Piece By Piece

Chapter Eighteen: Lies Make the Best Revenge Stories

      "Harry!" Neville exclaimed, leaning against the doorframe for support. "You need to see this, come with me."

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      Harry stood motionless, waiting for Neville to elaborate, but he didn't take any time to catch his own breath; instead he turned back around and began to sprint back towards the infirmary. Harry rushed out of the Weapons Lab after him, calling out for an explanation. 

      "What's going on?!" Harry asked. Thanks to his training he was able to speed up enough to match Neville's determined sprint. They were now running alongside each other and Harry could see the look on his friend's face. It was clear that something bad had happened.

      "You'll see," Neville panted. "There's a lot. Call Hermione and Ron."

      Harry made the call as they tore through the halls. When they arrived at the infirmary Neville immediately slumped against the doorframe, unable to move any further. Harry picked him up and brought him to one of the beds.

      "Look," Neville wheezed, pointing to his left. 

      Harry turned his head and saw Lee Jordan sitting on a bed near them. He was holding an ice pack to his face, which was bleeding and bruised. There was a bandage wrapped around his arm and his shirt was torn in several places. 

      "Lee, are you alright?" Harry asked. "What happened?"

      "I'll be fine," Lee said, cringing when he had to move any muscles on his face.

      "Are Hermione and Ron coming?" Neville asked, weakly prodding Harry's arm. 

      "Yeah," Harry replied, patting him on the shoulder, "They'll be here soon."

      Harry heard Neville exhale and saw him lean back against the bed. The room stayed quiet; Harry didn't want to make Lee talk more than necessary. But Lee being Lee, he did anyway.

      "How's Fred?" He asked. "And George? I assume they're all doing much better now?"

      Harry smiled. "Yeah, the Weasleys were, understandably, ecstatic to have him back. And this is probably the happiest I've ever seen George."

      Lee laughed a little, wincing again. "That's good. Could you call them in when I'm done giving my statement or whatever?"

      "Yeah," Harry nodded, "But that means you stop aggrivating whatever injury you have by talking."

      Just then Hermione and Ron entered the room. 

      "Lee!" Ron exclaimed. "Bloody hell, mate, what happened?"

      At this point Neville had recovered enough to sit up. "Go ahead," He prodded Lee.

      Lee took a deep breath. "This morning started out normal; I was at the bar in the Leaky Cauldron, managing the place as per ususal... when we heard an explosion come from outside. Everyone rushed to the windows to check it out. It was Death Eaters; they were destroying nearly everything in sight."

      "Nearly?" Hermione asked.

      "Well they kept to the deal," Lee said. "The Leaky Cauldron remained unharmed and unbreached."

      Harry made a face. "Then how did you..."

      "I made the mistake of stepping outside to check things out. One of them got me from behind and threw me against a pile of debris. So the deal wasn't broken... but that's not the part Neville thought I should tell you."