A/N This chapter is dedicated to a member of who asked if he could be involved in the story. I hope you enjoy it :)

Chapter 10
Harry was the first to wake. The pain in his scar had gone as always and he felt fine. Knowing his auntie as he did however, he stayed on his bed. No one was allowed to get out of bed after being unconscious until she explicitly allowed it.

He sat up and looked around. The bed to the left of him was occupied by a very bored looking boy with bandages over his arms and a red paste smeared over his face.

"Hi" the boy said "I'm Bryce Grawpson, fourth year Hufflepuff. Pleased to meet you."

"Harry Potter, first year Gryffindor." Harry replied

Bryce snorted. "You don't need any introduction Harry Potter! The whole bloody world knows who you are!"

"I know." Harry said quietly, looking down at his sheets in embarrassment.

Bryce's face fell as he saw Harry's reaction. "Sorry Harry. I didn't mean to make you feel awkward. Is it true that you fought that troll?"

"Well I didn't exactly fight it. It had trapped Ron in the Charms classroom and I was just trying to distract it away from him. Professor Snape was the one who actually knocked it out."

"I saw Madame Pomfrey bring him in with you. He was unconscious too but I heard her muttering about "stupid, stubborn professors" so I don't think he was unconscious of his own accord!" Bryce grinned.

"Probably not." Harry agreed "He hates it in here."

"Who doesn't? So what's it like riding a troll?"

"Mr Grawpson. If you and Mr Potter have quite finished your conversation, he needs to rest." Poppy's stern voice interrupted them. "Harry lie down and try to sleep more. Bryce let me check those bandages."

"What did you do Bryce?" Harry asked, propping himself on his elbows.

"Added a few too many toasted dragonfly thoraxes to my Girding Potion. Cauldron exploded and I got covered with the contents." Bryce replied before Poppy could stop him. "Snape was furious and took thirty points from Hufflepuff for "not paying enough attention". Now I've just got to wait until the Burn-Heal paste does its job and then I can go."

"That will be all thankyou Mr Grawpson. Leave those bandages on and come and get them checked tomorrow evening. You may go."

Harry watched as Bryce jumped off the bed and grabbed his robe and shoes off a nearby chair.

"See you later Harry. Was nice talking to you! Get better soon!" Bryce called

"Yeah it was. Bye Bryce!" Harry waved as the older boy left.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Harry, what happened?" Poppy asked once the door to the Hospital Wing had shut.

"Ummmm... You'll be angry with me." Harry admitted in a small voice. "I just wanted to help Ron."

Poppy sat down on Harry's bed and took one of Harry's hands in hers.

"Even if I am you know I will never treat you in the way you were treated by those muggles. I care for you, Minerva cares for you and we only want you to be safe. I was so scared when you fainted like that, I love you more than anything Harry. Please, tell me what happened."

Harry looked up into Poppy's face and saw the love and acceptance there. In that instant he knew that whatever he did, she wouldn't stop loving him. She would never, ever send him back to the Dursleys'.

"Well... ummm... I made friends with Hermione, she was all on her own and I know what that's like and I didn't want her to have that." Harry said very quickly.

He felt a reassuring squeeze on his hand, so he took a deep breath and continued.

"Ron didn't like that at all and left before the feast ended. When we all had to leave, Hermione and I realised that Ron wouldn't know about the troll and went to find him." Harry averted his gaze to his sheets as he spoke. "We thought he might be in the Charms classroom, because of what happened there before lunch but when we got there we saw the troll entering. I called out for Ron and when he replied I just ran in. I had to help him."

Harry had slumped his shoulders and his free hand was playing with a loose thread on the sheets. He seemed unwilling to continue.

"Ok sweetie, what happened next?"

"I jumped on the troll's club" Harry muttered very very quietly.

"I didn't quite catch that Harry. Could you repeat it please?" Poppy's voice was soft and gentle, but firm.

Harry looked up to his auntie's face. It was loving and understanding and she didn't look angry. That wasn't to say she wouldn't be though when he told her.

"I jumped onto the troll's club." Harry softly repeated before instinctively shrinking into as small a space as possible, waiting for the explosion of anger.

Poppy gasped, but that was all her outward reaction showed. She remembered what happened last time she had got angry about Harry's wellbeing when Harry had run off. It seemed that expecting physical retribution every time he did something he thought other people would be angry of was a hard habit to break.

"Harry that was a very brave and stupid thing to do. But I am not angry."

That was a lie, she was inwardly seething about how her nephew had no regard for his own wellbeing, but that was what he needed to hear and it calmed him.

"I sat on its shoulders and I pulled on its ears to distract it until Professor Snape came." Harry blurted in one big breath.

"Then when Professor Snape came, he gained its attention and then froze it, standing, before levitating Potter to the ground and summoning his wand." a deep baritone finished off.

"Severus I left you under strict instructions not to bear weight on that leg. You appear to be disobeying me again." Poppy had snapped back into stern Healer mode as she heard him approach

"My leg is fine, meddlesome woman. The potions you spelled into me whilst I was stunned have done their work." Snape glared at Poppy. As ever it had no effect.

"Potter, have you ever had headaches in Defence class?" Snape continued.

"Yes sir. Nearly every lesson sir." Harry replied surprised. "They go as soon as I leave the room though!" he added quickly upon seeing Poppy's expression.

"Since when has it been that you only tell me of prolonged injuries Harry? Why didn't you say something? You are to tell me of all injuries, was that not clear in our talk before?"

"It was clear Auntie Poppy." Harry said

"So why didn't you tell me?"

"Poppy leave the boy alone. You are distressing him. Potter are these headaches the same type as you had at the opening feast?"

"You knew about this Severus? And yet you didn't tell me?"

"Yes Poppy. Potter begged me not to because he wished to see his dorm on the first night and not be stuck in here. A feeling of which I quite understand. Now Potter, answer my question please."

"Yes sir, it's either scar pain and headache, that hurts a lot but only for a brief second or no scar pain but longer headache. But that only ever happens in Defence sir."

"Your scar was bleeding when you fainted in the Charms classroom. What were you doing directly before that?" Snape continued his line of questioning, silencing Poppy with a flick of his wand and ignoring the glare she sent him.

"Nothing really sir. I was thinking about how good it was of Ron to apologise to Hermione and then suddenly I felt really, really angry towards everyone. The pain in my scar was so much I couldn't do anything and my head felt like it was going to explode and I just wanted it to end. I'm sorry for being such a weakling and a burden and a freak sir."

Harry broke down into hysterical sobs and Poppy gathered him up into a fierce hug, glaring pointedly at Snape until he removed the silencing spell.

"Shhh Harry. It's alright. You're not a freak or a burden. I will always love you no matter what. Shh now."

Poppy carried on repeating those words until Harry quietened. When he had, she tucked him in and he fell asleep, exhausted from the crying.

"Severus if you refuse to stay in bed then you will sit on a sofa in my office with that leg up and you will tell me what that interrogation of my nephew was for."

"If you insist Poppy." Snape said resignedly

"I insist."