Waking Up

The room around him was excruciatingly bright. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that he hadn't used his eyes in over a year. It was as if someone had a lumos maxima at point blank in front of him. Slowly he started feeling the rest of his body, he was burning up! Every part of his body felt like it was on fire at once, but a small breeze felt like someone put an ice cube on him. He was so incredibly sensitive. In that moment he made a slight moan and instantly someone came over to him.

The mere breeze from her walking over was enough for him to shudder and shake, but as soon as his eyes got a little used to the light he saw a lovely young (not very young) madam above him. With a gentle smile on his lips he reached out to her "Hello Poppy". Then he reacted. His voice! That was very strange. It sounded brighter and cleaner than he was used to. He had smoked for several years and hadn't sounded like this since he was a teenager!

She looked at him with a worried glance. "Hi Quirinus. How are you feeling? Honestly now!" The first two bits were soaked in gentle care and deep concern, while the last bit was a clear command he wouldn't refuse. He was slightly surprised at her concern though, she wasn't that easily moved by injuries, he remembered from his own time as a student.

He tried expanding his smile as he told her the truth. "In truth I feel rather terrible. It feels like I haven't touched, smelled, seen, heard or tasted anything for a decade. Every sense is on high alert right now." A thought struck his mind and he spoke with a bit more certainty "Don't you dare give me one of those potions you give to students to dissuade them from coming back here! Give me a proper one."

He dropped his tone at the last sentence and tried to laugh it off but it came out weak. He knew that she usually gave the students the normal rather tasteless potion but with an added "incentive" not to harm themselves again. She made them taste terrible to prevent having people harm themselves just for the heck of it.

Poppy gave him a calm smile back as she seemed rather relieved by what he said. Soon she came back with a potion which normally probably tasted like nothing, perhaps like irony water. To Quirrell it was like drinking blood. He had issues just swallowing the first two gulps, but when Poppy raised her eyebrow at him, he chugged the rest.

"Urgh, are you sure that was the good one? It felt like I was a bloody vampire!" Poppy chuckled a little at his antics as she took the bottle away. "So it's not just a youthful appearance then? You've become a kid at heart I see." Now he was confused. What did she mean? He was a balding man close to thirty. Sure, compared to her he was a young man but nobody would call his scraggly face youthful, that's for sure. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Ehh, youthful? What are you talking about?"

She blinked in surprise and mumbled something he normally wouldn't have heard "Could it be..doesn't he know?" He responded resolutely "Know what? What's wrong?!" He tried getting up but was unable to. He strained himself and managed to take a look at his chest and arms. His skin was smooth, it looked like a snake who recently shed its skin. His arms and chest lacked almost all hair, only small tufts were there now. Most of all his skin was pink, bright pink. He got scared. If he lost that hair, then what about..he managed to get a hand up to his scalp but was surprised to feel a full luscious head of hair. He also saw handcuffs but didn't reflect on it at the moment.

"Poppy..what's happening here?" She sighed and slowly made her way over. Poppy sat down next to him on the bed and put one hand through his hair. "I honestly don't know. I thought you did this. What's the last thing you remember?"

Quirinus rather enjoyed the feeling of a hand going through his hair so he let her continue. "Well. I remember a year of nothingness, stuck in a void with only memories as company. I know Voldemort-" she hitched a little at the name "used my body to do some things. Last I remember is being freed by a boy. I believe it was Harry Potter, unless that was a dream of course."

Poppy smiled widely down at him as she shook her head. "No that's true. But I'm glad you're back. I knew there was something terribly off about you ever since you came back. You never visited for tea or anything, I almost thought you'd grown tired of me." She let out a quick laugh "I was actually planning to give you a piece of my mind as soon as the year ended, for ignoring me this entire school year after staying away for such a long time."

He took her hand "I would have kissed your hand if I could bend that far..or if I could lift your hand to my face." He chuckled. "I hope I'm still invited this saturday then?" At that, she looked down on the ground a bit gloomy. "What? What's wrong?" And then he noticed the handcuffs, and matching ones on his feet. He was strapped to the bed without his wand in sight. Quirinus looked up to her questioningly and gave her his best attempt at a playful smirk "This isn't one of your games, is it?" Oh how he hoped it was.

But she slowly shook her head. "No. You're suspected for several crimes. One of which is a break in at Gringotts." His eyes widened and with what little power he had, he burst up to a sitting position. "But I was possessed! Surely they can't fault me for actions that weren't my own?!"

Poppy remained pensive. "Maybe not. But you best wait until Albus gets here. I've notified him you're awake. You might be able to get off this rather easily actually, not many would recognize you as you look now after all." There it was again. He had to know what had happened to his face. "Please be a dear and get me a mirror. I'd like to know why you called me youthful before, and why you say I don't look the same. What has happened to me?"

She slowly got up, got a small mirror from her desk and brought it to him. When he looked into the mirror he was shocked to see who was looking back. His hair was long with flowing locks and a shine he hadn't seen in years. His eyes were without horror or despair. His cheekbones were showing, and in a good way. His skin was simply smooth. His nose was straight. He could even spot the dimple he only had on his right side. His face was so much younger. He looked like he was 15 again!