Chapter 18 Worries
"Sirius-his temperature has gone up again." Madame Pomfrey shook her head after she took Harry's temperature for the fifth time that night. Harry woke up every now and then but was too exhausted to engage in any conversation. Hermione and Ron had not returned yet from Siberia, and Sirius was starting to panic. He took Harry's hand, which had almost a waxy feel and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Hang in there, kiddo."
Madame Pomfrey blotted Harry's feverish cheeks and turned Sirius. "He might not make.." she barely finished her sentence when Sirius jumped in.
"NO! You will NOT say that word in front of me. He's got to make it. Harry's all I have-I need him."
Harry murmered something in his sleep but his eyes didn't open.
"I'm sorry to say this, Sirius, but if Ron and Hermione do not return soon with that potion, there is a good chance he will die, with the rate this fever has been rising."
Sirius fought back tears as he walked over to stand by the window at the opposite end of the hospital wing, and gazed out at the slowly brightening sky. 'Please get back soon, Ron and Hermione. We need you.' He thought.
On the grounds of Hogwarts, a bright flash of green light interrupted the quiet morning air. Ron and Hermione appeared, still holding on tightly to the frisbee and were staring at the snow beneath them. "Who's looking up first?" Ron asked.
"On three we'll both look up. I find it hard to believe we're still in Siberia."
"But the way that Morbin guy was I wouldn't be surprised." Ron shuddered. "Okay-on three then. One-two-three."
The two of them lifted their heads and sighed with relief. They were on the Quidditch field, glancing up at the high goal posts and stands surrounding the field. Clearly the enchanter had not been as whacko as they had thought, though he was a bit creepy. They still didn't trust the potion they held in the tin container, but that was the only hope they had for Harry.
"Let's go. I'd hate to know what happened to Harry within the past couple of hours." Ron whispered and led the way back into the castle. They bolted through the front doors and ran down the hallway, their footsteps echoing as they ran. Hermione clutched the tin container of potion tightly as though it were an incredibly valuable jewel. In a way, it really was worth quite a great amount-it was worth a life. "Come on!" She told Ron, running a head of him. They reached the hopsital wing and burst through the doors, nearly falling flat.
Sirius, Madame Pomfrey and Mrs. Weasley were grateful to see them, but were more anxious to get the potion into Harry before asking them any questions about their journey to Siberia. Hermione didn't mind, but Ron seemed a bit disappointed. He always liked to tell everything that happened to him over and over and over again, often expecting people to go "Oooh and Ahhhh." Hermione supposed that attitude was the result of being the youngest of four brothers. It didn't help, however, when Harry usually got the most attention a lot of the time. "The enchanter told us that Harry can't spit any of it out-it's supposed to be spicy. So I'd clamp his mouth shut after giving it to him," Hermione told the nurse as she approached Harry's bedside. He looked the same as when they had left him, only slightly worse to Hermione.
"All right. Go and fetch Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall-I'm sure they'll want to be here when we give it to him." Madame Pomfrey told Hermione.
"All right."
"I'll come with you." Ron insisted and took off after her.
"Don't look so disgusted, Ron. I know you wish they asked how our trip went," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. He blinked.
"What?"
"That's right. I saw your face when they didn't even bring it up."
Ron shrugged. "I don't know. But they are right-Harry's more important."
They reached the headmaster's office and Hermione shouted "Sherbert Lemon!" And watched as the door swung open, revealing a small set of spiral stairs that moved like an escalator. Quickly both friends hopped onto the first step they could get a hold of, and watched as the ground slowly disappeared. They came up into an enormous room cluttered with many odd nick nacks. Over a dozen moving portraits of previous Hogwart's Headmasters lined the walls, and they could see Fawkes the Pheonix resting comfortably in his cage by Dumbledore's desk. "Professor Dumbledore?" Ron called in a loud but not-so-loud voice.
"Over here, Mr. Weasley. Glad to see you two made it back safely. I take it Marcelo Morbin was alive then?"
