Ouch.
Harry's eyelids fluttered open, only to see a dim blur that he supposed must be the Hospital Wing. He blindly reached for his glasses, pushing them onto his face and sitting up.
He was the first of his friends to wake up, as he saw Hermione rubbing her eyes and Draco beginning to stir, while Ron lay motionless in another bed. His chest hurt, weirdly. He rubbed the front of his ribcage, wincing at the soreness that made him stiffen in pain. Then, suddenly, the memories flooded through his brain.
Sirius.
Merlin's balls.
Out of the corner of his eye, a greasy mop of black hair could be spotted behind a curtain a few beds down. Harry was about to swing his legs out of the bed when Madam Pomfrey noticed his consciousness.
"Ah, you're awake!" she handed Harry a piece of chocolate, which he promptly put down. He had no time for recovery quite yet. He hurriedly kicked off his sheets, much to the alarmed muttering of the nurse, but he ignored her.
"Is Ron alright?"
"Yes, he'll be fine, he's just under a Sleeping Draught. Now, lay down, dear—"
"I need to see the headmaster," he said firmly.
"Potter," tutted Pomfrey sympathetically. "It's all right. They've got Black locked away upstairs. The dementors will be performing the kiss any minute now—"
"WHAT?!" Harry leaped out of bed, and he could hear his friends doing the same. At his shout, Snape had come over with the man Harry recognized as Minister Fudge.
"Harry, what's this?" asked the round-faced man anxiously. "You should be in bed— Poppy, have you given him any chocolate?"
"Minister, please listen! Sirius Black's innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't let the dementors do that thing to Sirius, he's—
The Minister cut him off with a sad smile. "Harry, you're very confused, you just been through something dreadful, you must lie back down now, we've got everything under control..."
"No, you clearly haven't!" said Draco, who was now fully awake and ready. "You've got the wrong man, Minister!"
Hermione came up to the Minister quietly and politely. "Minister, listen please, I saw him too. It was Ron's rat, he's an Animagus. Pettigrew, I mean, and—"
"You see, Minister?" drawled Snape. "Confunded, all of them. Black's done a very good job on them..."
"WE'RE NOT FUCKING CONFUNDED!" yelled Harry and Draco simultaneously. Hermione jumped with fright at the profanity, and Snape's lip curled.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for such vulgar language, no matter its Muggle origins," he hissed, as the Minister stood dumbly in confusion.
Pomfrey used the pause to interject angrily. "Minister! Professor! I must ask you to leave. Potter and Malfoy are my patients, and they should not be distressed!"
With a couple of seconds to recover, Harry had managed to stifle the urge to throttle his Potions professor. "I'm not distressed, I'm trying to tell them what happened! If they would just listen—"
He was interrupted by a large piece of chocolate being shoved into his mouth by a very agitated-looking Madam Pomfrey. He choked a bit, and she took the opportunity to push him back into bed.
"Now please, Minister," said Madam Pomfrey imploringly. "The children need their rest—"
But she was cut off once more by the headmaster striding into the Hospital Wing. By some miracle, Harry managed to swallow the chocolate and stood again.
"Professor Dumbledore! Sirius Black—"
"—For heaven's sake, is this a hospital wing or not?" The nurse was getting quite furious now, and her fair skin was beginning to flush pink. "Headmaster, I must insist—"
"My apologies, Poppy, but I need a word with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger," said Dumbledore warmly. Pomfrey opened her mouth to protest, but Draco cut in.
"And what about me? I've just been through the same thing—Salazar's sake—Black is my cousin!" His voice was strained, and Harry supposed he wasn't used to being so blunt and stubborn all the time.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but this matter does not quite concern you." Dumbledore maintained his calm and friendly demeanor, but Harry could tell that Draco knew better than to challenge the headmaster, as the man turned back to the nurse. "My apologies, Poppy, but I'm afraid I must insist."
The headmaster smiled apologetically and turned to lead Harry and Hermione out of the wing. Harry turned one last time to look at Ron's slumbering silhouette, then nodding goodbye to Draco, who mouthed Be safe before walking out.