Diagnosis

A/N: I hope you all have a happy Christmas if you celebrate it and a happy holiday season if you don't, as I probably won't update again until after the holiday season is over.

'written by Harry'

"spoken aloud"

/parseltoungue/

Chapter 17: Parseltoungue

Disclaimer: As much as I'd like to be that good of a writer, I'm not JKR by any stretch of the imagination.

Last time:

Harry's scar burst open.

..:..

Severus's POV

Severus watched on in morbid fascination as Harry Potter's famous lightning bolt scar burst open and black ooze came out. He let the remnants of Riddle's horcrux evaporate until the scar bled red and not black. He held a flannel in place over the boy's scar to stanch the bleeding.

He was glad that he had stunned the boy because he probably would've been in a lot of pain as the taint left his soul and body behind.

Severus recalled that night a few months ago when Albus had called him to his office for medical attention. Albus had confided in Severus at the time that Harry might be a horcrux and thus would consequently have to die in order for the Dark Lord to be vanquished for good. If what Severus had suspected had indeed just happened, then Albus was indeed incorrect and the Todesgefahr could be listed as another way to defeat a living horcrux.

Much to Severus's regret, his potions brewing for Albus was not going as well as that of Harry Potter. He would have to continue to work on a stopgap for the curse in Albus's hand. The curse had to be halted for a time if Albus was going to continue to train the boy.

"Spot."

Spot popped into the room and answered his master's call. "Severus be needing Spot?"

"Yes. Come over here and hold this cloth in place so that I can go and retrieve a cream for Mr. Potter's scar. The wound will need dressing if it is going to heal properly."

"Yes sir."

Severus made his way to his private lab and got the needed materials to dress the scar. The bandages would need to be changed twice a day until the wound healed.

"Thank you for your help Spot, you may go now."

Severus removed the flannel and smeared a liberal amount of salve onto the opened wound and then put a plaster in place over the scar.

..:..

Severus's POV

The potions master made his way to the Headmaster's office after carrying Potter to Madame Pomfrey's hospital wing. He knew that whilst Harry would no doubt scowl when he found out that Severus had told Albus about the horcrux thing, he knew that the Headmaster as the leader of the light must be informed of such pertinent information.

"Cockroach clusters," muttered Severus.

When Severus reached the top of the spiraling staircase, he used the Griffin shaped knocker to announce his presence.

"Come in my boy," said Albus.

Severus scowled; he was not anyone's boy, not any more. Especially after how manipulative the man had been of late. Of course, he kept his face blank of all emotion and opened the door.

The Headmaster of Hogwarts sat behind the wooden desk reading over some parchments in front of him.

"What brings you to my office this fine evening?"

"Business not pleasure I'm afraid," said Severus.

"What is wrong?"

"Must something always be wrong for me to visit you," lied the potions master faking affection for a man that he was no longer sure he felt the same feelings of before towards.

"As you know, Mr. Potter has begun his Todesgefahr and Celmosphocide cancer treatments two weeks ago."

"Yes I'm indeed aware of that. How is he fairing?"

"Better now that he's unconscious."

"Unconscious?"

"I had to stun him as the chemotherapy draft attacked his scar. Your fears were indeed right Albus, he was a horcrux."

"Was? How could such a treatment defeat something as nefarious as a horcrux?"

"It has basalisk venom amongst other poisons in it. It's in fact a very potent potion. The point is that the boy is no longer a horcrux and I made him aware of the fact that there are more than likely horcruxes still out their."

"But we haven't covered that yet in our lessons."

"I had suspected that the Todesgefahr would have an affect like this when his scar began to redden over a period of several days during his treatments and the boy has grown dare I say it a bit fond of me so I felt I owed this explanation to the boy. Fear not, you can still hold your lessons with the boy I just wanted to keep you informed about how he's doing. The scar will likely fade as well."

"What about his parseltongue ability?"

"That remains to be seen."

..:..

Harry's POV

Harry sat bundled up in his warmer robes in the Quidditch stands waiting with the rest of the school for the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match to begin.

Hermione, Neville, and Luna were sitting with him in the stands.

"So who are you rooting for," asked Luna. "Your boyfriend or Ginny?"

'I'm not taking sides,' wrote Harry before showing the paper to her.

"Then why did you give Ginny your Firebolt for the game if you don't have a preference?"

'If you really must know, I think that Ginny will catch the snitch but Slytherin will win.'

"For someone not taking sides, you sure have an opinion about the outcome," teased Neville.

'I couldn't let my Firebolt go to waste and Draco already has a fine broom so he didn't need it.'

Harry watched on in eagerness as the two teams entered the Quidditch field area. The captains shook hands and Madame Hooch blew the whistle for the game to begin. The balls were released and the fourteen players went up in the air as the game began.