Hermione and Ron looked at each other and then walked further into the office. They found Professor Dumbledore sitting on his overstuffed couch by the window and approached him. "Yes, we had a pretty safe trip but OUCH!" Hermione turned to Ron, her mouth hanging open. He had whacked her with his elbow on the shoulder and was giving her a menacing glare. "Well we DID!" She snapped.
"Yeah considering the fact that I broke my leg and we had to walk around this huge snow-covered mountain and were close to getting killed several times during that particular part!" Ron snarled.
Dumbledore just eyed him calmly. "So he was alive?"
"Yes. Alive and just as cooky as ever. He's how old?" Ron asked.
"One hundred and fifty five." Professor Dumbledore replied with a half-smirk. "Amazing how those enchanters age."
"He looked like he was just fifty!" Hermione gasped. "I would have never guessed that he was that old! And can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"How is it that enchanters know so much? Well, he knew a good amount but he seemed to forget that he'd told us the information already rather quickly."
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes-enchanters are like that. They can see our minds quite well, but many of them have a very poor memory."
Ron sniggered. "That explains a lot. Well-we got the potion and Madame Pomfrey didn't want to give it to Harry till you and Professor McGonagall were there."
Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Yes-I will fetch Minerva and we will be there as quickly as possible."
Ron and Hermione hurried out of the office and took the spiral stairs back down to the corridor, and grinned when they stepped out onto the cobblestone. "Cool-wish we had more time to explore his office!" Ron told Hermione as they headed back for the hospital wing. "You know-I was wondering, Hermione. How come everything, despite a few mishaps, went so smoothly for us? I expected the enchanter to be a follower of Voldemort or something and by the way he acted I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd kidnapped us or set those wolves on us at the last minute."
Hermione smiled. "You worry too much, Ron. But yeah-it's not over yet. If this potion works the way it's supposed to, then I'll be very impressed."
They entered the hospital wing again and saw that the headmaster and Professor McGonagall had arrived. "There you two are." Professor Dumbledore chortled as they came over.
"Here we go." Madame Pomfrey took a deep breath and opened the tin container. She grimaced when she took in the scent of the liquid and eased Harry into a sitting position. Hermione and Ron stood on either side of Sirius and watched with wide, hopeful eyes. The container was pressed against Harry's lips and tilted back a little, and they watched as Harry slowly began to sip it. He suddenly attempted to spit it out, but the nurse clamped his mouth shut with her hands and Harry whimpered, looking at Sirius with a pitious expression.
"You have to take it all down, Harry. I know it tastes bad but it'll help you." Sirius encouraged. With his eyes watering, Harry managed to force the brew down, fighting the urge to vomit. When he took the first mouthful, he gasped "All of it?"
Madame Pomfrey nodded. "I'm sorry, Harry, but yes, you have to drink all of it. Every last drop."
Harry allowed her to give him another mouthful, and was close to crying again when he had to force it down. It burned going down his throat and felt so hot on his tongue-almost like drinking a bottle of tobassco sauce. Hermione felt her heart ache when she saw the horrid expressions on Harry's face, and felt so guilty that he had to take the potion and not her. "You can do it, Harry." Ron told his friend with a smile. When Harry finally finished the potion, he was in tears and Mrs. Weasley drew the boy into a hug.
"I know, sweetheart. But it'll help you feel better. Ron and Hermione had to go all the way to Siberia to get it for you."
Harry choked on a sob, still very distressed. "I'd love to know what the ingredients were," Madame Pomfrey shuddered when she glanced into the cup.
"He did it upstairs and wouldn't let us watch," Ron told them. "A few things exploded."
"Great." Sirius mumbled. The last thing he wanted was his godson exploding into a billion pieces. For a few moments no one moved from their spot as though expecting something horrible to happen, and Mrs. Weasley shooed them all away.
"Stop gawking at the poor boy as though he was an animal at the zoo." She hissed.
Professor McGonagall glanced at Professor Dumbledore with a nervous look. "We should all get some sleep-it's been a long couple of days for everyone."
"But don't you want to hear our story?" Ron asked, much ot the amusement of Hermione.
"Shut up, Ron, and let's go back to bed." She sniggered.