Chapter 20
Harry grumbled a bit, waking up from his exhausted sleep to white, making him blink confused. White walls, blankets, white everything. Realization dawned on him as he realizes he was in the infirmary again, making the teen groan in annoyance. Of course, he was. He was always in the infirmary at the end of the year. Nothing would change that for him, nothing. Not even being a creep now apparently, Harry thought before snorting, leaning back on the pillow.
The doors opened and a sudden “Harry!” brought Harry’s attention as a pink blob tackled him, making him grunt at the force before holding Sally, whose grip was not letting go any time soon if she had any say on it. “You’re okay!” She exclaimed.
Harry smiled and nodded lightly. “Yeah. What happened?” Harry’s mind was still fuzzy. He wondered how long he was out.
“That is what we would like to know,” Slender answered, making Harry look up at the disguised entity, who sat on the edge of the bed. “Your protection amulet was destroyed and you were injured when coming back, saying the man who calls himself Voldemort is back from the dead. You were injured as well. You’ve been out for three days due to both magical and physical exhaustion.” Slender continued, looking at Harry with what he could tell, worry. The human disguise of Slender didn’t show emotions well, especially since the entity couldn’t show them either with no face, but Harry knew the signs of worry by his body language.
Harry’s memories came spilling into his head, making his eyes flash red from the anger of the events that had happened. “I should have called you. The portkey on the cup was tampered with, making me be teleported and tied to a gravestone.” Harry explained to him, running his hands through Sally’s hair, who was cuddled into his chest. “I was shocked you didn’t appear when I was suddenly missing and teleported possibly hundreds of miles away.”
“I apologize for that. I did not want to make you feel as if you were left alone. They managed to put up some ancient barriers which blocked me from sensing your pendant, along with getting to you. Tim and Brian were quick to inform me when they sensed that something was wrong. I was able to find the courtyard after the battle, when your pendant broke it also broke the barrier. I was able to… ‘dispose’ of a few lingering there.” Slender told him with a small smirk, making Harry sigh in relief and smile.
“Thank god. Oh, I remember threatening the minister to turn in the memory of the events. But I may have gone a bit… feral. Do you have a way to alter the memory in a way they wouldn’t be able to see that if they do take me on that threat? I shouldn’t have done it but was a bit… tired and in pain at the moment.” Harry confessed with an embarrassed look, making Slender chuckle.
“I heard and already prepared a way for in case it did in fact happen. We will not be able to do it now but I doubt that they will take you up on that threat while you are recovering.” Slender told him, making Harry sigh in relief.
“Harry I met a really pretty lady who said you were her friend. She has a pretty French name too! Fleur?” Sally told him with a smile, sounding out the name carefully like she had been practicing it.
Harry smiled. “Yeah. You’ll like her friend Elizabeth as well. She makes dresses and is making you a really really pretty one.” Harry told her, making the little ghost girl gasp in delight and hug him more.
“Thank you, Harry!” She exclaimed smiling.
“You spoil the girl too much. Though I cannot say that I am much better.” Slender told him with a shake of the head making Harry grin.
“Gotta spoil my little sister. I’m shocked that one of my friends isn’t here.” Harry said, looking around for the six that typically hang around him, feeling sadden that they’re not there at the moment.
“They are currently harassing your school friends about stories about you and anything else they can find out about the school from them. I think Brian and Jack are also exploring the school to find other ways that someone could have broken into the school to get to you. They will likely be here soon when they realize we aren’t there. I have a replacement for your pendant.” Slender told him, handing over a new pendant, with a shorter chain this time to hang more securely around his neck, making Harry grin as he grabbed it, slipping it on his neck.
“Thanks,” Harry told him, letting go of the little girl in his arms long enough to stretch, feeling sore from being in bed. The entity nodded as Madam Pomfrey walked in.
“Good, you’re finally awake.” She told him with a smile before coming over and running diagnostic scans on him, Harry going back to petting Sally’s hair as she does, knowing he wouldn’t be able to leave until the nurse was satisfied with his health.
“It seems like you’ve made a full recovery but I will ask that you take care and be careful. I do not want you back in here again before the year is over.” The nurse told him, making Harry nod with a grin, glad to be released from the infirmary.
“Do not worry Madam Pomfrey. He will not. Our resident doctor will make sure that he rests and is one hundred percent. He has had to deal with more stubborn than Harry here.” Slender told her, earning a smile from the nurse and an offending noise from the teen.
_Timeskip_
“You guys can stop acting like I’m going to fall over dead now. I am fine. It was exhaustion. Even Jack confirmed it!” Harry exclaimed at the end, frustrated at the hovering of his friends after his reappearance from his mini coma. The whole gang from the mansion had apparently decided to appear while he was out and Harry wondered how Slender got Dumbledore to agree to it. Jeff, Ben, and Toby seem to barely leave his side while Tim, Brian, and Jack gave him a little space, but hovered still when they could. He enjoyed the attention it was starting to get tiring.
“No.” Jeff and Toby chorused, making Harry’s school friends laugh at his misery as Harry groaned and put his head on the table. Traitors, all of them.
“Jeff. Toby. Let him breathe you’re stressing him out.” Jack told them, grabbing the two and easily dragging them away with his demon strength. Harry was glad that his school friends didn’t question how the demon was able to do things, especially since they thought he couldn’t see. He imagined that they chalked it up to magic. Well, Luna may know but she wouldn’t rat him out.
“Harry you have fun with your friends from home. If they ever let you out of your sight, come meet up with us we are going to be by the lake.” Neville said as his school friends left, making Harry nod snorting.
“Good luck on me leaving their sight any time soon. Pretty sure I’m on house arrest at this point.” Harry told them, earning another laugh as they left.
“You are. Or castle arrest really.” Ben chirped, resting his arms on sitting Harry’s head, resting his head on them as Harry glared up at him.
“I really am fine. Worry warts all of you. Thought you were killers?” Harry muttered, earning chuckles as Jeff nudged him with a smirk.
“We take care of our own brat. Now we can head to the lake with your little friends and get some training done if you really think you’re fine.” Jeff said before dragging Harry to the lake, making the boy-who-lived yelp in surprise. The remaining Creeps laughing before looking at each other and smirking, stalking off while Harry was dragged off for training.
They had a pest to catch and kill. For all he did to their Harry, Barty Crouch Jr. wouldn’t know what hit him.