Author's Note: Hey everybody. Just so you know, I'm going to use an A-F grading system since the O.W.L. grading system is so confusing. Plus, I don't think they use it when not practicing for the O.W.L.s since Harry was unfamiliar with it in book five. This chapter is for Xirleb70 who wanted this chapter as a morale booster before first day of school. I feel your pain! School is starting so soon and summer seemed so short!! Ahh!! This chappy is for all the readers who have to start school soon! Thank you to all you wonderful reviewers and please continue!! It's 11 at night and I'm craving Chinese food! I always crave Chinese though. Cheers to Chinese food! Well, on with the story!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Harry! Harry!"
He turned around to see Eloise bounding toward him with a huge grin on her face. She was skipping down the hall until she noticed the strange looks directed toward her. She bit her bottom lip to suppress a smile and bowed her head to avoid the raised eyebrows. When she got closer to Harry, she looked up with a grin and began skipping toward him again, wildly waving a piece of parchment in front of her.
"Hey Eloise, what's that?" he asked grinning at Eloise's obvious excitement.
She ended her skipping with a final hop, landing right in front of Harry. She looked as if she was trying to keep from hopping on the spot.
"This," she said, "is going to be enlarged and framed and hung above my bed."
Harry laughed and took the parchment that she was waving in front of his face. He recognized it as their latest potions test. She had gotten an A. There were only two wrong out of twenty-five problems. Harry's jaw dropped slightly and turned into a grin.
Hermione and Ron looked over Harry's shoulder.
"Merlin's beard," Ron gasped.
"Eloise," Harry said through a huge smile, looking up from the test, "you—you got an A."
"I know!" she squeaked. "It's our study sessions! I finally understand this stuff! I just—I just can't believe it. Snape handed me back the test with this weird suspicious look and I saw the grade and I kept staring at it until…"
"Hey polka-dots," called a drawling voice. Eloise froze and the joy drained instantly from her face. "I heard you cheated on the last test."
"I did not!" Eloise snapped at the approaching blonde.
"Bugger off Malfoy!" Ron spat.
"I can see that those spots on your face haven't cleared up. Rather disgusting wouldn't you say?"
Eloise pursed her lips and looked down dejectedly.
"Oi, shut your face you bloody ferret," Ron growled.
"Malfoy, don't you have something better to do, or is your life really just so pathetic that all you can do to amuse yourself is prance around and bother people?" Harry said coolly.
"Pathetic, Potter? Well, I guess we have different views of the word. What I would find pathetic would be two morons getting tutored by an even bigger moron in his worst subject and then having one of them almost wet herself when she has a burst of luck."
"And what did you get you get on the test again?" Hermione asked. "A C was it? Just passing even with Snape giving you all the answers…you're right, we do have different definitions of pathetic. At least the other houses earn their grades on their own."
"At least I am passing," he said, looking pointedly at Ron. Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their leader.
"Oh Malfoy, glad your two cronies find you so amusing. Did they forget about their own grades?" Harry asked cheekily. The two immediately ceased their laughter and glared at Harry.
"Well, I must say that I have far better things to do than have you lot waste my time," sneered Malfoy. "I just wanted to tell little Midgen over here that I got a sweater covered in red polka dots for Christmas. I had to throw it away because it reminded me too much of her face and I thought I might be sick." Malfoy looked satisfied as Eloise's face grew red and tears began to drip from her eyes. "Well, good day," he said with a wicked grin and marched away with Crabbe and Goyle.
"I—I have to go," Eloise stammered before running off, burying her face in her hands.
"Eloise, wait!" called the trio, but she was already gone.
"Should we go after her?" Harry asked Hermione, who, being a girl, knew more about girls' emotions than the two boys could ever hope to learn.
"No. Not right now. I think she needs some time alone," Hermione sighed.
Harry looked sadly at his hand, which was still clutching Eloise's test. She had completely forgotten about it. The three continued their walk out the door toward the greenhouses.
"Ugh! Why is Malfoy such a bloody bastard?" Ron asked, clenching his jaw. "I hope he gets eaten by one of Hagrid's pets."
