A Christmas to Remember
Christmas was a huge event in the Weasley household. It was a favorite holiday for the Weasley family, but there were lots of chores to be done. Mrs. Weasley did all the cooking for the Christmas feast, Ginny and Hermione decorated, and Fred and George were in charge of cleaning the whole house, top to bottom. Harry and Ron were put in charge of cleaning the outside of the house. Now, everyone's job was demanding, but Ron and Harry had to work outside in temperatures below freezing. Their noses, ears, and fingers were red, while there lips were blue. When they had finished their job (which took most of the day), they stumbled inside. The first thing they smelled was hot chocolate, which made their mouths water.
"Take off all of those clothes and go sit by the fire," Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen."I'll bring the hot cocoa in a minute."
Harry and Ron got their bulky clothing off at record speed, and launched themselves onto the couch, startling the two girls who were already sitting there.
"Sorry!" They both said in unison. The girls just laughed. They all sat on the couch admiring the fire in silence, listening to the bustling in the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley came in, holding a tray with six hot mugs.
"Where's Fred and George?" Asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Last I saw them, they were heading up in the attic." Ginny replied.
"Well, their loss." Mrs. Weasley stated before walking back into the kitchen.
The foursome sat around and talked about random things while they all finished their cocoa. Harry finished his cocoa first, and he started nodding off while listening to Ron and Hermione argue about something of non-importance. Ginny was the first to notice Harry sleeping.
"Shhhh! Harry is asleep." She whispered to the two arguing. They stopped their bantering and looked at Harry. Harry's head was leaning over the top of the sofa, his mouth slightly open, glasses askew. Ginny gently took his glasses and put them in the side table. She then moved Harry's head to her lap. Ginny smiled a little when she heard the soft snores he was making. Hermione and Ron watched this scene with small smiles on their lips. They knew that Ginny had always wanted to be able to do that.
Mrs. Weasley chose that time to check on the children. She saw that scene and she smiled. Looking at the clock, she realized that it was about ten o'clock at night. She walked over to the bunch and whispered, "It's getting late, and you have an early morning for you tomorrow. How about you leave Harry here for tonight."
Ginny nodded and moved his head from her lap to the armrest. Ron and Hermione got up and moved his legs to rest on the other armrest. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione quietly went upstairs to bed while Mrs. Weasley transfigured his clothes into pajamas and laid a blanket on him. She kissed his forehead before going upstairs to her room.
=====================================================================
Harry woke with a start. He knew that he had had a nightmare, bit he couldn't quite remember it. All Harry knew was that his head hurt. Actually his who body ached, but his head and stomach hurt the most. His stomach rolled angrily, causing Harry to want to vomit. He sat there for awhile trying to settle it. When it finally got to a manageable pain, he noticed that he didn't know where his glasses were, or where he was exactly. Moving his hand around the edge of the couch, he finally found his glasses. After slipping them on, harry noticed that he was in the living room of the Burrow.
"This is so embarrassing! I fell asleep on the couch! A couch! Now I feel sick and tomorrow is Christmas! What should I do!" Harry whispered to himself. He was about to just ignore it when his stomach rolled. Harry jumped up from the couch and ran to the bathroom. He shut the door, opened the toilet lid, and threw up all that he ate that day. He did that for a few minutes and then he dry heaved. That was the worst part. He felt like he was going to throw up his organs.
After he was done with that, he rinsed his mouth out, flushed the toilet, and stumbled out into the living room. He sat on the couch, contemplating whether he should tell or not.
" Mrs. Weasley would like to know, but I don't want to be that awkward guest who overstays their welcome. But she must have a little radar thing that will tell if someone is sick in the house. I'll just go upstairs and listen through the doorway and see if she's up."
Harry crept up the stairway, making sure to miss the creaking steps. When he got to Mrs. Weasley's door, he put his ear up to it. Harry heard Mrs. Weasley walk from the bed to the door. Before she got to it, he knocked. The footsteps quickened until they stopped. He saw the handle turn and he straightened up. Mrs. Weasley looked through the doorway and saw Harry.
"Harry dear," she whispered. "What's the matter?"
"I'm sorry to bother you Mrs. Weasley, but I'm not feeling to well." Harry replied quietly.
"Well, come inside and sit on my bed. Arthur is covering someone's late shifttonight, so he won't be home anytime soon."
Harry slowly walked to the bed and sat on the very edge. He did not want to get their bed covered with germs.
"Now dear, what hurts?" Mrs. Weasley gently asked.
"Everywhere, but my stomach and head hurt the most." Harry said, suppressing a whimper. His headache had flared when he walked into the well lit room, causing his stomach to hurt.
