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“Wake up Harry... c’mon... wake up... please... I love you Pup...”



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“We miss you Harry... You gotta wake up soon...”

“Tell him I’m taking care of Sevvie.”

“Blaise says he’s taking care of Sevvie but I bet he’d rather have you.”

“Tell him I’m gonna take his broom if he doesn’t wake up.”

“Ronald!”

“What? It might wake him up!”

“Wake up...”



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“Harry if you can hear me I- I am so incredibly sorry.”



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“The nargles said you won’t wake up yet but I hoped they were wrong...”



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“My poor Meraviglia. You must awaken soon or our dearest Severus may never recover...”



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“You cannot give him a swelling reduction potion you brain dead, Merlin damned, moron! He is still receiving the muggle medication!”



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“Hey, I appreciate you getting me out of school for a few hours, but you didn’t have to be so dramatic about it, eh? It’s time to rise and shine Harry. Come bless us all with your smirk of doom...”



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“ARE YOU A FUCKING WITCH OR NOT?! WAKE HIM UP!”

“Miss! If you cannot control yourself then I’ll have to ask you both to leave.”

“She can’t. We’ll just come back after shift change.”

“Harry you have to wake up before I kill this stupid Healer. Please...”



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“I’m sorry... I am so sorry... I’m sorry...”



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“This is YOUR FAULT SNAPE! You poisoned him, you find a way to wake him up!”

“Do you believe I am not trying?!”

“Hey guys calm-“

“No! I will not calm down! Snape poisoned my godson and now he won’t wake up? HE SHOULDN’T EVEN BE HERE!”

“Shut up,” Harry moaned.

“Harry??”

Harry tried to open his eyes and panicked when he realized he couldn’t see anything.

“Do not panic, the lights are off to make the room more comfortable. You are safe,” someone said. Harry’s head hurt horribly and he couldn’t identify the voice, but he instinctively knew they could be trusted. “Go get the Healer,” the voice snapped.

“Whazzgoin’ on?” he slurred.

“You are in the hospital, St Mungo’s, it’s alright.”

“Who’s screamin’?” Harry asked as he groped around and let out a groan as his muscles screamed in soreness.

“Black. But he’ll behave now- right mutt?”

Black... Sirius Black. Which meant this was...

“Snape?”

“Yes. Hold on, I’ll grab your glasses and turn the lights up.”

Harry groaned again as he was suddenly assaulted by a bright light.

“Fuck,” he hissed.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Harry turned his head to avoid the overhead lights and saw a hand holding out his glasses.

“Ta,” he said as he grabbed them. He blinked as the room, and it’s occupants, came in to focus.

He was in what seemed to be a white hospital room of some sort. There was a machine directly beside the bed he was laying in displaying a bunch of numbers on the wall and beeping softly. There was also a table covered in the most outrageous amount of sweets, flowers, and a stack of envelopes that Harry shuddered to even consider reading.

He glanced down and saw that he was in a pair of flannel pajamas (No hospital gown, thank God) and was covered up with a thin white blanket.

Snape was standing beside the beeping machine and looked horrible. His hair was lankier than Harry had ever seen it, and his robes were wrinkled and rumpled. He had dark circles beneath his eyes and looked exhausted.

“You look terrible,” Harry croaked.

“You should see a mirror,” Snape said. Someone scoffed and Harry turned his head a little more and saw Black standing by the foot of his bed.

“Hey Pup,” Black said softly. “How you feeling?”

“Horrible,” Harry said bluntly. His head hurt and his body felt like it was aching and on fire. “Why am I here?”

Black glared at Snape and Harry struggled to remember what Black had been screaming when he woke up.

“You poisoned me?” Harry asked Snape. He’d meant to sound accusatory, but his throat was too sore and he merely sounded dully curious.

“Harry it was unintentional,” Snape said quietly. “I swear to you. What do you remember last?”

“I...” Harry screwed his face up as he tried to remember something. “Did we... did we eat dinner with my friends in your classroom?”

“We did,” Snape said. “Do you recall what happened afterwards?”

“Er... no,” Harry admitted with a newfound feeling of panic. “Why can’t I remember?!”

“Hey it’s okay Pup,” Black went to put his hand on Harry’s leg and pulled back at the last second. “That’s normal, you’ve been asleep for a while.”

“How long?” Harry looked towards Snape but kept Black within his line of sight. Thankfully Snape took a couple small steps closer to Black so that Harry didn’t feel like he was straining his eyes to see them both.

“You and I went back to my sitting room where you fell asleep on the sofa,” Snape said calmly. “You woke up in the middle of the night with a stomach pain and nausea.”

“Oh,” Harry vaguely remembered waking up on a sofa and sprinting to the loo to throw up so Snape wouldn’t be mad if he got sick on his floor. “Thought I had to puke, but I didn’t,” he said.

“Correct.” Snape hesitated and Harry had never seen him look so nervous before.

Which was making him nervous.

“What?” he asked. “Then what happened?”

“Then I gave you a potion, an anti nausea potion, and it interacted poorly with your medication,” Snape said quietly.

“And when did you poison me?” Harry struggled to sit up and was relieved when Snape waved his hand lightly and Harry’s bed automatically bent itself in to a more upright position.

