After Practice Relief
Summary: Set in Third Year (POA). After a long and rough Quidditch practice, Harry finds Lily for some after Quidditch practice relief.
Professor McGonagall approached the Quidditch pitch briskly, scanning the sky for the Quidditch captain. She was going to have a long talk with Oliver. Four times this week, she had seen various members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team show up late for breakfast, some looking half asleep, they showed up late for dinner as well or rushed through dinner and followed or were dragged by Oliver to the pitch for practice. In her class, Oliver was wide awake and alert, while the rest of the team would fall asleep during class.
Just that morning, Hermione had woken Harry up when he fell asleep in class. After inquiring why he was tired from Ron and Hermione, the Head of Gryffindor learned that Oliver had increased practice to three times a day and as early as six o'clock in the morning. And when she consulted with Madam Hooch, she learned that Oliver had in fact booked the pitch for three times a day, every day.
And this was how she found herself standing in the middle of the pitch.
"Alright, come down here, everyone," She called.
Angelina, Alicia, and Katie were the first to land, Fred and George followed. Harry landed in between Fred and George, nearly tripping over his boots. Fred steadied him while George took a hold of his shoulder.
Oliver flew down and was about to retort when Professor McGonagall raised her hand. "Save it, Wood. I know that this is your last year and you want to win the cup for Gryffindor. Look at your team, how do you expect to win when you have been running your team ragged!" she exclaimed.
Oliver cowed under Angelina, Alicia and Katie's gaze as they said with their eyes "we told you so." He looked at Fred, George, and Harry and winced when he realized that they were also glaring at him as well.
Harry at that moment reminded her of James, but she knew that Harry had inherited Lily's temper.
"I don't want to see you all practicing for a week. I don't mind if you decide to come here and fly on your own, but I'm calling an end to practice until the end of next week. The match isn't, but a month away," she reminded them, mainly Wood.
She turned to the group, fixing them with a stern look. "Am I clear?" she asked.
"Yes, professor," the team replied in unison.
"Okay, off you go."
Oliver decided to stay and shower in the locker room, while everyone else headed back to the castle.
As they walked to the castle, they noticed that Harry was moving kind of slow, as if not to cause himself more pain.
George and Fred looked at each and nodded. Fred took Harry by the arm and picked him up, placing him in front of his broom and they flew off to the castle.
Professor McGonagall watched them go and she turned to the remaining team members. "Of all of you, who is Wood hardest on?" she inquired, curiously.
Everyone looked at each other and nodded before they replied. "Harry."
Professor McGonagall didn't look surprised, considering Harry was the youngest on the team, he was the one who had yet to build up an endurance yet.
"I wouldn't want to be Oliver Wood when Lily finds out," George deadpanned.
"Oh, she knows," Professor McGonagall informed the group, smiling to herself. She wasn't going to hide Oliver from the wrath of a mother. Oliver had probably forgotten that one of his team mate's mother was on the grounds.
But Professor McGonagall didn't worry, she knew Lily would take care of Harry.
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Fred landed outside the main doors and helped Harry off the broom, slowly.
"Thanks, Fred."
"You're welcome. Will you be okay from here?" Fred asked.
"Yeah, I'm heading to the hospital wing and see I could get Mum to give me a pain potion or something."
"Okay, I'll see you later."
Harry walked down the corridor to the hospital wing. The aches and pains were now making their presence know.
His back, shoulders, arms, neck, and stomach all hurt. His feet ached from being in the boots as long as they were and, other than that, nothing a pain potion could fix. Maybe a soak with Epson salts or a massage?
He passed his mother's quarters and headed to the hospital wing. Upon entering the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey ascended on him.
"What I can do for you, Potter?"
"Do you know where my Mum is?" Harry asked.
"Right here." Harry turned at the voice and Lily approached her son. "I think I'll be taking the rest of the day off, Poppy." She wrapped an arm around his son's shoulder. "I'll be in the treatment room if you need me."
"Alright, Lily." Madam Pomfrey left the mother and son beside the door. Lily looked at Harry.
