It was dark. Everything hurt and he couldn’t seem to get his eyes to cooperate enough to open.
”SHE KILLED SIRIUS! SHE KILLED HIM”I’LL KILL HER!”
His head was swimming, making him squeeze his eyes even tighter to stop the headache that was forming in the back of his skull.
”DON’D GIB ID DO DEM!”
“There you are… Ha ha ha… You look funny, Harry… You’re all messed up…”
He tried to shake his head to clear it, but his neck protested and he found it too stiff to even move it a centimeter.
”About both of you, Potter, about both of you… Haven’t you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby?”
“The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo.”
“HAGGER!”
“He’s got Padfoot! He’s got Padfoot at the place where it’s hidden!”
The echoes in his head were doing nothing for his headache, making it worse more than anything. His mind felt as if it was on overload and he couldn’t make sense of most of it.
”Voldemort’s got Sirius.”
“The thing about growing up with Fred and George is that you sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” That was Ginny…
“Oh, I hope she tries Vanishing them next… They multiply by ten every time you try…”
“MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN”
“Clear your mind, Potter. Let go of all emotion.” Snape?
”It’s Ron’s dad. He’s been attacked by a snake and it’s serious, I saw it happen.”
“Ignore them, just ignore them.” Hermione. His head was throbbing fit to burst now…
”You were expelled?” Hagrid!
”Well, that clears that up. It would’ve been really annoying if you hadn’t explained yourself properly.” That was definitely Ron.
”Snuffles…”
“Teach us…“
“Hermione and me have stopped arguing…”
“To Ron and Hermione, the new Gryffindor prefects…”
“Molly doesn’t approve of Mundungus…”
“Back?”
“Dementors.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was absolutely mortified, sitting in a corner of the Hospital Wing with Ron and trying not to think about what had happened. It was, needless to say, not working no matter how hard she tried to put it out of her mind. “I could have killed him!” she screeched when Ron reiterated for the tenth time that it wasn’t her fault.
“And he probably would have killed you if you hadn’t done what you did,” he attempted to reason with her. This, too, was not working.
“I didn’t even do it on purpose, though; I slipped.”
“Well, it is sort of his fault you did. He hit you with that Impediment curse, remember?” She nodded shakily, biting hard on her lip…
The section of the ceiling her spell had hit fell in a heap, sending an ear-splitting crash echoing all through the bank. The Order members and Death Eaters paid it no mind, though, all of them too concentrated on their own private fights to worry about hers. Hermione was speechless for a moment, her jaw dropping as she yelled, “HARRY!” and ran toward the rubble. Not a moment later, Ron was at her side, having seen everything from afar. She was nearly hysterical, but after he calmed her enough they began to attempt to move the wreckage magically and find Harry beneath it. They didn’t know whether he was even alive or not, but they still had to find him. Hermione was having trouble at first, as she was too distressed to be able to control the spell properly, and this was slowing their progress greatly.
Soon after they started, they were joined by Mrs. Weasley and Remus, both asking what had happened and what they were doing. They explained as they continued to try shifting the heavy stone, pausing only for a moment to see that the Order had rounded up about a dozen Death Eaters and the rest had disappeared, the bank eerily quiet. The two adults nodded, trying not to panic for the teenagers’ sake, and pulled their wands out as well, helping to shift some of the rock.
There was actually more of it than it had seemed when the ceiling caved in, so it took their combined efforts to move the wreckage. It seemed to take much longer than it actually did, Ron, Hermione, Remus, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Tonks finally lifting all of the rock enough to find Harry underneath. He was hardly breathing when they did find him, and they knew enough to get him out of there as soon as possible, especially with the Ministry Aurors beginning to arrive at the scene. Tonks made a Portkey out of one of the small chunks of rock, holding it out for Remus, Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ron to take with Harry, and they disappeared, arriving a moment later in the Hogwarts Hospital wing. Dumbledore had told all of the Order members that there was to be no information given to the Ministry other than the fact that they had received intelligence about a raid that would be occurring at the bank, and nothing about Harry’s condition, before they had left for the bank.
Upon inspection, Madam Pomfrey had informed them that Harry would make a full recovery, though she would not know about his mental state until he was conscious. Ginny, after her mother had grudgingly allowed her to come to the school, had taken up residence with Remus next to Harry’s bed and was conversing with him quietly. Mrs. Weasley, despite being torn, had returned to Gringotts to make sure that the rest of her family had come through the fight safely, and Ron and Hermione had retreated to their corner of the Hospital Wing.
Hermione shook her head. “He wasn’t in his right mind, though. The Harry we know would never have done that.” Ron shrugged.
“Sure he wouldn’t have; he’s our best mate. But that wasn’t the Harry we know, so it’s totally different, Hermione.”
After a moment of pondering that answer, she sighed, “I guess you’re right.”
”Me?” he asked her, looking around himself with a mock-innocent expression on his face. “Are you sure it’s me you’re talking to? Maybe it’s you who should be in a bed.”
Grinning, Hermione laughed softly and shook her head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He was in a maze, trying desperately to find something so that he could get out of this place…
A lake, trying to find something… or was it someone?