Harry noticed that Dean Thomas was the announcer since Lee Jordan had graduated He wondered if Dean would continue to do this since Hogwarts was currently out of a permanent Quidditch announcer. He hoped that Dean could keep up the high standards that Lee had during his time at Hogwarts.

"And Gryffindor scores," said Dean. "Ten points to Gryffindor."

The game continued and Gryffindor scored three more times before the Slytherins got ahold of the Quaffle. It didn't take them long once they gained the upper hand to rack up fifty points. Katie was good, but the other chasers of Gryffindor could use some work.

Gryffindor gained possession of the Quaffle when Goyal ran into Katie intentionally as a timeout was called and the penalty shot was taken.

The game went on and Harry watched Ginny try and confuse Draco with the Wronski Feint. He watched as her toes kissed the grass and Draco avoided crashing into the ground by a narrow miss.

Ginny spiraled up into the air again trying to throw Draco's scent off the real snitch but this time he was to smart to fall for the red-head's antics.

Harry kept his eyes on both seekers, wishing that he could be up in the air. They both broke apart from one another and began looking for the snitch.

Thirty minutes later, Ginny caught the snitch. Draco had been right behind her as they both flew after the illusive winged ball, but Ginny being the better flyer by a narrow margin caught it. As Harry had predicted, Ginny caught the snitch bringing Gryffindor's score up to 200 but Slytherin won the match by ten points bringing the final tally to Slytherin 210 and Gryffindor 200.

..:..

Harry's POV

Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room later that evening practicing catching his wand using the wand holster. It took him about twenty minutes to accomplish this feat. He smiled when he succeeded. Harry then took out a defensive charms book from his book bag and began to read. He took notes of any useful charms both to teach the DA and for his own use hopefully against Voldemort. He had decided that it was time to work on crossing one thing off of his list, defeat Voldemort.

Harry kept himself busy until the dreaded dinnertime. For tonight was when Dumbledore would tell the rest of the school about his cancer.

Neville, Hermione, Ron and Harry made their way into the great hall.

Harry turned to his friends asking them if they minded if he sat at the Slytherin table. He explained to them that Holly was taking the news of his cancer very badly and he wanted to be with her when Albus brought it up again. Being the loyal friends of the famous Harry Potter, they readily agreed that this was a good idea and a kind thing for him to do.

Harry made his way over to the Slytherin table asking Holly White on the paper if she would mind if he sat beside her. The exuberant first year quickly agreed.

Harry turned to the girl and nodded to her in greeting.

'So how have you been doing Holly?'

"Fine. I loved the match today. Your house put up a valiant effort, it's just that our team had better chasers."

'Yeah, but I bet that Katie will have the other two new chasers in tiptop shape for the next match.'

"We'll see."

'How are your classes going?'

"We just learned the levitation charm the other day. I was so excited when I got it right."

'That's good Holly. So when do you want to make those chocolate chip muffins we were supposed to make?'

"How about tomorrow night."

'Sounds good to me. Meet me in the entrance hall after dinner and we'll make us some."

Harry had decided to use the room of requirement to bake the muffins because he figured that Holly would find the room intriguing.

The headmaster got to his feet and cleared his throat to gain the student's attention. Harry reached out for Holly's hand as he knew she would need the support when she heard the news again.

"I have an announcement to make. I'm sure that you all have noticed that Mr. Potter has been taking a lot of potions and pills lately as well as the fact that he's been wearing a hat for the past few days."

Mutters arose as the DA members were outraged that Albus was telling the whole school. Yes Harry had told them but he was sort of their acting general so they needed to know. The rest of the school in their humble opinions did not need to know.

"Harry has brain cancer. For you purebloods who don't know, that means that a lump is growing in his brain taking over previously healthy tissue. He's under the care of a wizarding oncologist at the present time to help defeat the tumor. These treatments might make him quite ill so be patient with him and us the staff as we all adjust to this new development. The chemotherapy draft that he's taking has made his hair fall out so he wears a hat. I need everyone who is not in Mr. Potter's defense club to sign this parchment swearing that you won't go and spread this news to your families and close friends as it's imperative that Lord Voldemort does not find out about this for as long as possible."

It took an hour or so after the students had begun to grieve for them to sign the parchment as well as a compulsion spell on several of the Slytherins to force them to sign the parchment. Albus hoped that Harry didn't notice the compulsion as they had agreed not to use compulsive magic. Albus reasoned in his mind that these students were not going to do as asked, so it was a necessary measure.

..:..

