Diagnosis
A/n: Thank you as always for the kind reviews. Congrats to lilly-flower15 for being the 100th reviewer.
/parseltoungue/
'written by Harry'
"spoken aloud."
Chapter 19: Hogsmeade
Disclaimer: As much as I'd like to, I don't own the copyrights to the Harry Potter series.
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Harry's POV
Harry awoke with a big stretch to the alarm spell that he had set the night before in order to meet Draco and his friends to go to Hogsmeade. He was excited since this would be his first Hogsmeade date with Draco Malfoy.
A smile broke out on his face as he recalled the pleasant dream that he had been having before being woke by the alarm spell. He and Draco had been hanging out in the Room of Requirement on some date or another and Harry had been running his fingers through Draco's long blond hair, but before the dream could turn into more steamy activities, Harry had been rudely interrupted.
He was determined to make today a special one for Draco.
He got out of bed in the hospital wing. He would be glad to spend the weekend in his dormitory starting tonight. It was always refreshing to spend off days from chemo with his best mate Ron.
Harry got dressed and retrieved Brian from his tank.
/Good morning Brian./
/Hi master. How are you feeling since last night?/
/Much better. Perhaps I'm just in a good mood and that's lessened the nausea that I usually feel post Todesgefahr./
/I don't see why you need that poison anyways. I could bite you and poison you if you like that sort of thing./
Harry wondered where Brian had heard of such fetishes.
/The Todesgefahr helps keep me alive. Don't be a sillyhead./
Harry got his oral care kit and went into the loo to brush his teeth. After finishing up his morning tasks, Harry got a hat off of his nightstand and exited the privacy screens that served as a makeshift wall for his little sick room in the hospital wing.
"Have a good time today Harry," called Madame Pomfrey.
Harry having heard her voice calling from far off in her office replied aloud in a scratchy voice, "I will."
He left the hospital wing with his morning and lunchtime medications in his pocket inside a plastic baggy with a spring in his step.
He was really doing it! Going on a real date with the one and only Draco Malfoy. Who was known in years past as Harry Potter's rival. But today was not going to be a day to dwell on the past Harry decided, instead, he would focus on the future and leave past bygones to be bygones.
The last date that Harry had taken to Hogsmeade had been with Cho Chang and what a disaster that had been.
Harry walked to the great hall and sat down for breakfast with his friends. Ron and Lavender would be going to Hogsmeade together but she had yet to come down to breakfast much to Harry's delight.
'Once we've been to the shop that I need all six of you to accompany me too, I'll be splitting up with you lot to spend some quality time with Draco. We can meet up in the Three Broomsticks at three for a mug of Butterbeer.'
"Sounds good," said Hermione who was eating happily while reading an ancient runes book. "I hope that you have a nice time with Draco."
'I plan on it.'
Harry felt a little nauseous as the breakfast food had materialized on the table in front of him. He knew that the smell of food could make someone going through chemotherapy feel sick so he was not worried by this turn of events. He took his morning meds doing his best to fight the urge to go get sick in a nearby loo that had seen more of him throwing up recently than he cared to admit.
He took a few bites anyways so that he would not have to take a nutrient potion. After fighting the urge to vomit again, Harry sipped on his pumpkin juice.
After breakfast had ended, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville played a game of exploding snap in a nearby classroom to pass the time until they would meet up with Luna Lovegood and Draco Malfoy.
The four teens put the cards away and made their way to the entrance hall where Filch was standing with a list of students who were going to Hogsmeade checking their names off of a list of signed permission forms.
Harry waved Luna and Draco over to their group where they chatted quietly about who they'd be spending the day with and where they'd go. Luna and Draco agreed to go with them to the armory shop and to meet back up with the group at three for a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks.
Filch began to scan all of the students one by one with a Probity Probe, making sure that no one was smuggling dark artifacts into the village.
Once you were scanned and passed inspection, you were allowed to make your way out of the castle and towards Hogsmeade.
Harry waited for his friends and boyfriend to pass inspection and then he took Draco's hand in his and the duo strode casually along the path to the gates of Hogwarts and then down the path to the village.
Harry did his best to avert his eyes from Lavender and Ron. The couple were hanging all over one another as they were known for doing.
Once they arrived at Arnold's Armory, Ron asked Lavender to wait outside of the shop until they had concluded their business. The girl reluctantly did so.
Draco opened the door and Harry and Draco were the first of the group to enter the shop.
"Hello," said Draco looking around for the shop owner.
A tall wizard with a muscular frame came into Harry's line of sight.
"Hello Mr. Potter, what brings you to my shop on a beautiful day like this?"
'I was wondering if you could make me seven sets of basilisk armor sir.'
"Why on earth would you lot need something like that?"
'Last time I checked, I was number one on Lord Voldemort's to kill list.'
"True that, but I must warn you that even dragon armor is crazily expensive. Do you have access to basilisk skin that I could use to make this armor?"
'Yes as a matter of fact I do.'
"How large was the snake in question?"
'Quite large.'