"Maybe he'll turn around one day," Hermione said without much hope in her voice.
Ron snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure. Right after Harry and Snape become best mates."
"Oh Snapey? He and I have been best mates forever, Ron! In fact, he just gave me some good hair advice the other day. He told me to stick my head in a giant vat of grease and I'd look nearly as posh as he does!" Harry said in mock-seriousness. Ron laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes, but also gave an appreciative chuckle.
Harry immediately felt bad for the comment. Snape had helped him: kept his secret until it was no longer possible, helped him when he had been hurt the first time, saved his life the second time. Guilt clenched his stomach. He winced as Ron kept going with the joke.
Finally they reached the greenhouse. Harry carefully put Eloise's paper in his bag, careful not to crinkle the record of her monumental achievement. He pushed all his anger at Malfoy, sadness on Eloise's behalf, and guilt about his Snape comment, out of his mind as Professor Sprout began their lesson.
After classes, Harry brought his stuff up to his dorm, plopping his bag on his bed. He was about to leave when Kota's picture frame caught his eye. It was sitting on his nightstand as usual. The Muggle picture had fascinated a few of his roommates. They had wiggled their eyebrows asking who the girl was (except for Ron who knew that she was just a friend of Harry's). Harry rolled his eyes in return and insisted that she was more like a sister.
Now, the frame gave him an idea. Harry pulled out a piece of parchment and transfigured it into glass. He took out two more pieces and transfigured them into small panels of wood, cutting a rectangular hole in the middle of one. He smiled, pleased with himself for transfiguring the objects from slips of parchment, something he had just recently learned how to do.
He set down the full panel of wood on his bed. Then, he dug into his bag and removed Eloise's test, carefully setting it on top, followed by the pane of glass and the second panel with the hole in it. He sealed the seams and grinned. He had made a frame.
"Whatcha doing Harry?" asked Neville as he walked into the room, tossing his own bag onto his bed.
"Eloise got an A on Snape's last test. Only two wrong! I've just finished framing it for her," Harry explained with a smile. Neville walked over and looked at the test in awe.
"She only got two wrong!" he exclaimed after running his eyes over the paper.
"I know! Do you think she wants to hang it up? I don't really know how to get it to stand up like my picture frame does," Harry said, gesturing toward Kota's Christmas present for him.
"Nah, she'll want to hang it up. She can just cast a sticking spell on the back. She'll love this," he said with a smile. "Ooh, we should carve a message on the frame. You know, 'Congratulations to the Vice President of the Hated By Snape Club' or something."
"Brilliant," Harry said with a grin. He traced 'Congratulations' across the top with his wand, carving the word into the frame. On the bottom, he wrote "to the VP of the HBSC" since he couldn't fit the whole thing. The two boys agreed it sounded more prestigious this way anyway. Neville flicked his wand and murmured a short charm. Now, the words glittered gold. Harry held the frame out at arm's length so both boys could admire their handiwork. They both gave satisfied nods.
"One more thing," Neville said, with a sly grin. He flipped the frame over and quickly carved something into the back. He held it up for Harry to read. The words "Smart Ass!!!" smiled back at him. Harry burst out laughing.
Neville ran and grabbed a day old copy of the Daily Prophet. They changed the color of the paper to red and wrapped up their gift as well as they could, sticking pieces of Spellotape all over.
The two brought the gift up to Hedwig with instructions to bring it to Eloise at breakfast the next day.
The next day, Harry was woken from his sleep by a fit of hacking coughs. He buried his face in his pillow to quiet them.
He felt absolutely miserable and the last thing he wanted to do was have Ron start the day in a worried state. Finally the coughs subsided and he raised his head from the pillow. He fought off a dizzy spell only for it to turn into a pounding headache.
'This is going to be a bad day," he thought to himself. Something brightly- colored on his bed caught his attention. He looked over to find that it was blood covering his pillow. He lifted his fingers to the side of his mouth and drew them away to find them sticky with blood.
