"Detention, Mr. Potter! And I will hear not another lie coming out of your mouth!" Professor Umbridge nearly screamed herself hoarse. Harry stood in the middle of the classroom, his body heaving heavily as adrenaline coursed through him. Before Harry could say anything else to make things worse, he grabbed his bag and stormed out of the classroom.

Knowing there was only fifteen minutes left of Defense, Harry immediately headed towards the dungeons for his next, and second least favorite class; potions. He sat down just outside of the door and closed his eyes, taking deep calming breaths.

When the bell finally rang, Harry stood up and watched as a bunch of fifth year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws spilled out of the dungeons. When the room was empty, he went inside and started setting up for class.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," Snape looked up when he saw Harry entering the room. Harry was so furious with Umbridge, he forgot he also hated Snape. He suddenly wished he stayed outside and waited for more classmates to come. But it was too late. "Leave your last class a little early, did you."

"Yes, Professor," Harry replied, keeping his gaze down as he continued unpacking. He couldn't afford to get anymore detentions or points taken away.

Thankfully the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins filed in before Snape could start on him. Seamus and Dean joined Harry at his table, Ron and Hermione sat at the next. Hermione had suggested to Ron to give Harry some space since he still seemed rather irritated with him.

"Are you ok?" Seamus whispered to Harry. He just nodded, not really wanting to talk about it. Seamus nodded understandingly.

The class became quiet as Snape explained that day's lesson. Writing appeared on the board, and soon, there was a shuffle to get ingredients. Harry lit the burner underneath his cauldron and got to work. As the water started boiling, Harry ground up the rat skeleton, picked off mint leaves, and put it all together in the water. It was now time to cut up the ginger root.

Harry picked up the knife and started cutting the root carefully; the roots needed to be the exact size, or it wouldn't work, according to the instructions. Harry's hand shook slightly as he was cutting, his thoughts still on the scene with Umbridge. The humiliation she put him through…making him relive everything from that night in the graveyard…the weeks' worth of detentions….Harry's breath caught in his throat, and he let out a slow, shaky breath…

Harry looked down at the knife as he made another cut…and he started getting the urge…the urge to switch places with the root…to be the one getting cut into…Harry's hand started shaking even more. He looked up at Seamus, who was grounding up some of his own ingredients. As if he knew Harry was looking at him, he looked up.

"Are you ok?" Seamus asked, concerned, for Harry looked scared. Harry carefully shook his head and quietly pushed over his knife, his hand still shaking. Seamus understood instantly. He quickly glanced around to make sure no one was listening. "I'll cut up yours, you ground mine?" He offered. Harry nodded, and they quickly exchanged ingredients.

Harry felt a little calmer with the knife out of his hand, but he could still feel his heart beating very fast. He just wanted class to end, but there was still a half hour to endure. Harry tried his best to concentrate on his potion; it wasn't doing as bad as he thought it would be – it was supposed to be a light pink, and it was only a shade darker than that. He and Seamus continued exchanging ingredients, only briefly stopping whenever Snape came around.

And then finally…finally the bell rang. Harry quickly gathered his things and raced out of class, Seamus right behind him. Harry leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, taking deep, slow breaths. Seamus stood in front of Harry, shielding him from the other students as they passed by for their next class.

"Are you ok, Harry?" Seamus asked once more, watching him closely.

Harry shook his head, his eyes still closed. "I wanted to do it, Seamus. I want to cut so bad." His voice started shaking.

"But you didn't," Seamus reminded him. "You resisted and you gave it up. That's a big step Harry! I'm so proud of you!"

"Hey, are you two coming?" Dean asked. Hermione and Ron were waiting just a bit up the hall.

"We'll meet you there. We just need a minute," Seamus said, turning back to Harry. Dean headed back to the others, and they continued on their way.

"How am I going to get through Potions if I can't even cut things," Harry said, putting his head in his hands. Seamus put a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder.

"We'll do what we did today. We'll find ways until you feel you can trust yourself again." Seamus watched as Harry continued taking deep breaths. "It's going to take some time, Harry. It's not an easy road –"

"There you are! What the hell do you think you're playing at?!"

Harry and Seamus looked up to find Katie Bell, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, heading their way. She looked absolutely livid.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, truly confused.

"What's this I hear about you getting detention every day this week? Do you not care about the team? Do you want us to lose the house championship?!" Katie yelled, getting closer and closer to Harry. Seamus watched as Harry shrunk down, his eyes starting to fill with tears.

"Katie, this isn't the best time –" Seamus started, but Katie held up her finger to silence him.

"You're going to march to Umbridge's office and beg her for forgiveness, do extra homework, I don't care what! But you will be at tomorrow's practice, or you will be very close to being off the team!" And with that, Katie stormed into Potions with the rest of her onlooking classmates.

Harry's lip quivered as his breaths were coming on quick and shallow. "I – I can't breath," he suddenly choked.

Seamus put his palm to Harry's chest – his heart was beating like crazy. "I think you might be having an anxiety attack."

"How do I make it stop?" Harry asked, tears spilling fro his eyes.

"We skip Transfiguration and go for a walk," Seamus said, grabbing Harry's hand. He started leading Harry down the hall, but Harry resisted.

"I can't make you to skip class, Seamus," Harry said, swallowing hard. "You'll get in trouble."

"You're not making me, I'm making you. And skipping one class is not going to hurt us. Now come on." He gently pulled Harry once more, keeping a firm hold of him hand.

