Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, blah, blah, blah…Well, you all get the point by now, right? So, on with the story!

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Where Do I Go From Here?

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Chap. 16 Something Would Have To Be Done

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Harry woke Saturday morning to the low rumble of thunder in the distance. As he opened his eyes, he took a moment to glance out his enchanted window and could see the promise of rain on the horizon, the sky already beginning to darken to an ominous shade of gray. He rolled over and lay quietly for a few moments, until another rumble, this time of his stomach, made him decide it was time to get up. As he reached for the edge of his blanket with the intention of removing it from where it still covered most of his body, he couldn't help but notice how stiff and sore his left hand was.

Long seconds later, the fog surrounding his brain seemed to clear and he sat back upon his bed as he began to remember the events of the previous night…being confronted by Draco, pounding his fist on the wall, crying on Snape, and being woken in the middle of the night by a nightmare. With a start, he threw his gaze upward, and sure enough, there was the softly glowing orb that Snape had given him. The small sphere still hung suspended in the air above his bed, still keeping its silent vigil.

Harry felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him, followed by an awkward gratitude. A nightlight; the man had given him a nightlight. And he had let Harry cry all over him and had not ridiculed him for it. Glancing once again at his left hand, he gave a few testing waves of his fingers and, although they were stiff, they were still usable and without a blemish. Perhaps, Snape wasn't all bad. Throwing off his blanket, Harry set about getting dressed for the day.

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. It had been a long night. Severus rolled over with a groan, fished his wand from beneath his pillow and cast tempus. 6:41 a.m. It was too damn early a time to have to be up on a Saturday morning. Hearing movement from the room beyond, he wearily rose from his warm sheets and got ready for the day.

By the time he was fully showered and dressed, it had again grown quiet in his quarters. Stepping from his room, Severus scanned his sitting area and found Draco still asleep on the transfigured cot, and Potter… no, Harry, he reminded himself…Harry was sitting at the small table, absent-mindedly flipping through pages of his Charms textbook. After a moment, the boy seemed to sense Severus' presence and he straightened up in his chair and turned to stare back at him. A few seconds later, and Harry broke into movement. He scooped up his book and held it to his chest a moment before turning to head back to his room. Severus held a hand up to forestall the boy and informed him, "Don't leave on my account. You can study here if you need to."

"Yes, Sir" came the weak reply. "But I thought you might like the table to be clear so that you could order breakfast."

The statement was followed by a grumble of sound as Harry's stomach protested the dinner that the child missed the night before.

So, the child was hungry…well, that would be a good start to the morning. Perhaps, the boy is starting to fall into healthy eating habits again.

Severus waved the child on, and Harry left to deposit the book in his room as an order was placed with a house elf for breakfast.

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Harry pushed the Charms book into his overly full satchel, and made his way back to the table, glancing at a still-sleeping Draco on his way past the cot the other boy was laying on. As he neared his seat, Harry halted his steps, wondering if he should wake the other boy for breakfast, but his professor's voice stopped him.

"Leave him be for now. He's had a long night as well."

Harry was torn between embarrassment and guilt, and he couldn't help but to hang his head a little as he slid into his seat at the table. By the time he had fully seated himself, a small elf had already begun popping in and out of the room as it brought an entire array of breakfast items to choose from.

As the elf popped out for the last time, Harry straightened up in his chair, looking over the platters to see if there was anything that wouldn't upset his stomach too badly. He knew from experience what kinds of foods were the least liable to cause his stomach to revolt, and with as many problems as he had lately trying to keep his food down, he didn't want to take any chances. He waited for his professor to sit as well so that he could serve himself, and as the man neared the table again, Harry could see that he was holding several flasks of potions. It took Harry a moment to remember what they were for. He smiled as he thought of the creamy, mint flavored Stomach Soothing potion, but then he thought of the bitter nutrient potion and it almost made him lose his appetite.

Severus sat them on the table in front of him, and eager to eat, Harry quickly drank down the Stomach Soothing potion, but paused as he held up the mud-colored nutrient potion.

"Do I have to?" Harry complained, "I promise to eat more today, really. Can't I skip it just this once?"

"Need I remind you that you skipped dinner last night?" Snape questioned. "You need it to help make up for the meal you missed. Stop complaining and swallow it. The sooner you do, the sooner we can both eat."

With a grumble of complain under his breath, Harry emptied the vial in one long swig, and he coughed several times as the concoction seemed to coat his mouth and throat with its bitterness. Severus handed him the glass of pumpkin juice that the house elf had delivered and Harry emptied half its contents before returning the glass to the table. As they both served themselves from the platters, a rustling from behind them let them know that Draco was beginning to wake up. Harry listened as the other boy shuffled off to the bathroom, and as the door clicked shut, he turned to his professor to ask the man a question, but his question was answered before he could even ask it when Severus replied, "Yes, he will be eating with us."

At first, Harry was angry at that, but then he remembered how he had accidentally punched Draco in the stomach last night. Harry almost smiled at the thought before remembering that Draco had also been witness to a lot of the other things that had occurred last night. And although the other teen hadn't teased him about any of it yet, that didn't mean anything had changed between them. So, Harry was wary about how the morning would go.