“That was the poison,” Snape said. “The potion mixed with the medication in your bloodstream and released a poisonous interaction in your brain which caused swelling-“

“You moron,” Harry scowled at Black. “You said he poisoned me!”

“Pup-“

“I did,” Snape interrupted whatever Black was about to say. “I should have tested it first Harry. I truly cannot tell you how much I regret not having done so. But I did poison you, as unintentional as it was.”

“I was sick and he gave me a potion,” Harry said to Black. “He didn’t fuckin’ do it on purpose, did he?”

“Harry-“

This time Black was interrupted again by the door to Harry’s room opening. A woman in a white robe with a long black braid and warm tan skin came in followed by Lupin.

Harry shot a puzzled look towards Snape whose eyes briefly flicked towards Black. Which Harry was pretty sure meant Black brought him.

“Good afternoon Mister Potter,” the woman smiled as she walked up to his bedside. “How are we feeling?”

“Dunno how you feel, but I feel terrible,” Harry said. The woman chuckled and looked over towards the flashing numbers the beeping machine was putting out.

“Well your vitals are strong,” she said. “You’re probably feeling some discomfort from being in a bed so long. I’m sure a young man like yourself probably spends a lot of time outside playing, right?”

Harry’s eyes flew to Snape again, whose eyes were glittering with amusement even as he shook his head.

Harry wasn’t sure when he got so good at reading Snape’s movements, but he was pretty positive that one meant; ‘Potter do not fight with this woman.’

“Sure,” he said to her. “Who are you?”

“Oh dear, I’m sorry,” she gave him another friendly smile. “My name is Healer Nicole and I’ve been one of the healers whose been taking care of you since you came in.”

Harry just realized nobody answered his question earlier.

“How long have I been here?” he asked again.

“Today is March 3rd and you came in during the wee hours of February 16th,” Healer Nicole said. “So a little over two weeks.”

“Two weeks?!” he yelped.

“Yes. Unfortunately the medication you took mixed together with the potion you had and caused your brain to swell up. You’ve been unconscious for a while. But the seizures stopped about a week ago.” The witch smiled in what Harry thought was probably meant to be a kind smile but just looked fake to him.

“What are seizures?” he asked, intentionally turning his whole head towards Snape so nobody was confused about who he was talking to.

“Seizures are temporary fits your body has when your brain is malfunctioning. In your case, the poisonous mixture of the two treatments caused your muscles to tighten up and begin shaking uncontrollably,” Snape said. “You were having them multiple times a day for the first six days you were here.”

“Exactly,” the Healer smiled at Snape like a proud parent, even though Harry was sure Snape was older than her. “Are you hungry Harry?”

Harry shrugged. He was hungry now that she mentioned it, but he didn’t want to ask for anything either.

“Moony and I can go grab you something,” Black offered. “What sounds good?”

“Anything,” Harry said. “I’ll pay you back.”

Black laughed and pulled Lupin alongside him towards the door.

“Don’t be daft, you’d just pull money out of our vault then I’d put it right back in the vault. Lunch is on us,” he grinned at Harry before giving Snape a more neutral look. “Do you want anything?” he asked politely. Harry reckoned that was as much of an apology for shouting at him that Black would give Snape.

Which was fair really, because God knows Snape wouldn’t apologize to Black if the roles had been reversed. If Snape didn’t want to be accused of poisoning Harry then he should stop saying he did it, unintentionally or not.

You never confess to a mistake in front of people you don’t trust. That was just common sense.

“No,” Snape murmured back to Black, watching the Healer as she tapped the machine with her wand a few times and read the printed out parchment it provided.

“We’ll be back then,” Black called.

“Good news Harry!” Healer Nicole said as soon as the door closed behind Black. “The poison has worked its way out of your system. Your levels are normal for that, see?” she turned the parchment and pointed at a small line that Harry didn’t understand. He nodded and made a small hum though just in case it was one of those things he should already know. “And the Lithium level in your bloodstream looks like it’s evened out. It hasn’t changed in two days now.”

”What the fuck,” Harry hissed in Snape’s direction, causing the Healer to jump.

“English Harry,” Snape said severely. “I had to inform her of your medication so that their treatments did not cause you to become poisoned again.”

Harry rolled his eyes but figured there was some logic to his point.

“Don’t you worry,” Healer Nicole said kindly. “My oath prevents me from sharing any details about your stay here or any medications or diagnosis you have.”

Harry looked towards Snape, who nodded, and relaxed against the pillows. Theo told him before that a Healers Oath was as sacred as an Unbreakable Vow. Which meant he probably didn’t have to kill this woman, or try and obliviate her, as long as she quit talking to him like he was five.

“So even though it poisoned me, I’m still takin’ the pills?”

“You are,” Snape said. “It was not the medication that poisoned you, but the mixture of the potion with the medicine. Potions can be replaced with mildly inferior muggle medications, which your body tolerates if the dosages are adjusted. There is currently no potion substitution for your medication.”

Harry thought there was a ‘Hermione and Theo-like’ glint in Snape’s eye that made him wonder how much longer there wouldn’t be a potion substitution for his medicine.

“So, what? If I get hurt or sick I have to take muggle medicine? What about if I break my arm again??”

“Magic applied to your body itself hasn’t seemed to hurt you any. We believe it’s only potions, since they enter through your body and are absorbed through the same route as the medication. So broken arms? Mendable. Headache? Muggle medicines,” the Healer said in the most annoyingly perky voice Harry had ever heard. “It’ll be more difficult to heal like a muggle for some sicknesses, but it’s better than not getting necessary medication.”

