Chapter 14

"It's just... the school year is nearly over," Harry sobbed. "Do you remember what's going to happen? I'll go back to first year once more together with the new first years. Do you think we can stay friends even if we're in different classes?" he asked anxiously.

Ken shook his head, completely surprised by Harry's thoughts. "Of course we can stay friends. We're friends with the Weasley twins too, aren't we, although they are a year ahead. And if we managed to stay close friends in spite of being in different houses, we will manage to remain friends if we're in different classes too."

"Of course, Harry," Julia said simply, aware of the fact that Harry probably hadn't understood anything of Ken's speaking.

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Harry didn't speak about that topic again, neither to his friends, nor to his guardians or anyone else. However, during the next week, he couldn't help thinking about the matter all day long, and even during the night, he couldn't sleep well. Nevertheless, he tried to keep a happy expression on his face, so that his friends thought he had overcome his fears in the meantime. Minerva, Severus, and Poppy became very worried, seeing that he always seemed to be tired, hardly wanted to eat anything, and didn't even try to hear and understand as well as he normally did.

One day, Minerva tried to speak with Harry when she was sitting with him waiting for the after effects of the ear salve to wear off. "Harry, are you having any problems? What is wrong with you? You know that you can speak to us about anything, don't you?"

Too sore and tired to listen properly, although he somehow knew what his guardian had asked, Harry only pulled Minerva's hand close and leaned into her touch, not noticing that she was watching him in concern.

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A few days later however, Harry woke up in the middle of the night after watching another nightmare of being in a class together with children like Dudley, who chased him around the classroom, teasing him because of being a freak, who couldn't even hear properly. His head hurt very much, he was feeling hot and cold at the same time, and he couldn't hold back the tears that began to stream down his cheeks.

Like in a trance, Harry scrambled out of his bed and walked over into Minerva's quarters, his teddy bear safely tucked under his arm. He carefully touched his guardian's shoulder, whispering, "Minerva?"

The teacher woke up with a jolt. When she saw a shivering and crying Harry standing beside her bed, she shifted a bit to the side and patted her hand onto the free space next to her, inviting Harry to climb up and lie down next to her. She adjusted the bed covers, so that Harry wouldn't get cold during the rest of the night and carefully put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close.

"You're very warm, sweetie, are you ill?" she asked in concern, giving Harry a piercing look. However, with only one small candle near the window sill it was too dark to get a good look at his face. "What's wrong, Harry?" she repeated very slowly and in a loud voice.

"I don't want to become a freak again," Harry suddenly blurted out. "I never had friends before, and now I have really nice class mates and the best friends I could ever have, and I don't want to lose them."

Minerva gave Harry a horrified look. "Why would you lose your friends? Please, tell me what is wrong, sweetie."

Harry nearly fell off the bed startled and shivered vehemently when he suddenly felt a cold hand on his forehead, since he couldn't hear Minerva's mumbling, "Maybe he has a fever and is delirious."

"I have to go back a year and start Hogwarts all over again, don't I?" Harry blurted out, still shivering.

"Oh Harry, is that your problem?" Minerva asked, relieved to finally be able to understand what had been bothering the child all the time. "Tomorrow, I will speak with the other teachers, but your marks are so good that I can't imagine that anyone would want you to become a first year again."

"Sorry?" Harry asked. "I didn't understand; I have a splitting headache and can hardly hear anything."

Minerva sat up and turned on the lights with a flick of her wand. She summoned parchment and a quill and quickly wrote what she had just tried to tell him, only adding, 'Don't worry, sweetie; everything will be all right.'

"Really?" Harry asked anxiously, sighing in relief when Minerva gave him a calming nod.

'Harry, are you feeling ill? You seem very hot,' Minerva wrote on the parchment.

"Only my head hurts a bit, but it's not bad," Harry replied, nestling deeper into the covers.

Minerva looked at him in concern and wrote, 'Wait a moment, I'll get you a potion.' She walked into Harry's room, quickly lacing a headache potion with a sip of a sleeping draught, grabbed a fever reducing potion and the thermometer and returned into her bedroom. She made Harry sit up and drink the laced headache potion before she helped the child lie down again and watched relieved as he fell asleep within seconds. Back in bed herself, she carefully stuck the thermometer under his armpit, horrified when she looked at the display to see that he had a very high fever. After casting a time spell and seeing that it was three o'clock in the morning, she decided not to wake Poppy up but spelled the fever reducing potion into the child's stomach and conjured a cool cloth for his forehead.

Fortunately, the next day was a Sunday, and Minerva spent a lot of time cuddling with Harry, who was still in her bed. In the morning, she quickly Floo-called Albus, asking him to arrange an urgent staff meeting, before she called Poppy to check on Harry. Afterwards, she paid Severus a short visit and told him to ask Julia if she could stay with Harry while she was attending the staff meeting.

After the teachers' meeting in the early afternoon, Severus accompanied Minerva to her room in order to tell Harry the good news that he would be allowed to attend second year together with his friends from September onwards. Harry was over the moon with joy, and on Monday morning, he was well enough to attend classes.

During the next weeks, Harry's friends and his guardians noticed with relief that the boy was back to his usual cheerful self.

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One Saturday morning, Harry was just eating breakfast with Julia and the Weasley twins at the Gryffindor table, when Severus thought to him from the head table, 'Harry, I'd like to ask you something. Would you be willing to play Seeker for Slytherin in the match against Ravenclaw today? One of the Beaters has fallen ill, and since you cannot play Beater because you're too small, the Seeker has agreed to play Beater instead, so that you could play Seeker for them. What do you think?'

Harry threw an enthusiastic look at the head table. 'Really?' he thought back excitedly. 'Of course I want to play.'

'You know that you have to be very careful, child,' Severus replied in concern.

'I know that and I will be careful,' Harry promised, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hear anything up in the air.

"Harry, what happened?" Julia enquired. "You suddenly look incredibly happy."

"I'm going to play Seeker for Slytherin today," Harry blurted out cheerfully, smiling when the Weasley twins, who were sitting on both sides of him, began to pat him on the back. 'Apparently they don't mind that I play for Slytherin,' he thought happily, watching the students around him congratulate him.

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An hour later, Harry was circling over the Quidditch pitch, feverishly looking for the Snitch. Once, he nearly managed to catch the small ball, but then Severus had mind thought to him, 'beware of the Bludger,' knowing that in contrary to the other players, Harry was not able to hear the Bludger coming. Harry had changed the direction to get out of the Bludger's way in time, and then the Snitch was long gone. Now, it was already two hours into the play, and Harry was getting tired, especially as it was an extremely hot day, considering that it was only the end of May. 'Anyway, I have to catch the Snitch in order for Slytherin to win the Quidditch cup over Ravenclaw,' he thought, determinedly continuing his search.

Finally, after nearly three hours of flying, Harry closed his hand around the small ball, sighing in relief, when suddenly his guardian's voice penetrated his mind, 'Harry, be careful, a Bludger!' Harry lazily turned around, and his eyes widened horrified.

I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!

All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.