A Potion Induced Advent's Time
by Healer Pomfrey

Please refer to the content/warnings/disclaimer note above page 1.

December 15

In the morning, Harry and the children went to turn the mirrors back into walls, before they had breakfast in the Great Hall, where the Weasley twins entertained the Head table with stories about happenings with the mirrors during the evening.

"Another huge success," Severus mumbled on the way to the Transfiguration classroom.

"Excuse me?" Harry queried, casting the boy a glare.

"Oh nothing," Severus replied quickly. "What are we going to do, while you're teaching?"

After a short discussion, Harry allowed Minerva and Severus to remain in Minerva's office and read, provided that they remained quiet and did not disturb his class. He left the door slightly ajar, so that he could see Severus if he stood behind the teacher's desk in the classroom. Harry had to admit to himself that he felt a bit relieved not to have the six-year-old Minerva observing his teaching. 'Somehow they seem so much more grown up from when they were two years old,' he mused, 'although they had their older selves' mind the whole time. But they're still very cute. I hope going to Hogsmeade today will distract them a bit from playing pranks.'

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When Harry dressed the children into the warm snowsuits, which he had enlarged for them, he noticed that Severus' skin felt very warm to the touch.

"Severus, are you feeling all right?" he asked in concern, giving the boy a sharp look.

"Yes," Severus replied a little too fast, and Harry noticed that his cheeks were slightly flushed and his eyes were glazed over. He carefully laid his hand on the boy's forehead, which felt hot to the touch. Harry laid the snowsuit aside. "Severus, I want Poppy to check on you, before we go," he decided, instructing the boy to sit on the bed.

"No," Severus replied, apparently terrified, and jumped up and down with both feet. "I want to go to Hogsmeade now."

"Only after Poppy checks on you," Harry replied firmly.

"I'm fine," Severus insisted.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Well then it's no problem to have Poppy quickly check on you, and if she deems you well, we'll leave right away."

In the meantime, Minerva had fetched Poppy, who immediately began to wave her wand over Severus, muttering to herself. Finally, she slid her wand into her robe pocket and turned to Harry, who was looking at her in expectation. "Severus caught the squid's flu," she said, sighing, before she turned to Minerva and waved her wand over her, completely ignoring the girl's protests. "Minnie, you caught it as well, but it's still at the very beginning. Thank Merlin we caught it early, so both of you will be right as rain in two days' time." To Harry she said, "Do you want me to take them with me, or would you be willing to look after them?"

"Of course," Harry replied in confusion. He accepted Poppy's suggestion to keep both children in his own room, so that it was easier to care for them. He transfigured the two cribs, which were still left in his bedroom, into normal beds, while he tried to carefully listen to Poppy's instructions, although he was very distracted by Severus, who was still complaining about wanting to go to Hogsmeade.

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To Harry's relief, the potion, which Poppy spelled into the children's systems, made them very sleepy, so that they both slept through the afternoon and evening, so that he could work on preparing his classes for the next week. 'Today is the fifteenth; only a week more until the winter holidays,' he thought when he went back to bed that evening.

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Minerva and Severus had to remain in bed the whole weekend. While they spent most of Saturday asleep, they felt much better and began to become bored on Sunday. Harry noticed soon that both of them seemed to completely lack their adults' minds and chuckled inwardly. 'When they're sick, it must be similar to when they're tired. They become real six-year-olds,' he realised, trying to recall how Aunt Petunia had comforted Dudley in such a situation. 'I only remember that she ignored me in my cupboard and was always scared that Dudley could catch my magic along with any germs,' he thought grimly.

When Severus spoke up for the umpteenth time, "Harry, I feel well, and I want to go and see the Christmas tree in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley," Harry pointed his wand at a sock, which was lying on the floor in the middle of the room ever since Severus had tried to throw it to Minerva earlier. An instant later, a relatively large Christmas tree was standing in the sock's place, and Minerva and Severus eyed it with excitement.

Since the two children were not allowed to do much magic at once whilst being sick, Harry decided that each of them could add one single item to the tree every hour. This and the Christmas stories, which Harry told them, kept Minerva and Severus entertained for the rest of the day.

Late in the evening, when Harry was just about to drift off to sleep, a small figure climbed into his bed. "Harry, I liked the story with Skippy the reindeer most. I wish I could change into a reindeer. Can we finally go to Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley tomorrow?"

tbc...

Thank you so much for your many kind reviews! I am sorry that this chapter is a bit late, boring and short. Don't worry - Severus is not finished with his pranks yet ;-)