'This can't be good.' Harry reached down to touch his pillow, to assure himself that it was real. He drew his fingers across the red and then jumped back in surprise. The part he had just passed his hand over was once again white, clean from the blood. He slowly waved his hand over the rest of it, clearing away all of the blood. He stumbled into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He followed the same procedure on the sleeve of his pajamas where he had been coughing into at one point.
All of a sudden, he leaned into the sink and was sick, emptying his stomach of all contents. Finally, he rose, gasping for breath and clutching his stomach. He rinsed out his mouth to rid the nasty taste. Another dizzy spell swept over him and he had to grasp the sink for support.
'This is definitely going to be a bad day.'
He heard the guys in the dorm begin to stir. He quickly splashed some cold water on his face, dried off, and went back to get dressed for school.
He entered the room to find all the guys trying to wake Dean who refused to get up. They had potions first after all. Ron looked over at him with a questioning glance.
"Hey Harry, where were you?" he asked suspiciously. Harry plastered a grin on his face.
"I figured this dorm only needs one person to wake out of a coma each morning." He gestured toward Dean who was swatting away the pillow that Seamus was hitting him with. "I got up early to save you all the trouble." This seemed to satisfy Ron.
Finally, after pouring a pitcher of water on Dean's face, ("You guys are going to pay for that!") all the fifth year Gryffindor boys made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. The whole time Harry just stared at his food. For the moment, he thought that if he ever ate again it would be too soon. He pretended instead to be engrossed in studying his Potions textbook, trying to drown out his bickering friends.
"I don't care, Ron! You shouldn't badmouth professors," Hermione scolded.
"'Mione, come on. We all know Snape's an oily, slimy git. He's prejudice toward our whole house! And you know how much he picks on Harry. There's just no defending the guy!" Ron said back in an angry whisper.
"Snape's not all that bad," Harry muttered. The fighting instantly ceased and Ron dropped the roll he was holding. Their faces were so filled with shock Harry almost laughed. Hermione slapped her hand to Harry's forehead, which he swatted away.
"I'm not sick, Hermione. I just don't think he's as bad this year."
"Harry, he gave you detention for sneezing," Ron reminded him.
"Yeah, well that was months ago. I think he's gotten better."
"But you were making fun of him just yesterday. What's with the sudden change?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Yeah, I really shouldn't have said that thing about the hair. I don't think he's a bad guy," Harry insisted.
"First you're helping Slytherins, now you're defending Snape? Next thing we know you'll be wearing silver and green!"
Harry lowered his voice. "Listen, it's just…he's doing the spying for Dumbledore, which has to be really dangerous, and we're talking bad about him behind his back? Maybe we just shouldn't make fun of him any more, you know?"
Ron looked at him with an expression that clearly stated that he believed his friend had lost his mind.
"Se…see Ron? Harry's…er…right, we need to stop all…that," she said with a firm nod at the end, yet she still seemed surprised and kept shooting worried glances at him. "Harry, aren't you going to eat anything?" she asked worriedly looking at his plate. He sighed.
"Not right now."
Ron and Hermione shot each other worried glances, but Harry could do nothing to ease their suspicions.
"Don't worry guys, I'll eat at lunch, just not now. And I can see all those looks you two keep giving each other. I'm not blind you know." Ron smiled and gestured to Harry's glasses. "Well, not totally blind," he laughed.
Suddenly, owls came soaring in through the windows. It was mail time. Neville, who was sitting a few seats away, caught Harry's eye and grinned excitedly. Harry saw Hedwig fly in over his head toward the Hufflepuff table.
"Where's Hedwig going?" Hermione asked curiously.
"She's delivering a present," he said, turning around in his seat to watch the scene.
Eloise, who had been staring off into space, was jolted awake as the snowy white owl landed in front of her. She looked confused, but began unwrapping the present anyway. She looked at it for a few seconds and her lips turned upwards into a huge smile. She turned it over curiously and burst out laughing at the message on the back. She looked over to the Gryffindor table. Neville and Harry waved at her with identical grins. Eloise gave Hedwig a piece of toast, which she quickly ate before flying over to Harry, stealing a strip of bacon from his plate. Eloise mouthed, "Thank you," across the hall.
