Harry Potter and Gryffindor's Secret
Chapter 16: Slowly But Surely
By: Lin-z
For the next couple of days, Harry did little but sleep. He was physically exhausted, and his body was still very weak from being ill for so long. Sirius had finally been convinced to take a shower and get some sleep, to the immense relief of a very disgruntled Madam Pomfrey. Harry was very relieved about this as well, as his godfather had been appearing more and more haggard.
Harry woke up the third morning after his initiation to find sunshine peeking through the sheer white curtains, bathing his piece of the hospital wing in bright warm sunlight. He breathed in deeply, relishing the beautiful morning. Sitting up, he leaned over the bed and looked out the window to the grounds below. The grass was sparkling with dew from the night before, and the golden sunlight was peeking through the trees in the Forbidden Forest, almost making it seem as though the brilliant autumn leaves were aflame in the trees and on the ground below.
Pushing aside the bed sheets, he placed his feet squarely on the floor and tested his ability to stand. Harry's cast had been removed the day before, after Madam Pomfrey had declared that his leg was sufficiently healed; he had been given strict orders, however, to stay off of it for at least a few more days. Finding that he was in fact able to stand, he took a tentative step. It worked! It was a bit wobbly, but it would do. Harry ventured a few slow steps away from the bed, and, finding them successful, decided to go for a walk.
Sirius had spent the night in a guest room at the behest of Professor Dumbledore, and still hadn't come back. Madam Pomfrey obviously hadn't realized that he had woken, or she would have put him back to bed, post haste. He slowly made his way to the hospital wing doors.
By the time he had made it past the doors, his knees were really shaking and he leaned against the wall for support. He slowly slid to a sitting position, breathing heavily from over-exertion. He had closed his eyes and rested his head against his knees when he heard rapid footsteps approaching from somewhere down the hall. He looked up hoping to see Sirius, or even anyone remotely friendly, and groaned to see Professor Snape (aka Harcourt, see ch. 3) sweeping down the hall, his black robes billowing as he took great strides. Harry put his head back down on his knees, hoping to escape his professor's attention, but luck was not on his side.
"What are you doing outside of the hospital wing, Potter," he demanded, coming to a halt and glaring down at Harry. Even with his altered, generally more friendly appearance, he still managed to make his features seem quite domineering. It didn't help that Snape was literally towering over Harry.
Harry looked up cautiously. "Going for a walk?" he said, hoping his professor would simply leave it at that and be on his way.
Snape stood back and folded his arms against his chest. "Right then. Care to demonstrate?"
Harry took a deep breath and steeled himself. He slowly pushed up from the wall, knees shaking again as he placed his weight on them. A smirk formed on Snape's tanned face as Harry demonstrated just how incapable he was of 'going for a walk.'
"Right. It's back to the hospital wing for you Potter," Snape sneered. He held out his arm.
Harry simply stared at it in stunned silence. Was Snape offering to help him? He ventured a timid step to see if he could make it back without his professor's assistance, but when his knees nearly gave out, he figured it best to swallow his pride and accept the offered arm. Harry wondered what could be going on inside his professor's head as they made their way back to Harry's bed.
The moment they were close enough, Harry mumbled "Thank you, Professor," and climbed back into bed. His professor strode away, and in a few moments was replaced by Madam Pomfrey, who was looking very stern.
"Professor Harcourt says you've been out of bed," she said, as she hustled about preparing Harry's daily slew of potions. "Honestly, how can I be expected to take care of you if you refuse to take care of yourself?"
"Sorry Madam Pomfrey," he said, picking at a loose thread on the duvet. He was feeling very worn out from his brief excursion and felt in need of a nap.
She held out a tray containing three bottles of brightly coloured potions. "Drink these and I'll let you get some rest." Harry took the small silver tray, and she hustled off to check on a Hufflepuff third year that had wandered a few moments before with a head cold.
Harry glared at the potions. Madam Pomfrey had made him take these same three potions everyday since his initiation, and they tasted horrible. He picked up the first one, a round glass bottle with a long neck. A bright red potion swirled around inside as he picked it up. He plugged his nose and downed it in one gulp, trying hard not to gag at the aftertaste, which tasted of cranberries and burnt fish. At the sound of Sirius' chuckle, he looked up to find his godfather striding forward.
"Don't taste very good, do they?" he asked kindly, still chuckling lightly as he resumed his seat at Harry's bedside.