“Did people cast spells on me while I was asleep?” Harry looked accusingly towards Snape when the Healer was done talking.

“No,” Snape said quickly. “Well, yes in a sense, but only necessary ones.”

“What spells are necessary to cast on me while I’m sleeping?!”

“Your bowels had to be emptied,” Snape said. “I presumed you would prefer they cast the appropriate spells instead of allowing you to soil yourself?”

“Oh, ugh, yeah, okay, nevermind,” Harry grimaced at the thought. “Thanks then.”

Healer Nicole chuckled and handed Snape the parchment printout.

“So everything looks good for right now Harry,” she said pleasantly. “I’m going to let you get some rest and I’ll be back in the morning to check on you. Try and eat if you can, Professor Snape here knows how to order more food if you need it. Sound good?”

“Suppose so,” Harry said. He waited until she left before speaking up again.

“I miss anything good?”

Snape pulled a soft looking blue chair up beside Harry’s bed.

“You have had so many visitors that St Mungo’s has had to change their visitor policies,” he said.

“Really?” Harry shifted in his bed and winced again at the soreness in his arms and legs.

“Every one of your friends, the Malfoys, Mister Fred Weasley, Amelia Bones, the Contessa who took an international portkey to be here to threaten me in person, the Minister of Magic himself, Professor McGonagall, and a handful of students who Lupin informed me were present at the party you attended have all stopped by at least once. Also Peter Pettigrew was sentenced to the Dementors Kiss and transformed in to a rat at the end of his trial and has yet to be apprehended,” Snape tacked on quickly as if an afterthought.

Harry blinked at Snape when he finished.

“All those people saw me passed out?” he snarled. “And you let them?”

Snape raised his brows at Harry.

“Did you comprehend the part where Pettigrew managed to escape from the Ministry?”

“I don’t care about that,” Harry waved his hand. “Knew the ministry was a lark anyway, didn’t I? Hopefully I’ll find Pettigrew before they do, eh?”

“You are the most frustrating child I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with,” Snape groaned as he rubbed his forehead. “You can rest assured that Albus has contracted out to add animagus wards to the Hogwarts grounds though.”

“So McGonagall and Black can’t transform at Hogwarts?” Harry asked.

“No, it will simply alert Albus as to the presence of any animagus on the grounds if they transform,” Snape explained.

“‘Kay.” Harry really didn’t care. Pettigrew sounded like a sniveling coward who spent 12 years pretending to be a rat because he was too stupid to frame Black any other way. If he had wanted to kill Harry he had two and a half years worth of sharing a dorm to do so. But if Harry found a four toed rat- he’d kill him and that would be that. “Why’d you let all those people in here, huh? I wouldn’t have done it to you,” he said coolly, bringing back up his original complaint.

It was embarrassing. And any one of them could have attacked him while he was just laying there weak and unconscious.

“If you are worried that you were perceived as weak, fear not,” Snape said. “I informed your visitors that I gave you muggle medication for a headache coupled with a potion for nausea. They all are laboring under the impression that you had a hangover and I am an incompetent guardian.”

Harry snorted at that and relaxed again.

“You’re a genius,” he said. It was as good of a story as any.

“I am not,” Snape said quietly. “I am incompetent and deserved every bit of the tongue lashing I received from Miss Bones and the Contessa. It was irresponsible of me to give you a potion without first testing it. I do not believe I can apologize enough Harry.”

“You can owe me a no questions asked favor and we can be even,” Harry grinned. “Usual rules are no murder and nothing that would get you expelled, or fired I suppose in your case, but other than that anything goes.”

Snape rolled his eyes, but relaxed in his chair as well.

“I do not make it a habit of owing favors to people.”

“I don’t make it a habit of bein’ poisoned either,” Harry said.

Snape snorted, but Harry was pretty sure he owed him a favor now. Which was good. Snape was smart, powerful, and strong. He was a brilliant person to be owed a favor by.

Harry’s hospital room door opened up and Black stuck his head in.

“Oh good, I wanted to make sure you were still awake.” He carried in a huge box and was followed by Lupin who was carrying two pitchers. “We have food!”

Harry sat upright again and tried not to look too wistfully towards the box where the smell of food was coming from.

“Here you go.” Black pulled a covered dish out of the box and carefully set it on Harry’s lap. “Steak and kidney pie, mash, and- voila!” Black pulled the top off the plate and Harry saw there was a whole stack of Mavis’ miniature treacle tarts that were oddly shaped like lopsided hearts. “We popped in to Hogwarts and got those from your elf.”

“His name is Mavis.”

Harry and Snape looked at each other after they both said the same thing at the same time. Snape smirked and reclined his head back on the headrest of his chair.

“You are predictable Potter,” he drawled with his eyes closed.

“We’ll see,” Harry warned him. He grabbed the fork Black offered him and started eating.

“Were you starving?” Black asked as he conjured two chairs for him and Lupin... who was apparently going to stay.

“Yup.”

Lupin chuckled and pulled some glasses out of the box.

“Water or pumpkin juice?” he asked Harry.

“Is either one poisoned?”

“Only the pumpkin juice,” Lupin deadpanned. Harry quickly looked towards Snape whose lips twitched in amusement.

