BROTHERHOOD ⟶ Harry Potter

Chapter Thirty-Four

Harry was unconscious for three days straight after what had gone down with the Philosopher's Stone, but it didn't stop Milo, Ron, and Hermione from visiting him every chance they got. Other Gryffindors showed their support by sending the boy sweets in the Hospital Wing, something for him to look forward to when Harry finally woke up. Milo felt incredibly guilty over the fact that he wasn't able to prevent Harry getting hurt, he had failed to gather information from the centaurs and wasted even more time getting lost in the Forbidden Forest. Hermione and Ron advised him not to beat himself up over the matter, there was little warning before they had gone on the adventure. There would have been little to no warning regardless if he had been around. 

Unbeknownst to him, Minerva had spoken to Dumbledore about what Milo had heard from the centaurs in the forest, but the Headmaster didn't seem at all concerned over the matter. He merely brushed it off and told Minerva not to worry over such things. Everything was under control in his mind and Milo and Harry were fine. But she wasn't fully convinced, after all, Dumbledore had shown no concerned towards Milo when it came to the evening when Harry was left with the Dursleys. Dumbledore's main concern had not been what would benefit both boys, but what would solely benefit Harry and keep him safe. He didn't even think about where to place Milo, simply asking Minerva to take him in on a whim.

What if she had refused? Where would have Milo ended up? In an orphanage of some sort or in the care of someone else if he was lucky? It hadn't been the easiest thing for her either, going through the paperwork with the Ministry in order to legally adopt Milo as her own. The boy had no other living relatives outside of the Dursley and even the Ministry questioned why Milo had not gone to the same household to live with his brother. Dumbledore had taken over that matter but Minerva was never sure what he said to convince them to allow her guardianship over bloodlines. 

Despite the boys not knowing each other very well, Milo had become extremely protective over his brother. She felt terrible that now that both boys were aware of each other and building a relationship that they would be separated once more as they did live separate lives. Harry had to return to the Dursleys as much as Milo just wanted his brother to come live with him in Hogsmeade. Especially after learning what had occurred between Harry and Professor Quirrell. The events that had taken place were supposed to remain top secret, but naturally, the entire school had found out rather quickly. 

Now in between the last of his exams and the rest of his classes, Milo continued to spend time in the Hospital Wing with Paden, in hopes that Harry would wake up while he was there. But there was no such luck as Harry remained resting. However, did get word from his mother at one point during the day, that Harry was awake, leaving the boy terribly excited. He was granted permission to go visit Harry before he left, knowing he probably wouldn't get a word in once everyone began bombarding him with questions.

As he entered the Hospital Wing, Harry had just finished on his own shirt when Milo called out to him. 

"I'm glad to see you're awake and you don't look terrible either," Milo said, unsure of how else to start the conversation. "But how are you feeling?"

"I feel fine," Harry told him, "I can't believe I was out for three days, but I guess it was needed."

"Well, I should say after all that happened," Milo said, " I'm really sorry I couldn't have been there to have helped you. I wanted to and I thought I was helping. I went out to the Forbidden Forest to talk to the centaurs, but they were no help whatsoever. A bunch of prejudice gits if you ask me, but then I managed to get lost."

"You got lost?" Harry couldn't help the slightly amused smile as Milo chuckled to himself.

"Yeah, I did, I spent the whole night out there with Paden. The story of my life, Harry. Things just always end up going some different way than I plan. But I guess that keeps some things exciting."