Harry Potter and Gryffindor's Secret
Chapter 13: Not titled
By: Lin-z
A/N: Is anyone still reading this? Just curious. I'm SOO sorry about the long wait everyone! I meant to have this out a lot sooner, but I procrastinated. sorry! Anyway, here is the long awaited 13th chapter. Have fun! :)
Thanx to my absolutely wonderful beta reader, ~*Dumbledore's True Love*~ if it weren't for her persistence then this would never be completed.
**
Harry woke with a start, coughing hard. His chest felt as if it were being squeezed mercilessly by some unseen force, burning with each sharp intake of breath.
He buried his head under his pillow in an effort to muffle the sound and not wake his roommates. After nearly a solid minute of coughing hard, the convulsions began to subside. He sat up and waited for the sudden dizziness to pass.
It didn't go away completely, but once he could manage to see without the world spinning utterly out of focus, he made his way to the jug of water beneath the long window across from him.
Twice he nearly fell over but was able to catch his balance just in time. 'What's wrong with me?' he whispered, supporting himself against the window- seat as he let the cool water soothe his burning throat.
When his cup was empty, he set the silver goblet back on the table and headed back to his bed. He lay on his bed, watching the velvet ceiling spin in tight circles as he started to shiver. Pulling the covers tight over himself, he fell into a restless sleep.
**
"Harry, wake up! It's time for class!" Ron said, ripping aside the curtains.
The boys had less than ten minutes until class, and Harry still hadn't shown any signs of waking. Ron looked down to see Harry covered in sweat and tangled tightly in the sheets.
"You okay, mate?" Ron asked, shaking his shoulder a bit in an attempt to rouse him. Harry simply groaned and rolled over again.
Ron laid a hand on his friend's forehead to find it was burning up. Worried, Ron turned and ran up to the hospital wing to fetch Madam Pomfrey.
**
"What have you boys done this time?" The school matron said with a frown as Ron entered the hospital wing, panting from having run the whole way. "You haven't even started classes yet!"
"It's. Harry." he said, leaning against the wall to catch his breath. "He's. really. sick."
"Oh dear," she 'tutted', hastily putting together a bag of supplies. "What's wrong with him now?"
"Well," Ron started, "he's got a horrible fever, and he won't wake up."
"Merciful heavens." the matron mumbled. "Well then, it's off to class with you. I'll go check on Potter. And don't look at me like that, you know you need to go to class!"
Ron grumbled and grudgingly turned to leave the hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey snapped her bag shut and headed to Gryffindor tower to check on her most frequent patient.
**
"Harry? Can you hear me?" Sirius whispered, gently pressing a cool cloth to Harry's burning forehead.
Madam Pomfrey had sent for him immediately after assessing Harry's situation, knowing that his godfather would be nothing short of outraged had he not been notified. Sirius continued to press the damp cloth against his godson's forehead.
Harry moaned softly, bringing a hand up to rub his head. Sirius lowered the cloth. "How are you feeling?" he asked soothingly.
"Mmmmm..." He groaned, his eyelids flickering open slowly. "Like I'm on fire and a train is running over my head. How're you?"
"Worried," Sirius replied, handing Harry a silver goblet with a silky blue liquid swirling inside. "It's for your fever. It should help with the headache too," he said. He helped Harry sit up and drink it.
"Thanks," Harry said. He lay back down, trying to ignore the nauseous feeling in his stomach. "What's wrong with me?" He asked, eyes closed against the nausea and the pain in his head.
"Madam Pomfrey says it looks like mono," Sirius answered. "Speaking of which, I should probably let you get some rest. You'll need it in order to get better in time for the Quidditch season
"Okay," Harry yawned, sliding back into the sheets. Within seconds he was out cold.
Sirius turned to Madam Pomfrey with a grim expression. "Okay," he said, "Tell me, just how serious is this? It doesn't look to me like some ordinary case of the flu."
The nurse shook her head solemnly. "Yes, I'm afraid mono is a bit more serious than the flu."
"How much more serious?" Sirius probed.
"Mono is a virus that commonly affects Muggles. He'll feel totally drained of energy, and it may take a while for him to get over it, but he will be okay," she stated, then halted. "The thing that intrigues me, however, is how he would have contracted such a disease. Mono is spread via saliva, which is why it's commonly known among Muggles as the "Kissing disease." Has he been, you know..." the nurse trailed off.
"Harry?! No! Of course not - well, not that I know of anyway... He wouldn't..." Sirius glanced at Harry, lying still in the bed, his cheeks bright pink with fever. He moaned slightly and rolled over without waking up.
"So what should I do?" Sirius asked, turning back to Pomfrey.
