AUTHOR'S NOTES: Boy, how long has it been since THIS story got updated, huh?!
I've been in a serious writer's block on this story and looking through some of my other stories for ideas I decided on a story line I've wanted to try again. And Voila!
I won't say any more so as not to spoil it.
Read, review, and show your love!
Chapter 12
The snows seemed to come early that year.
Since James and Lily had returned, both had been living at Hogwarts so as to be close to Harry and Camille but as the holidays grew nearer, James and Lily started to wonder what to do now that they were both alive.
Sitting in the suite Dumbledore had arranged for them, James said, "Should we… go back to Godric's Hollow, or…?"
Lily shrugged. "I don't know. Voldemort found us there last time. When he finds out we're alive that's where he'll start. Changing the subject… how are you coming with the sign language?"
James laughed. "It's tricky. Hermione's been teaching me, but… when I see Harry and Camille talking… I can barely follow what they're saying."
"That's the only way they've been able to communicate," Lily explained. "Plus my sister and her husband never learned how to sign so Camille and Harry took advantage of that fact."
"Listen… as far as where to live…" James said, thinking. "Maybe we need to… hide in plain sight…"
Lily raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What do you mean?"
"Maybe we should live like muggles for a while," James explained.
"Okay," Lily replied. "My parents' house is empty. We can stay there until we find something else."
Sitting on the sofa together, James held his wife. "I have missed you so much, Lily."
Lily smiled as she kissed her husband. "I missed you… and Harry… I'm just glad we're all together now."
Jumping as the door burst open, Lily turned to see Sirius standing there looking panic-stricken. "Sirius, what's wrong? Is it Harry? Camille?"
"You need to come to the Hospital Wing… now," Sirius said, quickly.
James and Lily stood and hurried after their friend. "Padfoot, what happened?"
"Draco Malfoy picked a fight with Harry and Camille," Sirius explained. "They started dueling. Draco hit Harry with something and suddenly Harry was having trouble breathing."
"What?!" Lily exclaimed, bolting ahead and not stopping until she almost knocked Dumbledore over. "Is Harry alright?" She asked, quickly. "What did Malfoy do to my son? Has he been punished? What about Camille?"
Dumbledore sighed and led Lily away from the door and held her firmly, yet gently. "Camille is fine. Malfoy is being dealt with. He used a Histamus Hex on Harry. It is more commonly known as the Allergy Curse. Harry's throat began to swell and he collapsed."
Lily felt her knees buckle and she grabbed Dumbledore to stay standing. "Is Harry going to be okay?"
"I summoned a Dr. Edward Laurence," Dumbledore said as James and Sirius came up. "He's a muggle doctor but his mother is a muggleborn witch."
"Wait, why does Harry need a muggle doctor?" James demanded to know.
Dumbledore sighed and said, "Madame Pomfrey was having trouble undoing the curse and healing Harry's throat. Harry stopped breathing."
Lily felt like she was going to be sick. "I need to see him. Please!" She tried to pull away from the headmaster, but Dumbledore held her firmly.
"Lily," Dumbledore added, quietly.
"No…" Lily said, shaking her head. "No more… I don't think I can take more bad news."
"Lily… listen to me…" Dumbledore said, calmly, yet firmly. "Dr. Laurence looked at Harry's neck and throat and he found something…"
"Found what?" James asked, his heart beating faster. "What's wrong with Harry?"
"We're not entirely sure," Dumbledore admitted. "Madame Pomfrey and Dr. Laurence are running tests right now."
Finally pulling out of Dumbledore's hold, Lily raced into the hospital wing and went straight to Harry's bed where Camille was sitting, trying not to look worried.
'I'm okay, Mum,' Harry signed after sitting up.
Lily sat next to Harry on the bed, looking at the tube that was just barely protruding from her son's throat. "Oh, Harry…"
'It looks worse than it really is,' Harry added, trying to calm his mother. 'I'm fine, Mum, really.'
"You are not 'fine'," Madame Pomfrey said as she swept over. Looking at Dumbledore, she said, "Laurence said to call him if there are any problems. He went back to the muggle hospital to finish Harry's blood tests." Looking at Lily she explained, "Because Harry's throat was weak, Laurence didn't want to try intubating Harry. He had to do a second tracheotomy. And unfortunately that tube will be in indefinitely. We're not sure why Harry's throat is in such bad shape and until we know more…"
Harry put a hand to his throat and nodded in understanding. 'Mum, say something.'
