Disclaimer: No I don't own Harry Potter, though it'd be really cool if I did.

Harry felt himself waking up from what felt like a long sleep. His bed felt different from what he was accustom, stiffer. It wasn't his bed in his dorm or even one of the beds at the cottage or family manors. The air smelt different too. It smelt too clean with a mixture of potions.

He opened his eyes and was slightly shocked to find himself in a dark hospital wing. How had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was coming home from Godric's Hallow and then walking to Gryffindor Tower and then-. "Oh." he said out loud as he finally remembered what had happened.

Hermione Granger had been attacked by a troll and he had gone off to save her. He also probably hurt himself more than the troll.

"Harry!" a voice called out in a excited whisper. He recognized the voice as belonging to Evan.

"Hey Evan." Harry said his voice slightly horse form lack of use. He could see the outline of a person sitting in a chair next to his bed.

The next thing he knew he was being hugged tightly. Why did everyone do that to him? Did he have a sign hanging above him that said he didn't need to breath or something?

"Thank Merlin your awake. Every ones been so worried." Evan said as he let his youngest brother go.

"What happened?" Harry asked. "I don't remember anything after I got hit in the head."

"Well." Evan said in a amused voice. "You were hit in the head with a toilet seat."

Harry gasped. "What? Swear to me that you'll never tell that to any one. If any one asks I was knocked out by a piece of the castle or something more dignified. Merlin I was knocked out by a toilet seat."

Evan laughed at him and Harry glared at Evan. "Its not funny." Harry said grumpily as he sat up and crossed his arms like a angry child.

Evan sobered. "No its not. You've been unconscious for four days." Harry gapped at him not even able to come up with a good reply. "Mum and dad have been going mad. Lizzy had to force them to go to bed tonight. They've been here every night. Me and Lizzy came as soon as we heard and we've stayed with you during the day."

Harry still looked at his brother shocked. It hadn't felt anything like four days. It felt like he'd just been knocked out, but it did explain why his head didn't hurt.

"Has Nate been here?" Harry asked noticing the lack of mentioning his other brothers name. He remembered that his brother was being a prat, but he didn't think he wouldn't visit him if he was hurt.

Evan hesitated telling Harry all he needed to know. "He said he couldn't get away, but he sent you a present." Evan said with a weak grin holding out a small wrapped box.

Harry took it eagerly. Maybe it would explain why Nate wasn't hear? He ripped the paper off and looked at what his brother had sent him.

There was a box of chocolate frogs and a note that said.

'Get well soon

Nate'

Harry stared at it. That was it. No apology. Nothing more personal. They were supposed to be brothers not to mention best friends. What had happened to Nate since he left home?

Harry took the box and chucked it. Not caring if he woke the hospital matron. They had promised each other that they wouldn't keep any secrets from each other and it hurt that Nate was so distant. Was Nate growing up and leaving Harry behind? Or was it something else.

"Why's he doing this?" Harry asked quietly completely confused.

"He's been out of sorts for a while." Evan answered surprising Harry. He'd forgotten Evan was here. "Mum and dad have been worried. He hasn't come home since September and when he has seen anyone he's been distant."

"How come no one told me?" Harry asked angrily. Merlin it sounded as if Nate was depressed or something. If he'd known he could have helped.

"If you'd known what would you have done? You couldn't go see him. Mum and dad thought you were stressed out enough without having to worry about Nate. They honestly thought he'd snap out of it when he saw you again." Evan explained. Harry hated to do it but he admitted that he could do little or nothing while he was in school and he couldn't just up and leave. It would cause too many questions.

"How come I'm not crushed into something hardly recognizable?" Harry asked not wanting to talk about Nate anymore. He would have to figure that out by himself.

"Well the teachers noticed the noise from the attack and ran to the scene. Mum was with them. They opened the door just as you got bashed in the head, and you know how good mum's reflexes are. She snapped her wand out and had a shield protecting you in a instant." They shared grins. In their house hold Minerva's reflexes were legendary. Albus said it was a trait passed over from her animagus transformation.

"So now the whole school found out and everyone's been talking about mum. And since the school knows the press knows. She's had to redirect her mail to the house elves, she'd been getting so many thank you cards and presents."

"At least dad wont be short of sweets for a while." Harry jokingly added. Evan laughed and agreed with a nod.

The conversation would have continued but as soon as Evan opened his mouth to say something else Madame Pomfrey bustled into the room. She was reading a clip board and checking something's off with her wand so for the first few minutes she didn't notice anything.

