AUTHOR'S NOTES: I don't have a lot happening in this chapter. It's mostly trying to get everyone's reactions to Harry's illness.

Read, review, and show your love!

Chapter 14

The next morning, Pomfrey checked Harry's vitals and the trach tube in his throat before unhooking Harry from the IV. "How do you feel, Harry?"

'Tired… queasy…' Harry replied. 'And my throat's sore.'

"You're on a strict liquid diet for the next few days until your throat heals," Pomfrey said, firmly, as she handed Harry a small vial of a blue potion. "Snape said this will help with the nausea."

Harry nodded and swallowed the potion which almost instantly calmed his stomach. 'Thank you,' he signed.

"Morning, Harry," James said as he entered the room. "How are you feeling?"

'Okay,' Harry replied, sitting up. 'Can I get out of here now?'

James looked over at Madame Pomfrey who nodded. "Sure."

"Be back here Thursday at 3pm for your next treatment, Harry," Pomfrey said as Harry started changing into jeans and a sweater.

"Ready?" James asked. Harry nodded and when he turned away quickly James put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Harry…"

Harry turned back to face his father, his right hand going to touch the tracheotomy tube in his throat. 'It was bad enough going through this once,' he signed. 'Why is it always me?'

----

In the library, Hermione stared at the short page of notes she was able to gather on Harry's condition. The Hogwarts library had only a few books on wizarding cancers and the information Hermione was able to pull wasn't much.

"So what do we know?" Ron yawned as he started stacking the books on the table.

"Very little," Hermione replied, rubbing her face. "Nickerson's Glottic Cancer." Seeing Ron's confused look, she explained. "It's a throat cancer that commonly affects the vocal cords but in some cases it causes tumors in the throat. In muggles radiation therapy would be used."

"But not in wizards?" Ron asked, trying to follow along.

"Radiation would kill Harry's magic," Hermione explained. "Chemotherapy is the only option." Looking at Ron, she added, "I'm sorry we did all this for nothing." Crumpling up her notes in anger and frustration, she threw them at one of the bookcases before leaning back in her chair.

"Hermione, it's not your fault we didn't find anything," Ron said, helping her clean up the table.

"I just don't know what else to do, Ron," Hermione replied. "I-if I can read about something… study it… It makes it easier to deal with."

Stepping around the table, Ron pulled Hermione into a hug. "Then we'll do research elsewhere," He said, simply.

"Why are you helping me?" Hermione asked, sniffling a bit. "You hate studying."

"If studying helps you deal with Harry being sick," Ron replied. "—I'll study. Whatever you need to do, Hermione," he assured her. "We all have to deal with this. Whatever you need… I'll help you… Harry's my friend, too, remember?"

-----

In the Gryffindor common room, Harry sat on one of the sofas with Camille.

'How are you dealing with this?' Camille asked, looking at Harry.

'I don't know…' Harry replied, honestly. 'It's not… I just can't believe this is happening.'

'It's happening,' Camille confirmed. Glancing at the trach tube in Harry's throat, she added, 'That's… a little weird.'

Harry put a hand to his throat, nodding. 'It feels weird. And it feels strange when I'm just breathing normally. Some times at night I feel like I'm gasping for air even though I'm still breathing just fine.' Looking at his cousin, he asked, 'Cam, you've been my best friend ever since we were toddlers. How are you doing with all this?'

'I don't know, Harry,' she replied. 'I mean, at first it was tough when you lost your voice and I lost my hearing… But then…You know, things weren't fine but we managed to deal with everything… And it was wicked sometimes when we could talk about my parents or Aunt Marge or Dudley right in front of them and they had no idea what we were saying.' Pulling Harry into a hug, Camille started crying. "I don't want this happening to you! Why couldn't it be me?" She said aloud as Harry hugged her back. Looking at Harry and wiping her eyes, she said, "We'll deal with together. Don't worry, Harry. You won't have to deal with this alone."

----

"How's Harry?" Lily asked when James met her in the sitting room of their suite for a late breakfast.

"He's a bit tired," James replied, taking a piece of toast from the tray the house elves brought up. "He and Camille are 'talking' in the common room." Sitting down in one of the arm chairs in the room, James said, "I just can't believe this is happening." Looking at Lily he said, "Our son has cancer. How…?"

"I don't know…" Lily said, quietly. "But it doesn't matter," She added, trying to pull herself together. "What matters is that Harry's sick and we need help him through this. When's Harry's next treatment?"

"Thursday," James replied. "3 in the afternoon."

"I'll stay with him through it," Lily offered. "One of us should be there."

"Pomfrey said it'll be two bags of the muggle chemo meds per treatment," James explained. "Afterwards, Harry gets a round of a potion mix." Moving to sit next to Lily on the couch, he pulled her close. "You know, you don't have to be the strong one, Lily… It's okay to break down."

Lily shook her head as James held her tightly. "I had my meltdown earlier. I can't do that now."

James kissed the top of Lily's head and said with a smile, "That was before you knew what was going on. A pre-crisis meltdown doesn't count."

"No…" Lily insisted. "I may want to, but I can't." Pulling away from James a bit, she asked, "What about you?"

James shrugged. "Someone has to be the rock in this," he said, quietly. "And… I'm sure I'll have my moments, but… right now you, Harry, Camille… You lot need me to keep it together right now."

