Meant To Be

Chapter 22

Harry woke with a start, face down on familiar green silk sheets. For a moment he was dizzy and disoriented, not sure where he was until it clicked and he sat up quickly. He instantly felt a burning sensation on his back that made his eyes water, but he ignored it. "Wynter," he rasped, looking around in a panic. He vaguely heard the sound of a door opening as he continued to try and untangle himself from the sheets, calling out his daughter's name. "Wynter, Wynter, Wynter!" He couldn't find her, where was she! The fire, the fire was going to get them, he had to get out, where was his daughter!

Hands grabbed a hold of him and he was pressed against a solid chest, a hand running through his hair, calming him. "Shh, it's okay. You're safe, Harry. It's okay."

Harry managed to get his breathing to calm down and he looked up into blue eyes that were watching him intently. "Tom?"

"Yeah."

He closed his eyes in relief before snapping his eyes open again and sitting up despite the pain. Grabbing hold of Tom's robes, he looked imploringly into his eyes, "Wynter!"

"She's fine, Harry. She's fine. She's over there," Tom said soothingly, gesturing to a small crib by the window.

Harry pulled himself away sharply despite the pain and shoved Tom out of the way and made his way to the crib and looked inside. Wynter lay there fast asleep, clinging to her teddy bear, not even a scratch on her.

"See she's just fine," Tom said softly, standing beside him looking down at their daughter.

Relief rushed through him as he gazed down at her, lying so innocent and carefree, completely clean in a new onsie and not a speck of dirt on her; it was like nothing had even happened. "Thank god" he whispered, a sob escaping his throat, "thank god!"

Tom caught Harry as his legs gave out and he started crying, clinging to the bars of the crib. Tears came fast and hard as all the fear and relief came rushing over him, draining him of all his energy.

Tom floundered as to what to do; it was just like a year ago in the same place, he still had no idea what to do with Harry's crying, but he did his best. He gently pulled Harry into his arms and patted his arm awkwardly, "It's okay. You can stop crying now."

Harry let out a choked laugh, "You suck at comforting people."

"I don't usually comfort people, I kill them."

Harry nodded, burrowing his face into Tom's chest, clinging to him like a lifeline. And in a way he was, Tom was the one who got them out of there, the one that saved him and Wynter. If he hadn't... he started crying again. "God, if you hadn't been there..."

"But I was, and you're fine, you're both fine," Tom said softly, "Come, you need to lay down. It has been a long day and you need to rest."

"Okay," Harry mumbled and followed as Tom steered him toward the bed, feeling both emotionally and physically drained. He laid face down on the bed, wincing at the pull of his skin. "What happened?" he reached back under his shirt and felt cloth covering him.

"You were burned," Tom said, his face turning troubled, "here to here," he said his finger tracing down his back, sideways from his right shoulder down to his left hip. "A beam got you."

"And Wynter?" he asked jerking up slightly to see him.

Tom gently slid his fingers through Harry's hair to calm him when he winced at the sudden movement, "She was fine, minor smoke inhalation, but it was taken care of."

"Nothing else?" Harry asked.

"No, the bear protected her and you too, your front anyway, but not your back."