Inevitable AU ficlette: Visiting Hours Are Nine To Five (AB/HP)
Visiting Hours Are Nine To Five
A Harry Potter/Anita Blake Inevitable fanfic
Characters: Jason, Nathaniel, Ron and Hermione
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all things Harry Potter. Anita Blake is owned by Laurell K. Hamilton. I'm only borrowing and will return them at the end of the ficlette.
Word count:: 1,442
Rating: PG
Author's Note: shopteacher_guy wanted Jason and Nathaniel v. Ron and Hermione to discuss Harry, Inevitable universe. Ficlette Fiasco III master list. This is another AU Inevitable future-verse that won't actually occur.
Summary: They keep a vigil over his bed, so when he wakes he won't be alone
~*~
"How's he doing?"
Hermione looked up from the potions book on her lap at the redhead who had just entered the dimly lit room. "The same," she said softly. "How are you?"
Ron rubbed the back of his neck as he pulled another chair over to the bedside. "All right. I got some sleep, somehow." He picked her limp hand and cradled it between his large palms. "What about you?"
She shrugged, even that slight movement sending shooting pains through her back from sitting still for so long. She felt like an old woman, not twenty-year-old witch who had helped defeat Voldemort.
Maybe that has something do with the fact that the man who had dealt the final blow to Voldemort was lying on his back on a hospital bed, muggle machines breathing for him. He hadn't drawn a breath on his own in the past few days, ever since...
"Shh," Ron said. "You're thinking about it again."
"What do you expect me to do?" Hermione said snappishly. "Think about work? About Charlie's wedding? How am I supposed to do that?"
Ron looked away. "I'm just saying, it's not any good to think about things you can't change."
Hermione thumped her book shut. She really had no idea why they were bothering to be quiet. No amount of noise would wake Harry from his coma. She was starting to wonder if he would ever wake.
She pushed that thought away. "I do it, Ron, because it matters," she said through clenched teeth. "It matters that Harry was Meng Die's human servant." Ron winced. "It matters that his vampire Master was killed by Humans First! That's why he's like this! Because of what he was! Pretending he wasn't bonded to the vampire isn't going to change anything!"
Hermione pushed herself to her feet and stalked over to the window. It wasn't fair of her to yell at Ron; it wasn't his fault that he didn't understand Harry's decision to become Meng Die's human servant. Hermione hadn't understood either, no matter how much Harry tried to explain.
But Ron hadn't been with Harry when Meng Die was killed. He hadn't seen the way Harry's face went blank, hadn't heard the horrified way he'd said Meng Die's name just before he collapsed. Ron wasn't the one who had tried desperately to force air into Harry's lungs, hadn't had to use magic and everything possible to keep Harry alive until the paramedics arrived.
Ron's hands settled on Hermione's shoulders, pulling her against him. "I'm sorry," he whispered against her hair.
"It's not you," Hermione said, staring out at the brightly lit St. Louis skyline. "I don't know if I can handle it, if he..." She couldn't say it.
Ron held her until a soft knock sounded on the open door. They turned together, to see two of Harry's American friends silhouetted in the doorframe. "How's he doing?" the blond man, Jason, asked, strolling in without waiting for permission. "Any change?"
"No," Hermione said, stepping away from Ron. "No change at all."
The other man, Nathaniel, followed Jason into the room. He didn't say anything as he went right up to the bed to touch Harry's face. Jason watched Nathaniel, but spoke to Hermione and Ron. "Anita thinks that if Harry's going to come out of it at all, it'll be soon."
"What do you mean, if?" Ron exclaimed. "This is all her fault, dragging Harry back to St. Louis after he graduated, getting her involved with that vampire--"
"Ron!" Hermione shouted, but it was too late. Eyes blazing, Jason stalked over.
"Anita almost died trying to save Meng Die!" he growled. "She's got three bullet holes in her chest from where the freaks from Humans First shot her to stop her! If Jean-Claude hadn't woken up when he did, there'd be a hell of a lot more people dead than just Meng Die!"