Harry smiled sweetly. "Actually, they're delicious. Care to try?" he said, holding out the next one, a tube-like glass full of a slushy purple potion.
"Nice try short stuff," Sirius smiled.
"Your loss," Harry said, swallowing the second brew quickly. This one tasted slightly better, and had much less of an aftertaste. He quickly finished the third one, which was by far the best (almost like the grape flavoured tonic Aunt Petunia had given him to quiet his coughs as a child). Harry placed the tray on his bedside table and leaned back on his pillows.
"Ron and Hermione wanted to see if they could come for a visit," Sirius said once Harry had finished. "Are you up to it? You look a little tired."
Harry was cut off by Madam Pomfrey, who had returned to take Harry's tray. "They most certainly may not! Harry needs his rest, *especially* after that little stunt he pulled this morning!" She hurried off again with the tray, muttering to herself.
"Little stunt?"
"I, er, went for a walk. Snape brought me back."
"*Snape* brought you back? How far did you go?" Sirius asked, surprised to find that his godson had been out of bed but even more shocked to discover that *Snape* had brought him back.
"Just to the hallway. I stopped to take a rest when he found me and made me come back here." Harry was feeling really tired by now, and he could feel his eyelids getting heavy.
Sirius chuckled. "Get some sleep now. We can talk more later."
Harry snuggled back under the covers as Sirius stood up to leave. "Bye Sirius," he mumbled sleepily.
"See you, Harry." Sirius went off to find something to do.
*
"Can we please see him *yet??*" Ron pleaded. He and Hermione were at the doors to the hospital wing trying to convince the nurse to allow them to see Harry. It was after dinner, and they hadn't been allowed in to see him in nearly four days.
"He's resting now, and I can't have you-"
"No I'm not!" Harry shouted from somewhere behind Madam Pomfrey. "Please can they come in?"
"You have thirty minutes," she consented grudgingly.
"Thanks!" all three of them said at once. Hermione and Ron hurried over to Harry's bed the moment she stepped aside.
Harry was sitting up working on an essay for History of Magic. Sirius had brought his books and a list of assignments from Hermione a few hours earlier and Harry had already begun trying to catch up. He rolled up the parchment and stuck it and his book back on the table with the rest of his assignments.
"How are you two?" Harry asked, smiling brightly.
"Fine," Ron answered. "You'll never guess what happened in Duelling today though!" Ron continued gleefully.
Hermione groaned (although Harry could tell she was barely hiding a smile). "It really wasn't *that* funny, Ron."
"What happened?" Harry asked, curious.
"Two words: bouncing ferret," Ron answered.
"No way!" Harry said, laughing. "What happened??"
"Well," Ron started, "we were learning defence techniques today in Duelling, so we had to practise afterwards on each other. Draco was being a prat as usual, making faces at Hermione and me behind Lupin's back. Well, he got caught, so Lupin made him go to the front to demonstrate proper blocking against Hermione. Try and guess which curse she sent at him," he said.
"You didn't!" Harry laughed.
"I did," Hermione responded. "He *obviously* hadn't been paying attention in class, and he got hit with it, full force." Hermione said, smiling brightly.
"Yeah, even Lupin was laughing! Mind you, he had to set him right shortly after, but it was hilarious while it lasted!"
The trio chatted about anything and everything, laughing one moment and dead serious the next, for hours. Around nine, Harry was starting to get tired, but was too excited about having his friends back around to give in to the desire to sleep. Madam Pomfrey, with her incredible ability to sense these sorts of things, came in to shoo them out.
"Now children, you've had nearly two and a half hours. Mr. Potter needs his rest, and you two certainly have homework to attend to."
After a chorus of thank yous and goodnights, Ron and Hermione headed back to their common room, and Harry got ready for bed.
*
"Finished yet?" Sirius asked as he approached. Harry was putting the finishing touches on an essay Professor McGonagall had assigned him. His godfather had only brought his assignments in a couple of days ago, and already he had finished a great deal of his missed coursework.
"Yeah," Harry answered, carefully rolling it up and tying it with a small red ribbon.
"Great! How would you like to go for a walk then?"
"I'd love to!" Harry agreed, excited at the prospect of finally being *allowed* to get out of bed. He swung his legs over the edge, and slipped his house shoes on. "Where are we going?"
"Well, it's a lovely day outside, d'you fancy going out?"
