A Potion Induced Advent's Time
by Healer Pomfrey

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

December 19

Harry only drank his juice, not feeling hungry at all. However, if he had only felt slightly unwell before, all of a sudden his whole body became sore, especially the parts that were not covered by clothes like his hands, neck and face.

"Please excuse me. I don't feel well," he mumbled and slowly stood up from his seat.

"Oh no!" Minerva blurted out after a look into his face. She turned to Severus and hissed, "Undo that right away!"

"I'm sorry," Severus stammered. "I can't undo this, but it'll wear off in about an hour."

"So this is a prank as well. Please stay in our quarters tonight and behave yourself," Harry said weakly and slowly left the room. He dragged himself into the bathroom to drink some fresh water, only to stop dead in his tracks as he saw himself in the mirror. All over his body, his skin was spiking green needles. 'I look like a Christmas tree,' Harry thought in disbelief. 'A funny idea, but why did he have to prank me? Especially today when I wasn't feeling well in the first place?' He sighed, having to admit to himself that Severus couldn't have known that. 'Still he shouldn't prank me, especially considering that I always covered up for him when he was playing pranks on others.'

Still feeling upset Harry decided to go to bed, hoping that the effects of the prank as well as his headache would clear up by the morning.

He was just about to drift off to sleep, when Minerva stuck her head through the door. She sat on the edge of his bed and said, "I'm sorry Harry. Severus didn't mean to hurt you. He seems to have thought it would be fun, and since you haven't been involved in any of his pranks so far, he wanted to prank you. He is very sorry though."

"It's all right," Harry mumbled sleepily. "I'm just not feeling well tonight, but I'm not angry."

"Do you want me to fetch Poppy?" Minerva asked softly.

"No, I don't want anyone to make a fuss," Harry groaned. "I just want to sleep. Good night, Minerva."

メリークリスマス

When Harry woke up in the morning, he noticed in relief that the Christmas tree needles were gone from his skin. Nevertheless, he felt as if he had been in a fight with a hippogriff. 'Only five more days until Christmas, and after that I won't have to teach classes anymore. I just have to get through that now,' he mused as he placed both hands around his mug and slowly sipped his tea, unaware of the concerned looks, which he received from the two eleven-year-olds.

"May I attend Potions?" Severus queried, bringing Harry out of his reverie. "I am sorry for what I did yesterday, and I promise not to brew anything today."

Harry let out a long sigh. "I am sorry Severus, but I'd prefer having you with me today," he replied in a firm but gentle voice. "I don't have the energy to keep worrying about what you might be doing the whole morning."

Exchanging an exasperated look with Minerva, Severus grudgingly followed them to the Transfiguration classroom, taking a seat next to Minerva in the last row. Unfortunately, after two hours of teaching the first and second years, Harry felt considerably worse. His headache had become nearly unbearable, and he felt hot and cold at the same time. 'Today, they seem to be especially loud,' he mused as he observed the students leave the classroom in relief. He flinched back in shock, when all of a sudden Minerva stood in front of him, placing her cold hand on his forehead.

"Harry, you're sick," she said firmly. "I will teach the remaining two classes." She turned to Severus, who was standing next to her, and instructed him, "Take Harry to Poppy and stay with him. I'll be fine, and if they don't obey, we're going to have a pop quiz."

"Okay, come on Harry," Severus agreed, and the two boys returned to their quarters.

メリークリスマス

During the afternoon, the two eleven-year-olds took care of Harry, who had caught the squid's flu from them.

"When we were sick, Harry told us stories," Minerva said thoughtfully. "Severus, do you know a story?"

Severus smirked and began to speak in a soft voice. "Once there was a small wizard called Harry. One day, St. Nicholas, who is a friend of Santa, fetched him to help his reindeer Skippy. The reindeer had eaten too many chocolate frogs, and St. Nicholas wanted Harry to fetch him a potion..."

"We already know that. That's the story, which Harry told us last week," Minerva interrupted him impatiently.

"Exactly," Severus admitted, "but I thought you wanted to know how the story goes on?"

"Oh yes please," Minerva said with excitement, glancing at Harry.

Harry smiled. "Well then tell us please," he agreed, amused.

"Very well then," Severus continued. "Harry, who was a reindeer Animagus, taught Skippy to become a human Animagus, and when Harry and Skippy turned eleven, they both received their Hogwarts letter."

"Oh cool, and then? Minerva blurted out, eyeing Severus with interest.

"Harry and Skippy both accepted their letters, and Professor Dumbledore and Father Christmas agreed that they could both study at Hogwarts during the day and just fly home after classes. They both..."

"And where were they sorted?" Minerva impatiently interrupted him twenty minutes later.

Severus smirked. "Of course they were both sorted into Slytherin. They were made Seeker and Keeper on the Quidditch team, and Slytherin won the House Cup seven years in a row."

"A wonderful story," Harry said sleepily. "Thank you so much, Severus."

Minerva and Severus observed how Harry slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Severus, you're a brilliant storyteller," Minerva said warmly, smiling at the boy.

"I think I have an idea," Severus said thoughtfully, causing the girl to look at him in expectation. However, before he could voice his thoughts, Poppy entered the room, interrupting their conversation.

tbc...

The story about Skippy and the reindeer refers to my recent story "St. Nicholas' Little Helpers". Sorry if it doesn't make sense to those, who have not read that story...