Harry looked at Evan who's eyes were wide as he tried to suppress laughter. She still hadn't noticed that her only patients was awake. As soon as their eyes met they both burst out laughing startling Madame Pomfrey so bad she actually tripped backwards over a bed pan.

This of course made them laugh even harder. Evan of course being ever the gentleman got up to see if she was alright but by the time he got to her she was standing and seething mad.

"OUT! Get out and don't come back until tomorrow." She screamed at Evan, who left the room chuckling at the look of dawning horror on Harry's face.

Harry watched in slight fear as she sent him a glare then made her way to the potions cabinet. She rummaged around for a few minutes before making a cluck of approval as she found the right vial.

"Drink this." she said holding out a foul greenish brown potion.

Harry cringed. He'd forgotten rule number three on the list of life rules his father had told him about. Never anger any nurse, they have control of the potions you drink. That came just after number two women are always right and number one his mother word was law. He didn't really understand rule two but he sure did understand three now. The potion looked like something that had already been eaten once and it smelt even worse.

"Er, I'm fine." he said weakly pushing the vial way from himself and avoiding the eyes of the angry healer.

"I'll be the judge of that Mr. Potter. Now drink." Harry sent her his darkest glare but she batted it away and stared him down making him feel four years old again until he took the foul concoction. He refused to call it a potion.

He brought the potion up to his mouth and held his nose before swallowing. It tasted even worse than he'd imagined. He was sure there were still chunks. He also knew that his taste buds were permanently scarred.

Thankfully before he could finish the potion he was knocked out again.

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The next time he woke up it was day light and the hospital wing was brightly lit. He felt better than before and could honestly find nothing wrong with himself.

"Harry!" a female voice cried before he was once again smothered. He tried to breath but it was difficult when his head was being squeezed with such ferocity.

"Daphne!" he said in slight surprise when he was released and finally aloud to she who had been suffocating him. She looked a bit tired and had slight bags under her eyes. He faced darkened immediately at hearing the surprise in his voice. It wasn't that he didn't want her here he just didn't think she would hug with such affection as she was normally a reserved person. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm aloud to visit a friend aren't I?" she asked a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Of course. It's fantastic to see you, in fact you're my best visitor yet." Harry said. Making sure she knew she was wanted. She never said anything but Harry noticed she often seconded guessed herself even though she played it off most off the time.

"I'm your first visitor there's not exactly a lot of competition, is there?" Harry just smiled at her while thinking of Evans visit the night before. He was going to have to get his brother back for abandoning him like that.

"Not to be rude or anything, but shouldn't you be in class right now?"

Daphne defied logic and shrugged elegantly, a move that had probably taken years to perfect. "Watching you sleep seemed more interesting than History." she drawled.

"I'm fascinating I know." Harry quipped.

Daphne rolled her eyes but didn't respond. Instead she took out a bag full of books and parchment and dumped it onto his bed. "You're missed assignments I believe." she said with a wicked grin.

"But...but there's no home work on weekends!" he shouted desperately looking at the huge pile of work in dismay. Then he really looked at the books. Most of them weren't even school books. How could they be his homework?

He was broken out of his thoughts as Daphne laughed out loud startling him slightly. "You're much to gullible Harry." she said in a mack sad voice.

Harry stared at her. She had tricked him. Oh she was so going to get it. He would dye her pink or maybe stick her to the ceiling of the potions classroom or something equally as horrible.

"That was mean." he said with an irresistible pout.

"You would have done the same or worse to me." She replied with a smile before sitting on the edge of Harry's bed. "In reality you only missed today's work and anything you didn't have done for the weekend."

"I had all my work done." Harry said with a shrug. He was happy that he had only missed one day of lessons. It meant he wasn't left behind in any of the material even though he doubted he wouldn't be able to catch up.

"I collected your work from your teachers and so far you've only missed charms and history. You have to read chapter seven in history and then write and essay about the importance of control in wand movements." Daphne told him. Then handed him two text books.

Harry looked at the text books then looked at Daphne. He pushed the books to the other side of his rather large bed and left them there for the time being. "I'll do it later. Right now I need your help."

"With what?" she asked. She had been placed in Slytherin after all.

Harry leaned his head close to her and as an extra precaution put a small muffling charm around them to avoid being over heard.

"I need you to distract the Dragon Lady so I can make a run for it." Harry said completely seriously.

The flicker in Daphne's eyes was the only indication of her surprise. "What's in it for me?" she asked.

"My undying gratitude." Daphne looked at him expectantly. "I'll show you a spell that will turn Snape's hot pink and extremely bushy."