Harry and Seamus sat underneath a tree on the edge of the lake. They walked for about a half hour before settling down, Harry feeling completely drained. He had his head on Seamus' shoulder; Seamus had his arm around Harry's, comfortingly. Harry felt much better than he did an hour ago, albeit exhausted. He could feel himself starting to nod off: The weather was beautiful, a soft breeze playing across Harry's face…Seamus' touch was comforting, his presence accepting. It was almost perfect…until the bell rang, signaling the end of Transfiguration and the start of the next class. Harry sighed.

"Do we have to?" Was all Harry said.

Seamus chuckled softly. "Our next class is supposed to be Herbology. But it's also the last class of the day."

"So what I'm hearing is just skip that one and enjoy the rest of the day." Harry joked, snuggling up closer to Seamus.

Seamus couldn't help but smile widely and tightened his hold on Harry's shoulders. "That sounds like the perfect plan."

The two were quiet for a moment, taking in the environment around them. Harry opened his eyes and stared across the lake, watching the water ripple as unsee creatures swam just below the surface.

"Seamus?"

"Hmm?"

Harry hesitated. "Thank you for making me feel safe."

Seamus looked at Harry, who was smiling back at him. He wrapped both arms around him and pulled him closer, resting his head on top of Harry's.

"Where could they have gone?" Ron, Hermione, and Dean made their way outside to the greenhouses. "They said they were right behind us."

"I'm sure there was a reason they didn't show," Dean said unworringly.

"Wait, is that them over there? By the lake?" Hermione pointed off into the distance. Sure enough, Harry and Seamus were sitting by the lake, their arms wrapped around each other.

"They're going to miss Herbology. Should we get them?" Ron asked, stopping in his tracks.

"No, just leave them –" Dean started, but Hermione interrupted.

"We can't just leave them. They've already skipped one class, but to skip a second?" Hermione looked scandalized at the very thought.

"I'll go get them." Ron started, but Dean grabbed the back of his robes.

"Just leave them, Ron," Dean said firmly. "There's a reason why they skipped, and knowing Seamus, it's probably a good one."

"What could possibly be a good enough reason to skive off lessons?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I don't know, but that's not for us to decide." Dean said, letting Ron go. "I know Harry wasn't doing so great in Potions – he looked awful. So there's a reason. So just let them do what they have to do and if they get in trouble, that's on them." With that, Dean turned and went into the greenhouses with the rest of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.

Hermione and Ron exchanged looks and then stared at the pair by the lake once more. "I'm starting to think you're right, Ron." Hermione said, turning to the greenhouse. "I think Harry is keeping something from us." Ron nodded as they turned their back on their best friend and continued to their next lesson.

It was after dinner time when Harry and Seamus made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry was looking and feeling a lot better, despite the fact he had his first detention with Umbridge in just a few hours. They took seats on the first couch they saw.

"How angry do you think McGonagall will be tomorrow when we go to class?" Harry asked, resting his head on Seamus' shoulder once more.

"I'd say moderately. Maybe lose some points at most." Seamus said nonchalantly.

"There you two are!" Ron and Hermione entered the common room and started towards them. Ron looked at the pair curiously, noting their closeness and the fact that Harry's head was resting on Seamus' shoulder.

"How were classes?" Seamus asked causally as the others took a seat opposite them.

"You didn't miss much, really." Ron said.

"Um, they missed two classes! That's a lot." Hermione said indignantly.

"There's a reason we didn't go, Hermione," Seamus said, knowing this was going to happen.

"And it wasn't because we didn't want to." Harry added. "Well…ok we didn't have to skive off Herbology, but we definetely couldn't go to Transfiguration."

"And why not?" Hermione asked in her bossy voice.

"I wasn't doing so well." Harry said, lifting his head. The others looked at him expectantly, so he continued. "I had a…what did you call it, Seamus?"

"An anxiety attack."

"Right, that. I wouldn't've been able to continue class if I had gone in that state." Harry explained.

"You had an anxiety attack?" Hermione asked, suddenly looking concerned. "Was it because of what happened with Umbridge?"

"Sort of," Harry said, looking at Seamus.

"It was a combination of that and the fact that Katie kind of cornered Harry and started going off on him for getting detention."

"Oohhh, I'm sure she was not happy with that." Ron said, looking sorry.

"No, she was not," Harry said. "She wants me to try and get out of it, but I'm not going to bother. Umbridge will be thrilled that I can't do something that I really want to – well, need to."

"What's an anxiety attack, anyway?" Ron asked.

Harry looked to Seamus once more. "It's like when you suddenly get a bout of fear – sometimes out of nowhere and sometimes for specific reasons. Usually your heart starts pounding, you can feel short of breath, sweating, shaky. All that great stuff."

"And you were feeling all that, Harry?" Hermione asked sympathetically. Harry simply nodded.

"And all because of Umbridge?" Ron asked.

"Yep. And a bit of Katie," Harry added. Of course, that wasn't entirely the truth. Harry knew it was mostly brought on by the potions knife. But as his friends didn't know that yet, he wasn't going to mention it.

They all sat in comfortable silence as they started on their homework. Dean showed up an hour later, having hung out with Ginny and some of her friends on the grounds. He pulled out notes he wrote for them during the lessons they missed, which they were really grateful for.

And all too soon, it was time for Harry to make his way to his first detention with Umbridge. The others wished him luck as he left the portrait hole. When the hole closed, Ron and Hermione turned their attention to Seamus.

"Is Harry ok?" Hermione asked, getting right into it.

"Yeah, he just needed some time away from everything. We took a walk and sat by the lake for a bit, which seemed to calm him down." Seamus explained.

"Dean said he didn't seem to be doing too well in Potions earlier," Ron added, watching Seamus closely.

"I think that's when the attack started setting in. It was definetely hard for him to concentrate."

"Good thing you recognized the signs," Dean said.

They fell silent once again, getting back to their homework.