When Draco stepped from the bathroom minutes later wearing a fresh set of clothes, Harry assumed that the other teen must have his own personal house elf at Hogwarts for times such as these. Draco sat at the table across from where Harry was sitting, and for the next several minutes, silence reigned as they all ate and kept their thoughts to themselves.

After a while, Severus asked Draco, "What time will you be holding the Slytherin Quidditch tryouts today?"

"Does it really matter?" Draco grumpily answered, "It will be raining most of today, so I'll get soaked regardless."

Draco stabbed at his eggs as Severus fought not to roll his eyes in exasperation.

As the pair's conversation rolled on, Harry was just glad the attention was off him for once. He finished off his toast and was actually thinking of having a second piece when his stomach suddenly cramped and he jerked so hard in response to the pain, that his knees knocked into the underside of the table and the other two inhabitants of the room stopped their encroaching argument to stare at him in surprise.

"Sorry," he mumbled out. Stumbling to his feet, he asked "May I please be excused?"

Snape gave a nod of consent, and Harry fled from the room. He practically ran to the bathroom before diving onto his knees and vomiting into the toilet. Even after everything he ate came up, he continued to dry heave until he lay panting for breath, leaning against the rim and practically hugging the bowl.

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Draco watched as Harry ran from the room. He knew what was going on, and apparently, so did Severus, because he certainly didn't look happy about it. Well, he had told Harry to tell Severus, and it seems he didn't. Well, then, he would tell him, himself.

"There's something I need to tell you about, Sir, and I should have told you sooner, but with everything that was going on, I just didn't get a chance. It's about Potter…"

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After long moments spent catching his breath, Harry picked himself off the floor and tried to tidy himself up. Using a wadded up piece of toilet paper, he proceeded to clean his face of the bits of spittle that were still clinging to his lips. After flushing the toilet twice, rinsing his mouth at the sink, and then smoothing his hair out with some water from the tap, he dried his hands and made his way back to the table.

As he approached his seat, he could smell what was left on the platters of food and his stomach seemed to cramp again at the thought of even trying to eat anything else. Feeling achy and tired from his recent bout of nausea, Harry wanted nothing more than to retreat to his room so that he could rest on his bed for a bit.

As he by-passed the table on his trek to the privacy of his room, his professor called him back. He reluctantly returned, but he remained standing, his hands gripping harshly on the back of his chair as if it was shielding him in some way from the remains of his half eaten breakfast. He waited a moment for the man to say something, but it was Draco who broke the silence.

"I need to be going now, Severus. Is it alright if I return after the Quidditch tryouts this afternoon?"

"Of course, Draco," Severus replied, "But bring your books. I know you haven't finished your transfiguration essay as of yet, and you know how I feel about procrastination."

Draco grimaced at the thought of the schoolwork he would have to do, but he nodded his head in assent regardless, and within moments, he had gathered his satchel and departed, the door closing behind him with a soft click.

Harry suddenly had the feeling that Draco must have left so soon for a reason, and that reason was staring at him right now. Somehow, Harry just knew he wouldn't like whatever it was that the man wanted to discuss. Severus motioned for the boy to take a seat, but Harry rubbed a hand over his stomach and asked if they could sit elsewhere. Seeming to instantly understand what the problem was, Harry was directed into the sitting room instead.

At first, Severus seated himself in his favorite wing backed chair, but instead of Harry choosing to sit in the chair near his own, the boy sat on the end of the loveseat, the furthest away he could sit from the man. With a small huff of irritation, Severus stood back up and made his way over the loveseat as well. He wanted to have a serious talk with the boy, and he felt it would go better if they weren't sitting so far away from each other.

When Harry saw his professor sit down right next to him, he couldn't help the instinct that made him push himself even further away from the man. Harry didn't stop shifting in his seat until he had squished himself up against the armrest. And even after he settled himself, Harry still couldn't make himself look him in the eye.

Severus could tell the boy was nervous, and truth be told, he was somewhat unsettled himself, but he certainly would never let the boy know that. Unlike the teen before him, Severus kept a tight reign on his emotions. The child looked as if he would bolt any second, and he just might, Severus considered, so he might as well get on with the task at hand. And Merlin help him, he saw no other way to go about it than to be blunt.

"I know about the vomiting."

Harry's eyes grew wider but the apprehension he was feeling prevented him from immediately responding, so Severus decided he'd better lead the conversation forward.

"And I would like to know how long it's been going on."

Harry didn't even know how to answer that. Was he about to get in trouble for something that was beyond his control? But then again, he reasoned to himself, Snape probably would be mad since Harry had been throwing up all the potions that Snape must have spent a lot of time brewing for him. And even if he did choose to answer him, what would he say? He always had trouble with holding food down after spending the summer with his relatives. And even though he had a few days where he was able to keep his food down since he returned to Hogwarts, he had been throwing up often these last few days, so had it ever really stopped being a problem for him? By now, Harry was sure his continued silence would make his Professor get irate with him, but as he glanced in the man's direction, he didn't see anger, only a look of seriousness and openness that made him want to break his silence, but still, he didn't know how to respond.