He was flying through the air, a dragon following just yards-or was it mere feet?-behind him…
Someone was shouting a welcome to the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch world cup…
He and Hermione were watching a hippogriff flying away into the distance…
For what seemed like the millionth time, he was being helped off the floor of a classroom after a Patronus lesson with Lupin…
Ginny was on the floor of the Chamber of Secrets, unconscious and deathly pale…
He, Ron, and Hermione were at Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday Party in the dungeons…
He was alone with Quirrel in front of a mirror…
Hermione was trying to remember what Professor Sprout had said about Devil’s Snare…
He was asking the Sorting Hat not to put him in Slytherin…
Hagrid had come to the hut and was telling him that he was a wizard, newly accepted to Hogwarts…
Dudley was thundering down the stairs right over where he was sleeping in the cupboard…
The sound of a motorbike…
A flash of green light…
A woman-his mother-was pleading for someone to spare his life…
A man-his father-was yelling for her to take him and run…
His head was killing him.
“Crucio!”
Harry writhed and screamed on the floor of the Atrium in the Ministry of Magic. As the pain from Voldemort’s curse ripped through his body, Harry found himself wishing that his enemy would simply finish him off. At least it would end the pain from the curse, the guilt from the death of Sirius, and the knowledge that he had gotten his friends hurt and almost killed.
As time stretched, Harry felt as if he was becoming detached. He wasn’t in his own body anymore, but watching from afar. The pain was gone and he couldn’t bring himself to be too concerned about his body, lying a few feet away. Then, as suddenly as the detached feeling came, it was gone, and the pain was fresh and renewed. He was sure that it would not be much longer before he died or went mad from the pain.
The curse had been on Harry for longer than he could count and he was beginning to feel numb as his hoarse yells died. The last thing he saw before a black mist covered his mind was an old wizard running out of one of the lifts.
After that, his memory went blank.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So, what else happened?” Ginny was asking Remus, who was shaking his head with a slightly amused expression on his face.
“I’ve told you all that happened, Ginny.” She didn’t look convinced.
“Are you sure it isn’t that Mum told you not to tell me anything?”
Chuckling softly, he shook his head. “Of course not,” he began. “You are old enough to know what is going on, even if you aren’t old enough to be a part of it.”
This seemed to satisfy her and she nodded, sighing. “I can’t wait until I am old enough”“ He cut her off before she could finish her statement.
“Don’t be trying to grow up too fast. It isn’t all it is cracked up to be, Ginny, and you will be wishing soon enough that you can go back to the way you are now. Trust me,” he added when he saw her skeptic expression. Ginny, however, didn’t reply, shrugging her shoulders and sighing. “You’ll understand in a few years.”
“Yeah that’s what Mum keeps saying,” responded Ginny in a mumble, resting her elbow on her knee and laying her chin on her fist. Remus grinned.
“She’s a smart woman, and she is just trying to keep you safe.”
“Doesn’t stop it from being annoying, though.”
He nodded and honestly replied, “That’s true. Although, think of it like this: when you have kids someday, aren’t you going to be the same way?” She cringed and shook her head.
“No way!”
“You say that now,” he chuckled. “I’ll ask you again when that day comes.”
She rolled her eyes and grinned. “You do that, but the answer will still be the same, Remus.” It had been difficult to get used to calling him by his first name, but it wasn’t as if he were her professor anymore.
He simply shrugged and replied, “We’ll see.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The headmaster’s study was full this evening, the night after what had happened at Gringotts. Cornelius Fudge stood near Dumbledore’s desk, tapping his foot impatiently. Percy Weasley was a few feet away with a scroll of parchment, quill, and ink all tucked under his arm, just waiting for something worthy to take note of. Dolores Umbridge, having been rescued from the centaurs by Dumbledore himself, sat in one of the seats by his desk, a bit shaky but otherwise alright.
“You still haven’t answered my question, Dumbledore!” Fudge was exclaiming, eyeing the headmaster suspiciously. “How did you get the information about Gringotts before the Ministry? And why didn’t you alert us before you did anything about the matter?” Dumbledore shook his head calmly, a rather amused look on his face.
“Minister, if you will excuse me, the Order of the Phoenix has nothing to do with the Ministry, as I have already told you. It has been that way ever since its conception and it has so far remained so. As for how we received word in time to do something about the situation, that would be my own personal business rather than a Ministry matter.”
Percy looked scandalised, looking to the minister to say something. It wasn’t to be, though, as even Fudge was stumped, looking like a fish out of water with his mouth opening and closing a few times wordlessly. After a few minutes of silence, he gestured to the other two and walked to the door, having Percy help a still-shaky Umbridge out of it. “This isn’t over, Dumbledore,” he asserted before the door shut behind him.
The headmaster smiled knowingly and stood, walking over to Fawkes, nearly fully grown since what had happened at the Ministry a month or so ago and stroking his feathers.
There you are: a nice long one for you. Also, if you simply read through and took no notice: all of the quotes from the separate memories are taken straight from the books themselves, mostly from Order of the Phoenix. The italicised parts are the memories, for any of you that didn’t pick up on that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and will leave a review! After a year of work on this story, the final chapter is on its way.
~Miss Moony
Cruciatus Cursed by Moony 62442
Chapter Notes: We have established the fact that my creativity only reaches as far as what you do not recognise, and that Miss Rowling is responsible for what you do. Now, that being said…
We are near the end now, my friends: this is the second chapter from the end! Enjoy!