"Acceptable." Daphne said in a haughty voice. Harry grinned at her knowing it was more of an act than anything else.

"Here's what you'll be doing..." Harry begun.

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A little over an hour later one Harry Potter walked into the last lesson for the day, which just so happened to the one that his mother taught.

He walked up to the door and leaned up against the wall. Even though he would never admit to it he was a little bit tired and his legs were a bit wobbly. Before he could even put his bag on the ground the door was practically flung open and he was dragged in.

'I really should be used to this.' He thought to himself as he gave up the useless struggle to free himself from his mothers iron grip. To his horror she was once again crying.

"I'm sorry dear, I know you hate it when I cry all over you. I was just so worried." she said tearfully as she dabbed her eyes with one of his fathers hankies.

Harry felt the guilt well up inside his stomach. His mum worried if one of her children scrapped their knee. She was probably frantic when he went into a coma. His elation at escaping the hospital wing disappeared in one swoop and was replaced with a gut wrenching guilt.

"I'm sorry." he apologized unable to meet her eye.

His mother straightened and sniffed one last time. "What you did was very noble, very stupid, but also very noble. Your lucky you weren't killed. Your father an I will speak to you about it after classes." Harry's shoulders drooped even lower. "We're not angry, Harry, just concerned." she said then squeezed his shoulder one last time before going to let the other students in the class room.

Seamus was one of the last people in the class and Harry noticed he to looked at little worse for wear. He didn't even look up as he walked threw towards the desk he shared with Harry.

"Hi Seamus." Harry said brightly causing his friend to jump slightly in shock.

"HARRY!" he yelled out completely forgetting they were in class as he pulled his friend into Harry's third bone crushing hug in the past hour and a half. "Your ok." he breathed.

Harry grinned knowing that Seamus was a true friend and not just a groupie like most of the wizarding children he'd met. "Of course. I'm invincible" he said simply with a charming smile.

Minerva cleared her throat loudly interrupting the moment as loath as she was to do it. She had to keep appearances up.

The lesson commenced and the class was still working on turning one object into something of the same class into something larger. It was dreadfully boring to Harry who had picked up the technique a week ago but he knew that before they could do anything harder the entire class needed a tentative control on their magic.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened even Hermione Granger was still glaring at him but this time in between looks of confusion. The bell range and as he was expecting his mum called him to remain behind.

He stayed sitting while the rest of the class emptied the classroom. Seamus sent him an inquiring look but Harry waved him off with a tired sweep of his hand. He really was exhausted now. His initial burst of energy was completely spent and it took all of his will power not to put his head down on his desk and close his eyes to the world.

The door snapped shut smartly and woke him up from his thoughts. He stood up and grabbed his bag turning his head away from his mum as a silent yawn escaped his mouth.

"Harry dear?" his mother asked.

He turned to her and knew he was caught. She was leaning against her desk and looked for lack of better words like the cat who caught the canary. Her glasses were on the tip of her nose and she was looking at him with the dark green eyes. Her lips were smirking slightly but other wise her face looked very stern.

"Yea mum." he said as innocently as possible, knowing he was just delaying the inevitable.

"I got the strangest owl earlier, during class." She said everything calmly but her eyes were flashing with a fire that Harry had never been up against alone. If he hadn't known his mother loved him and put his safety above her own he would have been afraid for his life.

His voice and mind failed him when he tried to think of a valid excuse for what he'd done.

"Do you want to know what it said?" she asked but didn't give him enough time to answer. "It was a letter from Madame Pomfrey saying that she'd been locked and barricaded to her office and," his mothers voice started to raise in pitch and Harry involuntarily took three steps back. There was no question in his mind if his mother was as powerful as his father. He could feel power rolling off her in waves from her unraveling emotions. "and it said her hospital wing was covered in PINK PLAY DOUGH AND THAT HER COMA PATIENT WAS MISSING!" she roared.

Harry's eyes were wide and he stared at his mother in terror. He'd never seen his mother like this. He'd never seen anyone like this. Sure he'd been yelled at plenty of times but this was different. All of his mothers anger was directed at him with no one there to share the load.

Minerva took a deep breath and was about to start yelling again when a firm voice interrupted her train of thought.

"I think he's got the message love." Albus said from the door way.

Harry looked up at the door and saw his father standing there looking every bit as insane as usual. Harry didn't pay any mind to the bright colors or the outrages hair. His dad was here and he wouldn't let his mother kill him. Not caring if he looked like a coward he quickly slide against the wall until he was safely behind his father and out of reach from his mother.

