It was three days before Harry woke and when his eyes finally opened, Madam Pomfrey was sitting beside him. She smiled down at him and patted his cheek lovingly. "That's my boy. I was beginning to wonder if you were just going to stay in my care permanently and sleep your life away."
Harry's eyes grew wide and he looked around in panic. She softly said "Relax Harry. You are not at Hogwarts. Dobby came and got me when you took a turn for the worse. You have a very faithful and loyal friend in Dobby who has been agonizing over what you would say to him when you woke up. He has made some broth for you so we can get something besides potions in your stomach."
Harry gave her a small nod.
Still in her soft voice she said "I want you to know that you hurt me terribly when you refused to let me care for you so we will be having a talk before I leave where you will answer my questions and try to help me understand why you felt you needed to run away. I feel I've at least earned the right to an explanation."
Harry reached out and lightly took her hand. In a very gruff and unused voice, he said "It wasn't you Madam Pomfrey. I can't protect myself there. I…it's hard to explain but I will try to tell you what I can."
She nodded and then asked "So, what do you want first? The good, the bad, or the ugly?"
He smiled up at her and said "Well I'm awake and alive so I'll take that as a good start. Just start with the good and work your way down. I'd hate to ruin your good news by moping over the bad."
"Well, the good news is that you'll still be able to play Quidditch." She noticed his frown at that but decided to leave that part for later. She knew this young man well and it would have to figure into his radical actions somehow.
"You'll also make an almost complete recovery but it will take some time. The damage done was pretty bad but not untreatable. The problem was that along with the injuries, there were other things going on that made the situation much more difficult. If Dobby had waited another day or two, we probably wouldn't be talking right now. At the moment, you still have severe tissue damage around your torso. I managed to repair your leg completely but I'm going to need some help and better potions to fix the rest."
He smiled up at her. "Madam Pomfrey…"
"Poppy, all my boys call me Poppy."
"Okay, well Poppy, the fact that I'm alive probably means we should be celebrating. When Viktor bit me, he shook me like a dog with a new chew toy. I could feel him ripping me apart so the trident stuck in my leg was not so bad. By my guess, the mermen probably saved my life even if they did stab me with the trident."
"Yes they did. They are quite upset with what happened and are afraid of what you might do to them for it."
He laughed and said "No, I'd rather find something they like and rarely get and buy them a whole bunch of it to show my appreciation for their efforts. If it hadn't been for them, I would have never made it out of the water."
She chuckled "I once read an author who said they like chunky peanut butter. According to him, they find it heavenly. I'll lend it to you while you recover."
"Dobby?"
He appeared but acted as if he was afraid. "Thank you Dobby. You're good elf and a good friend. There will be no punishment for getting Poppy to come help."
Poppy looked at him strange and said "You speak of punishment when he saved your life."
He shot her a glare. "Poppy, I think I know Dobby better than you and he was looking for a way to go close his head in the oven door for disobeying my orders. Instead of punishment, I think I will assign some more work to you. Get some money and go buy fifty cases of chunky peanut butter. I then want you to deliver it to the merpeople of Black Lake. If you cannot speak with them, go ask Myrtle in the second floor girls' bathroom. I think she can communicate with them enough to tell them I said thank you for saving me from certain death. While you are at Hogwarts, you will contact Cedric or Megan and tell them I am recovering but am alive. If they ask, you can tell them Poppy is with me."
"Yes Harry Sir, thank you Harry Sir." With a loud pop, Dobby was gone.
....
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