Harry's POV

Harry sat on the bed in Severus's quarters and rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. A few of his eyelashes fell out as he did so. He wished that he could be doing something as carefree as the Slytherin house was at the moment, their Quidditch victory parties were just as legendary as the Gryffindor one's when they won the match.

Severus came into the room with the lancing device, a beeker, and the syringe in hand.

"How are you feeling tonight after the horcrux was defeated last night?"

'I'm feeling much lighter as if a taint has left my soul. Do you think that the scar will heal up and disappear?'

"It should or at the very least it'll not be a cursed scar. Your mind is now your own for the first time in fifteen years."

'Then why do I have to do Occlumency training still?'

"Because the Dark Lord can still read your mind if he comes after you again which he will no doubt do again."

'So how did I do in Occlumency training before the match today sir?'

"Better than last week. It'll take some time to get the hang of it. Obtaining a mastery of Occlumency is a hard thing to accomplish."

Severus pricked Harry's finger then dropped the amount of blood into the Celmosphocide turning it from a purple hue into a bright red one. He flushed the port then administered the MCDI.

After he cleaned up, Severus turned towards Harry and asked, "When you defeated the basalisk in your second year, did you ever have it chopped up into potions ingredients?"

'No. Do you think that it's still viable?'

"Yes, I suppose that the Chamber of Secrets is a very cool and damp area?"

'Yes.'

"Then it's highly likely that the corpse is still salvageable."

'Why do you ask now?'

"Because I am in need of fresh basalisk venom for your Todesgefahr and Albus and I have agreed that in order to keep this information away from the Dark Lord, that obtaining it in secret would prove beneficial to us. Can you take me to the Chamber tomorrow to procure the necessary ingredients?"

'Yes. If it's viable, then perhaps we'll split the prophet. What amount sounds good for you? And what time?'

"How about seventy-five percent goes to you and twenty-five percent goes to me since I'll be the one breaking the basalisk carcass down into it's base components? And after lunch."

'Sounds good, but I was wondering how come I can still speak parseltoungue after the horcrux was gone from my scar sir?'

"It's more than likely that in your ancestry somewhere you're related to a family that has the talent."

'Meet me outside of Moaning Myrtle's loo after lunch then to begin sir.'

..:..

Harry's POV

Harry awoke with a groan. He was so tired. But he knew that he had to get his day started.

He got up out of his four-poster bed in Gryffindor tower and got dressed. He removed the plaster from his forehead and smeared the salve onto it. Professor Snape had told him that it could take up to two weeks for his scar to close properly. It was strange knowing that it would never pain him again. He put a fresh plaster on it and went to the loo to use the oral care package that was how he brushed his teeth during chemo.

He went down to the great hall with Brian on his arm. Harry spent several minutes talking to the little fellow just glad that he hadn't lost his ability to talk to his new familiar.

Hermione came into the hall with a book on arithmency with her and sat beside Harry.

A few minutes later, Ron and Lavender came into the hall holding hands.

Hermione scowled at the happy couple. Harry felt bad for the girl, she clearly loved Ron but Ron was so far up Lavender's arse that it wasn't even funny.

Breakfast appeared on the table and Harry put a fare portion of food on his plate. Since he didn't have chemo last night, he wasn't nauscious for once, so he could eat his fill.

After eating, Harry took his morning pills, he had lowered his dose of prednisone yesterday and this made him happy.

Harry and Hermione chatted amongst themselves as Hermione read, being the talented witch she was, she could both read and hold a basic conversation at the same time.

'I have something that I need to talk to you and Ron about after breakfast.'

"What is it?"

'Something that happened during my treatment on Friday.'

Thirty minutes later found Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting at a table in the common room. It was a rare occurrence nowadays for Ron and Hermione to be sitting together given Ron and Lavender's antics.

'Do you know what horcruxes are?'

'Yes,' wrote Hermione. They had decided to write these type of conversations out and then throw the paper into the fire for secrecy's sake.

Harry proceeded to explain to Ron what horcruxes were and then told the duo about what had happened with his scar as Severus had told him. Ron and Hermione were horrified to find out that Harry had been a horcrux but were thrilled that the horcrux had been defeated by the chemotherapy draft. They were also excited that Harry's scar would no longer bother him. Harry told them about Severus's theory that Riddle had more than one horcrux and asked them how he should proceed with Albus's lessons now that he knew what the topic was. Hermione had told him to just be honest with the Headmaster about the fact that he knew and to take things from their, letting the Headmaster explain things as he may.

..:..

Harry's POV

Harry waited outside of Myrtle's loo for Severus. Once the stern man had arrived, Harry pushed open the door.

"Why haven't you been to see me lately," asked Myrtle.

'Because I've been busy. And you know that I'm not into women,' wrote Harry into the air so that Myrtle could read it.

