"Am I?"
"Not by a long shot. Tomorrow evening will be soon enough, if you are recovered sufficiently." Her gaze sharpened, and he could not help but be caught by it. "You did almost die, after all, Mr. Potter."
"I did?"
"Yes. If Professor Snape had not found you and administered treatment for your shock, it is unlikely we would be having this conversation. You should have come to me immediately. Did you not realize you had been injured?"
"No, ma'am. I was tired, but . . ." He shrugged. "Not until he had me take off my robe, and I could see the blood and all."
Madam Pomfrey nodded slightly, her gaze thoughtful. "Well, try and get some more rest," she said. "It will take at least today for your body to make up the rest of the blood you lost. We'll see how you're doing tomorrow."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you."
She gave him a brief smile, and went back to her office. Harry reached for the box of Bertie's Beans and read the tag on top of it. "Get Well Soon, Harry. From Slytherin House." He knew that when normal people were sick or in hospital, they often got treats and cards and such from friends and family. When Dudley had his tonsils out, for instance, he'd gotten so many new toys and treats, he'd been swimming in them for weeks. But Harry had never been given anything like this before. Of course, he'd never gotten a real present at all before, until Hagrid gave him Hedwig. It made him feel . . . weird. Pleased? Embarrassed? He wasn't sure.
Instead of thinking any more about it, he opened the box and picked out a cream-colored bean. Mmm, coconut. His second one was pink and tasted of grapefruit; a little sour, but good. Maybe this was a batch of just good tasting ones. The next one he tried, though, a light green, was brussels sprout, and he almost spit it out. There went that theory.
He picked up one of the boxes of Chocolate Frogs next – as there were two – and the card said, "Hurry up and get out of there, Harry, 'cuz I miss your Charms. From, Millie."
Harry grinned. He liked Millicent; she had a good sense of humor and was awful protective of people – like him – who stood up for her in turn. He was looking forward to seeing her later, and Teddy, too. He got along real well with Teddy, though the skinny boy was sometimes hard to figure out. And the way he stood up for Harry, with Zabini, especially . . . well, it was the first time Harry had ever had anyone do that for him, too.
Harry nibbled on a frog – the card was of Dumbledore, who he already had three of – and looked at one of the free standing cards. One of them was from the Slytherin Quidditch team, and as far as he could tell, everyone who was currently on the team – Marcus Flint, Terrence Higgs, Adrian Pucey, Nathan Bole and Miles Bletchley – had signed it. Some of them – notably Higgs and Flint – had also jotted a bit about how Harry had better be up on his broom for practices this week, or else. Harry had to smile. Even vaguely threatening, the card was cool, with zooming snitches and bludgers all over it. And it gave Harry a feeling of belonging to something, which he had been wanting so badly when he first arrived here.
The second card was signed by all his year mates, including Draco and – even more surprisingly – Zabini. He wondered what they'd had to give him to get him to sign. A few possibilities occurred, and Harry snickered to himself while reaching for the second box of Chocolate Frogs. There was no tag or card on this one at all. Weird. He moved things around on the small table, in case it had fallen off, but there was no tag or anything like it to be found. Harry placed the box carefully to the side, a little leery of opening it, without knowing who it was from. Maybe Madam Pomfrey knew. He'd ask her later. It would be a shame to not eat the Frogs, just because someone had forgotten to sign the gift.
He considered the possibilities of who might have left the unsigned gift, and decided it was probably Teddy. He'd ask him later, if he and Millicent really came to see him.
He slept a little more, and late that afternoon, when he was nearly ready to scream with boredom, they did visit. Teddy had thoughtfully brought his book bag and the homework assignments he had for the weekend.
"Aww, you shouldn't have," Harry said.
Teddy snickered. "Well, if you'd rather stare at the ceiling some more instead . . ."
"No! No, it's okay. It's a lovely gesture, thanks." Harry grinned. "Although, Millie gave me candy." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Millicent blush.
"Prat. I don't give candy to whiners."
"Whiners!"
"Yeah, all whimpering and needing coddling and stuff." Teddy grinned. "I mean, why should a knife through the chest keep you in bed for the weekend, huh? It's not like you had a hangnail or something serious like that."
Harry frowned. "How do you know it was a knife through the chest? I don't even know what it was."
"Oh, you know," Teddy said with a vague wave. "That's the rumor. You did look pretty awful in the common room, from what I heard. Bled all over the place, according to one of the sixth years. Not that any of those wankers noticed until Snape hurried you out of there."
"Yeah, there were a couple people snogging in the corner. Didn't look like I made much of an impression."
"So what did happen?" Millicent asked. "Some of the older Snakes are saying you did something to the Bloody Baron. He hasn't been seen since yesterday."
"And Peeves is taking advantage of it, no end," Teddy added. "Supposedly the Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him. He's been pranking everyone, especially the Puffies. I think that's 'cause he can make them cry or something." Teddy shook his head as if that was about the saddest thing in the world.
Harry shrugged. "Well, I saw him, the Bloody Baron, and he said some stuff and flew through me, but I didn't do anything to him." He wasn't about to tell them about the time he'd lost or how he had no idea how he'd gotten all beat to crap and run through; he wasn't stupid.
"Ewww." Millicent wrinkled up her nose. "He flew through you? What did it feel like?"
"It was kinda weird. Cold, but . . ." He shook his head, not sure how to explain.
"Maybe he stabbed you."
"Don't be dense, Millie," Teddy said with a sneer. "Ghosts can't interact like that with corporeal beings. They have no ability to physically manifest."
At her blank look, Harry offered, "He couldn't have hit me with anything, 'cause he can't hold a weapon," and she nodded in understanding.
Teddy gave him a shrewd look. "And you have no idea what happened."
Harry sighed. "No . . . I think I got knocked out by something."
"Maybe the Baron gave you his wound!" Millicent said, "When he passed through you. I mean, everyone knows he's got a chest wound, too, like from a long knife or sword or something."
"Bullstrode," Teddy started testily, "Remember the part about ghosts being non-corporeal?"
"Yeah, but—"
"There's just no way. Besides, why would he do that to a Slytherin? He's our ghost."
"Well, why would anyone . . ." Millicent cut herself off and looked away.
"What?" Harry asked, but Millicent just shrugged. "What . . . Do you mean, why would anyone want to kill me? I dunno."
"Are you kidding me?" Teddy asked. "There's plenty of people who are probably hostile about your return to the Wizarding World, now, after what you did to You Know Who."