chaos ~ fred weasley

28. not alone

"Not. Alone," I manage to grit out through the pain before another Dementor swoops down and begins to Kiss us. Harry smiles faintly, closing his eyes.

An eerie white light shaped sort of like a stag clouds my vision and then everything turns black.

I drop the empty glass and it falls to the ground and smashes instantly, but I get out of bed anyway. My head doesn't pound anymore, and I feel more energetic. I notice absentmindedly that the glass is cutting my bare feet as I whip the white curtain back, tracking blood on the floors as I rush over to the mess of black hair spread out on the pillow on the other side of the infirmary.

Softly, I call out, my voice shaking. "Harry?"

I want to sob when I see the round glasses being reached for on the bedside table as he sits up, placing the glasses on his nose after rubbing his eyes. It's him. He's okay. He's okay. His eyes widen when he sees me, and I hug him tightly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Are you okay?" he asks, scanning my body for injuries.

I smile brightly, nodding. "I'm fine, you idiot. What about you?"

He winces as he nods, touching his head. "Bit of a headache..." he trails off, becoming distant as he thinks of something. He jumps out of bed suddenly, looking at me. "It was him! The Patronus that saved us, it was him," he tells me excitedly, nodding as if to confirm it to himself.

"It was who, Harry?" Hermione asks uncertainly.

"My dad," he says bluntly, and I freeze. "No, I know what you're thinking, but I swear, I saw the Patronus. It was a stag, right Vee?"

Hermione and Harry both look to me and I cringe at their expectant eyes. "I think it was a stag... but it can't have been your father. I'm sorry."

He shakes his head, looking away and taking a deep breath. "My father's Patronus is a stag. Who else could've saved us? I saw it, right after Sirius..." he stops talking. "Ohmygod, SIRIUS!"

I know he's going to lunge forward to leave before he even moves, so in an instant he is struggling in my grip. "Harry, you can't do anything for him." I may not know where Sirius is, but I know Harry can't stop whatever is going to happen.

Hermione grimaces. "He's going to be taken to Azkaban again, Harry. The Dementors are going to perform the Kiss."

Just as Harry begins to get upset again, I feel very faint. I move towards him to calm him down but instead I stumble and fall, hitting my head on the cold floor.

**

When I finally come to, I am greeted by the sight of Harry and Hermione standing close together, looking at something I can't see. I look to one side and notice as I stand up that Madam Pomfrey applied a balm to my forehead which must've helped me feel better- my head isn't pounding any more, which is great. I'm able to quickly walk over to the pair and peer over their shoulders to see that they are both wearing a large necklace which has a strange circular charm on it. I watch as it spins a few times, and Hermione finally notices my presence.

She gasps, and then nods to herself. "Better bring you along too, I think," she says as she slips part of the chain around my neck.

Something strange begins to happen. I feel strange looking around as blurry images move oddly around the room, and I realize we are going backwards in time only when I see myself passed out on the floor and then stand up and move towards Harry.