Chapter 16-Repercussions

Harry awoke with a gasp in the hospital wing as he sat up straight and his head hit something above him with a loud thump.

"Merlin, that's going to leave a mark!" exclaimed someone before he felt hands on his shoulders.

Jerking roughly away from the hands, he moved to the far side of the bed, his eyes out of focus and his ears ringing with the screams of children, his body wracked with tremors and his head feeling like it would split from the pain.

"Harry, listen to me, it's Sirius" said the voice again and he turned his head slightly to look at the figure beside him before his mind caught up with his body and he let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding as he slumped back into his pillows "Here, drink this" and he felt the smooth edge of a vial against his lips and swallowed obediently, welcoming the numbness that spread through his body. Though the pains were still very present, the potion took the edge off enough that he was able to focus more on what was going on around him.

Madame Pomfrey was waving her wand over him and reading the writing that was appearing on a parchment in her hand. Snape was hunched over the potions cabinet in the corner pulling out several different vials and placing them on top of the cabinet. Remus was helping Dumbledore hold Sirius' head still while they performed a spell to staunch the flow of blood streaming from his nose. All of these sights only served to confuse him until he began to take a serious inventory of his own body.

Every muscle ached and he could feel the spasms running up and down his arms and legs. His throat felt shredded and he could taste blood in his mouth around his swollen tongue. His entire body was wet and sticky, and after carefully moving his head to look at his chest and his arms, he could see not only a thin layer of sweat had soaked his pajamas, but there were several dark red areas staining his pajamas as well as the sheets below him. Frightened, he turned to look at his godfather who had just returned to the side of the bed, his nose no longer bleeding, but the skin looking slightly swollen.

"What happened?" he asked, his throat grating and causing him to wince.

"You have been caught in a vision for over three hours. The worst one yet. How are you feeling?" asked the older man in concern, taking the shaking hand in his own.

"Hurts" was all he could rasp out before he remembered the vision and his eyes snapped open and into focus immediately. "Dumbledore?"

"I'm here Harry" said the aged headmaster

"There was an attack. St. Catherine's orphanage. Everyone' s dead. Took four, two boys, two girls. Andrews, Gordon, Masters, the oldest going to Draco. Alyssa Pierson. First year. Wants her to spy. Sent Malfoy on mission to find me" even though his thoughts couldn't form complete sentences, the headmaster knew what he was saying and nodded his head gravely.

"Thank you Harry. Try and get some rest now, we will talk when you have recovered" he said and he approached Remus and motioned Sirius over as Snape came forward and helped him drink the six potions he had gathered, the last sending him to sleep as soon as he had swallowed it before he too joined the group with Madame Pomfrey.

"Albus, the visions are getting worse, his body can't take much more of the Cruciatus curse. He was under it for almost three consecutive hours today, completely reversing all the progress he had made up until now" said the nurse in concern "The nerve damage is almost to the point where it can not be healed at all and the strain on his heart sent him into cardiac arrest for a full five minutes before we got him back. If this continues, we will loose him next time" she said

"We have to figure something out, but so far all of my research has been in vain. We can only hope that Voldemort will lay low for a while so Harry can recuperate. If any of you finds anything that can help with this, please let me know, we need a solution to this problem and we need it now" he said before turning and leaving the room to await Draco who would most certainly be bring Miss. Pierson to him as soon as his father left.

It was three days before Harry awoke. Three agonizing days of fear that Voldemort would strike again and destroy what precious little was left of the boy-who-lived.

When he awoke, the first thing he noticed was the sound of several people talking somewhere nearby before the pain coursing through his body overwhelmed him and a sharp gasp was torn from his throat.

Sirius and Snape were at his side in an instant, the rest of the group hanging back slightly to let them attend to Harry.

"Harry, drink this" said Sirius and obediently, he swallowed the icy potion and felt the pain subside slightly and he was able to open his eyes to see those of his former professor.

"Mr. Potter" he began, but stopped when the boy clamped his eyes shut and his entire body tensed. Confused, he looked to Sirius who looked just as baffled before he had a thought and tried again "Harry" he said in as soothing of a voice as he could manage and when he received no ill response, he continued "Harry, I need you to drink this potion" he said, but the boy made no effort to take the goblet from his hands, instead looking blankly at the potion masters face.