"Come on, Harry. Let's go to the treatment room."
"Mum, you knew about the Quidditch practice didn't you?" Harry inquired.
"Yes, I did. Do you need a pain potion too?"
Harry nodded, careful not to aggravate his already sore neck. "Why are we going to the treatment room?"
"Because after you soak in Epsom salts, I'm going to give a massage," she informed him. Harry sighed, mainly in relief. Lily's back rubs were legendary in their household. James claimed she had magical hands and fingers. Considering he was often on the receiving end of Lily's massages, Harry trusted him to be telling the truth.
Lily took massage classes for fun during the summer and had been considering getting a certificate so she could do massage for all students at school. Right now, she had a handful that she did treatment, whom she had permission from parents. Of course, she would rub Harry's back and feet when he was in her quarters.
As Harry got older, Lily started occasionally give him massages. She gave him a full rub down after his first Quidditch practice.
Harry followed Lily to her quarters and then into the treatment room. The treatment room had a door off Lily's quarters, other than the one from the corridor. This was usually how Lily entered the treatment room, but students used the other entrance.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Lily inquired, as she filled the tub in the small bathroom off the treatment room with water.
"You mean injured?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Lily walked to the cupboard and pulled out the Epsom salt.
"No, just feel sore." Harry winced as he lowered himself down on the padded bench to take off his boots. Lily happened to notice how dirty her son was. How he got mud in his hair was beyond her.
"Go get a shower and wash the dirt off first," Lily ordered.
"Okay." Harry disappeared through the door to her quarters and his bathroom. She vaguely heard him hiss and an "Ow" every now and then.
Lily cast a warming charm on the water and headed into the treatment room. She draped the table and collected the bottle of massage oil, she would be using. One of her friends at St. Mungo's recommended it when Harry joined the Quidditch team. Janice sent it to her with a note saying
"You're going to need it."
And she did. Lily found it when she went to Quality Quidditch Supplies to get Harry new gloves before his second year and since then, she bought two bottles at a time. The oil was designed to help relax tight and tense muscles as it was massaged.
Lily returned to the bathroom and added the Epsom salt as she heard footsteps shuffling her way. Harry had entered the treatment room, carrying a pair of sweatpants and wearing an old pair of his swim trunks he kept in his mother's quarters for times like this.
"Did you bring something to change into?" Lily asked over her shoulder.
"Yeah," Harry replied, laying his shorts down on the bench and wincing as he sat down on the bench.
Lily turned her attention to her son when he heard him whisper "Ow".
"What hurts?" She inquired.
"Arms, neck, back, shoulders and stomach," Harry told her, gauging her response.
"Okay, ready for a soak?" Harry nodded and slowly got up from the bench. Lily helped him into the tub and watched as he relaxed instantly.
She set the timer and left the room to finish getting the room ready for Harry's massage.
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After the timer went off, she helped Harry out of the tub and then gave him some privacy to change and dry off. When he entered the treatment room, he asked, "Do need to lay on my back or my stomach?"
"On your stomach," Lily answered. "I'll begin with your back."
Harry approached the table and hoisted himself on the table, turning to lie on his belly. When his abdomen made contact with the table, he noticed that the area felt warm.
"I laid down a heat pack so it would help relax your abdominal muscles while I massage your back. When you turn over I'll remove it and then massage your abdomen," she explained, answering Harry's unasked question.
Harry took his glasses off and handed them to Lily and laid his head in the donut hole.
Lily poured some oil into her hands and then rubbed them together, warming the oil in her hands. Then she applied the oil to Harry's back. She rubbed the oil before she began an effleurage stroke from the tops of his shoulders down to the top of the hips. She had learned this stroke by reading about it in a book on sports massage she picked up when she purchased the massage oil. She did the effleurage stroke, using the palm of her hands for a while until she moved on to kneading Harry's shoulders.
"Am I doing okay?" Lily asked. She got a grunt in reply. "I'll take that as a yes, you'll tell me if I hurt you, right?"
"Yeah," Harry sighed as Lily began using her usual stroke up and down Harry's back. She stopped when she reached areas where she found knots and began to gently work them out.
