Harry was glad that he had enough sense to go home. Not even ten minutes after the Aurors had dropped him off, he had to dash into the bathroom, barely making it in time. After having to make several frantic trips back and forth, he gave up, finally curling up and managing to sleep for about twenty minutes on the bathroom floor.

Ron couldn't wait to be released from training so that he could check up on his friend. He had called Harry when he had gotten home, but he hadn't received an answer. With Hermione's urging, he Apparated to Harry's house, landing on the front porch.

He knocked several times, calling, "Harry?"

When he got no answer, Ron looked around to make sure nobody was looking, before he pulled out his wand and murmured, "Alohomora."

The front door opened with a soft click, and he stepped inside, closing it behind him.

Only the bedroom light was on, and Ron could hear the faint murmur of what he only recently knew to be a television.

"Harry?" he called as he padded down the hall toward the bedroom. No answer.

"Harry?" He stood in the doorway, peering in. As he had suspected, the television was on. The covers on the bed were pulled back, and it was obvious that Harry had been laying down; but he wasn't there now.

"Harry?" he called again. Still, he got no answer. Perplexed, Ron entered the room, peering further and further in.

Finally, he arrived at the bathroom door. It was open slightly, but he noticed that the light was on. "Harry?" he called softly as he pushed the door open.

He had finally found his friend. Harry was sprawled on the tile floor, his feet beside the cabinet beneath the sink, his head resting against the base of the bathtub. If Harry hadn't looked so ill, Ron might have laughed.

With a frown, he knelt beside Harry, placing a hand on his arm. "Harry? Mate, wake up." Gently, Ron shook Harry's shoulder, gazing at his friend. A soft groan let Ron know that Harry was finally coming around.

"Mate?"

"Mmmmmm... Tired. Just a few more minutes... I swear on my wand I'll get up..."

"Harry, it's just me."

"Mmmmm... Ron...?"

"Yeah. Come on, mate, you need to go back to bed."

"Huh?"

"You're on the bathroom floor, Harry," Ron said, grinning slightly.

"Oh," Harry mumbled, though he made no move to get up.

"Aren't you uncomfortable?"

"It's cold," Harry murmured, his eyes closing.

"So why don't I help you get back into bed?"

"Okay..." Just as Ron was going to help him, though, Harry asked, "But what if...?"

"What if you get sick again?" Ron offered helpfully.

"Yeah." Ron thought for a moment, before he grinned. "Got an idea, Harry. Come on."

He helped his friend out of the bathroom and to the bed. "Get comfortable." Harry did as he was told, curling up under the blankets. Ron could see him shiver slightly, no doubt from the chills his fever brought.

"You shouldn't be here, Ron," Harry mumbled, his eyes already nearly closed. "I don't want you to catch it."

"Shhh, Harry." Ron replied dismissively. He brought out his wand and, suddenly, Harry and the mattress began to shift so that it was now positioned in front of the bathroom.

"There." Ron grinned at his handiwork. "Better, Harry?"

"Mmmmm," Harry replied, already drifting off to sleep. Ron chuckled and reached over, ruffling Harry's hair playfully.

"I'll check up on you later, Harry." Still smiling, Ron left, closing and locking the front door behind him.

The sound of the phone woke Harry. He brushed off the blankets, his shirt drenched with sweat. He staggered into the kitchen, trying to push his hair out of his eyes. He managed to pick up the phone on the last ring.

"Hello?" He sounded hoarse and weak.

"Harry?" Ginny's worried voice immediately answered. "Merlin, are you all right? Ron told me you had gotten sick during training, but you sound terrible!"

"Thanks, Gin," he croaked, slumping into the nearest chair as he felt his legs begin to wobble.

"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry, you know what I meant."

"Yeah." He wasn't angry with her, but he just felt too weak and ill to do much talking. "So... what's up?"

"Nothing really. I just... I wanted to see how you were doing."

Something in Ginny's voice told him that that wasn't entirely true. Harry could tell that she was holding something back. "Oh."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just thought that you'd called about something else."

"What, a girl can't call and check on her boyfriend?" Ginny's tone was suddenly defensive, as if she really was trying to keep something from Harry.

"I never said that," he retorted, a slight edge to his voice.

"What did you mean, then?" The last thing Harry wanted was for another argument to start, but it seemed like he couldn't back out of it now.

"You know perfectly well what I mean. We've spoken about this several times."

"Harry, honestly!"

"No, Ginny. Please, I, I need an answer."

Ginny sighed irritably, and there was a long, awkward pause as neither of them refused to speak. Finally, in a resigned voice, Ginny mumbled, "I haven't given it much thought."

Harry exhaled in exasperation.

"What do you want me to do, Harry?" Ginny's voice was rising in volume. "This isn't exactly an easy decision to make!"

"I know," Harry muttered, feeling exhausted all over again. Another long pause stretched between them.

"Why do you insist on knowing so soon, Harry?"

"So soon?" Harry scoffed, sounding dismayed. "Soon? Ginny, it's April! Term ends in two months!"

"I'm aware of that, Harry."

He sighed, feeling that this topic was hopeless to keep pursuing. "Never mind."

"You don't want me to accept it, do you?" Her tone was horribly accusing.

"Ginny, where the hell did you get that from?" He was trying hard to keep his temper at bay, but it was becoming much harder as the conversation progressed.

"Oh, isn't it obvious?" Ginny retorted. "Why else would you get angry when I told you I hadn't decided, and why you avoid talking about it any other time?"

Harry had nothing to say; Ginny seemed to pick up on this, because she went on.

"And when I told you, I thought you'd be more excited, but you weren't. I thought you'd warm up to it after awhile, but everyone kept saying that there was something odd about how you took it. I didn't listen to them, thinking that..."

But Harry was barely listening anymore. He was shaking, not just with the slight chill from his fever, but with an intense, unexpected anger.

"So that's it, then?" he growled, the anger boiling over. He had interrupted Ginny's rant, but he didn't care. "You're basing it all off of what others think of my reaction? I already told you, I am happy for you! What do you want from me?"

His explosion seemed to catch Ginny off guard, but not for long. "You could've at least shown how much you care, Harry!"

Harry's free hand clenched into a fist, and he felt himself shaking even more. "I'm sorry." Harry's voice was low, and, despite his efforts, his voice was quavering with anger. "I'm sorry I'm not what you want me to be."

Another silence. "Fine," Ginny said quietly. "You want to be like this, Harry? Okay. I _have made up my mind. I _will take the offer."

Harry felt shock overwhelm most of his anger, but he kept quiet.

"And no, I won't stay for the two weeks after term ends, if you don't want me to."

"Ginny..." He knew he had made her angry, and perhaps he deserved everything he was getting, but it felt like she was going overboard.

"No, Harry! I don't want to hear anymore. It's obvious that you don't care enough about this, or me!"

"Whoa, hey, I never..." But she didn't let him finish.

"Sometimes, Harry, I wonder if you're unhappy that I got an offer to play on a team, and you didn't!"

Harry's anger returned instantly. Where was she getting all this from? "That's..." But he had no time to say what it was, because Ginny cut him off again.

"If that was it, you should have just said something instead of going through the motions of acting like you're actually happy for me. I never thought you were like that at all, Harry. But, whatever. I'll call you later."

Before Harry could say anything, there was a click, then silence. Harry slammed the phone down and got to his feet. _Too _fast, he thought as a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea overwhelmed him. After taking a few deep breaths, Harry slowly made his way back to his bedroom.

Feeling miserable, he collapsed onto the bed, wondering what else he could do wrong.