Severus was no stranger to fear. He had spent most of his life afraid of something. As a child, he had been terrified of his father. As an adult, he had sworn his allegiance to an insane murderer. None of that compared to watching his son's chest slowly rise and fall. Harry had been asleep for two days after his little stunt. Severus was going to give him a long lecture, once he woke up.
"You know Harry, your mother used to threaten to beat the stuffing out of my father. He was a terrible husband and a worse parent. Once I turned seventeen, I left and never looked back. My mother had died a couple of years beforehand, so I didn't feel guilty leaving. Even though Lily and I had a falling out our sixth year, it turns out she kept her promise. Sirius told me she marched up to my old house and dragged my good for nothing father outside before beating the shit out of him. I can almost picture it. I have a lot of regrets in life but the biggest one was never apologizing to Lily. I was so angry at everything and the Dark Lord promised that I would get the recognition I deserved. I was such an idiot but I was young. I would do it all again though. All of the pain and suffering would be worth it because I got the best son in the world. So please wake up, Harry. This old man doesn't know what he would do without you." Harry hadn't made any movement through his speech. Madame Pomfrey said talking to Harry would help him wake up. Severus had demanded they get a second opinion. She sounded like she was getting into Trelawney's cooking sherry.
"Hi father." A voice whispered in front of him and he looked down to find Harry staring at him. All of his thoughts of reprimanding him flew out the window as he scooped the boy up.
"Harry! We've been so worried! How do you feel? Does anything hurt?" He turned his head and shouted "Poppy! Get out here. Harry is awake!" The nurse bustled out of her office and started waving her wand around him.
"Severus, you need to let go of Mr. Potter so I can scan him properly." She said dryly and he reluctantly set him down.
"It seems he has made a full recovery from his magical exhaustion. I suggest he take it easy for the next couple of days." He nodded seriously. He would make sure Harry followed her orders.
"Father, how long have I been asleep?" He yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"Son, you've been unconscious. It's been two days since the second task!" Harry squinted at him and he handed him his glasses.
"Is Draco okay?" He asked suddenly and looked around wildly. Severus rolled his eyes. Those two boys were ridiculous. Draco had been worried sick over Harry and the first thing Harry does when he wakes up is ask about Draco!
"Draco is fine. Mummy had to knock him out so he would sleep because he refused to leave your side." Harry seemed to be a little dazy so he just nodded.
"I'm glad he's okay. When I saw him floating in the water, he-" Harry shivered and wrapped his blanket around himself. Severus knew what he was going to say. His sweet son had almost burned his magic out for Draco and he couldn't imagine how terrified he must have been.
"If you want to talk about it, I would be happy to listen." He said softly and Harry shook his head.
"Maybe you could just give me a hug?" He said hesitantly. Severus held him and let him cry into his shoulder.
"It will be okay. Father, Papa, Daddy and Mummy are here for you. You don't have to do everything alone. We will always support and love you." He just kept murmuring reassurances until Harry fell asleep again.
Hermione was in a hurry. She did not have time to wait for the staircases so she ran and jumped off the one she was currently on. She managed to grab the next set and pulled herself up.
"Merlin's saggy pants! Granger, what are you doing?" An older Ravenclaw asked and she spared him a glance.
"Harry is awake!" She sprinted down the corridor and slid to a stop as Ron slammed into her. She caught him before he could fall.
"Thanks Herm! Let's go." They finally made it to the hospital wing where Harry was still staying. They found him surrounded by adults as Draco held him tightly to his chest. She scanned him over and was relieved to see some color in his cheeks.
"Hi Herm! Hi Ron!" Harry waved at them and she handed Ron her handkerchief as he started bawling.
"Harry, it was awful! You were so pale and I didn't know what to think." Ron climbed into bed with the other boys and Harry patted his back.
"I'm sorry for scaring you guys." She squeezed onto the bed and pinched his cheek.
"It's okay, Harry. I'm sorry for not explaining the clue properly." He flushed and hunched his shoulders.
"It's not your fault. I should have told you I wasn't good at riddles." The doors slammed open and the rest of the HFC plus Viktor filed in.
"Harry!" They all cried out and gave him hugs. She could see Professor Snape watching them like a hawk to make sure they didn't upset Harry. They talked for a little while before Harry started yawning. Mr. Black started fluffing Harry's pillow while giving Draco the stink eye.
"Alright children, Harry is still recovering so you will have to go." The potions Professor said and they all waved goodbye before leaving.
"You know what this means?" Fred asked and they all looked at him.
"We need to throw Harry a get well party!" George announced and they all grinned happily. What a wonderful idea! She had the other members go get four people from each House and bring them to the club room. As they all were dragged in, she stood on the desk.
"As you've all heard, Harry has woken up! He's still rather exhausted so I thought we could do something nice for him. We've decided to throw him a get well party! We will be taking up collections so if you could all spread the word throughout your House that would be great. Any questions?" One of the Gryffindor prefects raised her hand.
"Um, why do we care?" Hermione casually got down before holding her wand against the girl's throat.
"Because we love Harry." She hissed and watched the other girl swallow hard.
"Makes sense! We'll be happy to help!" She agreed quickly and Hermione stepped back.
"Wonderful!"
Draco watched Harry closely. His darling had been so heroic! It made his heart flutter just thinking about what he had done for him. He had appreciated the gesture but had made him promise to never do anything like that again. After Harry had collapsed, he felt like his heart was being torn out. He had been unable to do anything to help his fiance. It had been the worst two days of his life as he had waited for Harry to wake up. He still couldn't believe his Mother had stunned him. Harry decided he wanted to walk around the castle today. He stood up when Draco picked him up bridal style.
