Harry peeled back heavy eyelids, his fuzzy vision taking in the surroundings.
He blinked at the revelation.
He was in the infirmary?
He also noted that he was the room's sol patient.
Where were his friends?!
Were they alright?!
Harry pushed down the covers to move, wanting to search for his missing companions.
"Ah, you are awake I see."
The ebony haired boy looked up, the familiar face of his headmaster walking towards his bed.
"Hmm,"
He smiled,
"Tokens from your admirers?"
The student titled his head, looking around more closely to finally realize that he had gifts.
Candy, cards and bags filling up the dressers and tables at his disposal.
Wow.....
"A-admirers?"
"What happened between you, Mr. Constantine and Professor Quirrell, had been decided to be a secret....so naturally the whole school knows."
Harry giggled at the backwards logic.
Dumbledore picked one of the boxes up, examining the small package softly.
"I see that, Mr. Weasley, has saved you the trouble of opening your Chocolate Covered Frog."
He fidgeted with the open lid.
"Ron was here? What about Hermione?!-and John?!-"
"-fine, fine. They're all perfectly fine Harry."
Harry let his head sag with a sigh of relief.
His friends were ok.
Harry startled,
"But what about the stone?!-"
"-relax my dear boy! The stone has been taken care of it. My friend Nicholas and I, had been discussing the stone's fate thoroughly. He thought, that for the best, that it be destroyed."
"But....but I thought...without the stone, he'll die won't he?"
The headmaster took on a sober expression, taking a place on the bed beside his student.
"He has enough elixir, to set his affairs in order."
Harry saddened, his professor was going to loose one of his closest friends.
Then he frowned.
"Professor....how...did I get the stone? One moment I saw looking in the mirror and then the next...."
His smile came back with a touch of humor.
"Ah, you see, only a person who wished to find the stone, not use it, would be able to get it."
He leaned in,
"One of my more brilliant ideas."
Harry titled his head, slightly confused.
"Does that mean.....with the stone gone, Voldemort can never come back?"
Dumbledore wore a more blank expression.
If one looked closer, one would determine it somewhere between sad and grim.
"Ah. I'm afraid....that there are other ways in which he could indeed return....without the use of the stone."
Harry looked to his bandaged hands.
So was that all for nothing?
"Do you know why the Professor couldn't bare to have you touch him?"
Harry shook his head, looking up slightly.
No......he didn't.
"It was because of your mother Harry. She sacrificed her life to save yours; and that kind of act leaves a mark on someone..."
Hesitantly, the boy who lived reached towards the infamous scar he wore.
"Heh, no not that kind Harry."
Dumbledore chuckled, then moved his fingers to tap on the boy's chest.
"But one.....here. This kind isn't seen as easily, but it far more powerful than is credited for...."
He smiled warmly.
"Love Harry. That is what your mother gave you."
The previous hand rose up to rest on Harry's head for a moment, before the headmaster stood up, nodded once more then took his leave.
Harry beamed.
He just couldn't help it.
His mother had loved him.
Ms. Pomfrey stuck her head through the doorway, deeply startling the patient.
"Dearie, you've got a few visitors. It's your friends hon."
The grin became impossibly bigger.
He climbed out of bed to change into something else; he had friends waiting for him on the other side.
————————————————
John rubbed at his throat again, feeling that aching soreness that it stubbornly clinger to.
He was fine n all, the nurse fixed him and the others up fine, but a bit of bruising and swelling still remained on his skin.
Ms. Pomfrey offered to fix that as well but the mage declined.
He was fine, it'll pass in a few days.
What he was still wrapping his head around, was the conversation he had before waking up.
"............Manny?"
The angel of the lord rolled his eyes.
"Thanks for deciding to open your eyes Constantine."
"Oi-I can go back ya know!"
"And what would that achieve John besides causing me more trouble than usual in trying finding you?"
John blinked.
"Wait-you don't even know where I am?"
The angel sighed quite tiredly.
"........no. Do you realize how many different Earths there are Constantine? While Heaven and Hell remain the same, He created an infinite amount of worlds for the sake of creating that same amount of possibilities!"
".......really?"