Harry definitely did, and the two of them slowly made their way towards the front doors.
By the time they reached their destination, Harry was completely exhausted. He was leaning on Sirius and short of breath, but he was just happy to be outside. They found a spot on the front steps and sat down, the forbidden forest and main gates of Hogwarts spread out before them in an amazing panorama. The autumn breeze fluttered gently by, ruffling their hair and causing the fallen leaves to swirl gently.
Sirius put an arm around Harry, drawing him closer and allowing him to rest comfortably. The walk had taken a lot out of him, and for a while he simply lay there, enjoying the feeling of having a loving parent of his own.
"Thank you," Harry mumbled.
"For what?" Sirius asked, staring out into the trees and absently playing with Harry's hair.
"For everything," Harry sighed. "For taking me from the Dursleys and giving me the best summer of my life; for staying by me when I was sick; for being here now…" he trailed off.
"You're welcome, Harry. You know I'd do anything for you," he said, after a moment. He looked down to discover that Harry was now sleeping peacefully in his lap. "Anything," he said again, staring out into the twilight.
A/N: Thanks for sticking with me through yet another chapter! Ü I know this isn't quite as action packed as my chapters have been in the past, but I thought that perhaps our poor characters needed a bit of a break. If you have any questions or suggestions for future chapters, ask, and I'll reply in a Q&A at the end of each chapter (Thanks goes to P.A.R. for the idea – hope she doesn't mind my borrowing it!) Again, if you want to be added to the mailing list, leave a way for me to reach you in your review.
Here are answers to questions from the last chapter (as of 2/5/02):
Liquid Metal – I'm actually not sure *how* many chapters are forthcoming. At the end of this chapter, we're about a month into the school year (October something).
Summersun – yep, Harry's all better now.
Angel – When Sirius refers to the gang as 'Kids,' it's not because he's treating them like kids – it's merely an affectionate way to get around saying "hey guys" all the time.
Dumbledore's True Love – thanks for the bunny! Ü I'm honored, and so you get today's gold star (*) ::sticks it on Dumbledore's True Love's forehead:: There!
(I'll post this again with beta'd revisions once it's mailed back – sorry for the errors!)
Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling in disguise. I don't own these characters!
You've read, now REVIEW! Ü
Chapter 16: Slowly But Surely
By: Lin-z
For the next couple of days, Harry did little but sleep. He was physically exhausted, and his body was still very weak from being ill for so long. Sirius had finally been convinced to take a shower and get some sleep, to the immense relief of a very disgruntled Madam Pomfrey. Harry was very relieved about this as well, as his godfather had been appearing more and more haggard.
Harry woke up the third morning after his initiation to find sunshine peeking through the sheer white curtains, bathing his piece of the hospital wing in bright warm sunlight. He breathed in deeply, relishing the beautiful morning. Sitting up, he leaned over the bed and looked out the window to the grounds below. The grass was sparkling with dew from the night before, and the golden sunlight was peeking through the trees in the Forbidden Forest, almost making it seem as though the brilliant autumn leaves were aflame in the trees and on the ground below.
Pushing aside the bed sheets, he placed his feet squarely on the floor and tested his ability to stand. Harry's cast had been removed the day before, after Madam Pomfrey had declared that his leg was sufficiently healed; he had been given strict orders, however, to stay off of it for at least a few more days. Finding that he was in fact able to stand, he took a tentative step. It worked! It was a bit wobbly, but it would do. Harry ventured a few slow steps away from the bed, and, finding them successful, decided to go for a walk.
Sirius had spent the night in a guest room at the behest of Professor Dumbledore, and still hadn't come back. Madam Pomfrey obviously hadn't realized that he had woken, or she would have put him back to bed, post haste. He slowly made his way to the hospital wing doors.
By the time he had made it past the doors, his knees were really shaking and he leaned against the wall for support. He slowly slid to a sitting position, breathing heavily from over-exertion. He had closed his eyes and rested his head against his knees when he heard rapid footsteps approaching from somewhere down the hall. He looked up hoping to see Sirius, or even anyone remotely friendly, and groaned to see Professor Snape (aka Harcourt, see ch. 3) sweeping down the hall, his black robes billowing as he took great strides. Harry put his head back down on his knees, hoping to escape his professor's attention, but luck was not on his side.
"What are you doing outside of the hospital wing, Potter," he demanded, coming to a halt and glaring down at Harry. Even with his altered, generally more friendly appearance, he still managed to make his features seem quite domineering. It didn't help that Snape was literally towering over Harry.
