AN: I'm so sorry to have to embarrass myself...but I made a huge mistake! I didn't reread my last chapter and I made a huge continuity error. So, I rewrote the part that was wrong, and reposted the chapter. For those of you who have already read and reviewed, it will be a bit different this time, but it won't be necessary for you to review again, unless you just feel generous!!! I'm so sorry for this boo boo, and I'll try hard to not let it happen again!
Chapter 8
Harry looked at the letter in his hand, feeling excited, yet terrified. What if his best friend had heard about what had happened to him, and only felt pity for him? What if she was ashamed of him now and didn't want anything else to do with him? The emotions showing on his face were obvious, and it was only a moment before Sirius cleared his throat and suggested, "Well, aren't you going to read that?"
Harry looked down at the letter, finally drawing up all of his Gryffindor courage, and nodded. Sirius chuckled softly and ruffled the boy's hair and walked out of the room. Harry sighed and softly called out to his godfather a quick "thanks", to which the man gave a wave of his hand and disappeared down the hall.
The letter lay on his lap, staring at him as if it were sentient, wishing for him to open it and read it. Harry sighed deeply again and thought, well, I might as well get this over with. If she hates me, well, it wasn't meant to be.
He carefully opened the letter to see some parchment, covered in Hermione's neat handwriting. He began reading.
Dearest Harry,
How are you? What a year we had this last term. How are you doing, really? Are the muggles treating you ok? Are you getting enough to eat? Have you been studying your old texts? Remember, we take our OWLS this year.
I really hope you're not sitting there blaming yourself for Cedric's death. It wasn't your fault, Harry. No, it wasn't. It was Voldemort's, and only his. He' s been the cause of all of your troubles since the beginning, so no more blaming yourself!!
What have you been up to since you got back home? Are the muggles treating you ok? Oh, I guess I asked that already. Do you need anything? Maybe I can come visit you for a day, and bring you whatever you need. Or, maybe I can get Dumbledore to allow you to come visit me for a few days this summer. Yes, I think that's exactly what I'll do.
You know, Harry, I don't think I've ever told you just how much our friendship means to me. Well, it means the world to me. I'm so thankful that we met that day on the train, and later on, when you saved me from that troll. I'll never forget that day as long as I live.
I guess I should end this now, so I can get a message to Professor Dumbledore and convince him to let you come stay with me a few days. Maybe I can get him to let you stay the rest of the summer with me! Wouldn't that be fun?
I'll talk to you soon, Harry.
Love, Hermione
Harry looked at the letter again, and couldn't help but grin when he read how his friend had signed her letter. Love, Hermione. He couldn't help but feel like something else was being said, but he didn't want to take the chance of losing his best friend if he was wrong. So, he put the idea out of his head for the time being.
He pulled out a sheet of parchment and began writing his own letter back to his friend.
Dearest Hermione,
I'm so glad I heard from you. There's so much we need to talk about, but we can't do it in a letter because I fear it would be intercepted. But here's what I can tell you: I'm not at the Dursley's anymore, but I'm safe. Don't worry about that, Hermione, I'm in good hands. But I would love to spend some time with you. In fact, there's nobody I can think of who'd I rather be with. Just don't plan it with Dumbledore! It's his fault I'm in this to begin with. If he asks, you know nothing, and haven't heard from me, okay?
Let me talk with some people and get back to you on what could work. I'm trusting you, Hermione. You're the only one I've told about this, and please don't tell Ron, either. I'm afraid he might let it slip out if he got mad, you know how his temper is. He doesn't know anything about this, only you.
I'm going to owl you as soon as I can get something worked out so maybe you can come visit me, and then I can tell you the whole story. Thank you for being my friend Hermione. I don't know what I would have done without you for the last 4 years.
All my love, Harry
Harry read over his letter and, finally satisfied with it, tied it to Hedwig's leg, and after rubbing the owl's head and giving her an owl treat, instructed her to deliver the letter straight to Hermione's hands. Hedwig nipped Harry's fingers lovingly and stretched out her beautiful white wings, and took off. Harry watched his beloved owl until he could no longer see her, then stretched out his body on the couch.
He was wondering if he had the energy to make it to the bathroom alone, and was just starting to attempt to stand, when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He quickly twisted his neck around to see who had snuck up on him. It was Professor Snape, who was standing there with an uncharacteristic grin on his face. At first, the child was wondering who that man was that looked so much like his professor, but then he remembered what his godfather had told him about the spells that had been placed on him and his professor.
Harry finally relaxed, then decided to ask for assistance.
"Professor, um, would you, um, help me to the bathroom? I'm not sure if I'm suppose to be up walking alone yet..."
"Of course, Harry. It was very wise of you to wait for someone to come in and assist you," Severus remarked, that grin still on his face.
He then took hold of the thin boy's arm and helped him to his feet, holding him firmly when Harry swayed on his feet. Finally, the room stopped spinning, and the Professor walked slowly out of the room and down the hall with his charge. He left Harry standing in the loo, and closed the door slightly, to give him some privacy. Once the boy called to say he was done, he opened the door and escorted a very tired Harry back to his room and to his bed. Severus proceeded to tuck the child back into bed, and was going to give him a mild sleeping drought when he heard the child's stomach make some noise...a sure sign that he was hungry.
Harry looked down toward his stomach, a sheepish expression on his face as he mumbled his apologies. Severus again stunned the boy with a hearty laugh. He promptly called for Dobby, and when he appeared, had the elf bring a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich for the hungry young man.
Harry looked down at his tray of food and replied enthusiastically, "Thanks, Professor. I can't believe I'm hungry after all that food I ate at breakfast. What time is it anyway?"