"Does that feel better?" Lily asked, rubbing the area she had been working on knots.
"Uh-huh."
Moving to Harry's left side, she began wringing his right side slowly. She was careful not to hit his ticklish spots on his side. She heard Harry hiss as she moved up.
"Does it hurt there?" Lily asked, gently moving across the area.
"Yeah," Harry mumbled. "I think I pulled a muscle there."
"Oh. How?"
"Quidditch practice," Harry explained.
Moving to Harry's right side to repeat the treatment to the left side, Lily asked, "Does this side feel the same way?"
"No."
Lily began wringing Harry's left side slowly, noticing how much muscle had been built upon his right side, moving down like she did before.
"Are you doing okay?" she asked. Harry mumbled a reply, which told her the massage, was working.
She finished the back, by stroking down Harry's back, her fingers fanned out and her palms light pressing in. She moved up to the shoulder blades to massage them one more time. Lastly, she massaged Harry's neck and shoulders, lightly wringing the muscle of Harry's shoulders.
"Sweetheart, it's time to turn over."
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The back massage felt really good and Harry wasn't ready for the massage to be over. Experience told him that Lily wasn't done yet. After he would turn over, Lily would begin to massage the front of his body. She would begin with the neck and shoulders again and then move down to the arms and hands.
Then she would move down to the abdomen and finished off with the feet. It was a routine Lily created when Harry started playing Quidditch. James had mentioned that Lily's massages were legendary and Harry believed him after experiencing it for himself.
Lily's massages were relaxing enough that Harry sometimes fell asleep, especially when Lily rubbed his back or abdomen. It was also comforting to Harry, feeling Lily's tender and soft hands and fingers against his skin.
Before he turned over, Lily covered him with the sheet she used to drape the lower half of her son's body. This made it nicer for Lily, she didn't have to expose parts of Harry's body she wasn't going to massage and more comfortable for Harry. As he turned over, he lifted himself off the table long enough for Lily to get the heating pad.
Rubbing oil in her hand, Lily started to massage Harry's neck for the second time. The neck was something she did both while whoever she was massaging was face up and face down. But with her boys (James and Harry) she also did it when they were sitting next to her.
Judging by Harry's breathing, he was almost out like a light. He was relaxed enough that she could move his head without an issue.
Lily applied some more oil to her hands and started the arm massage, beginning with the hands. Since she was on the right side, she started with Harry's right arm. She rubbed the palm of Harry's hand and then gently stretching the fingers, rotating slightly. She could feel some calluses on Harry's fingers from using quills and a few from the broomstick. She made a mental note to herself to get Harry some cream for them.
She rotated the wrist gently, looking for tension. When she didn't find any, she finished up the hand and moved to the forearm. She stroked with her thumb, up the arm, feeling a few knobs from where Harry had been gripping the broom for so long. She worked on loosening the knobs she felt in his forearm but gently stroking the area until it didn't feel so tight.
With both hands, she did a wringing move from Harry's elbow down to the wrist. She repeated this a few times until she moved up to the top of Harry's arm and biceps. She stroked up the arm, this time, feeling for tension and knobs. The muscle felt tight due to the hours Harry was bent over a broom and general class work.
She rotated the arm, manipulating it in how she needed it to work out the knobs she was feeling. Like with Harry's neck, she was able to move his arm freely. She massaged the area gently, not wanting to go too deep and when she finally released the knobs and tension, she laid his arm down, bending his elbow a little to lay his hand on his stomach.
This would allow her to work into the triceps area. But when he seemed to be wearing on her, she lifted Harry's arms and gently moved it towards her. With the arm off the table and the triceps easily accessed, Lily was able to massage the area more easily with a thumb iron.
"Are you doing okay, honey?" she asked. She got a mumbled answer of "yeah, I'm fine".
After a while, Lily laid Harry's arm back down to work on his shoulder again, gently massaging the top of Harry's shoulders.
She moved Harry's arm to begin work on the pec area more near where the arm muscle and the pecs met. She gently stroked the area for a little while.