Harry looked up cautiously. "Going for a walk?" he said, hoping his professor would simply leave it at that and be on his way.
Snape stood back and folded his arms against his chest. "Right then. Care to demonstrate?"
Harry took a deep breath and steeled himself. He slowly pushed up from the wall, knees shaking again as he placed his weight on them. A smirk formed on Snape's tanned face as Harry demonstrated just how incapable he was of 'going for a walk.'
"Right. It's back to the hospital wing for you Potter," Snape sneered. He held out his arm.
Harry simply stared at it in stunned silence. Was Snape offering to help him? He ventured a timid step to see if he could make it back without his professor's assistance, but when his knees nearly gave out, he figured it best to swallow his pride and accept the offered arm. Harry wondered what could be going on inside his professor's head as they made their way back to Harry's bed.
The moment they were close enough, Harry mumbled "Thank you, Professor," and climbed back into bed. His professor strode away, and in a few moments was replaced by Madam Pomfrey, who was looking very stern.
"Professor Harcourt says you've been out of bed," she said, as she hustled about preparing Harry's daily slew of potions. "Honestly, how can I be expected to take care of you if you refuse to take care of yourself?"
"Sorry Madam Pomfrey," he said, picking at a loose thread on the duvet. He was feeling very worn out from his brief excursion and felt in need of a nap.
She held out a tray containing three bottles of brightly coloured potions. "Drink these and I'll let you get some rest." Harry took the small silver tray, and she hustled off to check on a Hufflepuff third year that had wandered a few moments before with a head cold.
Harry glared at the potions. Madam Pomfrey had made him take these same three potions everyday since his initiation, and they tasted horrible. He picked up the first one, a round glass bottle with a long neck. A bright red potion swirled around inside as he picked it up. He plugged his nose and downed it in one gulp, trying hard not to gag at the aftertaste, which tasted of cranberries and burnt fish. At the sound of Sirius' chuckle, he looked up to find his godfather striding forward.
"Don't taste very good, do they?" he asked kindly, still chuckling lightly as he resumed his seat at Harry's bedside.
Harry smiled sweetly. "Actually, they're delicious. Care to try?" he said, holding out the next one, a tube-like glass full of a slushy purple potion.
"Nice try short stuff," Sirius smiled.
"Your loss," Harry said, swallowing the second brew quickly. This one tasted slightly better, and had much less of an aftertaste. He quickly finished the third one, which was by far the best (almost like the grape flavoured tonic Aunt Petunia had given him to quiet his coughs as a child). Harry placed the tray on his bedside table and leaned back on his pillows.
"Ron and Hermione wanted to see if they could come for a visit," Sirius said once Harry had finished. "Are you up to it? You look a little tired."
Harry was cut off by Madam Pomfrey, who had returned to take Harry's tray. "They most certainly may not! Harry needs his rest, *especially* after that little stunt he pulled this morning!" She hurried off again with the tray, muttering to herself.
"Little stunt?"
"I, er, went for a walk. Snape brought me back."
"*Snape* brought you back? How far did you go?" Sirius asked, surprised to find that his godson had been out of bed but even more shocked to discover that *Snape* had brought him back.
"Just to the hallway. I stopped to take a rest when he found me and made me come back here." Harry was feeling really tired by now, and he could feel his eyelids getting heavy.
Sirius chuckled. "Get some sleep now. We can talk more later."
Harry snuggled back under the covers as Sirius stood up to leave. "Bye Sirius," he mumbled sleepily.
"See you, Harry." Sirius went off to find something to do.
*
"Can we please see him *yet??*" Ron pleaded. He and Hermione were at the doors to the hospital wing trying to convince the nurse to allow them to see Harry. It was after dinner, and they hadn't been allowed in to see him in nearly four days.
"He's resting now, and I can't have you-"
"No I'm not!" Harry shouted from somewhere behind Madam Pomfrey. "Please can they come in?"
"You have thirty minutes," she consented grudgingly.
"Thanks!" all three of them said at once. Hermione and Ron hurried over to Harry's bed the moment she stepped aside.
Harry was sitting up working on an essay for History of Magic. Sirius had brought his books and a list of assignments from Hermione a few hours earlier and Harry had already begun trying to catch up. He rolled up the parchment and stuck it and his book back on the table with the rest of his assignments.
