Chapter 28

Harry sat down onto the floor, leaning his achy head against the wall. He was just slowly closing his eyes, we he suddenly recognized letters on the opposite wall. "Scientia coloris," he slowly spelled.

"Knowledge of the colour," Hermione translated. "The colour of Ravenclaw is blue, but what are we going to do with that knowledge?"

An hour of intense thinking later, Julia suddenly spoke up, "Maybe we have to touch the bricks in the sequel of the letters. I mean the second for the 'b', then the twelfth for the 'l', and so on."

A multiple groan was the answer, but everyone agreed that it was at least a possibility they had to try out. Since Harry had drifted away to sleep, the other four busied themselves counting the letters within the alphabet and counting the bricks on the wall.

Finally, Ken pointed his wand to the respective bricks, and the wall opened, revealing a huge library, nearly as large as the Hogwarts library. Hermione and Neville eagerly stormed into the room, letting their eyes wander around the library that was filled with thousands of books.

"What are we going to do with Harry?" Julia asked, giving Ken a questioning look.

"Just let him sleep for the moment; we're right here," Ken replied calmingly. "What I'm thinking about is... Do you think something would happen if we tapped the bricks for the colour yellow or red? I mean, Salazar Slytherin has his own library in the Chamber of Secrets, but so far, we didn't find a library belonging to Godric Gryffindor or Helga Hufflepuff."

"That could be possible," Julia replied pensively, crouching next to Harry. "Ken, why don't you call the others out of the library for a moment and try it out? I'm going to take Harry back to his room; he's burning up."

"All right, Julia; will you be okay, or should I come with you?" he asked worriedly.

"No, I think we'll be all right," Julia replied and proceeded to wake Harry up. "Let me take you back to your room, sweetie," she told him softly, carefully helping him up.

"Sorry," Harry apologized, feeling absolutely horrible. Barely noticing that Julia steadied him the whole way, he dragged himself back through the hidden hall to his room, where the girl helped him into his bed.

"Harry, shall I call Madam Pomfrey for you?" Julia asked softly.

"No, I'll be fine. How do you want to explain that you're in my room at whatever time it is now?"

"I know that we'll be in trouble, but frankly speaking I don't mind. Your health is much more important, sweetie." She picked up the thermometer from the night table and motioned Harry to open his mouth, so that she could take his temperature. While they were waiting, she picked up the cloth and quickly spoke a refreshing charm on it that Minerva had taught her a while ago and carefully bathed Harry's hot face. "40.5," she said horrified. "Harry, I have to call Madam Pomfrey."

"No Julia, don't. It's all right. Can you give me a fever reducer from the bookshelf over there please?"

Julia went to look for the correct potion and returned with a small phial. She gently helped Harry to sit up a bit before she pressed the phial to his lips, watching as the boy greedily gulped down the cool liquid. "Better?" she asked gently, slightly relieved when Harry gave her a small smile.

"Thank you, Julia. Can you stay with me for a while?" he whispered hesitantly.

"Of course, sweetie; I'm going to stay with you until the morning, and then I'm going to call your mum. Now try to sleep for a while," Julia replied softly and gave him a small kiss on the cheek before she began to bathe his hot face once more, noticing that Harry felt comfortable enough to fall asleep under her cold touch. She remained the whole night at his side, watching him sleep. A few times, she had to wake him up from fever induced nightmares; at other times she anxiously stuck the thermometer under his armpit when he seemed overly hot to her touch.

It was nearly six o'clock in the morning when she once more pulled his pyjama top down his shoulder to take his temperature and noticed that the upper part of his arm was full of small pustules. 'I wonder what that is; maybe he has the measles or something,' she mused worriedly. Deciding that it was still too early to call someone, she laid her head next to Harry's on the bed, suddenly feeling very tired.

An hour later, Harry woke up, feeling worse than the night before. Surprised, he noticed that Julia was asleep sitting on the edge of his bed with her head right next to his own. 'Poor Julia; she stayed with me the whole night,' he thought in concern, but before he could wake her up, he drifted off to sleep again. Unbeknownst to Julia and Harry, she had given him the fever reducer that was laced with a sleeping draught.