"If the cancer kills you, you're welcome to share my toilet."

'Thanks but no thanks.'

"All of the ghosts know about your being ill, it's truly horrid."

'Yeah, I know that it's hard for you lot, but honestly, cancer has became just a new normal for me these days.'

"What brings you here to see me and with a teacher no less?"

"We're going into the Chamber of Secrets," said Severus. "Harry can you open the Chamber for me?"

/Open,/ said Harry with a scratchy hiss.

The sink slid aside and the pipe lay open. An idea came across Harry's mind, he wondered if the slide could be adapted to have stairs as he couldn't picture Severus sliding down a slimy pipe for any reason. /Stairs please./

Harry and Severus watched on as the pipe turned into a staircase descending downwards.

The two people and one snake made their way down the long staircase.

Once they reached the bottom, Harry and Severus continued walking bones crunching under their feet.

They reached the cave-in and Severus carefully cleared a larger hole for them to go through. They walked further into the Chamber and came across an old shed basalisk skin. It was the one that during Harry's second year he had mistaken for the live basalisk. They approached the bit of wall where the second entrance was and Harry opened the final passageway that had snakes on it. Severus whistled at the sight of the massive snake.

Much to the man's pleasure, the snake hadn't begun to decay any.

"It's a pity that the eyes were destroyed," said Severus.

'Yes,' wrote Harry into the air as he didn't have anywhere to put the paper to write.

"You defeated this large thing at twelve," asked Severus in awe.

'Yes but I had Fawkes help with the eyes.'

"First we'll accio the fangs one by one with the venom sacks intact, then we'll direct them with our wands into this jar. Have you mastered a silent summoning charm yet?"

'Yes.'

"Good, I could use your help but I don't want you to strain your voice any."

Once the jar was full of enough fangs to supply the Todesgefahr for months, Severus skinned the basalisk rolling up the skin into several roles. He then drained the blood into jars. After that he dissected the basalisk carefully. He put the ingredients into jars, vials, cans, bottles, and sacks.

"Harry do you know what basalisk skin is useful for?"

'Making armor sir.'

"Would you like to have a set of basalisk armor of your very own?"

'Yes. It's even rarer than dragon hide armor I believe.'

"Their should be enough skin here for about six sets of armor, do you think that your friends would like a set as well?"

'Yes sir. Basalisk armor is very rare after all. It'll protect us very well if we ever face a battle directly.'

"There's a man in Hogsmeade who can make these sets for you for a charge of course."

'Yes but the basalisk organs blood and such will sell for a pretty penny on the black market. I dare say that such an expense would be covered. I'm also going to have five percent of my portion of the gold each go to everyone who was petrified during my second year.'

"That's a very considerate thing to do."

..:..

Harry's POV

Harry relaxed under the spray of the shower in the Gryffindor boy's dorm. He had come up here to shower before dinner to get the stench of the Chamber off of him before going to meet Holly. He was grateful that he no longer had to wash his hair, this significantly decreased how long he had to stay in the shower. He turned off the water when he was finished and grabbed a fluffy towel to dry off with.

Harry held back tears as his underarm, pubic hair and facial hair fell out. But he was glad to have this milestone met. He was completely bald as the day he was born now. What would Draco think when their relationship progressed to physical intimacy Harry wondered, if he had absolutely no hair.

Harry wrapped Brian around his arm once more.

..:..

Harry's POV

Harry met up with Holly later that evening to make his legendary muffins with the girl. This was one of those things on his list that he wanted to get done. Yes it was so simple that many people would ask 'why bother', but Harry cared about his friends and doing this would mean a lot for Holly.

They made their way up to the seventh floor where Harry paced back and forth thinking of what he needed the three times before a door appeared.

"Wicked," exclaimed Holly. "A secret room. Where did you find this place?"

'A house elf told me of it last year when I needed a place to hold the DA meetings. We couldn't use the great hall last year because Professor Umbridge wouldn't let us use any defensive spells at all.'

"Okay."

Harry pushed open the door and explained how the room worked for the first year, telling her to only tell those she trusted about the room.

The room that had been created by Harry was that of a cozy kitchen with a table for two.

They proceeded to make the muffins with ingredients that Harry had gotten from Dobby the house elf.

Once the muffins had cooled, the two ate a few chocolate chip muffins a piece before wrapping the rest up for their friends, or in Harry's case his boyfriend.

..:..

A/N: I hope that you enjoyed this short chapter. I'm not that good at writing Quidditch matches so I hope that I didn't do to terrible of a job.

Please vote on my pole if you feel strongly about the new community one way or the other.

Recommended fanfic of the chapter, Robes of Green, Heart of Gold and it's sequel by KZ55.