I'll Catch You (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

The Wake Up Call

Have you ever just laid in bed, drifting in that awkward state between being asleep and being awake where you can't move a muscle, but without even opening your eyes you know what exactly is going on around you? Hear every noise and sense every movement?

Since I took the potion and collapsed, until maybe an hour ago, the world was black. I had no recollection of how I ended up where I currently am or who brought me here. All I knew was that I didn't feel sick anymore. I didn't feel scared anymore. It felt as if an elephant had been removed from my chest and placed on the opposite side of the world so it could never be near me ever again.

And now I was laying in a sterile smelling room, listening to the steady beeping of the machines monitoring every function of my body. I could feel the slight tug of tape where the IV had been stuck into my wrist, and the stiffness of the sheets tucked tightly around my legs.

People had been rushing in and out of my room and still were, filling out charts and refilling bags of whatever they had hooked up to me. It felt as though eyes were constantly on me, although I couldn't open my own to check.

But the feeling of mobility eventually came back, a slight prickling working its way up from my toes.

"Have you gotten a hold of her father yet?" the stern voice of Professor McGonagall had gone soft, her voice cracking slightly.

"We've been trying all day, but still no word" a voice I hadn't heard before answered calmly, professionally.

"Well we must inform someone!" McGonagall insisted, dropping down to a whisper.

"We may only contact immediate family, and seeing as her father is the only one listed in her emergency contacts, he is the only one we may inform" the person, who I believed to be a man, answered.

"She's been seeing the same boy for nearly two years, surely we could-ˮ

"That decision will be made by her father once we get a response from him" and with that, one of the two left the room.

It appeared that McGonagall had stayed behind because she sighed, frustrated, and said to herself, "Well if you won't let him know, I will!" and left the room as well.

Assuming that the coast was clear, I lifted my heavy lids and surveyed the room, taking in everything from the spotless white floors to the equally spotless white ceiling. I was obviously in a room at St. Mungo's, but I couldn't tell what ward or what hallway, or even what time of day it was.

Before I could draw any conclusions, the sound of footsteps came from the opposite side of the door and I shut my eyes quickly. It creaked open and someone slid inside, careful to close the door as quietly as possible. They slowly made their way around to the foot of my bed and stood there for a brief moment before clearing their throat.

"Open your eyes, Ms. Connors. You are fooling no one. And besides, we have more important matters to attend to" the voice of Albus Dumbledore grumbled from mere feet away. The typically whimsical tone was gone, a reprimanding boom left in its place.

Dumbledore actually sounded ... angry? Albus Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard alive, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sounded down-right angry at...me. It was enough to make me involuntarily sink lower into my pillows and want to pull the blankets up over my eyes.

But instead, against my better judgement, I slowly opened my lids and looked up at the old man. His blue eyes were narrowed down at me, causing his face to wrinkle up in the most unexpected places. He looked exhausted, his skin papery and dark under his eyes as his robes practically hanging off of him.