Before long, she moved to the other side of the table and repeated the massage on the other arm. It was while Lily was working on Harry's left was not as developed as his right. She remembered her massage instructor telling her that this was normal. Harry was dominant on his right side, which made sense since he was right-handed.
Once Lily was finished with the arm, she turned to the stand behind her and picked up a folded towel. She laid it on her son's chest and with a good grip on the towel, she pulled down the sheet to expose his stomach.
Harry was still out like a light, but he still communicated with her when she asked him questions. But his eyes cracked open when the air hit the flesh of his abdomen. When he figured out what Lily was doing, he closed his eyes again, waiting for Lily to begin.
Lily tucked the sheet into the waistband of Harry's shorts. She picked up the oil to begin the abdominal massage. She rubbed her hands together to warm her hands up.
"Let me know if you feel any pressure," she requested, applying the oil. She began the abdominal massage in a clockwise motion. She moved slowly and then she was able to move deeper into her son's belly. She noticed that there was some tension in Harry's abdomen, mostly from bending forward on a broom.
Harry's abdominal muscles were sore for a few weeks after he started with the team and were usually sore when he started back to practicing. But last summer, Harry practiced flying more and had managed to tone his abdominal muscles to where they were not as sore as they were before when he went back to Quidditch practice.
There was a second reason for Lily massage Harry's abdomen. Harry had been complaining with some stomach problems and Lily had read that abdominal massage helped with digestion and the distress Harry had been experiencing. Lily contributed it to the stress of additional classes and Quidditch.
This way she was killing two birds with one stone.
Once she finished with the soothing circles, she moved to Harry's sides and gently pulled the muscle towards her, beginning on the left side. As she moved up, her fingers find the ribs and she gently traced them with her fingers.
She went back to the circles, circling the belly button. She did the stroke a few times before she laid her hand flat on Harry's belly and walked around the table to stand on his right side and repeat the slow wringing stroke she did on Harry's left side on his right side. Once that was done, she laid her hand on his abdomen again and returned to Harry's left side. She repeated the circular motion again.
When she went to go another round, using the pads of her fingers she began to do some circular motions with her fingers moving her hand in the same clockwise motion. This would let her find areas of tension easier and work onto the organs.
"How's the pressure?"
"It's fine, Mum."
"How does this feel?" Lily inquired.
"Good."
"Great." Lily repositioned herself to stroke her hands up Harry's abdomen. Gently, she pushed her hands up towards Harry's ribs and then let them slide down his sides. Once they were at his sides, she pulled up towards her. She was careful not to tickle her son as he could be very ticklish.
She did this stroke three times, each time moving her hands lower on Harry's side. She paused when she heard Harry release a long breath on the last upward stroke.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?"
"Uh-huh."
"Did that hurt?"
"No, it actually felt good."
Placing her hands flat on Harry's abdomen, Lily began doing light compressions over the intestines. She heard some gurgling sounds coming from her son's belly, which she knew was a good thing.
She repeated the circular stroke she had begun with, as she had done this each time before she moved on to a different stroke. The one she was moving to next she had never done in Harry before. She had done this stroke with James and knew there would a huge difference in the muscles as James's was more developed than Harry's.
She laid her hands flat on Harry's stomach, and then gently she started a wringing stroke, picking up the muscle and pulling it up gently. She knew she was working the abdominal muscles as she didn't go deep enough to reach the organs.
Harry sighed, contently, telling Lily that she had done something right with using this stroke on Harry.
"Does that feel better?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, a lot better."
Lily moved to the side where Harry said he pulled a muscle and lightly massaged it. It was then when she realized it wasn't a pulled muscle.
"Harry, I think this is tension and not a pulled muscle."
"I think you're right, Mum. I've pulled a muscle in my side before and this feels different."
"Alright, I'm going to see if I could work this out. Let me know if the pressure is too much."
"Okay."
Lily placed her fingertips over the area and started doing slow circular movements with her fingertips. Harry's breathing was still steady and deep, which was a good thing. After another minute or two, the tension left and Harry let out a long sigh, his abdomen, feeling a lot better than it had in weeks.