"Draco, what are you doing?" Harry gasped and quickly wrapped his arms around his neck.
"Madame Pomfrey said you need to rest. Hogwarts has way too many staircases so I will be carrying you for the next couple days." Harry opened his mouth to argue when he added "It's either this or you have to stay in bed." He watched him close his mouth with a click.
"Where are we going?" It was just after lunch and Herm had told him to bring Harry to the Great Hall so that's what he was doing.
"The Great Hall." Harry still looked confused as he opened the door. Students jumped out from underneath the tables and yelled "Happy Birthday!" He heard a sigh and saw Herm stand on one of the tables.
"It's not his birthday! It's a get well party!" She shouted and the students ignored her.
"Hi Harry! We're so happy to see you. We thought it was really cool how you tore the lake apart to save Draco!" Some Slytherin girls said and handed him a present.
"Ello 'Arry! Fleur told us you helped her with the task and we wanted to thank you!" Some of the Beauxbatons students gave Harry bags of chocolate. It seemed like they had talked to hundreds of students before they were able to finally sit down.
"Oh hi Viktor! I've been meaning to ask, how is your broom? I remember seeing you crying over it." Krum stared at him before answering.
"She" he emphasized "is doing well. Her name is Aleksandar. One of the merpeople offered to trade her for a shell! I am very happy you destroyed their village." He watched Harry pale and glared at the other boy.
"Goodbye, Krum." He snarled out and the other boy trotted away. Harry grasped his sleeve and said "Draco, what is Viktor talking about?" He had wanted to wait until Harry was feeling better before telling the other boy. He would have to have a talk with Krum later.
"Well darling, when you dropped all of the water back into the lake, it kind of went everywhere. Some things shifted a little bit, including the merpeople's village." Harry looked horrified.
"I tore apart their home?" He whispered and Draco gently grabbed his chin.
"It's fine, darling. They fixed everything that day. The merpeople's chief was very impressed with your devotion to me. He said if we ever want to come listen to them sing, we would be welcome." Merpeople didn't like humans and to be invited was an honor. Of course his darling won them over. He was the kindest person he knew.
"I should apologize for causing such a ruckus. I was just so afraid." Harry admitted and Draco held him close.
"How about we ditch the rest of the party and go cuddle with Snappy? He's been very anxious without you and has been tearing holes in the other boys' socks." Harry nodded and they snuck away to the Slytherin dorm. He set Harry on the bed and ducked underneath their bedframe. Snappy was chewing on Blaise's imported underwear and hissed at him.
"Come on out, Snappy. Mummy is waiting for you." Their son dropped his prize and waddled out. He waited for him to pick him up before crawling up the bed to hiss frantically at Harry. His love hissed back before dragging him under the blanket. They snuggled together for the rest of the night. Draco watched Harry breathe and made a silent promise. He was never going to let something like this happen again. Dumbledore was going to pay and Draco couldn't wait to see the man fall off his pedestal. He was going to show the world just how much of a villain the old man was.
Ron snuck out of the Gryffindor common room. Valentine's Day was coming up in a couple of weeks and he was trying to decide what to get Fleur. They had been seeing each other since the Yule Ball and he wanted to do something special. He knew of an unused classroom and stopped when he heard banging inside. He stuck his head through the door and froze. He had never regretted anything more in his life. He got an eyeful before slamming the door shut. He covered his mouth to try and hold his vomit in.
"Merlin Ronnie!" Percy hissed as he buttoned his trousers while Marcus yanked on his shirt.
"Me? You're the ones shagging in public! What if Ginny had walked in?" He shot back. Percy just rolled his eyes. Maybe they got off on the chance people might walk in on them?
"Well we usually hang out in Myrtle's bathroom but some girls have been using it." Marcus said, his voice annoyed as he struggled to do his buttons.
"Yeah? It's a bathroom! Of course people are going to use it." He started walking away. Maybe he could get Gabi to obliviate him? He wasn't sure she knew how but he would take the chance.
"What are you skulking around for anyways?" Percy asked as he followed him.
"If you must know, I'm trying to decide what to get Fleur for Valentine's Day." He admitted and Percy reached over to pinch his cheeks.
"Aw! Little Ronnie is growing up." He swatted his hand away.
"Gross! I know where your hands have been." Marcus gave Percy a leer.
"Me too, mate." If he didn't like Marcus so much, he would almost wish they would break up. They were insufferable! Last week they had accidentally switched ties and no one had told them. The whole school had been gossiping about it. They had even started a betting pool on how often they shagged! Ron was thinking about enrolling at Beauxbatons next fall if he walked in on his older brother again.
"Ugh, you guys are nasty." He huffed. They both just laughed and Ron couldn't help his smile. He might complain but he really was happy for Percy. They complemented each other well.
"Alright Ronnie, what do you have so far?" Percy asked and Ron thought about it.
"Well I was going to get her some chocolate and maybe some flowers." Percy nodded his head in approval and he saw Marcus discreetly taking notes.
"I thought about sewing her something." He said shyly. His friends thought he was good but he was worried Fleur wouldn't like it. Since the Weasleys were poor, they usually made homemade gifts.
"That's a wonderful idea, Ronnie! What are you going to make her?" He pulled out his pattern and the two older boys looked it over.
"Wow, Ronnie. That's really good." Marcus said and patted his back.
"If you need any help with anything, let us know!" He thanked them both before going back to his dorm. He had seen something crusty in Marcus's hair and felt the need to take a shower. He was pretty sure he would have to burn his clothes.