Lily looked at Pomfrey and said, "There has to be something that can explain this… and why does Dr. Laurence want to run blood tests?"
Pomfrey looked at Harry before turning back to Lily. "It's possible… that… the weakness and irritation are due to... cancer."
James dashed forward and caught his wife as she started to fall to the floor. "Lily…"
Lily held James, trying not to think of what the Hogwarts nurse had just said.
"We're not certain," Pomfrey reiterated, firmly. "It could be something as benign as an adverse reaction to the curse."
"That's best case, right?" Sirius asked, trying to get his head around what was happening.
'What's the worst case?' Harry asked, asking the question James, Lily, Sirius, and Camille were afraid to.
Pomfrey looked at Harry and said, simply, "Worst case would be that it is indeed throat cancer. You would have to start on chemotherapy treatments as soon as possible. There are some potions that can help as well, but… the muggle drugs are often the best way to go."
'How soon will we know for sure?' Harry asked, feeling more scared than he'd ever felt in his life.
"A day… or so…" Pomfrey replied.
On the floor, Lily felt James' arms wrap around her and hold her tight. Holding onto the love of her life, Lily started to cry.
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It was almost 2 in the afternoon the following day when Edward Laurence returned to Hogwarts. He'd double checked the test results, hoping that the first result had been a false positive. Standing outside the school's hospital wing, Laurence didn't want to go in and give the Potters the news. He wasn't an oncologist, but there were only two oncologists in England who had ties to the wizarding world and both hadn't been available.
With a heavy sigh, he opened the door and headed for Harry Potter's bed where James, Lily and Camille were standing.
When the Potters turned to look at him, Laurence said, simply, "I'm sorry…"
James put an arm around Lily's shoulders and a hand on Harry's as he said, "How bad?"
"It's… not as bad as it could be," Laurence replied. "The cyst I found on Harry's throat is actually a tumor so we'll need to remove it before Harry can start treatment."
"Surgery?" Lily asked, trying not to fall apart again.
"Actually," Laurence said, calmly, "With Madame Pomfrey's assistance I can do it right here… today."
'Then what?' Harry asked, feeling the tears in his eyes.
"Then we'll start you on chemo," Laurence replied. "There are some new drugs now… more effective, fewer side effects… It'll still be hard on your body, Harry… Even with the best drugs there will be nausea, vomiting, nightmares, insomnia, hair loss…"
'What are my chances?' Harry asked.
"Good," Laurence replied. "Hopefully you'll be able to start the next school year in complete remission." Looking at James and Lily, he said, "Why don't I go over some things with you in private?"
Lily nodded and gave Harry a hug before James pulled her away to talk in the hallway with Dr. Laurence.
Camille sat on Harry's bed so she was facing him and asked, 'How scared are you right now?'
'This is scarier than Voldemort and a basilisk,' Harry replied. 'It's worse than when Vernon was choking me.'
"You'll be okay, Harry," Camille said aloud. "I know you will."
'I don't want to die,' Harry said, starting to cry. 'Why me? Why couldn't this happen to someone else?' Lightly touching the tube in his throat, he added, 'I thought it was bad enough not being able to talk.'
'Do you want me to… to tell Hermione and the Weasleys?' Camille asked, tentatively. Harry didn't reply as he thought about it. 'They're our best friends, Harry,' Camille added. 'You know that they would want to know.'
'I know,' Harry replied.
"Harry?" James said as he and Lily came back with Dr. Laurence, Sirius, and Madame Pomfrey. "Dr. Laurence is going to remove the… the tumor now… Lily's going to stay with you."
Pouring a healthy dose of Dreamless Sleep potion, Pomfrey handed it to Harry as she said, "You'll be out for about 7 hours."
Harry managed to swallow the potion and he lay back, feeling the heaviness of sleep wash over him.