"How are you two?" Harry asked, smiling brightly.
"Fine," Ron answered. "You'll never guess what happened in Duelling today though!" Ron continued gleefully.
Hermione groaned (although Harry could tell she was barely hiding a smile). "It really wasn't *that* funny, Ron."
"What happened?" Harry asked, curious.
"Two words: bouncing ferret," Ron answered.
"No way!" Harry said, laughing. "What happened??"
"Well," Ron started, "we were learning defence techniques today in Duelling, so we had to practise afterwards on each other. Draco was being a prat as usual, making faces at Hermione and me behind Lupin's back. Well, he got caught, so Lupin made him go to the front to demonstrate proper blocking against Hermione. Try and guess which curse she sent at him," he said.
"You didn't!" Harry laughed.
"I did," Hermione responded. "He *obviously* hadn't been paying attention in class, and he got hit with it, full force." Hermione said, smiling brightly.
"Yeah, even Lupin was laughing! Mind you, he had to set him right shortly after, but it was hilarious while it lasted!"
The trio chatted about anything and everything, laughing one moment and dead serious the next, for hours. Around nine, Harry was starting to get tired, but was too excited about having his friends back around to give in to the desire to sleep. Madam Pomfrey, with her incredible ability to sense these sorts of things, came in to shoo them out.
"Now children, you've had nearly two and a half hours. Mr. Potter needs his rest, and you two certainly have homework to attend to."
After a chorus of thank yous and goodnights, Ron and Hermione headed back to their common room, and Harry got ready for bed.
*
"Finished yet?" Sirius asked as he approached. Harry was putting the finishing touches on an essay Professor McGonagall had assigned him. His godfather had only brought his assignments in a couple of days ago, and already he had finished a great deal of his missed coursework.
"Yeah," Harry answered, carefully rolling it up and tying it with a small red ribbon.
"Great! How would you like to go for a walk then?"
"I'd love to!" Harry agreed, excited at the prospect of finally being *allowed* to get out of bed. He swung his legs over the edge, and slipped his house shoes on. "Where are we going?"
"Well, it's a lovely day outside, d'you fancy going out?"
Harry definitely did, and the two of them slowly made their way towards the front doors.
By the time they reached their destination, Harry was completely exhausted. He was leaning on Sirius and short of breath, but he was just happy to be outside. They found a spot on the front steps and sat down, the forbidden forest and main gates of Hogwarts spread out before them in an amazing panorama. The autumn breeze fluttered gently by, ruffling their hair and causing the fallen leaves to swirl gently.
Sirius put an arm around Harry, drawing him closer and allowing him to rest comfortably. The walk had taken a lot out of him, and for a while he simply lay there, enjoying the feeling of having a loving parent of his own.
"Thank you," Harry mumbled.
"For what?" Sirius asked, staring out into the trees and absently playing with Harry's hair.
"For everything," Harry sighed. "For taking me from the Dursleys and giving me the best summer of my life; for staying by me when I was sick; for being here now…" he trailed off.
"You're welcome, Harry. You know I'd do anything for you," he said, after a moment. He looked down to discover that Harry was now sleeping peacefully in his lap. "Anything," he said again, staring out into the twilight.
A/N: Thanks for sticking with me through yet another chapter! Ü I know this isn't quite as action packed as my chapters have been in the past, but I thought that perhaps our poor characters needed a bit of a break. If you have any questions or suggestions for future chapters, ask, and I'll reply in a Q&A at the end of each chapter (Thanks goes to P.A.R. for the idea – hope she doesn't mind my borrowing it!) Again, if you want to be added to the mailing list, leave a way for me to reach you in your review.
Here are answers to questions from the last chapter (as of 2/5/02):
Liquid Metal – I'm actually not sure *how* many chapters are forthcoming. At the end of this chapter, we're about a month into the school year (October something).
Summersun – yep, Harry's all better now.
Angel – When Sirius refers to the gang as 'Kids,' it's not because he's treating them like kids – it's merely an affectionate way to get around saying "hey guys" all the time.
Dumbledore's True Love – thanks for the bunny! Ü I'm honored, and so you get today's gold star (*) ::sticks it on Dumbledore's True Love's forehead:: There!
(I'll post this again with beta'd revisions once it's mailed back – sorry for the errors!)
Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling in disguise. I don't own these characters!
You've read, now REVIEW! Ü