“Suppose the water then,” Harry said warily.

Lupin poured a glass but Snape stopped him before he handed it to Harry.

“Summon it please.” Snape sat up and watched closely as Harry summoned the water out of Lupin’s hands straight to his own. “Excellent.” He nodded and laid back again. “I did not think you would have any adverse reaction to casting magic, but I wanted to be sure before you returned to school.”

“Which is when?” Harry asked between bites.

“Soon,” Black cut in. “They said once you woke up if everything looked good you could go back to school soon.”

“Cheers then.” Harry rolled his eyes and drank some of the water, relishing in the coldness that eased his sore throat.

Harry, Black, and Lupin ate quietly for a few minutes while Snape seemed to be nearly asleep in his chair.

“I wanted to ask you about this summer?” Black said quietly after Harry sat down his fork. “I know we talked a bit about it before...”

Harry frowned as Black trailed off hesitantly.

“I’m staying with Snape,” he said quickly.

Black looked upset but he gave Harry a weak lopsided smile.

“I figured so when he sent me a message saying he was with you in the hospital.”

Harry shrugged, feeling uncomfortable now.

“You could come stay with us sometime during the summer though,” Black went on. “Maybe a couple weekends or something? Your friend could come too. We’ve got plenty of space.”

“Maybe,” Harry said evasively with a nervous glance towards Snape who didn’t know yet that Theo was going to be with him this summer.

“Even if you don’t want to come stay, you should be careful Harry,” Lupin said quietly. “Pettigrew escaped from the Ministry-“ Harry and Black both curled their lips angrily at the mention of Pettigrew escaping. “-and he may come searching for you.”

“Brill,” Harry shrugged. “Suppose it wouldn’t be summer if there wasn’t an escaped prisoner looking to kill me, yeah?”

Black chuckled, but Harry saw Snape’s wand hand twitch at his nonchalant tone.

“If Pettigrew finds you just have Snape send me a message, alright?” Black said with an angry glint to his grey eyes. “It’d be a shame if he was able to escape punishment a third time.”

“Great plan,” Harry drawled. “You kill him and go right back to Azkaban.”

“As opposed to what will happen if you do?” Snape murmured with his eyes still closed.

“Me? Harry Potter? The Boy Who Lived? Who couldn’t control his accidental magic when he was faced with the man who made him an orphan? I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Harry bared his teeth in a sharp smile.

Snape sighed and the four of them sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Lupin cleared his throat.

“I should return to Hogwarts,” he said. “I have my sixth years in about twenty minutes.”

“Oh, okay.” Black jumped to his feet and smiled at Harry, his previously fierce demeanor now gone. “Mind if I come back in the morning Pup? These chairs just aren’t the same as a real bed.”

“Er, sure,” Harry shrugged.

Black reached out very slowly and ruffled Harry’s hair. Harry clenched his fingers tightly until he stopped and gave Harry one last smile before him and Lupin left again.

“Thank Merlin,” Snape murmured. “I was beginning to fear I would be stuck sharing a room with Black until I snapped and killed him.”

“Have you both been sleeping here then?” Harry asked surprised.

“We have.”

“What about your classes?”

“Albus has been attempting to teach them in my absence,” Snape snorted. “I imagine it will be utter chaos when we return.”

Harry snorted as well and tried to will his bed to lay back down like Snape had earlier.

“Are you tired?” Snape asked. Harry looked over and saw he was still reclining back but was watching Harry curiously now.

“A bit,” Harry shrugged. “Think we can leave tomorrow? Bet I have a load of homework to do.”

“I believe Miss Granger has already considered that,” Snape said with a small grin. “I overheard a conversation where she was discussing a charm to mimic your handwriting.”

“Mione’s helping me cheat?” Harry asked, paying no mind that Snape would be one of the professors he would be turning in fake assignments to.

“Her exact words were: ‘if the professors in this school keep nearly killing Harry then they don’t deserve his effort’.”

Harry laughed at that as he laid back on his pillows.

“She’s great,” he said fondly.

“Your friends are menaces and I will celebrate the day you all leave the castle,” Snape said. It would have sounded more hateful if he hadn’t been smirking. “Sleep, brat. Miss Bones will undoubtedly be here to scream at me again the moment classes end.”

“I’ll tell her to stop,” Harry mumbled as he shifted around on the bed.

Harry thought he would have a hard time falling asleep because of the beeping machine, but mere moments after closing his eyes he was sound asleep.



“HARRY!!”

Harry bolted upright and gripped at his pockets for his knife. He panicked for a moment before he remembered that he didn’t have his knife, or pockets even, because he was in the hospital.

“Fuck,” he breathed. “Where’s my knife??”

“In my pocket.”

Harry looked over and saw that Snape wasn’t alone beside his bed anymore. Susan, Hermione, Theo, Luna, Ron, Draco, Blaise, Neville, and Fred were all there now as well.

“Jesus Christ,” Harry yelped, scrambling to pull the blanket up on himself. “What’re you guys all doing here?”

“We wanted to see you, duh,” Susan said, flopping down on Harry’s bed by his feet. “Dumbledore said we had an hour, but Auntie says Dumbledore’s a moron and I can stay as long as I want.”

“And I’m sticking with your terrifying friend,” Fred said with a wide smile.

