since you're not there."

Blaise smiled a little. "I'm sure you're doing just fine without me. You'll have your partner back as soon as Pomfrey lets me out in a day or two. Speaking of that, Draco, how was it without Harry?"

Draco smirked. "A lot easier. Harry's a horrible potions maker. I don't know how he managed to pass his O.W.L.s."

"Well it's not like he's dumb!" Hermione said suddenly.

Two pairs of eyes, one gray and one blue-green, stared at her. Hermione reddened slightly.

"He picks up on things pretty fast, that's all. He's just a little afraid to come out of his shell," Hermione continued and she was met with questioning stares. "I don't know if I should tell you this, I mean it is Harry's story and all... oh all right, I'll tell you. When Harry was a kid in primary school he had a rough time. He was smart and he started to beat Dudley in his subjects. When report cards were sent home and his Uncle Vernon saw the grades he beat Harry and threatened to do much worse the next time. Ever since then Harry's been making himself seem dumber down to the point where he would say wrong answers even if he knew the right ones and it worked. He wasn't ever able to break free of that so he just doesn't apply himself. Honestly I think he still thinks that if he does well that his uncle will beat him again when he goes home over the summer."

There was a silence after Hermione finished that was overbearing. Draco couldn't think of what to say. Harry had never told him that. He'd always just figured that Harry was dumb. In all honesty he had always appeared that way.

"That's horrible," Blaise said finally.

The three teens heard a sniffle and turned to see Ginny standing before them. Her eyes were redder than before and a tear was rolling down her cheek. Without thinking Draco beckoned her next to him and wiped the tear away, somehow knowing it was what Harry would have done.

"It's great you're awake, Blaise. But that's not even the worst, about Harry that is. They've had him doing slave labor all his life," she started in a shaky voice. "His Aunt Petunia taught him to cook as soon as she thought it was safe so he could cook meals for them. Mostly it was just breakfast, he told me, but he said once in a while they'd make him cook dinner. Then they'd give him whatever was leftover. Didn't you ever wonder why he's so thin? He suffered with malnutrition his entire childhood."

Another silence enveloped the group until Blaise broke it.

"I'm sorry to interrupt the stories of Harry's life but I have something a little more important," she said and paused just long enough to make sure she had their attention. "Do any of you know what happened to get me here?"

"No," three different voices chorused.

"I received a letter from my parents and they told me... they told me..."

Blaise found her eyes tearing up as she spoke. She motioned to the table beside her bed where the clothes from two days ago lay untouched. Madam Pomfrey had told her that Professor Snape had come in and placed the letter in her shirt pocket. The nurse didn't know if the Potions Master had read it or not.

"Hermione, could you get my shirt?

Hermione gave her a quizzical look before grabbing the shirt and handing it to Blaise. Blaise reached into the pocket and drew out a folded piece of parchment. She handed the letter to Draco, unable to look at it, knowing the words it contained.

"Read," she instructed.

Draco unfolded the letter and began to read. Blaise watched as her boyfriend's eyes widened and his face paled so he looked ghostly. By the time he finished his hands were shaking. He handed the letter to Ginny. She had a similar reaction except there was no shaking, only more tears. With a stricken look she handed it across the bed to Hermione who gasped as she read it. When she was done her lower lip was quivering. She handed the letter back to Blaise.

Just then, the door to the hospital wing opened again. This time Ron stepped through. His eyes first went to Harry's bed and then, seeing no one was there, scanned the room until his eyes fell on the group around Blaise. He made his way over.

"Hey, good to see you awake Blaise. There's only ten minutes until class starts," Ron said.

Then he noticed the solemn look of the group.

"Did I miss something?"

Blaise handed him the letter. Ron read it but his reaction was different from the others. He seemed almost calm about it. He handed it back to Blaise.

"It makes sense why Dumbledore wanted to keep your training a secret," he commented. "We can't exactly do anything about it right now."

The other four teens gaped at him. Ron shrugged and then said what all of them had been thinking.

"We need Harry."

~~**~~