Welcome to Wonderland (Harry Potter/Figure Skating)

5. After the Battle

Harry had seen the effect of the Cruciatus curse too many times and he tried to hope as Johnny was swept off by the healers. The fact that Johnny had reacted to him after he had dealt with Parkinson was a good sign, but Johnny had given no indications of consciousness since. He'd left his subordinate to deal with the subdued criminal and decided to handle the issue with Lysacek and Johnny himself.

The fact that both men had been under the influence of an Unforgivable curse made the whole situation that more complicated. With Imperio and Cruciatius involved, changing memories was a very bad idea, which meant that there was no easy way out of the issue. The news that Johnny was hurt had leaked almost immediately and Harry was well aware that meant he would be dealing with at least one member of Johnny's family sooner rather than later.

They had talked a lot the night they had spent in Johnny's hotel room and Harry knew more than he had ever expected to about his friend's family. He was very unsurprised when, after what seemed like an age of waiting around and checking in with his people, Patti Weir was shown into the same room where he was waiting.

"Mrs Weir," he said immediately, standing up and stepping towards here, "you must be exhausted, please come and sit down."

"I don't want to sit down," was the very direct response, "I want to see my son."

"He's still with the healers," Harry replied, taking the vague hostility in his stride; "they are stabilising his condition."

Prolonged exposure of more than a few seconds to the Cruciatus curse caused terrible nerve damage, Harry knew the healers would be working for a while yet. Patti Weir frowned at him, but did eventually take the seat he was offering.

"Mrs Weir," he said as he sat down beside her, "I'm very sorry this happened. I take full responsibility."

There was no way Parkinson should have made it inside their security cordon, and Harry felt incredibly guilty. When he found out how it had happened, heads were going to roll.

"Did you do your job?" Patti asked simply, looking him straight in the eye.

"Yes," he replied, without even thinking about hedging his response.

"Then you have nothing to be sorry for," was the surprising response. "They told me you have the man who hurt Johnny in custody."

"We do," Harry said with a nod.

"Then just make sure he gets what's coming to him."

Patti Weir, it seemed, was a remarkable woman.

"We will, Ma'am," Harry replied without so much as considering a different answer.

"Call me Patti," was her response and it seemed she was as averse to formality as her son was.

"Then please call me Harry, Patti."

It was a better start than he had expected. Of course, now came the difficult bit; he had to break what had actually happened to Johnny's mum. Due to the severity of the crime and its particular circumstances, legally Johnny and his immediate family were allowed to know the truth and if Johnny woke up, he was going to need all the support he could get.

"Patti," he said, trying to begin gently, "did you see anything unusual as you were shown in here?"

That earned him a very speculative look.

"This hospital is not like any I've ever been in before," Patti replied after a few moments, "at least not this part of it."

Harry nodded, hoping to encourage her. St Elizabeth's was both a Muggle and a Wizarding hospital, with the front half being for Muggle patients and the back for wizards and witches. The Americans seemed to like their magical and Muggle worlds not quite so far apart as in Britain.