Blackbird

Prologue

Harry groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. His head was spinning. The searing pain nearly made him black out again.

Fighting the urge to succumb to the darkness once more, he used his uninjured arm to push himself up off the ground, fingers digging into the snow.

Falling asleep again in this frigid weather would surely mean death. He was already starting to lose feeling in his hands.

He opened his eyes, and the forest spun around him. Squeezing them tightly shut, he took a deep breath and tried again.

This time he was able to focus. By some miracle, his glasses had remained on his nose. His Impervious charm had kept them clean and unbroken, despite his face being pressed against the hard, frozen ground just moments earlier.

His wand was lying in the snow beside him. He snatched it up, casting a quick warming charm over himself. Next, he shot red sparks into the sky, alerting his fellow Aurors of his position.

His target was lying on the ground beside him, staining the snow around them with blood. Harry's Severing Charm had done its job. If only he'd managed it a few moments sooner.

Scrabbling away from the lifeless body, he leaned against a nearby tree trunk and tipped his head back, gazing at the bright full moon peeking out from between the branches.

It was over. Ron and his other colleagues would find him soon. He'd survived.

But the intense, nearly-blinding pain in his shoulder made him wonder if he would soon wish he hadn't.

Too exhausted to dwell on this grim thought for long, he closed his eyes and let his mind go blissfully dark once more.