"Well, he'll be sleeping a lot, and while mono is a common enough disease, you just have to let it run its course. You can visit as often as you like, but there's really nothing you can do for him."
Sirius moved to the bed and took a seat in one of the chairs nearby. He took a moist towel and slowly began cooling Harry's head with it. He looked to the green orb that was monitoring Harry's vital signs, and watched as red dot representing body temperature slid just a bit lower.
**
As the flames surrounding Harry began to subside little by little, he was able to view his surroundings for the first time. A dilapidated chapel sat upon a hill some few meters away, looking like an empty shell of the cozy church it had once been. The place was eerily quiet; the shadows were lengthening as the sun slid lower and lower beyond the mountains. He scanned the area, wondering to himself why he was even there. He heard a soft rustling of branches behind him, and turned to see a small squirrel scurrying up a tree in the forest. Taking a hesitant step forward, he stumbled into something soft. Turning abruptly to face his obstacle, he was met by the all too familiar visage of a tall man with red eyes and a mirthless grin.
He stumbled back a few steps, nearly falling into one of the tall trees behind him.
"What a pleasant surprise," the icy, high-pitched voice of his nemesis drawled, taking a step forward. "The old snake and the young phoenix meet once again..."
Harry stared silently, barely even daring to breathe.
Voldemort stepped forward and laid a finger on Harry's scar. It burned furiously and Harry could barely see through the haze of pain. After a few moments, Voldemort dropped his finger, retreated a few steps, and watched in satisfaction as Death Eaters began to pop into view around them. Harry vaguely recalled the spell that Dumbledore had performed just the last night and wondered how it had failed.
When the circle of Voldemort's minions was complete, he turned to look Harry in the eyes once more. "You're very sick, Harry, and I'll have you know it's no accident."
Harry held his tongue and merely glared at Voldemort, who was giving him a smug look of self-satisfaction.
"This case of 'Mono,'" he said with a smirk, "as Madam Pomfrey has decided to call it, is not merely some virus you happened to catch. It is, however, the result of some tricky wand work on the part of one of my loyal Death Eaters. Medications, for the most part, will be useless against this, and you will continue to suffer and digress until I have what I want."
Harry refused to give Voldemort the satisfaction of a reply. Instead he continued to glare hatefully, waiting for the dark lord to finish. He could put up with being sick; it was better than doing anything to please the hideous snake before him.
"What I want," he hissed, "is Salazar's book. I have located it within Hogwarts. Now it is up to you to bring it to me. Oh yes, and one more thing. If you refuse to obey me, your 'situation' will be fatal."
"Never!" Harry shouted forcefully.
"As you wish." With that, Voldemort laid his thumb to Harry's forehead, once more causing him excruciating pain. The vision began to spin and tilt, slowly fading from view.
**
Harry's eyes flew open with a start and he was back in his bed in the hospital wing. He could remember a few details from his dream, but most of it was slipping through his fingers as sand through an hourglass. All Harry could remember was something about a book... Harry lay back - the flames were returning.
"What is it, Harry? Are you alright?" Sirius asked mentally kicking himself. Of course the kid wasn't all right! He had a fever of 102 degrees!
Harry, his throat parched and dry, muttered something about a book.
Sirius smiled. "Don't worry about school work kid... You just concentrate on getting better for me, okay?"
"Important!" Harry said clearly, though his eyes were closed once more. Holding firm to the details he could remember, he sat up, ignoring the pounding in his head and the tilting of the room.
"Harry, lay down! What's wrong?"
"It's Voldemort - he's looking for a book - that's all I remember," Harry said, wincing as a sudden stab of pain shot through his head.
"What? A book?" Sirius asked, puzzled.
"Yeah," Harry said, before lying back down and going to sleep.
"Madam Pomfrey, would you mind looking after him for a bit while I go and speak with Professor Dumbledore?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, of course," she answered.
Sirius left the hospital wing and headed upstairs for the headmaster's office. Upon reaching the stone gargoyle, he muttered the password and ascended the revolving staircase.
Sirius rapped twice on the great wooden door and stood back as it swung open.
"Sirius, do come in," Dumbledore said, straitening the stack of papers on top of his desk. "You look troubled."
"I don't think it worked."
"I beg your pardon?" The headmaster answered, slightly confused.
"The Vinculum Obscuro charm. Harry woke up just now saying something about Voldemort and a book. How is this happening!" Sirius replied, beginning to pace back and forth.
"A book you say? Oh dear, this could be worse than I thought."