Minerva straightened her back and glared at her husband. "Fine, but don't come crawling to me when Poppy finds you." she said briskly.

Albus made a face but moved on knowing there was nothing else he could do. "Lets take this to my office, it has stronger silencing charms." he suggested.

Harry groaned out loud at the implication, knowing his father wasn't joking.

The trio made their way into a office in the back of the classroom which was where Minerva's office was. They passed through the obsessively organized office quickly and soon they were in the living room of their quarters.

With in another two minutes they were all sitting down in the living room and they had both taken off the disguises. Minerva and Albus very comfortably and while Harry was sitting in his favorite chair it felt some what different than the other times he sat there. Now it felt more a chair used for interrogation than relaxation.

"Harry" Albus began with a soft voice. "What you did today was wrong but not entirely unexpected." Harry's head shot up from where he had been examining the carpet and looked at his father searchingly.

"I believe your escaping of the hospital can be blamed on bad geans. There has yet to be a time when your mother or I have spent the prescribed amount of time in Madame Ponfrey's, delicate care." He said with a twinkle in his eye. Harry grinned. "But your still going to be punished, so, I believe that a detention with Hagrid will do the trick." Albus finished in an overly cheerful voice.

Harry made a face but knew he had gotten off rather easily. His mother apparently thought the same because she glared at his father with the full power of her gaze.

"Next subject." Albus said with a clap of his hands unfazed by his mothers glare that was known to make grown men quake in there boots. "Your little adventure on Halloween needs to be discusses." Even though he said it cheerfully enough Harry could see a dark shadow in his fathers eye. "Could you please tell us what happened?"

"Well I didn't want to go to the feast..." Harry started as he began to tell his parents about his disastrous rescue attempt.

There was silence as he finished his story. Albus was looking at his son as if he'd never seen him before and Minerva was actually repressing laughter.

"Sweet Merlin Albus did you have to give our son all of your bad traits?" She asked with a slight chuckle.

Harry crossed his arms and pouted. They were making fun of him.

Albus glared half heartedly at his wife. She knew he didn't like it when she brought that and another few dozen other incidents up. All of them almost life threatening because of his absent minded stupidity.

Minerva saw her sons pout and could read his reasoning through his facial expression. "Harry, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at the similarity's between you and your father." she said with a fond smile.

"How so?" Harry asked curiously. Any story that made his father glare like that had to be a good one.

"Well there was a time when your father wasn't as cautious as he is now. I was pregnant with Nathan at the time and as I've told you before he gave me the strangest cravings." Harry made a face. In their house the things his mother ate while pregnant were legendary. It was some of the most disgusting combinations of food Harry had even heard of. "I was being rather persistent-"

Albus cut her off. "Persistent!" he said incredulously. "You threatened to castrate me!" Minerva blushed slightly but Harry was confused. That was one word he'd never heard.

"Castrate?" he said.

"Cut your bits off." Albus said very seriously.

Harry's eyes went wide and he crossed his legs. "There's a spell for that?" he said in a high pitched voice. Oh the horror.

Albus nodded gravely completely understanding his sons plight. When he'd first found out he'd been obsessed with finding or creating a shield. He'd done it of course, but it had taken three weekends worth of work. Time in his opinion well spent.

"Any way back to the story." Minerva interrupted the boys side conversation. "The point is I got your father so anxious to get me my request that he summoned it while we were in Hogwarts. All of the honey, pickled eggs, and chocolate syrup in the castle came flying at him. Then hit him just as he was going down the stairs from his office. He fell down them all, broke his arm, got a concussion, and smelt horrible for at least a week."

Harry burst out laughing and seeing the similarities wasn't so mad at his mum for laughing at him. Though his dad didn't seem to share his feelings on the subject.

"I thought we agreed not to tell the children certain things." he said slightly outraged.

"Oh Albus, lighten up." Minerva said light taking a sip of newly conjured tea. "It's not the end of the world. Besides the children should know that your not infallible."

Harry tuned out the conversation. He didn't feel like listening to his parents banter back and forth with each other. His chair was extremely comfortable and the fire was burning warmly even though he didn't remember it being lit. The smell of the room was comforting and familiar. Before he'd even realized it he was falling asleep in his favorite chair by the fire.

"He's asleep." Albus stated a few minutes later after Harry didn't answer a question asked by Minerva.

"He did look tired." She said absently as she stood up and stretched. "You should put him in his room and let him sleep here tonight. We can tell the school that he was sent back to the hospital wing."

