Planned Happenstance / drarry

St. Mungo's Hospital of Magical Maladies and Injuries

Harry's limbs felt numb and aching. It felt as if he had slept for a week without changing position once. But if he had been sleeping, why did he feel so bloody exhausted? It was like the bed was trying to slowly but surely swallow him. The bed! He was lying on a bed. But it wasn't his bed, was it? No, the pillow was too soft, and Harry was quite certain there were more than one. His bed only had one flat pillow, which made his neck and shoulders sore. Come to think of it, his shoulders felt quite relaxed now, and the usual headache that slowly crept up the back of his neck was gone.

Harry was quite ashamed to notice that he hadn't been this comfortable in ages. His regular headache was gone, and his aching muscles had finally decided to give him a break. He couldn't even feel his muscles, or his legs, or his arms. Maybe, Harry thought, maybe it wasn't that his muscles had given him a break rather than... he might have given them a break. From the eventful twelve-hour shifts at the Auror office, with him either sitting in front of his desk writing up a report, shoulders sore, or chasing some criminal through the busy streets of London, a business that usually landed him in the matron's office.

But he wasn't at the matron's office at the Ministry. That bed was a lot harder for the back. So, where was he? Harry tried to open his eyes, but it was too bright, so he squeezed them shut tightly. Instead, he tried wriggling his finger. It moved against the soft fabric of the blanket he was tucked under. He tried another finger, then his whole hand. It was effortless. The other arm seemed to be fine too. Then his toes, he could feel all of them, still attached to his working feet, and to his legs that obeyed him by lifting up from the bed and back down. Great. It was time to attempt opening his eyes again, and carefully, Harry squinted at the place he was in.

It was a large room for one person, with two armchairs forming a sort of sitting area in the far corner of the space. There was a vase of fresh flowers on the table in front of the setting, and the drawn curtains filtered gentle light onto the bed. Harry's wand was placed on another side table just a bit out of reach from the bed he was lying in. Right, Harry thought, he had somehow managed to get himself sent to St Mungo's. Robards would simply love that – they were understaffed as it was.

Harry tried to think of the last thing he remembered before waking up in this criminally comfortable bed. All of his memories felt terribly faded, like he was trying to remember something from a drunken night: everything was just out of reach and somehow disjointed. He remembered answering an emergency call with Ron, but nothing from the actual mission. Where had they gone? Was it Watford? Or Harrow? Somewhere further away?

Before Harry was able to come to any specific conclusion, the door to his room opened, and a plump lady in nurse's robes entered. Her eyes widened a little upon seeing Harry look back at her, but just cleared her throat in a most friendly way. "Good morning dear," she chirped at Harry, conjuring up a glass of water and pushing it into his hand, "I thought my charms detected some movement here, glad to see you're finally awake, how do you feel?" She pointed her wand at the window and the curtains pulled themselves aside swiftly, ribbons tying the fabric neatly to either side.

Harry took an obedient sip of the fresh water in his hand, he hadn't realized how parched his throat was. "What do you mean... finally awake?" he inquired, confused. How long had he been asleep? How long had he been in the hospital? What had really happened to him, and most importantly, was Ron okay? He was fairly sure it was Ron who he'd gone out on a mission with. And if Harry had ended up in the hospital, where was Ron? A quick shiver of panic spread from Harry's spine to his limbs, and he propped himself up on the bed.

"Don't you worry about a thing," said the nurse and gave Harry a well-rehearsed smile, "rest now, a Healer will be with you in just a few moments." And before Harry could ask anything more, the lady turned on her heel and tottered out of the room.