"Alright, provided that you can provide the necessary materials, I can craft the armor for you. I'll need all of your measurements."
The man summoned a tape measure and began the tedious task of measuring them one by one.
After Harry had been measured, he took the opportunity to explore the shop. He saw swords, scabbards, bows and arrows with magical properties, daggers, shields and the like. Needless to say, he was impressed.
Coming back over to the shop owner who had just finished measuring Draco who was the last to be measured, Harry asked, 'How much will all of this cost?'
"100 galleons a set."
'That's pretty cheap isn't it,' asked Harry of Draco.
"Yes, but he's probably giving you a discount because of your status as our famous savior," muttered Draco.
'I'd rather receive it full price.'
"I know Harry, but you will probably need all of the funds you can get to help fund this war, so don't look a Hippogriff in the mouth."
'Thank you sir. I'll have Professor Snape deliver the basilisk hide to you by next Monday. When will you have it made?'
"By your next Hogsmeade trip in December right before the Christmas hols."
'That's perfect.'
"Thank you for doing business with me Mr. Potter," said the wizard shaking Harry's hand.
The seven children left the shop, the bell tinkling as they left.
"Let's go," said Draco, excited to begin their date.
Harry smiled at his boyfriend's antics, Draco was pulling him by his hand along to the next shop.
'Where to first?'
"I need a new quill and some parchment," said Draco. " So we'll need to visit Scrivenshaft's first if that's alright with you."
Harry smiled and nodded as they continued down the street.
Spotting the sign to Scrivenshaft's Harry wrote in the air with his wand, 'Here it is Dray.'
Harry pushed open the door and the couple entered the shop.
Harry watched on fondly as Draco walked down several isles until he found the more high-end rolls of parchment and quills. Harry knew that Draco was unaccustomed to purchasing anything but the very finest of materials so he refrained from commenting that that quill over their that was three galleons cheaper would do just fine.
Harry also grabbed a fresh quill and a roll of parchment for himself. Having gotten all they needed, the two made their way to the counter to purchase their stuff.
The rest of their day until three when they'd all meet up in the Three Broomsticks was spent in Zonko's, where Harry got a few joke items for pranking Filch, at Honeydukes where the couple practically bought out the store in heaps of candy and snogging behind the Shrieking Shack.
As Draco and Harry found out, snogging and light petting could be a lot of fun.
Before the two knew it, it was time to grab a light lunch. They made their way with goofy grins to the Three Broomsticks, where Harry ordered fish and chips. Draco got shepard's pie. They chatted about everything and nothing at once.
They both got hot tea to drink, wanting to wait until their friends got their to have some Butterbeer as planned.
Thanking Madame Rosmerta for the excellent lunch, the two left the establishment hand in hand.
They walked around until they found a short wall that they could sit on and chat. The young couple both shared stories from their childhoods with one another. Draco grew indignant at some of the things that Harry's relatives had done to him. Harry tried but was not entirely successful at editing the more graphic evidence of child abuse from the retelling.
Harry put his arm around Draco's shoulders as they talked, drawing his partner closer to his left side.
When the cold of the late autumn air began to affect them, Harry cast a nonverbal warming charm to keep them from growing to cold. He was sure that Brian appreciated the warming charm especially much.
After they grew bored of their conversation, Harry leaned in and pecked Draco squarely on the lips. A fierce snogging session began and was not deterred when Harry's cap got knocked off.
Coming up for air, Harry realized that his head was cold, so he searched for and found his cap, putting it on.
Turning to Draco with swollen lips Harry said, 'That was fun Draco, We ought to do this more often.'
"Yeah," said Draco.
When three o'clock came around, they made their way to the Three Broomsticks to meet their friends. Draco spotted his largest two mates and hailed them over to join their group. Harry bought everyone Butterbeers and they all shared with one another what they'd done for their day in Hogsmeade. Lavender and Ron, Harry and Draco obviously spared their friends the details about their extracurricular activities that they'd obviously been up too.
Before they knew it, it was time to head back to Hogwarts. Grabbing his bags, Harry got up and shrank his stuff so that he wouldn't have to carry his load back, freeing his hand to hold Draco's. He put the shrunken bags into his robe pockets.
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Harry's POV
Later that night, Harry found himself sitting on his four-poster bed in the Gryffindor tower reading a defense book and taking notes for useful battle spells to teach the DA. So far, he had found four really good one's. Checking the time with a quick Tempus, Harry made his way down to Professor Snape's quarters for his Celmosphocide injection after putting his notes and book on the bedside table.
Harry reached the hidden door to the Professor's quarters and knocked.
Severus opened the door and let the boy in.
"And how are you this evening? Did you have a good time in Hogsmeade Harry?"
'I'm fine and yes Draco and I had a splendid date, thanks for asking.'
Harry made his way into the private office of the Professor where his treatments take place and sat down on the bed, exhaustion hitting him. He knew that fatigue was par for the course with cancer, but suspected that this was just ordinary exhaustion that came with having an exceptionally busy day.
