Desolation of The Hero

x . chapter two . x

September 1st, 1998

I woke with a start, and immediately I broke out in a cold sweat. Right after,a large portion of my arm sent my nerves screaming with pain, and it took most of my willpower not to yell out in agony. You'd assume I wouldn't have a high pain tolerance from this, but trust me, I believe I do. It's just the pain seemed to be so devastatingly amplified.

Clutching my arm, I tried to rise to a sitting position. This I succeeded in, rocking back and forth to try and decrease the pain. Eventually I couldn't deal with it anymore, and I let out a few pained noises that I tried to muffle with my hand. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be enough. The pain refused to cease, yet through the flickers of numbness I realized the hand clutching the painful portion was increasingly wet. In a flash of sudden anxiety, I drew my hand away and saw the deep crimson blood that had stained my skin.

My blurring conscious didn't allow me to put two and two together. I had been sitting there in pain for ten minutes, and the blood flowing from my arm wasn't exactly helping, either. I reached for my wand on a tabletop next to my bed and cast a weak Tempus. It said the time was exactly 4:15 AM. Just my luck, honestly; Hermione had a habit of waking up at 4:30 AM. If only I could manage to keep from passing out until then...

I immediately reached for the blanket obscuring most of my body and wrapped the soft covers around my arm before applying pressure. I gritted my teeth as the pain amplified slightly, but I had to try and stop the bleeding somehow.

I remained like this for a while as my vision darkened. My friends remained motionless as they slept, and here I was, trying not to faint. Eventually, I heard Hermione make a quiet noise, and I perked up. Despite this, I was on the verge of collapsing and falling into unconsciousness. I swayed in my position as blood continued to leak impossibly from my arm.

"Hermy- Mione-" I croaked as my vision began to fade. I heard a faint "Harry? Was that you?" in response to my attempt.

"Mione..." I said quietly and frantically. "Harry, what's going on? Are you okay?" She yawned right after. I made some noises as a loud ringing echoed in my ears. The last thing I heard was a scream and a frantic "HARRY! HANG ON!" Before I fell into unconsciousness.

September 1st, 1998

I began to wake once more about five hours later. I felt groggy and drained, and my arm was practically numb. I emitted a groan as I attempted to rise into a sitting position, only to hear a fierce command from Molly to "Lie back down, dear, before you hurt yourself!"

As my vision adjusted to the bright dawn light, I noticed several figures standing above me. Molly Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger, who looked like she'd been crying. Her eyes grew to the size of moons as she noticed me, and she seemed to be forcing herself not to jump forward and hug me.

"Harry, oh Harry! I'm so sorry, I woke up and saw you bleeding out there and I panicked- I tried to help, are you okay, I'm sorry if you're still hurting, we tried everything-"

"Blimey, 'Mione, maybe you should give him a rest. He just woke up after all," Ron said in a surprisingly gentle tone as he rested his hand on her shoulder. She gave him a quick jerk of the head, yet her eyes remained on me.

"Harry, boy, I'm sorry that I have to ask you this so suddenly, but how did this happen?" Arthur pointed at my arm, which was lying on my side. I lifted it up so I could see the bandages wrapped around the wound, at the cost of some terrible pain. I let it lie down again before casting glances at all of them. I swallowed.

Truly, I didn't want to tell them anything. Why should I ruin the bliss of their perfect freedom, only to explain that my scar had resumed hurting and that I had what I could only assume was the Dark Mark carved into my arm?

 I swallowed again. "You... You saw the shape, didn't you?" I said in a ridiculously hoarse voice. The Weasleys looked at each other for a brief moment before nodding to me. "It was... You know, the D- Dar-"

"The Dark Mark," I whispered. Arthur gave me a questioning gaze, and soon I was resorted to telling him everything that had happened, with breaks of course. At the end of my speech, I could see the fearful and disbelieving looks on their faces.

Molly began to back away towards a table with parchment on it, muttering "have to tell Minerva, she'll want to hear this..."

Hermione looked on the brink of tears again. Ron looked incredibly pale, and Ginny had ran out of the room earlier. I gave them all guilty looks before covering my face with my hands (at the cost of pain, of course).

"Shouldn't have told you that," I muttered. Hermione caught those few words, because she immediately said, "No, Harry, you had to tell us! Even if it isn't... good... news..." Her voice trailed away.

I felt so, so terrible that I could feel the pain slicing at my heart. When was it ever my place to ruin the feelings of others? My voice failed in this situation, and I reached for my glasses, shoving them on as I remembered the date.

"What time is it?" I asked, trying to straighten my posture. I was clearly trying to change the subject here.

Ron and Hermione cast a few nervous glances at each other before responding. "Uhm, we have an hour before the Hogwarts Express leaves, but we thought you'd want to rest..."

At the sound of that, I leaped out of bed, even if I nearly collapsed on the floor a few moments later. I wasn't going to miss the train just because I had the Dark Mark carved into my arm in my sleep. I'd suffered worse. Besides, who needed to know? No one at the school, surely. 

Hermione looked at me with a disapproving expression. "Harry... Headmistress McGonagall would understand."

I bit back a retort. Instead, gripping my arm, I asked for a simple favor. "Fix up my trunk, please?"

Ron rolled his eyes at this. "Alright mate, juuuust for you," he replied with an exaggerated hand movement. I gave him a pained grin.

~*~

After several minutes of Hermione and Ron stuffing school supplies into my trunk, we were all ready to go. I changed my bandages, sparing the wound a quick glance before doing so. Everyone made it to King's Cross Station exactly ten minutes before the train would depart.

Unfortunately, the Weasleys were set on doing everything for me. I suppose they thought my arm hurt too much to even push the trolley my trunk was resting on, which sent a flare of annoyance coursing through me. I told myself they were just trying to help and decided to let it go, though. There wasn't much I would be able to do about it, anyway.
I hovered near Molly as Hermione and Ron ran for the wall between 9 and 10 before I did. She patted my shoulder and finally handed me the trolley, saying, "Oh, take care of yourself, will you?"

Her expression held enough worry to make me comply. "I will."

"Thank you, dear. Have a great time at Hogwarts! It is your last year, you know," she smiled warmly at me, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. I nodded, positioning myself in front of the wall before taking off at a run. In an instant, I was on platform 9 and 3/4 quarters. The familiar Hogwarts Express loomed in front of me, and I couldn't help but smile.

I was going back to Hogwarts, the one place I could call home, Voldemort-free.
At least... that's what I thought, anyway.