Only a short time later, Minerva entered the room, concerned because Harry had been so unwell the evening before. Extremely surprised to see Julia sleeping beside Harry, she lightly shook the girl's shoulder. "Ms. White, what are you doing here?" she asked sternly.

"Oh, I'm sorry Professor; I woke up during the night and remembered how sick Harry was yesterday; so I decided to look after him, and then he asked me to stay with him. He is very unwell, and he has a fever of more than forty degrees. I took his temperature a few times during the night, and I had to wake him up from fever induces nightmares several times. He asked me to give him a fever reducer at about three o'clock, and I complied, but his fever is already up again. He also has a few small, red pustules on his arm," she told her head of house, carefully pulling Harry's pyjama top down to show the teacher what she meant.

"Thank you, Ms. White, for looking after Harry although you should have called me or Madam Pomfrey immediately," Minerva replied sternly. "I'm going to get Madam Pomfrey."

"All right," Julia replied, glad that the teacher had believed her story. When the two ladies returned a few minutes later, she was once more bathing Harry's burning face.

Poppy waved her wand over Harry and sighed. "He has caught the wizard's measles," she finally said and turned to Julia. "Has anyone except for you touched Harry during the last twelve hours? Probably not, because he already went to bed at dinnertime, didn't he?"

Julia thought quickly but couldn't recall anyone physically touch the boy and shook her head. "Well, that's a relief," Poppy continued, knowing that Minerva and herself had come down with the wizard's measles before and were immune to the illness. "Have you caught the wizard's measles before?" she asked the student, who anxiously shook her head.

"No Madam Pomfrey, but the normal Muggle measles if that helps."

Poppy and Minerva exchanged a worried glance. "No, that's completely different. I'm very sorry, Ms. White, but in that case I cannot let you go home today. I have to keep you here in quarantine over the holidays," Poppy told the girl.

"Okay," Julia replied frightened, before she gave the adults a pleading glance. "Can I stay here with Harry?"

"As long as you're not sick, you may stay in my guest room again," Minerva replied. "During the day, you may of course spend some time with Harry, and in case you fall ill as well, we can think about letting you stay here in the same room, knowing that you would be in the same room together if you were in the hospital wing. However, you have to remain in Harry's room or my quarters at all times because of the quarantine. We will ask Professor Snape, if he already had the wizard's measles."

"I know for a fact that he had them," Poppy replied calmingly. "Well, you can be glad that Professor McGonagall already had them; otherwise you'd have to stay in the hospital wing for the time being. I will check on you at least twice a day, but if you notice that you're feeling unwell, you have to tell me immediately."

"All right," Julia replied in a small voice. "Will you contact my parents, Professor?"

"Of course; we can floo-call them together if you want." Minerva put an arm around the girl's shoulders and pulled her with her into her quarters to call her parents. "I'm sorry, Ms. White," she told the girl softly, seeing that tears were welling in her eyes.

"It's all right, Professor; I don't mind staying here, especially since I can stay with Harry; I'm only sorry for my parents. And well, we will miss Christmas completely, won't we?"

"No." Minerva smiled at her student. "We will have Christmas either in my quarters or in Harry's room, depending on your and Harry's condition next week. Don't worry about that now, and don't worry about getting the wizard's measles; you're not alone; Madam Pomfrey, Professor Snape, and I will be here the whole time as will Harry of course. Now, seeing that you spent half the night awake looking after Harry, I suggest that you go to bed and sleep for a while. I will ask a house elf to bring your luggage down here later on."

"All right," Julia replied and followed the teacher into the guest room, feeling extremely tired and glad to be able to lie down. When Minerva tucked her in, she took the teacher's hand in her own and hesitantly asked, "Professor, could you perhaps call me by my given name, please, at least during the holidays?"

"All right, Julia, I will do so," Minerva promised, tentatively feeling the girl's forehead, before she left the room to head down to the Great Hall to inform Harry's friends that they wouldn't be able to see Julia and Harry before they left for the holidays.

Several hours later, Julia woke up, feeling completely refreshed and well rested, and headed over into Harry's room only to notice that his bed was empty. 'Maybe he is in the bathroom,' she thought in concern, but when he didn't return after five minutes, she worriedly went back into Minerva's quarters.


Thanks a lot for your many kind words concerning this story – I really appreciate them! I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes – or correct them.

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