"How long have you felt like this? Have you felt worse? Have you thrown up at all?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"I felt fine all day until I woke up from a nightmare. I started feeling worse thirty minutes after I woke up. And yes I have thrown up once in the downstairs bathroom. I'm sorry." Harry said quietly.
"Don't be sorry dear. Do you feel like you have to throw up anymore?" Mrs. Weasley said.
"Kinda." Harry murmured to himself. His stomachache had gotten worse since he sat on the bed.
"Here dear, let me help you to the bathroom." Mrs. Weasley said. She gently pulled Harry up into a semi-standing position. They slowly made their way to the bathroom in the bedroom. When they walked in, Mrs. Weasley led Harry to the toilet. He knelt down and lifted the seat up. He put his head on the toilet seat, waiting for it to come. Mrs. Weasley knelt down behind him and rubbed his back. After a few minutes of that, Harry felt bile rise into his throat. He raised his head over the toilet seat. Right when he did that, the vomit came. Harry put his arms around the toilet bowl to keep himself upright. He vomited for only a few minutes, but then he started dry heaving again. That lasted forever. Mrs. Weasley kept on rubbing his back the entire time. When Harry was finally finished, he put his head back on the toilet seat. Mrs. Weasley handed him a small cup of water to rinse his mouth out with. He swished and then spit it into the toilet. Mrs. Weasley flushed the toilet and got a warm washcloth. She wiped his face to clean it from the vomit and the sweat.
"I'm sorry."Harry whispered after she was done.
"Whatever for dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"For being a horrible guest. I've thrown up in your toilet twice, I woke you up in the middle of the night, I fell asleep on your couch, I have done everything a bad houseguest does." By now Harry was in tears.
"Oh no, Harry! You have done nothing wrong! You have helped with the hardest of chores in the house without complaint and you are always so polite. Everyone gets sick at times you just got sick now. That's ok!" Mrs. Weasley stated. She pulled Harry into a hug. His head was resting on her shoulder. He was still crying, but these were not tears of guilt, these were just tears exhaustion and relief. They sat like that for awhile before Mrs. Weasley felt Harry get heavier, his breaths were deeper, and he was still. She gently laid him down on the floor while she went to get a blanket and a pillow for him.
As she was walking back, she looked at a clock. It was already six in the morning! The kids were probably awake. She quickly rushed into the bathroom, set Harry up, and went downstairs.
=====================================================================
Mrs. Weasley rushed downstairs to find all the kids, including Fred and George, awake and on various furniture items.
"Mom, where's Harry?" Ginny asked when she saw her mother.
"Well, Harry has a case of the stomach flu, so he's in my room right now. Don't make a big deal out of it, Harry is embarrassed by it, ok?"
"We won't, tell Harry we hope he feels better." Hermione told .
"I will thanks dear." replied as she started walking up the stairs. When she got to her bedroom doorway, she heard retching. Opening her bedroom door, she rushed across the room to the bathroom. She found Harry over the toilet vomiting, but nothing was coming out.
"You poor dear," she mumbled. "I'm sorry this had to happen to you."
After he was done, she got him a glass of water.
"Swish with a little bit of it and then drink the rest. I'm going to bring up some potions that will hopefully make you feel better." Mrs. Weasley said before she went downstairs.
Harry drank his water and laid back down on his makeshift bed. His thoughts were foggy with tiredness, fever, and the headache. Everything he heard was in and out, like static from the radio. His vision was blurry, even though he had his glasses on. After a few moments of laying there, he heard someone come into the bathroom. It was . She pointed her wand at him and murmured a spell that took his temperature.
"102.4," He heard say. "Do you think that you can hold down a stomach soother sweetie?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
Harry thought for a moment, before he said yes. Mrs. Weasley gave him a stomach soother and the effects were instant. His constant stomachache was gone!
"Do you feel better dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Yes, thank you." Harry said, his voice raspy from disuse.
"Now, before I give the fever reducer, you need to have something in your system other than water. I'll go down and get you something. You can go sit on my bed." Mrs. Weasley said. Harry nodded and tried to stand but his legs were to weak. He looked up at Mrs. Weasley who instantly helped him over to her bed.
"Now up you just sit against the headboard and I'll get your food."
"Okay and thank you." Harry said.
"Your welcome dear." Mrs. Weasley said before heading downstairs.
=====================================================================
When she came downstairs, she saw all the presents under the Christmas tree still there. That was very unusual for her family. She also noticed that nobody was in the living room. Walking into the kitchen, she saw her whole family, with Hermione, eating breakfast.
"Hello Molly!" Mr. Weasley said.
"Well hello everyone. Sorry I couldn't cook breakfast this morning. Harry needed me. Also, Bill and Charlie, you were supposed to come at lunch! And Fred and George, what were you doing in the attic last night?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"We came early to surprise you!" Bill said.
