Harry Potter The Final Straw

Harry fought down the bile rising in his throat and burned the image in his mind. The scene in front of him was a stark reminder that innocents could and would get hurt in any conflict no matter how careful you were.

Quietly, so he wouldn't break their concentration, Harry asked, "Is there anything that I can do to help?"

Snape didn't even bother to look up, he recognized Potter's voice easily. His voice was without its usual snarl when he spoke, "Mr. Potter, we are very busy here at the moment. If you want to help, start checking the injured students that haven't been treated yet."

Seeing Madam Pomfrey nodding in agreement with Snape, Harry replied, "Yes, sir." and stepped out of the enclosure, never noticing the trail of bloody footprints he was leaving behind.

Looking over at Hermione, he grimaced and asked, "Are you going to be alright?"

When she looked up at him, her eyes were bloodshot from throwing up and crying at the same time. It was her first experience with how dangerous a spell could really be. Wiping her mouth on a napkin that Ginny handed to her, quietly, she said, "Eventually."

Harry rubbed her back gently in understanding before turning his attention to the rest of the group. He noticed that they all seemed a bit green but seemed willing to help.

In a commanding tone that they had never heard him use before, Harry said, "Hermione, I want you, Neville, and Ginny to head up to the Hospital Wing and get some extra medical supplies. Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape are tied up and the other teachers are going to need some assistance."

The three teens nodded and dashed off towards the Hospital Wing at a run.

Turning his attention to Fred and George, Harry said solemnly, "Professor Snape wants us to treat the students that the teachers haven't gotten to yet. I figured that you two would be able to handle the blood better. If you can't treat a wound, just bandage it until a professor or Madam Pomfrey is free."

With identical nods, the normally rambunctious Weasley twins made their way over to the injured students to lend a hand where they could.

Focusing on his magic, Harry allowed it to direct him to an injured student that was sitting slightly away from the crowd. Kneeling down next to her, softly he said, "Where are you hurt?"

The look of pain on the young witch's face was agonizing to see. When she removed her hand, Harry was shocked to see a piece of the table the size of a railroad spike protruding from her left forearm. Gingerly, he took her injured arm and lifted it up to better inspect the wound.

His gulped when he saw that the shard had been driven through her arm. She was bleeding profusely but no one had noticed because she was holding her injured arm against her black school robes. Looking closely at her face, Harry realized that she was paler than usual because of the blood loss and that her eyes were out of focus.

Gently, he lowered her to the floor, placed his own school robes beneath her feat, and laid her injured arm across her abdomen. Soothingly, he said, "I need to fetch Madam Pomfrey. Stay still, I'll be right back."

Sprinting back to the school healer, he blurted, "Madam Pomfrey, Tracey Davis is badly injured and no one noticed. She's lost a lot of blood where a piece of the table pierced her left arm."

Not even looking up from her work, Poppy said brusquely, "Take a Blood Replenishing Potion from my bag and bandage her injury as tightly as possible. I'll be there shortly." Looking up into Mr. Potter's eyes, she said, "Don't leave her, she may go into shock if she hasn't already. Good job catching her injury before it was too late, Mr. Potter."

Harry knelt down and rifled through her medical bag and withdrew the proper potion, a few bandages, then ran back to Tracey. Gingerly, he lifted her back into position with her head across his thighs and said softly, "Madam Pomfrey wants you to take this potion for the blood loss and then I'm going to bandage your arm. She'll take care of you as soon as she's finished helping Daphne."

Tracey Davis looked up into the eyes of her nurse and focused on him for the first time. Harry Potter was the last person that she expected to see helping her and the shock was plainly visible on her face.

She swallowed without conscious thought as he tilted some of the potion into her mouth, her gaze never leaving his. "Th… Thank you." she rasped, just before she passed out.

As Harry was about to pour another measure of potion into her mouth, Tracey's eyes rolled up into her head and she began to convulse. While he tried to keep her from injuring herself further, Harry yelled as loud as he could, "Help!"

In the mass of confusion, no one noticed a flashbulb from a camera going off; forever immortalizing the moment. Changing back into her Animagus form, Rita flew over to a wall sconce and settled down for a very juicy story, ignoring the cries for help around her.

Madam Pomfrey was just finishing up with one of the wounds on Daphne's chest when she heard Harry's yell. Checking her patient's vital signs, she said urgently, "Severus, Miss Greengrass is stable for now. I need to see to Miss Davis." Without waiting for his response, she stood up and made her way over towards Mr. Potter.

A whispered, "Good luck." from Severus Snape was lost amongst the din.

Madam Pomfrey surveyed the situation in front of her as she knelt down next to the two teens. The first thing that she noticed was the extremely pale color of Tracey's skin and the large wooden spike that was sticking out of her forearm.

The clinical part of her mind noticed the good job Mr. Potter was doing to prevent any further injury to Miss Davis as she convulsed. While running her wand the length of Tracey's body, she was muttering an incantation to check for vital signs.

"Minerva!" Poppy shouted. The results from her spell were much worse than she feared. Miss Davis had lost a tremendous amount of blood, if she lost much more, her heart could fail. As it was, some of her organs were already shutting down from the blood loss.

Turning her attention to Mr. Potter, she noticed him looking down at Miss Davis with wide eyes. Calmly, she said, "Harry," when he looked up at her with those piercing green eyes, she continued, "When she stops shaking, I'm going to need you to pour the rest of that potion down her throat as soon as I say so."

Harry nodded in understanding and grasped the potion firmly in his hand waiting for her word.