Severus pulled out a pocket watch and replied, "It's about 2:30 in the afternoon, Harry. You did sleep late this morning, and we all ate breakfast with you after you got up. Your godfather and I had lunch a little while ago. We didn't call you because you were working so hard on your letter. Now, do eat your lunch, and don't worry if you can't finish it all. Remember, your stomach is still healing and we don't want you to get nauseous and throw up. You need to keep the food in your stomach, as well as the potions you've been taking."
Harry looked at his bowl of steaming tomato soup, and picked up his sandwich, so he could dip it into his hot soup. He noticed his professor eyeing him with a slight smirk on his face. He couldn't help but ask, "Ok, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Severus laughed and responded, "Oh, no reason, really. I was just thinking about how I used to eat my grilled cheese sandwiches that way, by dipping them into my tomato soup. My mother used to fuss at me about that, not wanting the red soup to drip on her white tablecloth."
Harry nodded his understanding, mainly because his mouth was full of sandwich and soup. He quickly swallowed and took a drink of pumpkin juice, which Dobby had also brought for him.
The Potions Master then excused himself from the room, so he could go get the boy his next dose of potions. Harry watched him walk away, and quickly resumed his late lunch. He managed to eat the entire sandwich, and drank half of the bowl of soup. He also drank all of his pumpkin juice. He had just finished it and sat the glass back down, when Dobby appeared with a crack, and quickly took the tray of dishes off Harry's lap.
"Thanks for bringing my lunch to me, Dobby. I really do appreciate it."
Dobby's eyes filled at the kind words that his master had bestowed upon him. He smiled at the boy, and said, "Harry Potter is a great wizard. He is so kind to us lowly house elves. It's my pleasure to be serving you, Harry Potter, sir."
Then the elf disappeared with another crack, leaving Harry shaking his head, wondering how he was going to get Dobby to just call him Harry, instead of sir, or Harry Potter.
He had almost dozed off when he heard his godfather and Severus walking back into the bedroom, and when they had come around in front of him, he noticed that their arms were full of potion vials.
Harry looked at the two men, and then at the potions they carried, and asked in a squeaky voice, "I'm not going to have to drink all of those, am I?"
Sirius noticed the panicked look on the boy's face, and quickly answered, "Of course not, pup. The only ones you need to drink now are in Severus' arms. The rest are for another day."
Harry visibly relaxed at that revelation and quickly drank down each vial that he was handed. He recognized the blood replenisher, and the nutrient booster, and the other, what was that one again?
"It's a mild dreamless sleep potion, Harry," Severus told him. "It will allow you to sleep without nightmares, but it will allow you to dream a few pleasant dreams. Also, it won't drug you quite as deeply as a regular Dreamless Sleep would."
Harry looked up his former most hated professor, an hint of understanding and gratitude evident in the boy's eyes. He took the last vial, looked it over, and was just about to drink, when he suddenly had an idea.
"Um, Professor, while I'm here this summer, maybe you could teach me more about potions, so I can figure out what I'm doing wrong in class."
Severus looked thoughtfully at the boy, and contemplated on whether he would be able to teach the boy properly in the house they were staying in.
Then Sirius looked over at his friend and replied, "You know Sev, the basement is so huge, and there is a potions lab set up down there, and it's probably still fully stocked with ingredients. While Harry is sleeping, we could go take a look at it and see if it's possible for you to help him. What do you say?"
Harry looked up at his professor and pleaded with him silently with his large, green eyes, so bright and innocent.
Severus took the vial of dreamless sleep and gave it to the young boy and watched him as he grimaced at the bitter taste. He took the empty vial out of his hand, and proceeded to pull the covers up over his charge noting that the potion, while not as strong as it's parent, was already affecting it's drinker.
He leaned down and whispered in Harry's ear as the potion took full effect, "I believe that can be arranged, Harry. Good night."
It was then that the men turned and walked out of the sleeping boy's room, leaving the door open in case they needed to get to him, and spelling the room to tell them if the boy had a nightmare, or otherwise became distressed in the night.
Sirius took one last look at his godson, noticing that even though the boy was asleep, his face still wore the faint grimace of pain, and fear. Not even a sleeping potion could get the boy to totally relax. He would have to mention that to his friend later, and see if there was something that they could do to help his godson. He then turned and joined his friend in the study down the hall.
Severus then asked his friend, "Why don't you come show me the way to the basement, so I can inventory the supplies? If I'm going to tutor Harry this summer, I might as well do it right. Perhaps we can ask Remus if he'll go to Diagon Alley for me to get the necessary potions ingredients, if we need anything."
Sirius nodded his head, and together, the two friends walked down the stairs into the basement of number 12 Grimmauld Place, while along the way, banishing the dust and grime from the steps, and the cobwebs from the ceiling.
hphphphphphphphphphphphhphphphphphphphhphphphphphphphphhphphphphphphphphph
Hello everyone!!
I'm so sorry for the delay. I've been having issues with getting those letters to sounds just right...so I finally had to ask for some help from one of my authors I beta for!! Her name is Kayla, you know her as jesusfreak1011. She helped me get the letters from Harry and Hermione to each other written to my satisfaction. At least...I hope they are ok! I also wanted to thank Rhonda for looking over my chapter for me. She caught quite a few minor errors, and I thank her for it! I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but it couldn't be helped, I didn't want to keep you all waiting any longer.
I want to thank everyone who has reviewed for me! You have no idea how thrilled I get when I see another review pop up for this story!!! I am so happy that you all are enjoying this story!!
Please review after reading and I'll do my best to not let so much time go by before the next update!!!
Take care everyone!! Nita