Finishing the abdominal massage, Lily did a wave stroke, feeling how relaxed her son's belly felt now that she was nearing the end. She heard more rumbling and could feel bubbling under her hand. She remembered reading that this was normal.
She finished with a stroke going up and down Harry's abdomen and then a side to side stroke.
"How is your belly feeling, any better?"
"A lot better, thanks, Mum."
Lily recovered, Harry with the sheet and said, "I've got the feet left and you will be done."
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To complete the massage, Lily would finish with a foot massage. She had a lot of practice with the foot massage session due to the fact she had given James many foot massages. He spent most of his day in boots and on his feet that Lily would rub his feet for him at night before he went to sleep.
She would also pick up Harry's or James's foot and rub them if they were sitting on the couch with her and their feet were close to her.
Sliding a stool at the end of the table, Lily sat down and began to massage Harry's right foot, beginning on the arch of the foot, moving up towards. Then she was massaging the underside of Harry's foot with her thumb and the top of his foot. She picked up his foot and rubbed the heel of his foot before moving up to the toes. Reaching the toes, she rubbed her thumb along the underside of the toe.
She moved to the left foot and repeated the massage. Her routine for a foot massage was quick and easy, didn't really take a lot of time.
Harry was sound asleep by the time Lily had complete the massage. She covered him with the sheet and decided to let him sleep for a little bit. She would wake him for some water and a snack when she finished cleaning the treatment room.
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Harry sat at the table in his mother's quarters, munching on some biscuits and drinking water. Since he had the rest of the day free, he decided to spend the day with Lily, relaxing in her quarters. He had another soak in an Epson salt bath, this time with scented salts and was planning on a nap after finishing his snack.
"How are you feeling?" Lily asked, coming into the kitchenette.
"Much better," Harry answered, honestly. "Thanks, Mum."
"You're welcome, sweetheart."
Once he finished his snack, he put his plate in the sink and returned the water to the small icebox. He passed Lily on his way to his room and discovered why when he entered his room. She had turned down the bed for him.
Yawning, Harry crawled in and was asleep before his head hit the pillow. He was sound asleep that he didn't notice Lily tucking the cover around him and kissing his cheek.
She walked out to the sitting area and picked up a book she had been reading. She hadn't been reading long until Minerva came by.
"How's Harry?" The head of Gryffindor asked.
"He's fine. Sleeping right now."
Minerva nodded. "When are you speaking with Mr. Wood?"
"In the morning," Lily replied.
"I told the team they weren't allowed to practice for a week. I asked them who Oliver was hardest on and, well….." she trailed off.
"It's Harry, isn't?" Lily asked, calmly.
"Yes."
"I'll include that in my little talk."
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The next afternoon, Harry was walking to the library to meet Ron and Hermione to work on their Charms essay and Defense project when Harry heard someone call his name.
It was Oliver.
"What is it, Oliver?" Harry asked.
"I wanted to apologize for how I've been treating you," Oliver explained. "I know now I was wrong to push you that hard and I'm sorry."
"Apology is accepted. Do you know when practice is?" Harry asked.
"Next week, in the afternoon before dinner," Oliver replied.
"Okay. Thanks, Oliver."
Harry began walking towards the library and though Wood had left then he heard, "Oh, by the way, I envy you for living with Healer Potter. She's scary when she's angry."
Letting a breath out his nose, Harry realized what Wood was referring to. He turned around and said, "You should see her when Dad and Sirius prank her, she's even angrier than that."
Oliver paled slightly, thinking how much worse, Lily could get when she's mad. Apparently, a lot more.
"I'll see you later Harry." With that, Oliver left, heading to Gryffindor tower. Harry walked to the library, thinking that even though Lily could be embarrassing and overprotective, she cared about him.
Why wouldn't she, he's her son.
But Harry felt lucky at times to have Lily at Hogwarts. Yes, there were times he wished she wasn't, and there were times he was glad she was. Yesterday was a day that he was glad she was. He knew next time he needed some after practice relief, he would go to Lily.