Burnt

Chapter 7

The game was fun, Harry could practically feel the love for the sport from all the players. In the end, Fred and George were right; Ireland won, but Krum got the snitch.

Harry was blinded by the lights as their box was illuminated for the victors and losers to enter the box. Harry had been sitting down for most of the game, using his Spector Specs to be able to see everything, but he was definitely impressed by Krum, he was an incredible seeker, and he was definitely going to try out some of his moves when he got back on the broom.

Krum looked very dazed when he, and the rest of his team, were in the top box. His nose was still bleeding, and Harry hoped nothing was too wrong with it.

He and Harry met eyes for a few moments. Harry didn't quite know what feeling it was that seemed to pass between them, it felt like more than a mutual respect and understanding, but it wasn't something he really disliked.

Unfortunately, even though they were in the same box, Harry didn't have the chance to talk to Krum about the moment they had shared. At the end of the day it probably wasn't anything important, but Harry felt like they would be seeing each other soon.

Going back down was almost more difficult than going up, the steps were small, and Harry's legs were almost beyond stiff, and the steps were too steep for him to be able to take two steps at once without having a miniature heart attack each time. Ron had suggested he slid down the hand rail, but as Hermione pointed out, it wasn't really smooth enough to support sliding down, nor was it built to support a person's full weight.

At least this time they had waited so they were the last people to go down, Fudge thankfully having to be pulled off for some kind of legal companionship thing. He looked like he wanted to talk to Harry about something Harry was honestly not wanting to talk about.

Sirius transformed back into his human form to carry Harry down the stairs. Harry felt embarrassed, but there was nothing he could really do, he needed the help, he couldn't walk down on his own. He wished he wasn't so reliant on others, he was sure they were annoyed with how useless he was.

Harry had half hoped that Sirius would put him down when they were back on solid ground, all be it a little uneven due to being grass and dirt, but he did no such thing. If he was being honest, Harry wasn't sure he would have been able to walk back to the tent anyway, his legs were starting to hurt, and they were really rather stiff.

That evening was fun, lots of celebrations were happening outside, and while they were all staying inside, their tent was missing no festivities. Harry stayed seated the whole time, but he was also fully enjoying himself. When Ginny fell asleep, spilling her hot chocolate everywhere in the boys' tent, Arthur sent everyone to bed. Obviously, he couldn't make Sirius or Remus go to bed, but Remus could.

Harry was kinda glad he wasn't given the choice to be carried to bed, not having to ask for help made him feel less like a burden, but he thought his legs had given out by now so he wouldn't have been able to get to bed. He was already exhausted, and fell asleep pretty much as soon as he was put on the bed.

Everyone woke up at around 3 in the morning to screams and bangs, it only took their sleep filled brain a moment to realise it was an attack. Ron, while stumbling, quickly got himself up to leave, Sirius coming to the door to their room with Remus, both panicked.

Harry, on the other hand, couldn't get up. He didn't have the amount of strength in his legs as he used to, and he had walked a lot that day, and now his legs wouldn't bend and were in a lot of pain, he wasn't going to be able to get up, hobble to the table, let alone be able to run from whatever was happening outside.

"Harry, we need to go." Sirius said, his voice low and filled with urgency, worry and fear.

"I can't." Harry said, his eyes wide and fearful, the noise outside getting closer and the yelling of the people getting closer, reminding him of the time he spent at the Dursleys, the punishments he would have to go through.