Lily wrapped her arms around James and after a moment, she said, "I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here, James."

James held his wife and said, softly, "I'm right here, Lily. I'm not going anywhere."

------------------------

Somehow, Harry managed to get through the next few days but he was distracted by his thoughts. Had Dumbledore informed the other professors? Did any of the other students know?

Not to mention that he could feel the constant stares of the other students as he walked past.

Thursday, Harry actually found himself enjoying Binns' droning on and almost didn't notice when the classroom door opened and Percy Weasley entered the room.

"—and due to the loss of gold the goblins…" Binns stopped when one of the students coughed loudly and pointed to the door. "Ahhh… Mr. Webbly…"

"It's 'Weasley', Professor," Percy said, briskly. "And Madame Pomfrey sent me to fetch Harry Potter, sir."

Harry looked at the clock on the wall and sighed as he grabbed his bag and went to join Percy. Once in the hallway, Harry signed, 'I forgot…'

"Understandable, Harry," Percy replied, quietly. "I can't imagine anyone who wants to think about something like that." After a few moments, he added, "Your mother and Madame Pomfrey are waiting for you in the hospital wing. Your father is in Professor Dumbledore's office. Something to do with Sirius Black."

Harry nodded, not in the mood for conversation.

Once at the hospital wing, Percy gave Harry a smile before heading off to the last of his classes.

Opening the door, Harry saw his mother standing next to one of the beds and Madame Pomfrey was hanging the a bag of beds from an IV stand set up at the head of the bed. Walking over, Harry set his bag down and pulled off his robes, house tie, and sweater and kicking off his shoes before sitting on the bed.

"I brought you a change of clothes," Lily said, trying to smile. "I thought you'd be more comfortable."

'Thanks,' Harry replied, before changing into the long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants. After getting comfortable on the bed, he rolled up the left sleeve of the shirt, watching as Pomfrey attached the IV line to the port in his arm and start the drip. 'Thanks for staying, Mum.'

"It's nothing," Lily said as she sat on the next bed. "Your dad wanted to stay with you as well, but Dumbledore needed him for something."

Harry nodded, watching the IV. 'Where's Sirius? I thought Dumbledore got him off for those charges.'

"That's a good question," Lily replied, thinking. "I'm not sure abo—"

"Harry!" Exclaimed Molly Weasley as she bustled into the room. Hurrying over to Harry's bed, she said, "I just got the letter from Ron this morning. How are you feeling, Harry, dear?"

Harry didn't reply, but he caught the slight frown his mother gave Mrs. Weasley. 'I'm… kind of tired, actually,' He replied, finally.

"Then you rest, Harry," Lily said, smiling at her son. "Molly and I are going to talk by the door, alright?" When Harry nodded, Lily led Molly off, whispering, "I know you've been taking care of Harry and I am beyond grateful for it, but…"

"I didn't mean to intrude," Molly said, gently. "I just wanted to check and see how Harry was doing."

Lily sighed. "I know… I just… I don't… I feel like I'm sharing my son."

Molly smiled. "Lily, I've just been taking care of Harry and Camille. I'd never try and take him away from you." Looking over at Harry who was laying back against a stack of pillows. "But Harry has become part of my family."

Lily nodded and when Molly pulled her into a hug, Lily hugged back. "Tell me this is all a bad dream."

"It's real," Molly said, simply.

Harry looked over and his mother and Mrs. Weasley and as he was considering how strange it was seeing the two together, Camille slipped past the two women and headed for his bed. 'I'm ditching Charms but I told Flitwick I wanted to see how you were doing.'

'So… Dumbledore told the other professors, then?' Harry asked, not looking at Camille.

'Just Flitwick, Snape, McGonagall, and Lupin,' Camille replied. 'He doesn't want the whole school to know.'

'Well, they have to suspect something, right?' Harry said, thinking of the tube in his throat.

'Ginny and I managed to convince most people that it was because of that allergy curse,' Camille said with a smile. 'Oh… and I've been talking with Sirius and Uncle James. They're going to kill Voldemort once and for all using your blood.'

'WHAT?!' Harry mouthed, not bothering to sign. 'How can they do that?'

Camille shrugged and shook her head. 'I have no idea… But anyway… How are you feeling?'

Harry shrugged. 'Sick to my stomach… And I've had…' Harry stopped and he felt his stomach launching a revolt.

Camille looked around frantically, grabbing a nearby trashcan and handing it to Harry just as he threw up.

"Harry?" Lily said, running over, Mrs. Weasley and Madame Pomfrey right behind her. After a second round of vomiting, Harry felt a bit better but after rinsing his mouth out with the glass of water Pomfrey provided, he fell back against the pillows, suddenly feverish. "Harry?" Lily said again, and when she touched her son's cheek, she looked up. "He's burning up."

Pomfrey headed for her potions stores and Molly whipped out her wand, charming one of the blankets on Harry's bed. "Cooling charm," Molly explained as she covered Harry. "I can't count the number of times I've used it when my children were sick."

When Pomfrey returned she helped Harry sit up a bit and gave him a dose of a fever-reducing potion. "Feel any better?" She asked, looking concerned.

Harry gave a weak shrug before passing out.

---