the hermit (the chariot pt2)

1

There was still time. It hadn't run out. Harry was still alive. There was still time.

The next few moments in the alley continued in a rapid motion of noise and sound.

All Draco remembered is gripping onto Harry as tightly as he could. People were speaking but he wasn't registering much, just fragments of sentences here and there. His heart was palpitating tremulously in his chest and his head was filled with panic-stricken thoughts.

He saw a glint near Harry's feet. Glass. Glasses. Harry's glasses. He stretched out his fingers and grabbed them.

'.....emergency portkey's been activated...'

Harry was going to be ok, he would be fine, he had to be, it would be fine.

He kept the dialogue going on in his head as someone thrust an object into his hand, crushing Harry's glasses further into his palm. He felt a tug and he blinked, as the ground seemed to give way underneath him. The next second he found himself on the floor of a large room, joined by a few of the people from the alley.

Harry was still in his arms.

They were still in the same position.

And the blood was still flowing.

Now onto the white tiles.

It was a hospital. He could smell he was in a hospital. It looked like a hospital.

Then there were more people and more commotion.

He felt hands jerk him slightly as they tried to take Harry away from him, and he held on doggedly for a moment longer.

'Let go son, we have to get him help.'

Help, yes, Harry needed help.

He let go.

Harry needed help.

In a daze he got to his feet and was ushered outside the room.

There were lots of people. Going in and out of the room where they had kept Harry.

And then the door shut.

Healers.

Yes, he was in a hospital.

Harry would be ok. He would get better.

Draco stood shaking in the corridor staring at the closed door.

Magic. They would magically make Harry better. They would stop the blood. They would make him better.

He could feel his throat tighten and he couldn't breathe. It was so hard to breathe.

What were they doing? Was he all right?

He stood frozen to where he was standing for many minutes.

'We need to ask you some questions. You came in with Mr Potter yes?'

Draco turned at the sudden voices, and was faced with two men in green robes.

'Huh? Yeah,' he nodded.

'We need you tell us exactly what happened and what you saw.'

They led Draco into a smaller room opposite to the one where Harry was.

Draco's word came out in broken sentences filled with lots of stuttering and pauses as he took in painful gasps of air just to keep on talking. He told them everything he could. From the moment he had entered Hogsmeade to when he had just arrived at the hospital.

When he finished, they looked at him with horrified expressions.

' How is he? Is he ok?' Draco's words rushed out earnestly in his need for some information. The two men looked at one another.