Camille looked at the others and then at Harry before she said, "I have to go." Hurrying out of the hospital wing, she ran as fast as she could up to Gryffindor Tower where she found Hermione and the Weasleys—except for Percy who was apparently trying to study—laughing about something. Stopping in the middle of the room, Camille couldn't think of what to say as the eyes of the Weasleys and Hermione turned to her and the laughter died.
'Camille?' Percy Weasley asked, standing. 'What's wrong?'
"It's Harry," Camille said aloud.
"Is it something to do with the curse Malfoy hit him with?" Fred asked, his expression dark.
'Harry's sick,' Camille signed, not trusting herself to keep her voice steady.
'How sick?' Hermione asked, mentally running through possibilities. 'Bad reaction to the curse? Flu? Pneumonia?' After a long pause, Hermione felt her heart clench as Camille raised a hand and signed six letters. "Oh, God…"
"Wait…" Ron said, his mind reeling. Facing Camille he said, "Tell me you didn't just say what I think you said…"
Ginny let out a choked sob and Percy put an arm around her protectively. "Can w-we see him?" Ginny asked, quietly.
'They're removing a growth from Harry's throat,' Camille replied.
'How bad is it?' Hermione asked.
'Harry… It's… He's not… going to die, but…' Camille swallowed before going on. 'He… he has a… tube… in his throat…'
"He needed a second tracheotomy?" Hermione exclaimed, horrified. When Camille nodded, Hermione sank into one of the armchairs, pushing her feelings aside and deciding to focus on the information. "Harry's…? What's next?"
'Chemotherapy,' Camille replied. 'Dr. Laurence seems confident Harry will be fine.'
"Hermione…" Ron said when she suddenly got up and ran for the door. "Where are you going?"
"Library!" Hermione shouted back as she swept out of the room.
Ron followed her, catching up with his friend just as Hermione got to the 6th floor. "Hermione, wait…"
"Wait for what?" Hermione snapped, as Ron grabbed her arm. "What am I supposed to do, Ron? I'm not like you! I can't... just... bury my feelings! I'm going to deal with this the only way that I know how."
"Research?" Ron said, knowingly. "Hermione, Harry's my best friend, too. And right now he's going to need someone telling him he'll be okay."
"You don't know that!" Hermione said, fighting the urge to scream… or cry… Seeing Ron's questioning look, she added, "You don't know that Harry will be okay…" Throwing her arms around Ron's neck, Hermione started crying. "It's not fair! Harry doesn't deserve this!"
Ron looked at Hermione and… slowly… he put his arms around her in a comforting hug. "Harry will be fine, Hermione."
"You can't promise that," Hermione muttered into Ron's shoulder.
"He has to be fine," Ron said, firmly, trying to convince Hermione and himself. "You still want to go to the library?"
"Yes," Hermione replied.
"Then let's go," Ron said, an arm around Hermione as they headed for the Hogwarts library.
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The next morning, Lily was awoken by the sunlight pouring through the windows of the Hogwarts hospital wing. Turning to look at Harry she instead saw that she had fallen asleep next to James who was now awake and holding her close. "Morning," she whispered as she sat up, looking at Harry. "He's still asleep?" she asked, worried.
"Yeah," James whispered back as he sat up as well. "He was up for an hour or so last night… then he fell back asleep."
"I guess he needs the rest," Lily said, standing. "Considering what's coming…" When James pulled her into an embrace, she said, "I'm scared, James… We just got our little boy back… I can't lose him again."
"Lily, don't think like that," James said, looking at her.
Hearing Harry stirring, Lily smiled before turning to see him sitting up in his bed and pulling on his glasses. "Sleep well, Harry?"
'Not bad,' Harry said, looking at his parents. 'So…' He added, his expression morose. 'How soon… do I start…?'
"Right now," Pomfrey said, coming out of her office. Once she'd set up the IV she hooked the tubing to the central line Dr. Laurence had placed in the crook of Harry's elbow the previous day before adjusting the flow of the chemo drugs and letting the medicines drip into Harry's body.
Harry let out a long slow sigh as he looked at the IV bag.
"So… how often will Harry have these treatments?" Lily asked Madame Pomfrey.
"Twice a week for approximately 6 months," Pomfrey replied. "You'll come here for the treatments. That way I can monitor any side effects or adverse reactions."
Lily sighed as she looked at James and Harry. "I guess we're spending Christmas here then."