in my blood

Chapter 17

The first thing I did as soon as I opened my eyes was groan close them again, blinded by a sudden flash of light, also known as sunlight.

My eyes adjusted to the light as I tried to sit up, but a sudden fire broke out in my abdomen, "Bad idea" I groaned and laid back down again.

I started as I looked to my right and saw Dumbledore sitting there, watching me.

"Good morning, Anne" he said softly

"Good morning, Professor" I replied.

There was a thumping pain in my head which made me think that I probably hit my head in the violent dispute with Quirrell/Voldemort.

Thinking made my head hurt.

I laughed nervously "So.." I started awkwardly "How's it rolling?"

"Like a stone, Anne" said Dumbledore, making my mouth fall open. He chuckled and shook his head "Voldemort is gone, Anne"

"Oh" I said, which was quite a feeble reaction "..And Quirrell?" I asked

"Unfortunatley"

"Meh, never trusted him anyways. And having Voldemort suddenly bust out the back of his head just confirmed my doubts" I said. There was silence as I looked around.

"I'm in the hospital wing" I noticed, I looked at the table at the end of my bed and saw that it was piled high with sweets, chocolate and other delights that were sure to give me diabetes.

"Tokens from your friends and admirers" beamed Dumbledore "What happened down in the dungeons between you, Harry and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret so, naturally, the whole school knows" I gave myself a 'Hell yeah' face before I realised I couldn't see it.

"How long have I been in here?" I asked.

"Three days. I am sure Mr Weasley, Miss Granger and Harry will be extremely pleased to hear you've come around, they've been extremely worried."

I nodded, there was something I wanted to ask but I didn't know how to say it "So.. what exactly happened?"

"It was all quite peculiar. Fawkes, my Phoenix, met me midair. Fawkes seemed to be carrying a note from you, a note describing Quirrell going through the trap door and how you were going ahead of your friends. It was addressed to Harry, Ronald and Hermione. I have honestly no idea how it came to be of my possession"

I just shrugged.

"I feared I might have been too late"

"You nearly were, Harry was melting Quirrell and I think I got cut in half or something.. either way he would have got the stone"

"Not the stone - you- The effort involved nearly killed you. As could have the curse that Professor Quirrell cast on you. For one terrible moment, I thought it had," He gave me an odd look, "As for the stone, it has been destroyed, Nicholas Flamel and his wife have enough elixir to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die," Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on my face, "To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicholas and Perenelle, it really is like, going to bed at the end of a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next adventure."

Deep.

"You know the stone was not really such a special thing! As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."