Feeling the need to say something, Harry dejectedly muttered, "I don't know. A long while, I guess."

Severus seemed to consider the words, and then asked, "How long is a while?"

Harry subconsciously rubbed over the scar on the palm of his left hand as he answered, "Around a month, or so."

Severus nodded his understanding and then asked his next big question, the one he had been dreading asking, "Have you been doing it on purpose?"

Harry's eyes jumped up to meet Severus' in disbelief and without even thinking about it, he blurted out his reply, "No, of course not. Why would you think even think that? Why would anyone ever do that on purpose?"

Severus' first thought was that the boy was telling the truth; in fact, the child's body language and rapidity of his response made him sure of it, but it directly opposed the conclusion he had come to when presented with the facts. From what Draco had told him, and from what he had witnessed as well, Severus knew the boy had been throwing up after meals, even after receiving a potion designed with the very purpose of keeping that from happening, and Severus was at a loss as to how else to explain the cause of it all.

"I have to consider all options, Potter. The facts are as follows; you have been vomiting after meals, despite the fact that you've been consuming the Stomach Soothing potion on a regular basis. I know that potion works because I developed and brewed it myself. It has been a common staple in Madam Pomfrey's stores of healing potions for the past seven years or so. How else can you explain it?"

"But why would anyone want to do that on purpose," Harry exclaimed, wanting to make sure his Professor understood how ridiculous a concept it all was. "I hate throwing up."

Severus was loathed to bring up the many varied reasons why someone would regularly vomit on purpose, for the last thing he needed was to put ideas or further concerns in the child's head. So, he directed the conversation away from that line of questioning.

"How often has this been occurring? After every meal, or just once in a while?

"Um," Harry hesitated and thought back over the last few days, "Usually, not more than once a day."

And because he was still worried about getting in trouble for it, he hurriedly added, "It's not so bad, not really. And like I said, it usually only happens once a day. I'm alright."

A sardonic eyebrow raised in disbelief, Severus was barely able to cut the derision out of his voice as he replied, "Even if it was only once a week, it would be one time too many."

And wanting to drive the point home, he used the technique he had learned over the last few days that he knew would make the child take what he said to heart, "And Harry, you are not 'alright'. Surely, you see that. You're practically skin and bones as it is; you can't afford to allow this to continue. Your magic is already being taxed in order to compensate for your poor health just to keep you going, surely you've noticed?"

Harry was confused. This was the first he had heard of all this. "What are you talking about?"

Severus had thought that perhaps Madam Pomfrey would have mentioned it to the boy, but apparently not. "Have you been having any trouble with your spell casting lately?"

Harry thought back over the last few days and conceded, "Yes; a little."

"Think of it like this," Severus explained, "your magic is so busy with the daunting task of keeping your body going, of trying to heal your body's physical deficiencies, that there is, quite literally, not enough magic to spare for unnecessary things like levitation spells and the like."

Severus watched the boy's eyes widen in comprehension, and knew it must have been more than just a 'little' trouble with spells. He would have to keep an eye on that. But for now, there were bigger issues to be dealing with.

"From now on," Severus began, and he waited for the boy to regain eye contact before continuing, "I want you to alert me as soon as you start to feel nauseous. There are several potions we can try that might help, but they must be taken just as you are starting to feel sick."

"Can't I take them before I eat; wouldn't that make more sense?"

"Unfortunately, while the potions I have in mind are fast-acting, their effects are also short-lived, so we'll just have to be prepared, and have one on hand during meals."

Harry nodded his understanding.

"So," Severus then asked, "Can I trust that you'll tell me when you are in need of something to alleviate the nausea?"

"Yes, Sir." Harry answered. And even though he felt like he should be at least a little hacked off by his professor butting into his privacy even more, Harry also felt a surge of warmth go through him. Rarely had any adult shown such an interest in his wellbeing before. Sure, Madam Pomfrey had patched him up a fair number of times, but that was just her doing her job, right?

Severus broke Harry from his thoughts as he rose from where he had been sitting and directed the boy, "Come."

Harry craned his neck to look up at the imposing figure standing over him, and for a moment, he just stared up with what had to be a confused expression, for a second later, his professor explained.

"I think it would behoove you to let Madam Pomfrey perform a full checkup again. We'll need to see if you've lost anymore weight, and I think it would be a good idea to have her check your magic levels as well."

Again, Harry nodded his consent as he pushed himself out of his comfortable seat. Honestly, the last thing he wanted was to see the hospital wing again, so soon. But as the weakness in his legs made him almost stumble on his way to the door, he thought that perhaps his professor was right. Something would have to be done. He didn't think he could keep going on like this.

A/N: I know It's been a long time since I updated this story, but I hope that I haven't lost too many of my readers. This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but I had reached a good stopping point, so here you go! I've already started on the next chapter; so hopefully, there won't be an incredibly long wait between updates again. Thank you to all of my faithful readers. Please let me know if you're all still out there. Your lovely reviews always give me inspiration to write!