“How are you Harry?” Hermione asked quietly.

“Fine,” Harry said as he worked on relaxing his now tightly coiled muscles. “Bit thirsty.”

“I’ll get you some water,” Draco offered quickly. “Hold on.”

Harry watched Draco run from the room and gave Snape a bemused look.

“Suppose he didn’t know there’s a water pitcher right there then?” He gestured towards the pitcher before summoning it.

“He’s been a nightmare,” Blaise said, sitting on the edge of the chair Lupin had been in before. “He’s only spent half as long on his hair because he’s been so worried.”

“Why?” Harry quickly drank a glass of water and glanced around at his friends’ incredulous faces.

“You’ve been unconscious for weeks,” Luna said softly. “We’ve all been worried.”

Harry frowned at Luna’s trembling voice and patted the bed beside him. Luna quickly climbed up beside him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“‘M fine,” Harry assured her. “Ya didn’t have to worry about me.”

“You’re mental mate,” Ron snorted. “The healers called it a coma.”

“I told them you just needed a kiss from a Prince Charming to wake you up,” Fred winked.

“Though where we would find one was a real mystery,” Theo drawled with a roll of his eyes. “Harry the Slytherins are going to kick you out if you don’t get back soon.”

“What the fuck?” Harry looked at Snape who frowned at Theo. “Why?”

“Because he-“ Theo gestured to Fred, “-has been sitting at our table and driving everyone mad since you’ve been gone!”

Fred shrugged and sat at the foot of Harry’s bed beside Susan.

“They should lighten up,” he grinned. “Susie here does the same thing and nobody bats an eye.”

“I’VE GOT WATER!”

Harry flinched again as Draco sprinted in the room. He was levitating a tray with half a dozen paper cups filled with water apparently.

“Where’d you get that from?” Draco cried indignantly once he saw the pitcher of water Harry put on the little table beside his bed.

“You prat,” Ron laughed. “He already had it, but you didn’t wait for him to tell you, did you?”

“I was being a good friend, unlike some people.” Draco turned his nose up.

“Leave him alone,” Neville elbowed Ron. “Draco jinxed Flint for talking about replacing you for the match next month,” he told Harry.

“Why would be replace me?” Harry said indignantly. “‘M the best one on the team.”

Snape snorted and muttered something about hubris, which got a grin out of Hermione.

“Well you wouldn’t be much good on a broomstick in a coma,” Ron laughed. “Course that’s the only way Gryffindor would win.”

“Oi! I’ll have you know that I intend to win with or without Harry trying to distract me!” Fred said.

“What’re you gonna do? Break my arm again?” Harry asked with one brow raised.

“If that’s what it takes,” Fred said solemnly.

”Boys,” Hermione muttered.

“They’re the worst,” Susan agreed.

“We are not!” Ron said with a huff. “Girls just don’t get the importance of Quidditch!”

Harry’s friends broke out in to a quiet, but fierce, argument over quidditch which Harry listened to with a small grin.

“Back us up here Potter!” Draco said.

“Er, no,” Harry said hastily at the look on Hermione’s face. He would need her to get caught up on homework sometime before his birthday. “Figure it out yourself.”

“Or feel free to shut up,” Snape sneered. “This is a hospital.”

“Which means they could use some cheerful voices to brighten their day,” Susan said sweetly.

“Or not.” Snape got to his feet and transfigured his chair in to a larger sofa. “I am going to find food. When I return I am kicking you all out so Potter can sleep.”

“Yes sir,” Fred saluted him. “Think pizza if you would.”

Snape curled his lip up in a disdainful sneer at Fred’s antics, but his eyes softened when he saw Harry laughing at Fred.

“So what have I missed?” Harry asked as soon as the door closed behind Snape.

“Here-“ Ron tossed a few boxes of candy to Harry before settling on the sofa. “You missed Dumbledore teaching Potions.”

“Trying to anyway,” Draco sneered as he settled himself in the chair beside Blaise.

“You missed Sirius Black kidnapping Professor Lupin,” Luna giggled softly from her spot beside Harry. “When Professor Snape sent Sirius a message he came and pulled Professor Lupin right out of the middle of my class to come here.”

“He was screaming, ‘SNAPE SAID HARRYS IN A COMA!’ so loud that our transfiguration class heard it,” Susan scoffed. “Then McGonagall thought I was gonna stay in class after that.”

Harry laughed and laid back as his friends all recounted the little things he’d missed in the last couple of weeks.

Fred had them all laughing at a story about a prank he’d pulled with Susan on Dumbledore when Snape came back.

“I have pizza,” he huffed. “Which is disgusting.”

“I like pizza,” Harry said. “Dunno why Hogwarts never serves it.”

“Because Hogwarts thinks classic Britain foods are the epitome of a nutritious meal,” Hermione huffed.

“It’s barbaric,” Theo agreed, grinning as he accepted a couple slices from Snape. “Just terrible.”

“My parents are dentists Theo,” Hermione said. “I grew up on salads.”

“That sounds barbaric,” Ron said around his own piece of pizza.

Harry agreed with Ron privately. Salads were terrible and bland. Of course, he’d only had pizza twice before, but he wondered if he could convince Mavis to slip them on the menu back at school.

They all ate, even Snape who said pizza was ‘disgusting’, and talked a bit more before Snape kicked his friends out.