"Why?" he finally rasped out through his sore throat.

"Pardon?" was all he could come up with in response.

"Why are you giving it to me and not Poppy or Sirius? You never give me potions" he said bluntly, his mind still not quite caught up with his consciousness.

Clearly baffled, Snape just looked at the black haired youth before him for several moments before he came up with a response "Harry, this potion has never been tested, in fact, I just created it two days ago in hopes that it will be able to block the visions you suffer from" he said at last.

"No" was the only response he received

"What?" said six voices at once.

"I won't take it" and for the first time, Harry's eyes were clearly focused and it was obvious that he knew just what he was saying.

"Why not?" asked Dumbledore, being the first to regain his speech patterns.

"Because, if I stopped having the visions, I would stop learning of his plans before he could execute them. As grateful as I am that you have been able to brew a potion that might help, I can't risk not having these visions. Too many people would die"

"Harry, you don't understand. These visions are killing you. The last one caused your heart to stop for nearly five minutes before we could get it going again and the damage to your nerves and muscles is already irreversible. If you keep having them, you will die" said the potions master in rare concern.

"No offense, but if they were going to kill me, they would have while I was in the manor or Azkaban, not while I was finally recuperating somewhat" responded Harry and his statement caused the room to fall silent because they all knew what he said was very true.

"But the pain they cause you…" Sirius said quietly

"Sirius, the pain from the visions is tolerable compared to the real pain I have felt" he said before turning again to face Snape "but if you could brew a potion that would block the pain but allow the visions. I would be forever grateful" he said with a grim smile.

"I'll see what I can do, Harry" replied the potions master before he nodded to those in the room and left.

Suddenly remembering the vision from a few days ago, Harry's green eyes sought out the blue ones of the headmaster "Where is Alyssa?" he asked.

"She is staying with Draco until school starts next week" answered the older man

"Is she ok?" he asked, knowing the young girl had been through a lot during the attack.

"She will be, we modified her memory about certain things that happened at the orphanage, but she remembers the attack for the most part. I am hoping that when she comes to Hogwarts she will make friends and be able to move past this. And before you ask, we have led raids on the houses of the other deatheaters who were given children and have brought them to the orphanage Molly and Ginny have established, so they too are safe" he replied with a smile and Harry felt relief wash over him at the news.

"Thank you, sir" he said through a yawn.

"Why don't you get some sleep, it looks like the mild sleeping draught we gave you has started to kick in" said Sirius with a smile at Harry's half hearted glare.

"Is everything still on for Diagon Alley tomorrow?" he asked as he stifled another yawn

"Yes, everything's set up and all the groups are scheduled for arrival" replied Sirius

"Am I still going?"

"Are you up for it?" asked his godfather in concern

"As much as I'll ever be" he replied with a shrug

"Ok then, I'll be up here for you at eight, but you will stay on lookout, not with any groups, you're not ready to spend hours hiking around the alley" said Sirius firmly

"Ok, if you insist" he mumbled before he slumped back and was asleep in an instant.

The next morning dawned unseasonably cold and slightly overcast, causing all those bound for Diagon Alley to don thick jumpers . When Sirius arrived in the hospital wing, he was surprised to see Harry already up and dressed sitting in a chair beside the large window. He turned abruptly upon hearing the soft footfalls on the stone floor and relaxed slightly upon seeing his godfather. Sirius smiled at him and came to a stop next to the teens chair.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" he asked with no preamble

"No offence, Sirius, but if I don't do this now, I never will" said Harry grimly

"But you just woke up yesterday after being unconscious for three days, no one would think less of you if you stayed behind and got some rest"

"All I've done since I got back is rest, I need too get out of this castle, if only for a few hours. I need to do this"

"Ok then, Dumbledore asked me to give you this" he said as he drew the peculiar wand from his pocket and held it out for the boy.

"Whose wand it that?" asked Harry, his brow furrowed

"Yours, apparently, Albus asked Ollivander to make it for you" said Sirius

"I forgot, He took mine in the graveyard, I never found out what happened to it" he said quietly as he took the wand from his godfather. As soon as his hand gripped the dark wood, brilliant sparks of scarlet, gold, and black shot from the tip and drifted gently to the rug under their feet.