~*~ A/N: Next chapter is written and will be posted (barring possible mishap) either the 4th or 5th of January, 2002. ( Have a nice day everyone! (
Chapter 13: Not titled
By: Lin-z
A/N: Is anyone still reading this? Just curious. I'm SOO sorry about the long wait everyone! I meant to have this out a lot sooner, but I procrastinated. sorry! Anyway, here is the long awaited 13th chapter. Have fun! :)
Thanx to my absolutely wonderful beta reader, ~*Dumbledore's True Love*~ if it weren't for her persistence then this would never be completed.
**
Harry woke with a start, coughing hard. His chest felt as if it were being squeezed mercilessly by some unseen force, burning with each sharp intake of breath.
He buried his head under his pillow in an effort to muffle the sound and not wake his roommates. After nearly a solid minute of coughing hard, the convulsions began to subside. He sat up and waited for the sudden dizziness to pass.
It didn't go away completely, but once he could manage to see without the world spinning utterly out of focus, he made his way to the jug of water beneath the long window across from him.
Twice he nearly fell over but was able to catch his balance just in time. 'What's wrong with me?' he whispered, supporting himself against the window- seat as he let the cool water soothe his burning throat.
When his cup was empty, he set the silver goblet back on the table and headed back to his bed. He lay on his bed, watching the velvet ceiling spin in tight circles as he started to shiver. Pulling the covers tight over himself, he fell into a restless sleep.
**
"Harry, wake up! It's time for class!" Ron said, ripping aside the curtains.
The boys had less than ten minutes until class, and Harry still hadn't shown any signs of waking. Ron looked down to see Harry covered in sweat and tangled tightly in the sheets.
"You okay, mate?" Ron asked, shaking his shoulder a bit in an attempt to rouse him. Harry simply groaned and rolled over again.
Ron laid a hand on his friend's forehead to find it was burning up. Worried, Ron turned and ran up to the hospital wing to fetch Madam Pomfrey.
**
"What have you boys done this time?" The school matron said with a frown as Ron entered the hospital wing, panting from having run the whole way. "You haven't even started classes yet!"
"It's. Harry." he said, leaning against the wall to catch his breath. "He's. really. sick."
"Oh dear," she 'tutted', hastily putting together a bag of supplies. "What's wrong with him now?"
"Well," Ron started, "he's got a horrible fever, and he won't wake up."
"Merciful heavens." the matron mumbled. "Well then, it's off to class with you. I'll go check on Potter. And don't look at me like that, you know you need to go to class!"
Ron grumbled and grudgingly turned to leave the hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey snapped her bag shut and headed to Gryffindor tower to check on her most frequent patient.
**
"Harry? Can you hear me?" Sirius whispered, gently pressing a cool cloth to Harry's burning forehead.
Madam Pomfrey had sent for him immediately after assessing Harry's situation, knowing that his godfather would be nothing short of outraged had he not been notified. Sirius continued to press the damp cloth against his godson's forehead.
Harry moaned softly, bringing a hand up to rub his head. Sirius lowered the cloth. "How are you feeling?" he asked soothingly.
"Mmmmm..." He groaned, his eyelids flickering open slowly. "Like I'm on fire and a train is running over my head. How're you?"
"Worried," Sirius replied, handing Harry a silver goblet with a silky blue liquid swirling inside. "It's for your fever. It should help with the headache too," he said. He helped Harry sit up and drink it.
"Thanks," Harry said. He lay back down, trying to ignore the nauseous feeling in his stomach. "What's wrong with me?" He asked, eyes closed against the nausea and the pain in his head.
"Madam Pomfrey says it looks like mono," Sirius answered. "Speaking of which, I should probably let you get some rest. You'll need it in order to get better in time for the Quidditch season
"Okay," Harry yawned, sliding back into the sheets. Within seconds he was out cold.
Sirius turned to Madam Pomfrey with a grim expression. "Okay," he said, "Tell me, just how serious is this? It doesn't look to me like some ordinary case of the flu."
The nurse shook her head solemnly. "Yes, I'm afraid mono is a bit more serious than the flu."
"How much more serious?" Sirius probed.
"Mono is a virus that commonly affects Muggles. He'll feel totally drained of energy, and it may take a while for him to get over it, but he will be okay," she stated, then halted. "The thing that intrigues me, however, is how he would have contracted such a disease. Mono is spread via saliva, which is why it's commonly known among Muggles as the "Kissing disease." Has he been, you know..." the nurse trailed off.
"Harry?! No! Of course not - well, not that I know of anyway... He wouldn't..." Sirius glanced at Harry, lying still in the bed, his cheeks bright pink with fever. He moaned slightly and rolled over without waking up.
"So what should I do?" Sirius asked, turning back to Pomfrey.