"Yes Constantine-but that's not the point! It's quite straining now to stretch across the different planes of existences to find you. I was assigned to a specific Earth John. I'm not meant to do this! We've got to find a way to bring your ass back!"
The mage chuckled.
His angel friend must really have his feathers ruffled to use human swearing as often as he currently was.
"Yes Constantine, I am-but I ask you to refrain from comparing me to birds."
How did-
"-because I can hear you. Know that you're not physically here John, just as much of your consciousness as I could grab."
The mage nodded for lack of an answer, but he did have a few questions though.
"Manny......how much has changed since I've been gone?"
Manny's lips thinned.
"For the past month and a half, thankfully the Darkness rising hasn't caused many issues that your friends couldn't take care of.....but it doesn't mean that it'll last forever."
John nodded again, that was good.....
Wait.
"Did you just say........a month?!"
"Yes John, that is correct. Earth's time, you have been missing for one month, fourteen days, eight hours, twenty six minutes and going on forty nine seconds."
He blinked.
Should've known that the angel was keepin track.
"I prefer to Constantine."
"STOP IT!"
He shook it head at the angel's antics,
"Do we have any clue as to bring me back?! Anything?!"
".........no.....unfortunately not....but now that I've gotten some sort of idea where you're located, I might be able to narrow down which cluster of universes you're by."
"Any idea how long that'll take ya?"
"No....but we have been given help by a few more angels of our Earth. Unfortunately, it's out of our jurisdiction to ask the other Earth's assigned for assistance. We're our own in finding you."
John sighed, rubbing his head roughly.
"Aren't we always?-but what about what brought me here? Any identification there? I have a few ideas but nothing concrete."
"No......you had never told me the demon's name before you disappeared. You had even made you're friends stay behind when leaving."
Manny frowned.
"I had asked if they knew; they hadn't been informed of the name either, but they did know for certain that you encountered a demon. You, and the demon, hadn't been heard of since."
"That's because the bastards stuck here with me; draggin us both here apparently took a lot out of em as well."
The angel considered this.
But he didn't seem to for long, his attention directed at his quickly fading figure.
"Look Constantine, I don't have time-you have to survive or even stop the demon until we find you."
"Right.....Well you hurry up alright?! This wizard stuff is not my bottle of bourbon!"
He supposed that he did feel a tad bit lighter, knowin that people were lookin for him......but he was still on his own for now.
He swallowed thickly, wincing at the motion.
It was a good thing that summer break was comin up.
While he didn't care for the school stuff, he did manage to get semi-decent grades all around....not Hermione level of good, just enough for the teachers to turn their heads against his 'struggles'.
Ever since wakin up, he made sure to avoid as many people as possible.
Teacher or student alike.
The tales of their little escapade had gone around the school, once again drawing the mage unwanted and unneeded attention.
The blonde hadn't seen much of Malfoy either....but he's definitely expecting some sort of backlash from that....
He ran into Ron and Hermione; glad that he was in an alright condition with the feeling mutual.
He had heard from them that Harry was being released soon.
Good.
Kid deserved the jailbreak.
John leaned over one of the hall windows, squinting as the evening sun had started to set.
It was a nice view from here....
He watched as his student recouped, draping himself over the windowsill.
He hadn't meant to've stumbled across the boy, a matter of chance giving him a glance at the student's more wounded side.
He should've known Constantine would've been caught in the web of lies.
The snake was trouble from the start.
While the Potter trio had made themselves quite obvious in their suspicions, especially against him, the blonde student of his house had surprised him.
Snape shook his head, continuing down the halls to prepare his class for the much welcomed break.
But what he didn't understand, was why John Constantine decided to help stop Quirrell with his advances along with the Dark Lord.
It wasn't a secret that many of the Slytherin families were once Deatheaters, a decent percentage still maintaining that same arrogant mentality.
Perhaps that was it......the blonde not having a known family to pass down such ideals and traditions.
Yet the student could be a pureblood, a half-blood or even muggleborn for all they knew.
Things in the school were starting to shift.....you'd have to be blind not to see that....
It was bad enough that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were in the same year; two important names clashing against one another with their striking differences.
Perhaps things were going to change....the potions master just prayed for it to be for the better.....