Finally breakfast was over and they made their way out of the Great Hall. Harry definitely wasn't feeling well. Eloise came bounding up and gave him a quick thankful hug, saying she'd hang it above her bed, before going off to thank Neville.
Harry smiled at her happiness, but the simple hug had almost made his legs give out, since they felt weak and wobbly. Hermione noticed something in Harry's expression and asked if he was okay. Harry just rolled his eyes and said he was fine. Hermione looked slightly skeptical but dropped the matter as they started off toward the dungeons.
Harry hid it well, but on the way down, he kept feeling like the whole floor was swaying, as if he were on a rocky boat. He stumbled a few times but passed it off as having tripped over something, pointedly looking back as if looking for what he had tripped on.
When he got to Potions, he collapsed into his seat and concentrated on making the room stay steady. Luckily, that day they were making a potion dealing with medicine, one that cleared up bruises, one that Harry was familiar with. From all of his studying magical medicine, he was pretty good at anything to do with it, including making this particular potion. All he had to focus on was not knocking his cauldron over and cutting his ingredients up properly.
Halfway through class, Neville's potion exploded, covering his arm. Dark purple bruises sprang up in the places that each drop hit.
"Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me, Mr. Longbottom. Clean up this mess and then run along to Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey can once again fix your idiotic mistake," Snape sneered.
As Neville wiped up his potion, whimpering because of the bruises on his arms, Ron leaned over to Harry and whispered, "And to think you were actually defending Snape at breakfast. Yeah, Harry, he's a really decent guy."
Harry just shrugged, neither boy noticing that Snape had been walking quietly behind them. He stilled at Ron's comment and glanced curiously at the back of Harry's head, picking up on the small shrug. He quickly resumed walking with a stony expression so no one would know he had heard.
Finally, Harry had finished his potion, which was accurately made. The three began walking toward the Transfiguration room. Hermione and Ron were a bit ahead of Harry, bickering over when to study for O.W.L.s, something Hermione had begun to do in her first year. They didn't notice their friend falling behind slightly, wincing in pain and rubbing his temples to try and soothe the pounding headache.
Harry was feeling worse and worse by the second. He coughed into his hand only to find more blood. His vision kept going blurry and refocusing. He felt his whole body weaken with each step he took.
He coughed loudly, eyebrows knotted in pain. His books slipped out of his arms and clattered on the ground. Ron and Hermione whipped around to find their friend a few steps behind them, doubled over slightly in pain.
"Harry? Are you all right?" Ron asked, panicking upon seeing his friend in obvious pain.
Harry shook his head from side to side in realizing that he wasn't going to make it to Transfiguration. This really frightened his friends. They always just received an annoyed "I'm fine" from Harry and knew this must be serious. They began walking over when Harry felt his legs giving out.
"Harry!" Hermione screamed as the two began to race to Harry's side. He was lying on his back and taking very shallow breaths. He was suddenly overcome with cold and began shivering while he felt beads of sweat forming on his face.
"Harry, oh Merlin, HARRY!" Ron was calling and shaking his shoulders. Harry tried to answer him but it just came out as a groan.
"Ron, go get a professor. You're faster than I am. Snape's closest," Hermione ordered as she began feeling Harry's forehead. Harry was surprised that Ron jumped up without protest of returning to the dungeons and took off at full speed toward the classroom of his most hated professor.
Hermione looked down at him worriedly and began smoothing his hair back from his face, not knowing what else to do.
"C-cold," Harry gasped. "I'm so cold." He hadn't meant for the words to escape but he was finding he was losing control of his mouth. Hermione whipped off her cloak and laid it on top of him chanting, "It'll be all right, Harry. Help is on the way. You'll be all right."
Harry's mind was getting clouded and everything became very confusing.
'Why am I on the floor?' he thought. 'Who's this girl and where are Ron and Hermione?' He decided to voice his questions.
"Where are Ron and 'Mione? Are they okay?" he asked the girl weakly. He was sorry when the girl burst into tears.
"I'm here, Harry. It's Hermione. Ron's getting help right now. We're both fine," she said smoothing his hair back again.
"Oh good," he muttered calming down. Then his eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Hermione? Ron?" he called out, making the girl sob.