“If you would like Mister Potter to return tomorrow he needs to rest.”

Susan was a little huffy when she told him goodbye but Harry was partially relieved when they all left.

“Good call. Dunno how ‘m so tired if I’ve slept for two weeks.”

“Being unconscious and sleeping are two different things,” Snape said. “You will likely be worn out by regular activities again for a few days while your body readjusts to moving around again. Here-“ Snape pulled the little bottle of pills out of his pocket and tossed it to Harry. “Take one please.”

Harry hesitated, “Are- are you sure? Cause I don’t really fancy being poisoned again.”

“I have been directly spelling them in to your stomach while you have been unconscious,” Snape said calmly. “As long as you abstain from mixing the medication with potions then we can possibly avoid hospitalization again.”

Harry tilted his head and studied Snape’s face carefully. He seemed to be calm and confident about it. And he probably wouldn’t give Harry anything that would poison him again on purpose.

“‘Kay but if I die then ‘m telling Susan to poison you,” Harry warned him, taking one of the pills.

“Miss Bones would have to get in the end of an outrageously long line of people wishing to harm me if I killed you,” Snape said drily.

“Who’d be in front?” Harry grinned.

“Mister Zabini’s mother.”

Harry laughed and drank another glass of water before laying back on his bed.

“We can go back tomorrow?” he asked one more time.

“God I hope so,” Snape grumbled. “The mutt was not incorrect when he said these chairs are no fit replacement for a bed.”

Harry was already drifting off to sleep when he realized that Snape and Black both slept in uncomfortable chairs for two weeks just to stay with him while he was in the hospital. Which... which was mad.

But also... brilliant.

***

“Welcome back Mister Potter,” Professor McGonagall smiled warmly at him at Harry’s first breakfast back at Hogwarts the day after he got released from St Mungo’s. “How are you?”

“Fine,” Harry grit out. He’d only been back for a day and a half and already had been asked the same question over two dozen times.

“Pains of fame,” Ron chortled when Harry complained about it once McGonagall was out of earshot.

“But seriously... how are you Harry?” Fred asked with a grin. “Because we all want to hear you growl out ‘fine’ about twenty more times today at least.”

“Shut up,” Harry laughed and threw a piece of toast at Fred.

“There are too many Gryffindors here,” Draco moaned. “Harry make more Ravenclaw friends.”

“There are only two Gryffindors here,” Neville pointed out. “And we already have two Ravenclaws.”

“Which is one Gryffindor too many,” Theo said with a pointed look at Fred.

“You snakes are cold blooded,” Fred said with a fake shiver. “Harry begged me to sit here you know.”

“‘M sure I didn’t,” Harry drawled. “But he can stay,” he hastily added.

“My hero,” Fred sighed dramatically.

“You two are disgusting,” Ron mumbled. Which was a bit rich of him to say since he was talking around a mouthful of food.



Going back to classes was a nightmare. Flitwick made a big deal of telling Harry to ‘take it easy’ in his class. Lupin kept giving him overly cheerful looks while they revised for their final in May. Hagrid, who still seemed to think Harry liked him, let him sit off to the side of the class while everyone worked on Bowtruckles. Which, actually, wasn’t that bad since the Bowtruckles kept trying to bite him. Lavender Brown pointed out in Divinitation how Trewlaney had predicted that one of the students was going to be gone before Easter and Trewlaney whispered that ‘the auras never lied’.

“She’d be so happy if you had died instead,” Blaise whispered to Harry.

McGonagall and Snape acted the same as always, except they both gave him a huge parchment with the assignments he’d missed. Harry smirked at Snape when he got his list, they both knew Hermione had already copied her essays carefully in Harry’s handwriting. She’d also changed them so that they ‘matched Harry’s writing style’ which he figured meant they weren’t as good as hers.



Harry was nearing the end of March when he realized his hand started shaking at the worst times. Currently it was while he was trying to write a reply to a letter from Black.

“Blaise, does my hand look weird?” he asked curiously.

Blaise looked up from across the library table and squinted carefully at Harry’s hand for a minute.

“It’s shaking,” he said.

“It’s probably a cramp from writing too much,” Hermione said. “It happens to me sometimes.”

Harry hummed, unconvinced.



He ignored the weird shaking in his hand until he got to Potions the next week.

“Potter, remain behind.”

Harry nodded and waited at his table until the rest of his classmates had left the room.

“You have been taking your medication twice a day?” Snape walked up to Harry’s desk and gave him a ‘don’t you dare lie to me’ look.

“Yes.” Harry rolled his eyes. He’d felt... weird... since he woke up in the hospital. Not bad really. Just sort of bored? And not like himself. Which Snape already told him would go away with time as he adjusted to his ‘new normal’.

“And how long have you had a tremor in your left hand?” Snape reached out for Harry’s hand slowly, lifting his eyebrows silently asking permission.

“The shaking? A week maybe?” Harry held his hand up for Snape to look at. “It’s better now. I couldn’t hardly write with it before, could I?”

“Foolish child,” Snape murmured as he carefully moved Harry’s hand around while he examined it. “Tremors are not unexpected side effects of the medication, though you should inform me when they occur.”

“Didnt know it was a side effect, did I?” Harry rolled his eyes. “Suppose it goes along with all the other ones.”

Snape gave him a sympathetic look.