"Well, he'll be sleeping a lot, and while mono is a common enough disease, you just have to let it run its course. You can visit as often as you like, but there's really nothing you can do for him."
Sirius moved to the bed and took a seat in one of the chairs nearby. He took a moist towel and slowly began cooling Harry's head with it. He looked to the green orb that was monitoring Harry's vital signs, and watched as red dot representing body temperature slid just a bit lower.
**
As the flames surrounding Harry began to subside little by little, he was able to view his surroundings for the first time. A dilapidated chapel sat upon a hill some few meters away, looking like an empty shell of the cozy church it had once been. The place was eerily quiet; the shadows were lengthening as the sun slid lower and lower beyond the mountains. He scanned the area, wondering to himself why he was even there. He heard a soft rustling of branches behind him, and turned to see a small squirrel scurrying up a tree in the forest. Taking a hesitant step forward, he stumbled into something soft. Turning abruptly to face his obstacle, he was met by the all too familiar visage of a tall man with red eyes and a mirthless grin.
He stumbled back a few steps, nearly falling into one of the tall trees behind him.
"What a pleasant surprise," the icy, high-pitched voice of his nemesis drawled, taking a step forward. "The old snake and the young phoenix meet once again..."
Harry stared silently, barely even daring to breathe.
Voldemort stepped forward and laid a finger on Harry's scar. It burned furiously and Harry could barely see through the haze of pain. After a few moments, Voldemort dropped his finger, retreated a few steps, and watched in satisfaction as Death Eaters began to pop into view around them. Harry vaguely recalled the spell that Dumbledore had performed just the last night and wondered how it had failed.
When the circle of Voldemort's minions was complete, he turned to look Harry in the eyes once more. "You're very sick, Harry, and I'll have you know it's no accident."
Harry held his tongue and merely glared at Voldemort, who was giving him a smug look of self-satisfaction.
"This case of 'Mono,'" he said with a smirk, "as Madam Pomfrey has decided to call it, is not merely some virus you happened to catch. It is, however, the result of some tricky wand work on the part of one of my loyal Death Eaters. Medications, for the most part, will be useless against this, and you will continue to suffer and digress until I have what I want."
Harry refused to give Voldemort the satisfaction of a reply. Instead he continued to glare hatefully, waiting for the dark lord to finish. He could put up with being sick; it was better than doing anything to please the hideous snake before him.
"What I want," he hissed, "is Salazar's book. I have located it within Hogwarts. Now it is up to you to bring it to me. Oh yes, and one more thing. If you refuse to obey me, your 'situation' will be fatal."
"Never!" Harry shouted forcefully.
"As you wish." With that, Voldemort laid his thumb to Harry's forehead, once more causing him excruciating pain. The vision began to spin and tilt, slowly fading from view.
**
Harry's eyes flew open with a start and he was back in his bed in the hospital wing. He could remember a few details from his dream, but most of it was slipping through his fingers as sand through an hourglass. All Harry could remember was something about a book... Harry lay back - the flames were returning.
"What is it, Harry? Are you alright?" Sirius asked mentally kicking himself. Of course the kid wasn't all right! He had a fever of 102 degrees!
Harry, his throat parched and dry, muttered something about a book.
Sirius smiled. "Don't worry about school work kid... You just concentrate on getting better for me, okay?"
"Important!" Harry said clearly, though his eyes were closed once more. Holding firm to the details he could remember, he sat up, ignoring the pounding in his head and the tilting of the room.
"Harry, lay down! What's wrong?"
"It's Voldemort - he's looking for a book - that's all I remember," Harry said, wincing as a sudden stab of pain shot through his head.
"What? A book?" Sirius asked, puzzled.
"Yeah," Harry said, before lying back down and going to sleep.
"Madam Pomfrey, would you mind looking after him for a bit while I go and speak with Professor Dumbledore?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, of course," she answered.
Sirius left the hospital wing and headed upstairs for the headmaster's office. Upon reaching the stone gargoyle, he muttered the password and ascended the revolving staircase.
Sirius rapped twice on the great wooden door and stood back as it swung open.
"Sirius, do come in," Dumbledore said, straitening the stack of papers on top of his desk. "You look troubled."
"I don't think it worked."
"I beg your pardon?" The headmaster answered, slightly confused.
"The Vinculum Obscuro charm. Harry woke up just now saying something about Voldemort and a book. How is this happening!" Sirius replied, beginning to pace back and forth.
"A book you say? Oh dear, this could be worse than I thought."
~*~ A/N: Next chapter is written and will be posted (barring possible mishap) either the 4th or 5th of January, 2002. ( Have a nice day everyone! (