"Harry, I'm right here. It's 'Mione," she repeated.
"Why am I on the floor?" he asked. Hermione smiled sadly.
"You're sick, Harry, but help is on the way."
"Tell Ron and Hermione I'm sorry," he instructed the girl.
"It's Hermione, Harry, I'm here. Why are you sorry?"
Harry tried focusing on her face but failed to. He opened his mouth to speak but was overcome with coughs that racked his entire body. He drew an arm to his mouth as a reflex to cough into his sleeve. When the coughing subsided, he let his arm drop back down to his side. Hermione gasped in seeing the blood.
"'Mione? You still there?" Harry asked in a whisper.
"Yes, Harry, I'm still here," she responded patting his clean hand in reassurance.
"Where are my glasses? I need them. I can't see," he explained.
"You're wearing your glasses, Harry," she said wiping away another tear.
"Hmm…" Harry paused letting this sink into his clouded mind. "That's not good then." He felt very dizzy and let his eyes close. He was soon engulfed in darkness.
Hermione watched her best friend's body go limp and began calling his name desperately. When she didn't get any response, she laid her head on his chest and cried into his robes, her only comfort coming from each rise and fall of his chest, however ragged it may have been.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A/N: Ooh, cliffy. Sort of. Anyways, next chapter is my favorite!! Thank you to all that reviewed! Please do it again! It makes me sooo happy to read your guys thoughts!!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Eowyn of Ithilien: Ah my favorite reviewer! I hope you realize I absolutely adore your reviews. I printed out the last few and keep them near my computer for the occasional laugh or ego massaging. I'm glad you like dueling so much since there is quite a bit of it in my story. Thank you for the Malfoy bit. I always thought it was funny he never says anything about Harry's clothes if they're so bad. That's the wonderful part about being a fanfic author I guess!! I get to write all the parts I want to see!! All right, you and the other reviewers have convinced me that the Stensons will know. How? Well I'm not quite sure yet, but I have an idea I hope will work okay. I must say I'm surprised at the reaction! I thought everyone would say, "Enough with the bloody random characters!" but I guess I was wrong! Thank you so much for the compliment about handling reviewers! I never even thought of it really? I figure if someone takes the time to give me their review, then their opinion is worth their weight in gold. I've gotten some wonderful advice, great ideas, and a chance to justify my mistakes (meaning I get to make up random excuses and fun long explanations to explain them away. Lol) You're such a great reviewer. Thank you for the advice and encouragement and, of course, the laughs!! Snape…drunk…glitter…it's gold. I love it!
Dadaiiro: Definitely. I think the cancer has sort of changed his views on things. In knowing he doesn't have much time left, each day is becoming more valuable to him. He's reassessed his priorities. He's, like you said, more sensitive to other's feelings, especially their troubles. Yeah, poor Snape's confused. He wants to hate Harry, but he's having a difficult time. There were a ton of people at Hogwarts after Voldie's attack and any one of them could have seen him and mentioned it to his father or something. These things always seem to make their way through the grapevine to the people who you'd like least to know about it. Let's just hope that he doesn't just faint in a corridor or something. Lol. When I read that I laughed because, as you can see, you pretty much hit the nail on the head! Interesting ideas for telling the Stensons. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do that, but I like the Ron idea. Hmm…we shall see. I'm so happy you enjoy my story!
Maximum Poofy-Queen of AU: Ooh, you adored it to death? That sounds like my feelings about Harry, I love him so much I just have to make his life miserable. Lol. Poor guy. I'm glad you like dueling. I do too! I love the dueling scene in the second movie! But I felt soo bad for Draco when Snape picked him back up so roughly and just tossed him back in! I'm adding another dueling lesson with Snape scene since it's fun. Any suggestions? Hope you liked the chappy!
TheEverFalling: Thank you so much for all your emails. I always forget to mention you down here since I usually reference the review board, but I really appreciate your reviews! Yes, Harry's cancer is getting worse as you can see in this chappy! The letter idea is great. It would be good in so many ways, but I think I've already figured out how they will find out. Oh but wouldn't a goodbye letter be so wonderfully sad. (I love sad stuff as you will see in the next chapter.) I don't think it will fit into this fic for many reasons that you will one day find out, but it was a great idea anyways!