“If there were other options I would find them,” he said. “Though it has been nearly two months and your moods have remained stable so I believe this is a wisely chosen treatment plan.”

“Course you’d say that,” Harry scoffed. “You chose it.”

“Unfortunately I did not have many options,” Snape released Harry’s hand. “Please inform me if the tremor gets worse or disappears.”

“‘Kay.” Harry gathered his stuff up when he had a horrible thought. “D’you think it’ll mess up the match next weekend? It’s the finals!”

“Have you not been practicing with your team up until now?” Snape asked.

“Nope. Draco told Flint I needed to ‘save my energy’ so Flint just told me to be ready to catch the snitch quick.”

“That is... surprising,” Snape said slowly. “I was not aware Flint was so lax about his Quidditch practices.”

“He’s not,” Harry grinned sharply. “Except he’s a bit scared of me, ain’t he?”

Snape snorted.

“You are a menace.”

“A Quidditch cup winning menace hopefully,” Harry said cheekily. “Made a bet with Fred about who’d win, didn’t I? Can’t lose the match and lose a bet.”

“The horror.” Snape sounded sarcastic but the edges of his lips curled up slightly.

“You’ll be there, right?” Harry asked.

“Will I miss an opportunity to accept the Quidditch Cup and watch Minerva grind her teeth to dust? Of course not,” Snape drawled. “Do your best to avoid another injury if you would. I believe we have seen enough of hospitals for a lifetime.”

Harry gave Snape a grin and a half heated salute before leaving the classroom. He couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t get hurt. George kept threatening to ‘pull an Inglebee’ when he saw Harry in the halls.

Harry was pretty sure he was joking, that’s what Fred said anyway, but if not then he’d take the hit, catch the snitch, and then test out a few new curses the Contessa wrote him about on George.

It would still be a good day.

***

And it was.

The day of the match started off with perfect weather.

“It’s the sunniest day we’ve had all month!” Ron crowed happily. “You couldn’t ask for better conditions!”

“What are the odds?” Hermione asked, leaning across the table to peer at Ron’s usual betting parchment better.

“3-1 odds that Slytherin wins, 2-1 odds that Harry ends up in the hospital, and 15-1 odds that Harry catches the snitch but Gryffindor wins,” Blaise told her.

Hermione and Theo put their heads together and whispered for a moment before Hermione pulled out a coin purse and pushed it towards Ron.

“It’s 21 galleons, 15 sickles, and 7 knuts on Slytherin winning. And-“ Theo slid a handful of coins towards Ron as well. “-5 galleons that Harry catches the snitch but Slytherin loses.”

“Why would you bet on that?” Neville asked.

“Because if it happens then we win 75 galleons plus our original 5 back,” Theo explained. “You never pass up odds like that.”

“I put all my birthday money on Harry winning,” Susan said with a bright smile. “He’s caught the snitch every time, when it was a fair game of course,” she scowled at the reminder of the one time Harry lost.

“Maybe I should take your glasses,” Fred teased Harry. “Be hard for you to see the snitch if you’re blind.”

“Harry’s going to win,” Luna said airily. “You could take his glasses and he’d still win.”

“Cheers Lue,” Harry grinned at her. It was hard not to get caught up in the excitement in the air in the hall. Everyone was chatting away loudly and cheering for the quidditch players as they arrived for breakfast. It was infectious.

The tremor in his left hand didn’t seem so bad today either. It was still there, but Harry flexed it carefully a few times after he quietly took his pill and thought it was nearly better.

“Good luck today gentlemen,” Snape said when he came up to their table.

“Thanks sir, it’s gonna be a close match but I think we can pull through,” Fred said seriously.

“He wasn’t talking to you prat,” Draco snarked. “He hopes you lose.”

“I do,” Snape said simply. “In fact, when I recall our match against your team last year, I find myself hoping that Warrington loans Harry his bat.”

“That sounds like favoritism,” Susan smirked. “I don’t think Professors can actually hope a student on the opposing team gets hurt.”

“Did I say that?” Snape raised his brows. “I believe I said that I hope Harry somehow acquired a beaters bat today.”

“If you do, aim for George,” Fred winked at Harry.

“Don’t fuck with my glasses and I won’t borrow a bat, deal?”

“Deal.”



Harry, Draco, and the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch Team walked determinedly on the field, brooms clutched tightly in their hands.

“Do not let me down,” Flint growled before the team took the the air and he begrudgingly shook hands with Oliver Wood.

“WELCOME TO THE FINAL MATCH OF THE YEAR!” Lee Jordan yelled from the announcers stand. “Folks we have another action packed game for you today! First up, the current cup holders- Slytherin!”

Harry glowered towards the stands as he heard a lot of boos, but looked curiously at the Teachers Box when he heard someone cheering loudly.

Black was waving a huge green flag, which never failed to make Harry smirk. Snape had said Black hated Slytherins when he was a student, and now he was all decked out in Slytherin gear.

“And we have our favorite underdogs- the GRYFFINDORRRRRRS!”

“Gits,” Harry yelled at Fred and George as the student stands cheered much louder for their team than they had Harry’s.

“Should have been on our team,” George laughed.

“Why would I wanna be on a losing team?” Harry blinked innocently at them before smirking and flying to his preferred spot to be ready once the game started.

