Chapter 34 False Alarm

Madame Pomfrey was not the least bit surprised when Sirius, Ron, Hermione and Lavender brought Harry into the hospital wing. The nurse took Harry over to one of the cots, sat him down, and began the usual check up process. "He honestly does not seem to be all that ill this time," Madame Pomfrey told Sirius calmly. "His temperature is only 100 degrees, and that could also be a result of the amount of layers he's wearing."

Hermione gasped and put her hands over her mouth. "I never thought of that!"

Lavender gave her a hug with a chuckle. "It was just an accident, Hermione, if that is the real problem. You were only trying to help after all."

Harry smiled and silently thanked Lavender for comforting his girlfriend. "You're welcome." Lavender replied with a wink.

Harry broke into a small fit of coughing as he watched the nurse pour a glass of Pepperup potion for him. He'd tried the liquid before but he'd been half conscious when it had been administered, so he did not remember exactly what it tasted or felt like going down.

"Drink every bit of it, Harry." Ron told him.

Harry did as he was told and chugged the medicine down in three large gulps, nearly choking on it. The liquid burned his throat and about a minute later, he heard Lavender giggling furiously.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked, annoyed.

"You're smoking at the ears!" Hermione cried, hurrying over to sit beside him. "It'll be over in a minute..."

Even Sirius was having trouble trying to keep a straight face as Madame Pomfrey handed Harry a compact mirror to look into. "You should see the look on your face," Ron sniggered.

"I can," Harry growled. "Ugh-that stuff is awful."

Madame Pomfrey folded her arms and cocked an eyebrow. "Well, dear, what did you expect it to be? Pumpkin juice?"

Hermione began giggling at the nurse's comment as she pulled Harry into a hug, kissing him on top of the head.

"So, Harry," Madame Pomfrey continued. "congratulations on getting the lead role in the musical! I knew you had the talent. You just didn't believe in yourself enough to do it."

Harry smile weakly. "Thanks. Hermione, Ron and Lavender have lead roles too. Hermione is Christine, Ron is Firmin and Lavender is a ballerina. It's amazing that Professor Snape chose us as leads and not Malfoy."

The nurse nodded. "Well, I am sure all of you will do just brilliantly."

Harry sniffed. "I don't have to spend the night in the hospital wing, do I?" he asked hopefully. He was hoping to cuddle with Hermione a bit that night in the common room.

"No you don't. You're not that sick. The medicine I gave you should help you feel better in a few hours, but you'll probably still feel a bit stuffy. Speaking of stuffy, how are your allergies doing? I have not seen you down here for a shot in quite some time."

Harry laughed. "I've only had a few random sneezing fits in the past few weeks but I have been feeling a lot better when it comes to that."

"Good. Well-off with you now. Just take it easy tonight, Potter."

"I will. Thanks." Harry allowed Hermione to help him up from the bed and they followed the others out into the corridor. They headed into the Gryffindor common room, which was not that crowded as the Hogsmeade trip was still going on. The rest of the school would not be back till around 5:00 and it was just 2:30. Harry pulled Sirius aside and told Hermione that he wanted some privacy for a bit. Hermione nodded and went to sit with Lavender and Ron by the fireplace.

"So are you ready to give Hermione her present?" Sirius whispered as he and Harry sat down in one of the corners of the room.

"Yep. It's sitting in Professor Dumbledore's office. Thanks a lot for getting it for me."

"No problem. It was a really sweet idea, Harry. She'll love it." Sirius ruffled his godson's hair. "She is lucky to have a boyfriend like you."

Harry blushed. "Thanks. She always wanted an owl-I remember her telling Ron and I that in our third year, but Crookshanks won her over before she could even look at the owls. She'll have two pets now." He smiled.

"When are you going to give it to her?" Sirius asked.

"The night before we leave for the holiday," Harry replied. "I thought that was going to be most appropriate."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. Well, kid, I have to get going. Long day at the office tomorrow." He pointed at his mouth and pretended to gag, making Harry laugh again.

"Have fun." Harry sniggered. "How is your new job going anyway?"

"Fine. It's a job, right? And I'm making money. That's all that counts. I don't even care that I'm a bookkeeper for Gringotts-one of the dullest jobs out there!" He nicked Harry's cheek with his fist. "I'll see you in a week, Harry. Take care of yourself, all right?"

Harry gave Sirius a hug. "Okay. I'll see you at King's Cross then."

Sirius went to say goodbye to the others, and then left the common room. Harry eventually sat down beside Hermione and leaned his head against her shoulder. He was lucky to be dating her. She leaned her cheek against his head, closing her eyes. "You should probably be upstairs getting some sleep," She told him in a quiet voice.

"Mmmm hmmm." Harry replied, yawning. "I'd rather stay right here."

"Oh no you don't. You need to be up in bed and asleep so that your cold will get better. You don't want to be sick when the Christmas holiday's start at the end of next week, do you?" Hermione teased.

Lavender snuggled closer to Ron, who had his arms around her. "And this guy," She teased, giving him a kiss, "is so soft and comfortable-like a pillow. I think we should do a couple sleep out thing down here again like we did that one time."

Hermione gave her girlfriend a threatening look. It was at that moment that she noticed Jessica and Erin who were sitting together by the window, their heads together and scribbling something onto a piece of parchment. "Yeah, but we'll get in trouble if we go then!" Erin cried suddenly, receiving a loud "Shuuuuush!" from Jessica.

"Ignore it," Harry told Hermione. "It's not your problem."

Hermione sighed. "Yeah, well..."

"You know what?" Harry stifled a yawn. "I am really tired and I think I will go up to bed early. It sounds very inviting, though I wish you were coming with me." He winked at Hermione who slapped his arm.

"Pervert!" She yelped.

"Good night." Harry whispered, bending down to kiss her. He sneezed loudly as he headed towards the stairs that lead up to the boy's dormitory and turned around once more to take a last look at Hermione before turning in for the night. "I am very lucky." He said to himself with a smile.