"And what we did in the attic is a surprise." Fred and George said together.
"Oh, and here mom, we made this for Harry." Ginny said as she got out of her chair and went to the counter. She brought over a tray with toast, rice, bananas, and ginger ale. There was a note that said- Get better soon! Love Hermione and The Weasley Bunch
"Thank you all so much, that helps a lot," Mrs. Weasley said as she took the tray. "I'm expecting Harry to be well enough to come down by noonish."
She walked up the stairs into the bedroom to find Harry asleep.
=====================================================================
Harry felt like he had just closed his eyes when he felt Mrs. Weasley shake him awake. Groaning Harry opened his eyes. He looked around and saw that he was in a big bed.
"Oh yeah, I came in here." Harry thought to himself.
"Harry, you have a special breakfast prepared for you." Mrs. Weasley said as she put the tray on the foot of the bed. Harry saw the food and his stomach grumbled in hunger. He smiled sheepishly at Mrs. Weasley, who smiled back. She brought the legs out on the tray and set it on Harry's lap.
"Eat as much as you can dear, and stop when you're done. We'll wait a few minutes to see if you can keep it down, deal?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Deal!" Harry said as he bit down on his toast.
Harry ate most of his food and he kept it down.
"Now here's your fever reducer. This should help with your headache, but if not I have a headache potion right here." Mrs. Weasley said as she pulled out a purple potion and a light green one. "The green one is a headache potion and the purple one is the fever reducer." She said as she handed him the fever reducer.
Harry smelled it before chugging it. He waited for a moment before he felt his body start to cool down. He sighed with relief. All that was left was his headache. He asked Mrs. Weasley who gave it to him and he chugged that one to. His headache was completely gone in just a few minutes.
"Oh, I almost forgot. There was a note." She handed him the note. Harry smiled as he read it.
"Now Harry, how about you take a nap and I'll wake you up at twelve to see how you feel, ok?" said.
"'K" Harry yawned, snuggling down in the pillows. Before he took off his glasses, he looked at the clock. It was ten in the morning, so he had two hours of sleep. Harry took off his glasses, snuggled in the soft covers, and went to sleep almost instantly. But he still felt a soft kiss on his forehead.
=====================================================================
At twelve Harry was awakened by Mrs. Weasley .
"How are you feeling dear?" She asked.
"I'm actually feeling great!" Harry said, and he was telling the truth.
"Ok, well how about you take a shower and I will get you clothes ready."
"Got it." Harry said as he hopped out of bed. His legs were a little unsteady, but that was normal. He went into the bathroom, shut the door, and turned the shower on. Once it got to the perfect temperature, he stepped in. It felt like all his stress was leaving him. He cleaned his hair with some magical shampoo that will make it straight so his hair may lay down. He rinsed his hair and sat under the water for ten minutes, soaking in the warmth. He brushed his teeth so they were white and his breath smelled nice. When he was wrapped in a towel, he walked into the bedroom. Some clothes were laying in the bed for him. He quickly got dressed and made his way to the door. He stopped by the mirror near the door and did a quick check. He looked pretty good. Harry stepped outside the door and walked downstairs. There was chattering downstairs, about many different subjects. When he appeared in the last flight of steps, Ginny ran to greet him.
"Oh Harry! I'm so glad you're ok!" She said as she hugged him. Harry hugged her back, happy that she wasn't shy around him anymore.
Fred and George all off a sudden stood on the couch.
"We will now show you the surprise in the attic!" They said. Everyone walked up the stairs. The attic door was shut so Bill pulled a string which activated the stairs. Fred and George led the way. When they got up the steps, they were amazed. It looked like a thousand stars were on the ceiling.
"This is our Christmas present to you!" Fred and George said. Everyone cheered. They stayed up there for awhile, opening all the presents they brought up until it was time for the feast. Harry was a little nervous that he might be sick at the sight of food, but he still sat at the table. He sat next to Mrs. Weasley and Ginny so if he felt bad, he would have comfort. Some words were said and the feast began. Harry ate only a little, but he never felt sick. The feast took awhile and when everyone was done, it was late. They all sat around the living room, telling funny stories, cool things they got, and many more odd subjects. Harry had only had five hours of sleep so he started falling asleep on Ginny's shoulder again.
"Shhh! Harry is asleep!" Ginny said as she moved his head to her lap. Everyone chuckled slightly at this. Ginny stroked his hair and he snuggled closer to her.
"Goodnight my sweet baby." Ginny cooed.
"G'night." Harry murmured before going into the realm of dreams.
Sorry for any misspells, I'm using my iPad.