Chapter Twelve; Good News, Bad News

The next morning Harry awoke and slowly ventured over to Ron's house. He hardly remembered what happened the night before but he figured that his family and friends were probably very worried about him. As Harry knocked on the door Ron immediately rushed over to answer it.

"Harry! Thank God you're alright!" he cried as he allowed him to step inside. He was just about to ask how everyone else was when suddenly the telephone rang. "I bet that's either Hermione or Ginny. I bet they've been driven mad after since they left." Ron said as he went to go answer it. "Good thing Hermione insisted on us having a phone around for emergencies." He added before he picked it up and answered it. "Hullo?" he questioned.

"Hey Ron it's me." Ginny's voice began. "Is Harry alright?" she asked him as he turned to look back at his friend.

"Yeah he just came through the door actually. I'm guessing that you probably want to talk to him." He said.

"Yes please." She responded.

"Alright well hold on a second I'll put him on for you." Ron said before he turned back around to see Harry walking towards him. "It's your wife." He told him before he handed the phone over to him.

"Hullo?" he answered.

"Oh Harry, thank God you're alright! I was so worried about you!" she cried.

"I'm sorry I scared you, I really didn't mean to." He told her. "So anyway, how was the concert?" he asked her.

"It was great, The Chipmunks were a hit! I don't think it'll be long until they're offered a record deal. The Cheetah Girls were great too, now we've just got to rehearse until the next show. I don't want to work the chipmunks too hard though. I mean they're just kids after all and they need their rest. They probably should go to school too. Although I don't know too much about muggle schooling since Mum homeschooled us on our basic early education."

"Well I'm sure that Hermione can probably help you with that." Harry said when suddenly the doorbell rang and Ron went to go answer it. Rickie was standing there with a very solemn expression on his face. "Listen Ginger, I'm really happy for you that things went so well, but Rickie's here so I have to go now." He told her.

"Well alright I'll talk to you later Harry and tell him that I said hi." She told him.

"Alright I will. I love you." He said.

"I love you too Harry, goodbye." She told him before they hung up.

"Hey Rickie, what's up?" Harry asked as he walked over to him.

"Hullo Harry, it's good to see you but I'm afraid I have terrible news. Is April here?" he asked him.

"No, she's at work. She's an auror like me although I'm off duty today." She explained.

"And I would be down in Romania but I have to be here watching the kids since my wife's gone." Ron said.

"Why? What seems to be the problem?" Harry asked him.

"I'm afraid it's Aaron. He's very sick. They think that he has funcaspio which is a kind of wizard cancer." He explained.

"Oh no, will he be alright?" Harry wondered.

"Unfortunately I don't know. Most of the time it doesn't prove to be fatal." Rickie told him.

"So there's still a chance that he could die?" Harry asked him.

"I'm afraid so. Only God knows what's going to happen to him."

"Do any of the girls know?" Ron asked.

"No I'm afraid not. Aaron's been in the hospital for weeks but he specifically told me that he didn't want me to tell them. Especially Amber and Ginny since they're the closest to him." He explained. "He didn't want to worry them because he didn't want to ruin their fun on the world tour." He said.

"Well where is he? I want to go see him." Harry said.

"Listen, I know you do but I don't think that that's the greatest idea Harry." Rickie began. "He's so sick right now that he doesn't look anything like himself." He told him.

"But he's my friend, and I want to cheer him up." Harry said.

"Me too." Ron agreed with a nod.

"Look guys the best that you can do for him right now is pray for him. I'm going to address it in my sermon on Sunday morning. You're more than welcome to come." He told them.

"I'll be there." Ron said.

"Me too." Harry agreed although he had never gone to church before.

"Alright then, I'll see you both there. May God bless you both." Rickie told them before he left out through the front door again.

"Poor bloke." Ron said.

"Yeah I know." Harry told him.

"It's probably just as well that the girls don't know anything about it. Especially since they have a lot going on right now. Ginny would be crushed and want to cancel the whole thing so that she could come down here and see him." Ron said.

A couple of days later Harry and Ron put on their dress robes and Sheela put on a flowery pink dress. Then they all got in the car and drove to church since both of the children were way too young to even use floo powder.

"Ah hullo there Harry, Ron, it's nice to see you this morning." Rickie told them while he greeted them with a shake of each of their hands. "How are you?" he asked. "How are the children?"

"We're all fine." Harry began. "How's Aaron?" he wondered.

"Not good." Rickie began as he heaved a heavy sad sigh and shook his head. "He's unresponsive. Why don't you guys go on in and then I'll tell everyone about it." He said.

"Well I need to go inside anyway, Chase made a mess inside his nappy." Ron explained. "Can you watch Sheela for me Harry?" he questioned.

"Sure." Harry answered with a nod before he picked her up and carried her inside. "Boy your mum and dad must be feeding you good because you sure are getting heavy." He told her as she let out a giggle. Harry found a pew for them to sit in and sat Sheela down on top of his lap before gently kissing the top of her head. A few moments later Ron returned and sat down next to them while Harry was busy fixing Sheela's hair into a ponytail.

The church bell started to ring and everybody else got into their seats as Rickie made his way to the front of the room. The chatter died down and he started to clear his throat inside his fist. "Good morning everyone." He began and as Harry looked around he realized that everyone else could sense the gloomy tone inside his voice.

"Now before we get started I just want to make a few announcements. I'm sure by now you're all wondering how my friend Aaron is doing since the last couple of Sundays I've been talking about him quite a lot. The truth is that he needs your prayers now more than ever. Since his disease is effecting his heart, it looks like the only way he will survive is if he gets a transplant. Now truth be told what happens to him remains inside God's hands.

I can only pray that he won't suffer. Whether that means he is called home or he remains with us I don't know. But I ask you this morning to please pray for him and his girlfriend and the rest of his friends and family although he has asked that I not tell most of them. Two of his closest friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are with us this morning along with Ron's children Sheela and Chase. I welcome you and bless you all. Now at this time I ask you to stand and turn your hymn books to 399 as we shall sing What A Friend We Have in Jesus."

He told them as Harry removed Sheela off his lap and grabbed a hymn book from out of the back of the pew and stood up with everyone else. He allowed Ron to share with him since he had his arms full enough already with the baby. "What a friend we have in Jesus,.. all our sins and grief to bear!" Rickie belted as they sung along with him.

Later on that day after church Rickie apparated over to the hospital to see his friend. When had got there April was waiting for him. "Oh, hullo April, I'm guessing Harry already told you what's happened to Aaron." He said.

"Yeah, they're saying that he's going to die if he doesn't find a donor match soon." She told him as Rickie hung his head and closed his eyes trying to hold back his tears. "But he might if we're lucky because I know a donor." She began as Rickie suddenly snapped his eyes back open and looked at her as his face lit up with excitement.

"Really!? That's great! Who is it!?" he exclaimed before she slowly turned her head away from him. "Come on April! Tell me!" he cried as she took a deep breath and sighed before turning to look back at him.

"My mother. Lily Evans Potter." She responded.