Heart of the Guardian

2. Rescue

Harry sat on a chair McGonagall had transfigured into something more comfortable than the usual visitor's chair, one leg tucked under him, one hanging over the padded arm, reading a book he'd found on one of the crammed, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lining the Headmaster's living quarters. He'd meant to read it to the man, thinking the familiar topic would soothe him in his sleep. He'd begun reading a chapter on "Potions for the Perturbed". The words were difficult, Latinate, and the concepts dense, so he stopped reading aloud – briefly, he'd intended – to figure it out before continuing, loath to sound ignorant in front of the professor despite Snape's continued unconsciousness. But he'd gotten engrossed, thinking that perhaps he would find something that he could suggest to Madam Pomfrey, or Smethwyck, the healer from St. Mungo's who came once a day to check the professor's condition.

"Time. That's what he needs – just time. And Blood Replenishing Potion, of course, as well as nutrients and anti-venom – those bites nearly did him in," Smethwyck had said just that morning, bouncing on his toes with obscene cheer, in Harry's opinion.

Harry thought it had taken quite enough time already, but as he looked at Snape's gaunt face and shockingly thin frame – Had he looked like this all year? – he acknowledged the man probably needed all the rest he could get, before they woke him or he woke on his own. Still he worried. Would the man never wake up?

It had been weeks – five weeks to the day – since the Battle for Hogwarts had been won, Tom Riddle vanquished forever, the last of the horcruxes destroyed – by Tom's own misguided, uncomprehending hand. Harry fingered his scar absently as he read.

The work to rebuild Hogwarts was well under way, but the infirmary was warded against the noise of workers from the Department of Magical Maintenance swarming over the walls and staircases. A surprising number of students had elected to stay to finish out the year, some of their families quartered nearby in Hogsmeade, put up by Aberforth at the Hog's Head Inn or Rosmerta at The Three Broomsticks, or taken in by residents, whether relatives or not. The faculty, wanting to restore some semblance of normalcy, was holding the final weeks' classes outdoors or in the few areas of the school undamaged in the fight. Professor Sprout's greenhouses were pressed into service whenever it rained; they had escaped most of the damage. Hagrid met with his students in his cabin or at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, watched over by Magorian, Bane, Ronan, and the rest of Firenze's herd. When not in class, nearly everyone helped with the reconstruction.

The reconstituted Board of Governors had tried to appoint Minerva McGonagall Headmistress, but she adamantly refused, with Kingsley Shacklebolt's support, informing them curtly that, as the Headmaster was merely ill and not dead, she would only consent to serve as Acting Headmistress until his full recovery. And, just as adamantly, she refused to move into the Headmaster's office, though she went there frequently to consult Dumbledore or the other portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses regarding the school's reconstruction and the resetting of the protective wards.

Harry's mind wandered from his reading to recall his interview with Professor McGonagall the morning after the battle. He'd slept the day through, to the next morning, exhausted emotionally as well as physically, guarded by Kreacher and Winky – and Neville Longbottom, Godric Gryffindor's sword across his knees as he sat guard from a chair between his own bed and Harry's. Ron and Hermione had curled up together, clinging to each other in their mixed grief and relief, in Ron's old four-poster in Gryffindor Tower, which – by some miracle – was intact enough to be safely occupied. When he woke, he left Ron and Hermione sleeping and, over the protests of his guard, went in search of his old Head of House. She had been skeptical, frankly disbelieving, when he had told her the story, but he had insisted that she – and then Kingsley and Arthur Weasley – visit the memories he'd left swirling in silver in the Pensieve in Dumbledore's office.