Till The End | h.p

never better

Harry wakes up in the Hospital Wing, to piles of sweets at the foot of his bed as Dumbledore walks in.

"Good afternoon, Harry. Tokens from your admirers, I see."

"Admirers?"

"What happened in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret...so, naturally, the whole school knows."

Harry lets out a breathy laugh. "Where is Sam? Is she alright? What about Ron? Hermione?"

"Fine. They're all just fine," Dumbledore responds as Harry smiles.

"But what happened to the Stone, Professor?"

"Relax, dear boy. The Stone has been destroyed. My friend Nicholas and I have had a little chat and agreed it was best all around."

"But then, Flamel, he'll die, won't he?" Harry asks.

Dumbledore sits on the side of his bed, "He has enough Elixir to set his affairs in order. But yes, he will die."

"How is it I got the Stone, sir? One minute I was staring in the mirror and next-"

"Ah, you see, only a person who wanted to find the Stone, find it but not use it, would be able to get it," Dumbledore leans in slightly and whispers, "That is one of my more brilliant ideas. And between you and me, that is saying something."

Harry chuckles slightly, "Does that mean, with the Stone gone, that Voldemort can never come back?"

"Ah, I'm afraid there are ways in which he can return."

Harry looks to the ground before Dumbledore speaks again.

"Harry, do you know why Professor Quirrell couldn't bear to have you touch him?"

Harry shakes his head lightly.

"It was because of your mother. She sacrificed herself for you. And that kind of act leaves a mark."

Harry reaches up to touch his scar.

"No, no. This kind of mark cannot be seen. It lives in your very skin."

"What is it?"

"Love, Harry. Love."

When Harry gets out of the Hospital Wing he comes across his best friends. They stand, talking to each other, on top of the stairs. He smiles up at them until the notice.

"All right there, Ron?" He asks.

Ron shrugs, "All right. You?"

Harry also shrugs, "All right. Hermione?"

She grins down at him, "Never better."

He looks to Sam and she gives him a small comforting smile that he was more than grateful to see again.