"Jason," Nathaniel said softly. "This isn't helping." Jason broke off and paced the room. Nathaniel looked at Ron. "Harry told you that he and Meng Die joined out of his own free will. You have to accept that."
"I can't!" Ron said, frustrated. "The Harry I knew two years ago would never have done something as stupid as getting mixed up with a vampire."
"So he must have been tricked?" Nathaniel continued. He cupped Harry's chin with his hand for a moment, then slid his hand under the man's hospital gown to his shoulder. "Harry fell for a line? No. Harry never does anything anyone tells him, including Anita." He smiled absently. "She was so mad when he told her what he was going to do."
"So why did she let it happen?" Ron demanded.
"Oh, Ron, when does Harry let anyone stop him?" Hermione snapped.
"Harry said something to Anita," Nathaniel said. "Because after they talked, she just stopped being so mad and threatening to kill Meng Die."
"What did he say?" Hermione asked.
Nathaniel shook his head. "No one heard."
Hermione sank back into her chair and rested her elbows on the bed. "Why do you think he'll get better?"
"Anita thinks it," Nathaniel said, as if that was all the answer he needed.
Jason stopped by Nathaniel's side and ran his hand down Harry's arm. "Man, he's so cold," Jason muttered. "He should be warmer."
"There are some blankets in Anita's room," Nathaniel replied. "I'll go get them." He pulled his hand out from under Harry's shirt and quickly left the room.
Jason held Harry's arm, careful not to fiddle with the various tubes stuck in his skin. Hermione was perhaps a little too tired, and it didn't bother her as much as it probably should have to see the man touching Harry like that. Ron just shook his head and went back to the window.
"Why..." Hermione started. "What was Meng Die like?" Jason looked up at her. "We only ever met her the once, when she came to fetch Harry for something. She didn't seem..." Hermione hated to speak ill of the dead, but nothing she had seen about Meng Die had endeared her to the vampire.
Jason sat on the edge of Harry's hospital bed. "Meng Die wasn't exactly a people person," he said dryly. "She was arrogant and aloof and rude at times if she wasn't able to use you."
"Then how did Harry become so entangled with her?" Hermione demanded with growing incredulity. "That's not like him at all!"
Jason shrugged. "I know. It was weird, right, but Harry said something about how people always underestimated the two of them, and they'd always come out on top."
"Did he love her?"
"I don't know." Jason played with Harry's fingers as he spoke. "But I do know that he respected her in a lot of ways. I think they really were friends at the end of this, or as close to it as Meng Die could ever get to having a friend."
Nathaniel shuffled back into the room, arms full of hospital blankets. "Meng Die liked that she couldn't capture Harry with her eyes," he added to Jason's odd eulogy. "She never could, and Graham told me it pissed her off but she liked it. It was a challenge."
Hermione took a blanket from Nathaniel and smoothed it over Harry's body. No, over Harry! she told herself sternly. She retreated to her chair and slumped down, waiting.
All there seemed to be left to do was to wait.
Time passed, and Hermione may have dozed in her chair, when Ron made a startled squeak. She opened her eyes wide, to try and drag herself out of her stupor. "What?" she said stupidly.
"He's opened his eyes!" Ron said in an excited voice.
"Harry?" Jason was saying, bending over Harry and stroking the man's cheek. "Harry, are you with us?"
Harry made a sound in his throat. "What's he saying?" Ron demanded.
"Shut up!" Jason said. "Hey, Harry, it's okay, you're okay. There's just a tube in your throat. You've been here in the hospital for three days."
Nathaniel pulled Jason away from Harry and settled himself in Jason's spot. He put his hands on either side of Harry's face and looked directly into his friend's eyes. Harry made another sound.
Nathaniel drew a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, Harry," he said. "Meng Die didn't make it."
Harry closed his eyes, the lines of his face tightening in pain. He didn't make a sound as tears squeezed out of the corners of his eyes.
Ron took Hermione's hand and they stood there, silent, as their friend grieved for a vampire that none of them had really understood.
end