“AND THEY’RE OFF!” Jordan yelled. “The quaffle is immediately snagged by Alicia Spinnet, Merlin what a gal, right?”

Harry rolled his eyes at Jordan’s biased announcing and started making lazy laps around the pitch, keeping a close eye out for the snitch. He did a few celebratory barrel rolls when Jordan begrudgingly announced that Draco and Pucey both scored a goal apiece twelve minutes in the game.

“JOHNSON SHOOTS- AND SHE SCORES! 20-20, it’s anyone’s game!”

“Heard you were in the hospital Potter,” the Gryffindor seeker, a fourth year boy Harry thinks is named McLaggen, yelled as he flew up behind him. “They didn’t keep you on the mental ward? That’s where they keep cases like you.”

Harry spun around sharply on his broom and glared at the other boy.

“Say that again when we get on the ground,” Harry growled. He wouldn’t ruin their chances of winning the cup by cursing the boy mid-air, but he had no problem doing it once they hit the ground either. Snape already had him in detention four hours every Sunday for the Valentines Day party, what was a few more hours in the name of hurting this prat?

“What’s wrong Potter? Did I hit a nerve?” The boy smirked at Harry. Harry occluded quickly to push down the thoughts of using one of the vein vaporizing curses the Contessa sent him on McLaggen and smirked instead.

“Nope. And you didn’t catch the snitch either,” Harry jeered as he shot off past McLaggen, so close he nearly knocked him from his broom. McLaggen swerved around to follow Harry, who was flying quickly towards the Gryffindor section of the stands.

“IT LOOKS LIKE THE RACE IS ON FOR THE GOLDEN SNITCH!”

Harry hid his smirk behind a fake look of concentration as he flew as quickly as he could toward the stands before abruptly turning at the very last second and flying to the right.

“POTTER SWERVES AND MCLAGGEN CRASHES!” Jordan yelled amidst shouts from the Gryffindors who had just been crashed in to by their own seeker. “WHEN WILL THEY LEARN THAT POTTER IS A FAKER?”

Harry flew by the Slytherin section and did a backwards flip on his broom when he saw his friends all cheering.

This was the kind of rush he liked. Flying, competing, and showing everyone that he’s strong, fast, and capable.

“The score is 40-20 in Gryffindor’s favor,” Jordan announced. “A foul shot is awarded to Gryffindor for Potter’s feint.”

Harry made a big show of shrugging towards Flint, who made a shooing motion to get him back to the search for the snitch.

Harry listened to Jordan’s completely biased commentary as he flew around. Jordan had just announced Gryffindors lead of 70-30 when Harry finally spotted a glimmer of gold near the Slytherin goalpost.

Harry made a zig-zagging route towards the snitch, hoping that McLaggen was too dim to realize he was moving towards the snitch instead of just making a lap.

“MCLAGGEN GO!” Wood screamed as he flew past Harry and spotted what he was moving towards. “NOW!”

But it was too late. Harry urged his broom for a burst of speed now that his plan was caught out and before McLaggen was anywhere near him-

“SLYTHERIN WINS THE CUP! 180-70!”

The stands erupted in to shouts as everyone jumped to their feet.

“GO HARRY!” was heard clearly from the Slytherin section and Harry beamed towards his best friend who had her wand to her own throat to magically enhance her voice.

Harry soared above the crowd, waving his right hand triumphantly. The tiny golden ball was held tight in his fist, beating its wings hopelessly against his fingers.

Then Fred was speeding toward him, his blue eyes were sparkling brightly.

“You’re the worst!” Fred said happily. “Can I kiss you?”

“Alright then,” Harry laughed at the light feeling of joy he felt right before Fred pulled Harry towards him by the front of his robes and snogged him in front of the whole school.

Harry landed on the ground with Fred’s arm around his shoulder and beamed as Draco came sprinting up to him.

“WE WON HARRY! WE WON!”

“YOU DID IT!” Flint roared, his eyes suspiciously red rimmed. “WE’VE WON!”

Wave upon wave of green-clad supporters were pouring over the barriers onto the field. Hands were raining down on their backs. Harry had a panicked impression of noise and bodies pressing in on him and he couldn’t breathe and they were going to suffocate him...

Fred jerked him backwards out of the mass of people with a small grin.

“Bit crowded in there, innit?” he said lightly. Harry gave him an appreciative nod as he took a few steadying breaths.

“Cover me,” Harry murmured suddenly, spotting McLaggen where he landed.

“Sneaky, I like it,” Fred laughed as McLaggen let out a sharp howl of pain that meant Harry’s curse landed on its target.

“YOU WON!” Susan yelled as she broke from the crowd and launched herself in Harry’s arms. “I KNEW YOU WOULD!”

“Then why are you so happy?” Harry laughed.

“Potter- c’mon!” Flint gestured for Harry to follow him to the stands where their team was presented with the huge Quidditch Cup in front of a beaming Black and when Harry shook Snape’s hand he saw a proud glint in his dark eyes.

As a now sobbing Flint passed Harry the Cup, as he lifted it into the air, Harry felt he could have produced the worlds best patronus with the memory of this day alone.

Chapter End Notes

Up Next: Remus Lupin is a genius. It’s just... Harry’s still a bit of a dick, isn’t he?

Followed Quickly by: The Leaving Feast

After which we will finish the fic with a sneak peek of Year Four along with a link.