"Well, it certainly looks as though the wand accepts you" said Sirius with a smile

"It feels so different from my other one" said Harry as he surveyed the bright veins winding around the wand. "what is the core?" he asked suddenly

"Phoenix feather and basilisk fang" responded Sirius

"Two different cores? How does it work then, wouldn't the magic from one cancel out the other?"

"I thought the same thing, but according to Albus, the each core draws strength from a different part of your magic. Something about polar opposites working better together under certain circumstances than they would work separately. That's all I know for sure, you'll have to ask Albus for a more detailed explanation" he said ruefully.

"I'll speak to him tonight, but if we don't leave now, we'll be late meeting the others" said Harry as he got to his feet, only to immediately have his knees buckle. If it weren't for Sirius who seemed to be expecting this, he would have fallen to the floor. "Thanks he said as he straightened his legs and regained his balance before he began to walk slowly to the door, his godfather beside him. Fifteen minutes later the pair entered the great hall and met up with the forty witches and wizards who would accompany them to the alley. Among these, Harry saw Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny, as well as many other familiar faces including the rest of the surviving Weasley family and most of the staff of the castle.

"Now that we are all present, let us review today's mission" said Dumbledore as Harry and Sirius joined Remus at the back of the group, nearest the staircase they had just descended. "Would you each report to the leader of the group that you have been assigned to for the day?" he asked and a great shuffling took place as everyone sought out their respective groups. Several minutes later found Harry and Sirius joined by four others and Remus surrounded by his own group near them.

"Ok, here's the plan" said Sirius "We will be stationed on the roof of The Leaky Cauldron as a lookout for those exiting the pub as well as to guard the backs of those leaving the alley. Each group on the ground will consist of six non order members and two members. A further twenty members and loyal aurors will be scattered throughout the alley under invisibility cloaks. Now, here's the important part, no one leaves their post no matter what, and no curses will be fired unless I give the ok. We don't want to give our location away unless absolutely necessary. Just keep your eyes open and your wands at the ready and hopefully all of this preparation will be for nothing and Voldemort and his followers will stay away today" he said as he shook hands with the other four and turned to look at the other groups to see if it was time to go yet. Harry took this opportunity to look at the rest of the group. He knew that the only reason he was stationed with this group was so that Sirius could keep an eye on him, but the others were expert spell casters and had circumstances been different, they would have all made excellent hit wizards, a job that Sirius had held until his imprisonment.

Other than the pair of them, there was a witch by the name of Michelle DePardeau, a Beaubatons graduate a few years older than Harry, and a witch Sirius's age named Alexandra Wheeler, and two wizards named Anthony Fields and Jeremy Sampson. Both were in their thirties and had been unspeakables before the ministry had been destroyed. The memories that the destruction of the head of the wizarding worlds government still caused Harry nightmares and that had been three years ago. So far, only the aurors had recovered and that was only because most of them had not been present during the attack, instead, much to His displeasure, they had been sent out only ten minutes before on a top secret raid of a suspected gathering area of the death eaters. As a result, they had suffered very minor losses in comparison and had been able to relocate to Hogwarts and continue their jobs with very little interruption.

"All right, if everyone is ready, we shall leave by the portkeys your leaders have. Good luck and be safe" said Dumbledore and immediately, the hall began to clear out as various groups disappeared.

"OK, everyone take hold" said Sirius holding out an old quill and as soon as they had all touched it, they were spinning away and found themselves standing on the roof of the pub, Harry only on his feet because Sirius had gripped his elbow before the portkey had activated.

"I hate portkeys" he grumbled and he heard the others chuckle around him.

"Ok, folks, lets get down to business. Michelle, you stay here, Anthony I want you there, Jeremy, you over here, and Alex, you go over there" he said and the four stationed themselves where he directed, one behind each slightly raised area of the roof, and himself and Harry in the middle. "Harry, I want you to stay with me, and promise me that you will let me know immediately if you begin to feel the least bit tired, ok?"

"Don't worry, Sirius, I'll be fine" he said with a small smile, watching the flock of birds fly overhead and savoring the sight and feel of the sliver of sunlight on his face and the cool breeze ruffling his still loose slacks and jumper. It was amazing how good those small things would feel after so long without them.

"Just stay safe, I can't stand to loose you again"

"I will" he said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile