Lifeline

2. "Poppy?"

Third Person POV

"You found what there?"

Draco Malfoy was shocked. He couldn't beleive what he was hearing. Sure, his parents were seriously messed up. They only even had him because they needed an heir, and often didn't talk to him for days on end. They only even spoiled him like they did because so long as they did it, he promised not to annoy him. Still... it was quite the stretch from that to this. A human being! A living, breathing soul held captive, cold and hungry, in the same building he had been living in for his seventeen years of life! Oh no... no one had been there for the past few days... he had been starved!

Yet... he still believed it. The past few years had really damaged his already poisoned view of his parents.

"You really didn't know about this?" Evelyn Moostone asked him, frowning with confusion and concern for the guy she had found.

"No, gosh, I swear I had no idea!" And he didn't. If he did, he surely would have set the poor guy free. Even before he started trying to be better. Since his parents had gone to Azkaban, he was trying to be nice, no longer having them whispering in his ear and influencing his decisions. It also helped that his aunt - Andromeda Tonks - had refused to turn a blind eye since he came to stay with her a few days ago. As soon as he had walked through the door, she had been quick to sort him out. She was quick to scold him when he had a snide comment or a prejudice thought, but balanced it by treating him with love and acceptance, making sure he knew he was welcome and that she only had his best interest in mind. He still had some old habits to break and a lot to learn, but he was doing his best, and that was good enough. He was making progress. Now, in the doorway of the same people who took him in, he heard this about his old guardians.

Something in his tone must have reflected his honesty, because it visibly convinced the auror. "Well then, I suppose I should go and check up on him..." She said. Draco told her to wait.

"I know the ministry is more than capable of handling any bills from St. Mungo's, but take it out of my parents money. And yeah I can do that, it's basically mine now." She looked shocked, but soon her face was grateful. "Thank you. But actually, as St. Mungo's is so far, we just took him to Madame Pomfrey at Hogwarts. We figured since there aren't any students there currently, it would be alright. Still... we'll keep what you said in mind."

Then she left.

Strange Boy's POV

I was warm...

That was new. Being warm. Memories from before struck me, and I nearly screamed in panic... but then I heard movement around me. Movement? I was not alone, there was someone else here. I wasn't there, I couldn't be... and I knew I wasn't in Malfoy Manner anymore...

So were was I?

Hmm... slowly, curiously, I opened my eyes. I was being cautious, perhaps overly cautoius, but I felt justified in being paranoid, given stuff that I had been through. There was a woman in a nurse uniform moving around me... she hasn't noticed my open eyes yet, and I had a feeling she was trying not to disturb me. It was strange, and I knew that. I did not know this woman, but something about her face, the shape of her eyes, was very familiar, but I was unable to place it... in honesty, I didn't really try. I was so relieved that I wasn't back in there, I couldn't even think straight.

I almost wanted to cry I was so relieved, but... I didn't want to scare the nurse. "H-hi..." my voice was hoarse, my throat dry, but it worked. She turned, slightly startled.

"Oh, your finally awake I see. Drink this, here," she spoke in a no-nonesense tone, but somehow still mages to be reassuring, an earnest and trustworthy expression addourning her face. She helped me sit up before I could even process her words, she was helping me sit up, and handing me a glass of water. My muscles were weak from so long of barely using them at Mafloy Manner, so she had to help me hold it. My throat wasn't as bad as before now, but it tasted a bit interesting... I suspect there was medication in it. Once I had finished the contents of the glass, she took it from me and held it.

"There was a muscle growth potion mixed in there, it's only used for recovering annerexics, but I think this is a valid exception. You'll have to continue taking some at regular intervals for the next week, and don't worry, there are no side effects. You should be at amazing health by the time I'm done treating you. I also mixed in some anti-depressence in there, having heard of your little episode before you were brought to me. Oh, and my name is Poppy Pomfrey, though for youth such as yourself, I prefer the title Madame Pomfrey. Can you tell me your name?"

She spoke very fast, but only the last little bit stuck with me. Poppy? Poppy Pomfrey?

"Poppy?" I asked in a shaky voice. She looked at him with a calculating gaze, curious. But I saw it now. The familiar air that I had been unable to place, it made sense now.

"Yes," she answered. "Have you somehow heard of me?"

"Poppy," I repeated, not a question this time, "Poppy, it's me..." She just stared at him. Could she not see me? Was I not there?

She was older now, much older. It scared him. Had I really been in that place so long? Had I truly been forgotten?

"It's me," I said again. "It's Hunter Clement."

She stiffened. It was only as it shattered on the floor, that I realised she had been holding a glass of water...