'I was wondering if you could deliver the basilisk skin to Arnold's Armory next week, I'm having him craft me armor as you had suggested.'
"I'd be happy to."
Harry held out a finger for the Professor to prick and watched on as a drop of blood went into the purple potion, changing it to a red color. The potions master drew it up into a special syringe and injected it into Harry's port, flushing it with sailean once the potion had been administered. He put a dressing back on the port and cleaned up the mess. After the side-effect of dizziness left, Harry got up, thanking the potions master for his help and left.
Reaching his dormitory at long last, Harry waved at Ron and Neville before he retrieved his mirror to call Remus. He couldn't put telling the werewolf about his situation off any longer.
He cast a silencing charm around his bed to keep his conversation with Remus private.
"Remus," said Harry to the mirror, the surface fogged up as his breath hit it. The surface rippled and Remus Lupin's face appeared in it moments later.
"How are you doing Harry," asked the Marauder.
"Alright, today was our Hogsmeade trip and I took my date out on the town. We had a good time," said Harry his voice scratchy.
"If you're fine, then why do you sound so sick?"
"Because I am sick. I've been diagnosed with cancer Remus. I didn't want to tell you and worry you, but now that I can tell you in a secure manner, it's the least I owe you as James and Sirius's mate."
"How long have you had it?"
"Since a few weeks into this school year. It started with migraines."
"What kind of cancer do you have?"
"Brain cancer. The treatments cause my voice to sound like this."
"Have you told your friends that you're ill?"
"Yes."
"Is their anything that I can do for you?"
"Now that I think of it, could you get me some beanies?"
"I see your hat, don't you like it?"
"Yes, but hats can fall off and it's growing cold, I need something to keep my head warm."
"Sure thing."
For the next few minutes, Harry and Remus talked about their lives, how Remus was trying to persuade the werewolves over to their side and how Harry was doing in school. Once their conversation drew to a close Harry put the blank mirror into his bedside table droar before going to sleep.
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Harry's POV
Harry and Draco found themselves walking out into the chilly morning air together. It was Sunday morning, and the couple decided to cross off one of Harry's items off of his list. Draco wanted to help Harry live as much as possible while battling cancer. He knew that completing these things would mean a lot to the teen and he wanted to spend time with him. Reaching The Whomping Willow Draco asked, "How are we going to get to the trunk to inscribe our initials on it if the ruddy thing won't stand still?"
'Hold on,' wrote Harry. 'I've got it.'
Harry searched around until he found a suitably long stick to prod the knot.
Much to Draco's amazement, the tree froze.
Harry got out a knife that he had bought to replace the one that Sirius got him which had been destroyed during their time at the DOM last term.
Harry scratched a heart into the bark of the tree which was more difficult than he had thought it would be, and Harry wrote hp/dm forever in the center of the heart.
'How does it look,' wrote Harry smiling.
"Great. Definitely a kiss worthy feat."
Draco kissed Harry thoroughly.
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Dumbledore's POV
Albus Dumbledore made his way over to the fireplace and reached into the pot of floo powder. He threw it onto the flames before stepping into the fireplace and saying, "The burrow."
The wizened old Headmaster stepped out of the floo dusting off his magenta robes before being greeted by Molly. "What can I do for you Albus?"
"I need to talk to Arthur. Is he available?"
"Of course. Arthur," bellowed Molly Weasley. "The Headmaster needs to talk with you."
Arthur came bursting into the living room greeting Albus happily. "Is either Ron or Ginny in trouble?"
"No, it's nothing like that."
"Okay," said Arthur, stumped as to what the Headmaster of Hogwarts was doing in his living room if none of his children were hurt or in trouble.
"Do you recall that attack on the Jones house where Hestia and her children were killed?"
"Yes I do, unfortunate tragedy that was."
"What you don't know, is that the Fidelius Charm is beginning to weaken. I received a grave injury over the summer and as I grow weaker, the secret is at an increasingly weakened state. I fear that if I don't find a new Secret Keeper for number 12, their will be disastrous consequences. So i was wondering if you could become the new Secret Keeper. We'd have to recast the charm as you in the role as Secret Keeper and reinform the Order of the secret, thus strengthening the charm and leaving our members unable to tell the secret even if under torture like Hestia was. She told Voldemort some information but luckily not the whole thing."
"Of course I'll do it," said Arthur.
"Then let's go," said Albus. "We'll appearate right outside of the house and I'll cast the complex charm."
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A/N: I know that I said when updating Blind Faith that I would put this one on hold for a while whilst I update that one, but I can't in good conscience do that to you readers, so I'll update both fics on a rotating schedule to keep both het and slash readers happy. Please read and review.
I Also know that that bit about the whole fidelius thing isn't cannon, but I wanted a way to negate having the house revealed if Albus dies, so that's why Arthur is Secret Keeper now.
I know that it's not in cannon that they take two Hogsmeade trips so close together, but needed a way for them to get each other's Christmas presence so there'll be another trip soon.
Recommended fic of the chapter, A Brother to Basilisks by Lomonaaeren.