Srialb: Thank you for such a wonderful complement! That's my main goal with this story. To keep people guessing and then surprising them all. I love hearing people's guesses! Everyone's so creative and it's so fun to hear their ideas. Sometimes I can even incorporate them into the story and if not, I can enjoy thinking of how I would write their version. I'm always worried about Harry, but I'm sure you're even more worried wondering what I'm going to do to him! LOL.
Luinlothana: Thank you! Hmm…now that you mention, I think maybe I was subconsciously inspired in some part by that movie! I had totally forgotten about it, but I must say I loved it. It didn't influence this story as much as it did my desire to learn foreign languages and Morse code though! I can't really remember that movie all that well, but I remember the Morse code thing. And didn't he detect earthquakes? That was cool. I really liked what you said about him sacrificing himself to give them back happiness. Though they will be finding out, I think I will use that line if you don't mind! It's so perfect! Harry won't be telling them for that exact reason, but they will find out some other way. For your endings, I can't say anything except I like them! Stupid ideas can turn into fun fics after all. I can't tell you about the ending because that would ruin the surprise! (Remember, I've already written it! But I love the guesses!) I can't believe you read this whole thing in 4 hours! That's dedication! It makes me so happy! Don't worry about not reviewing along the way, I'm glad you're doing it now! Hope you liked the chapter and hope to hear from you again!
SiRiUsLy ObSeSsEd1: Once again, am in love with your penname. Hmm…très interressant suggestion for the Stensons finding out. A possibility I will definitely keep in mind as I try to figure out this scene.
Joe: I really like your idea for letting the Stensons know. Keep an eye out and your idea just might be the inspiration for the scene! I know, powerful Harry rules, especially since he's so innocent about it.
Ratgirl: You'll find out soon! *Wink* I agree that Harry wouldn't tell the Stensons, but they'll be finding out some other way.
LizhowHP: oooh, I'm glad you like the dramatics because there will be some real doozies in here for you! I think you'll like the next chapter. Very angsty. I'd love to know what you think, despite the emotional scarring! Lol. You've convinced me. They'll know. And just for you, I'm going to make it as dramatic as possible.
Englishgirl: The Stensons will find out. I liked the weepy deathbed thing, but I think they'll find out a little sooner than that point, if there is that point. Ooh what a mystery!!
Xirleb70: Your wish is my command. Lol. Hey, I'm open to requests so here you go. Before the 19th just for you. I'm scared for school too. How I wish I could just go to Hogwarts instead of Muggle school, but hey, don't we all? Hope you liked the chapter!
Blackenedsoul: Wow, the Blackenedsoul? I know you did a fic on cancer. I remember it! I was reading it sooo long ago! I loved it! I left off at Hermione giving Harry a bear hug out at the car. I never knew you finished it!! Oh I'm sooo going back and reading it!! I also loved Crimson Tears. I'm not sure if I ever reviewed or not! Oh jeez, if I didn't (since I used to be a prat like that before I became an author and realized how much they're valued) then let me tell you that it was sooo great! I'm very honored to get a review from you and hope you continue to read my humble fic. Hehehe.
Ueshiba: Yeah, he does seem to have a hero thing, but that's what makes him so great! He always risks his life for others without thinking of himself. Pay attention to what Ron says in the next chappy on this subject! I hope you continue to read and review!!
Terence: Ah, midnight HP book 5 parties. What wonderful memories. Hope you liked the chapter!! Tell your pet egg I said Hi! Lol. I love how your enthusiasm for my story grows in ten seconds. YAY!
ShadowHunter1: Ooh, a new reviewer! I'm glad you enjoy the story. I've decided to tell the Stensons, and I hope it won't be awkward to read. I'll let you be the judge of that though! Please continue to read and review!
Ambookworm247: I know I'm evil. Harry can testify to that. Muahahahaha.
Thank you also to Phoenix220, Rain Warrior, and GrimmyD.