"My thoughts exactly." Albus said as he stood up. Without any difficultly he picked his youngest son up and carried him to his room. The room looked cleanly kept but it was lacking the familiar glow that accompanied when it had been inhabited daily. But all the childrens rooms were like that now. Not one of his children lived at home full time.

He tucked Harry in under the green, blue, and gold bedspread and left the room, but not before turning back and giving his son a kiss on the forehead.

When he entered the living room again he was met with a rare sight. Minerva had taken off her outer teaching robe and was only wearing a light under robe that really left nothing to the imagination. He could see every curve of her body and sight of her made his heart skip a beat.

She was standing in front of one of the great windows in the room, with a glass of scotch in her hand, looking at the landscape.

He walked up behind her and slid his hands around her lithe waist. She didn't even flinch, she had felt him coming as was great full for any comfort he could offer.

"This weeks been tough." she said her voice horse with emotion. Albus nodded and buried his head into her neck, taking comfort from her smell.

"More like an emotional roller coaster." he said with a muffled voice. Minerva snorted and drained the rest of her glass. It had been a really bad week.

Albus took the glass gently from her fingers and banished it back to the liquor cabinet on the other side of the room. With strong arms he turned his wife's body around and pulled her into a comforting embracing. She buried her head into his chest and let out a shaky breath.

He could smell the alcohol on her breath but he knew she was far from drunk. Drinking was in her blood and it would take more than one drink to affect her, unlike he, who was the lightest lightweight any one would ever meet.

They stood in each others arms for a few more minutes relishing the closeness that they were denied so often.

"We almost lost him Albus." Minerva said a bit tearfully.

"I know, but we'll keep him safe from now on. Nothing will happen to any one of my children while I still have breath in my body. You know that." Albus said trying to reassure himself as much as his wife. Harry's accident, as he was calling it in his mind, had been a shock to both he and Minerva. They had thought that Harry would be safe in Hogwarts, only for him to be seriously hurt within his first two months of schooling.

"I know you'd never let anything happen" Minerva said pulling back from his chest but staying in his arms. "But you can't be every where at once. And now with the twins and Nathan not living at home, there's only so much you can do. And Nathan's not even speaking with us. How will you know if he needs help?" she asked tears in her eyes. The subject of her middle child had brought her to tears more often than not. He wasn't talking to them and there was no way for the to get in contact until Christmas.

"I'll know and I'll protect them." he said firmly hoping to alleviate his wife's fears.

"You say that, but will your precautions work." she said more to herself than to Albus.

"Have I ever failed you before?" Albus asked looking straight into his wife's eyes hiding nothing.

"No." she answered quietly not breaking the connection they shared at that moment.

"And I never will." Albus answered so surely that Minerva believed him.

Minerva smiled slightly at the warm feeling her husband never failed to ignite inside of her. It was but and ember now but soon she knew it would be a raging inferno.

With nothing else to say Minerva took her husbands face in her hands and ran her fingers over his cheeks. His looks had changed, but not diminished from when she had first met him. He looked older and his face felt rougher form the trials the world had laid upon his shoulders. There were more lines on his face than ever before. A bunch by his eyes from his ever present smile. More than one on his brow being proof of his stress full days during the war and away from home at the ministry. There was also a thin scar, almost invisible, that ran from his above his left ear into his scalp. She remembered the night he got it years and years ago. But even with all of these attributes she still saw him as the young seemingly naive teacher she had fallen in love with over fifty years ago.

"I love you Albus." she whispered her eyes speaking more than her lips.

"And I you Mina." Albus practically whispered. She could feel his breath on her lips. She didn't even bother correcting him on the use of her most hated nick name, instead she moved her lips those last two inches from her husbands and gave him a slow sensual kiss. One that spoke of years of love and devotion that only grew by each passing day.

Albus responded in turn and pulled his wife's body flush up against his. The kiss lasted until they pair broke off for need of oxygen.

"Lets go to bed." Minerva suggested with a lustful look at Albus.

"Lets." Albus agreed without any hesitation.

A/N

Wow so sorry for the long wait on the update but things have been hectic around my part of the world. You wouldn't believe some of the things I've done lately. About the story I seriously doubt I'll be able to post a new chapter every week but I'm aiming for every other week. I shouldn't have even tried to do that in the first place. Sorry but it can't be done, I have a life outside of fanfiction. One thats becoming increasingly busy lately.

On a side note I might be going on a tour of eastern Europe for twenty days over the summer. Just something cool I thought I'd share, it seemd like a lot of fun and I'm supper excited to visit Amsterdam.

As a;ways review please. Tell me if I suck, or if you like it. Either way it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. lol peace, Alisha