The next week passed slowly. Fred and George had cornered their investor and showed him what they had thought of for their joke shop. Harry just watched as the twins went over their inventions trying not to be overwhelmed. He had known Fred and George Weasley were creative but he had never thought they would accomplish so much in such little time. They had been extremely proud to show off their Extendable Ears, an item that allows someone to listen in on conversations. Harry made a mental note to tell Sirius and Remus about that invention. There were plenty of conversations that took place in these walls that were meant to be private.

“Harry, Harry, Harry, you never tell on fellow mischief makers,” Sirius said shaking his head. “Ow.” He glared at Remus who had just smacked him.

Keeping his own affairs private had proven to be more difficult than Harry thought it ever could be. The curiosity of his friends had been something he hadn’t been prepared for although he should have been. He had avoided their questions ever since the school year ended about what had happened to him because he wasn’t ready to talk about what happened with them. He had worked through his guilt, anger and depression with Sirius and Remus. Why should he have to relive it all again just to settle their curiosity?

“He is right, and wrong,” Lily said.

Sirius looked at her and asked, “Care to elaborate?”

“He is right because he shouldn’t have to relive it to settle people’s curiosity but at the same time his friends aren’t just curious, they are worried and if they don’t know what happened they can’t help,” Lily said.

“AH,” Sirius exclaimed.

“She is right. It’s not just curiosity,” Remus said, “Well, I guess a little of it is curiosity but mostly they want to help.”

Harry knew it was more of Hermione’s persistence that anything. Her heart was in the right place but some things couldn’t be solved from a book which was where she would look for the answers to whatever the problem was. The Weasley siblings would reluctantly listen to whatever their parents told them unless they heard differently, something Hermione had done. Since Hermione came from a Muggle background, she knew exactly what the beeping noise was and informed the Weasley children it was monitoring Harry’s heart. Out of fear, the teenagers cornered Mrs. Weasley, demanding to know what was wrong with Harry.

“It’s not my place to say,” Mrs. Weasley had told them. “Remember what Sirius and Remus told you. Harry is still recovering from what happened. If Sirius and Remus feel it is necessary to keep an extra eye on Harry then it is their decision. All of you are guests in their home. It would be best if you remember that.”

“Mrs. Weasley is not someone you would want to cross,” Sirius said. “She reminds me of your mom James.”

“Yeah, which means definitely do not cross,” James said sagely.

Mrs. Weasley’s attitude had shocked many people. The usually forceful woman had taken a backseat to Sirius and Remus, only putting her word in when the men disagreed about something that involved Harry. The only time her stubbornness really came forth was during meal times. She insisted on helping Harry and Remus cook, something both wizards were more than willing to allow. With so many more mouths to feed the more help they had in the kitchen the better.

The new arrivals had also met Kreacher over the past week. The Black family house elf had also changed quite a bit in the past month. Sirius had told Harry that Kreacher was out of his mind and nothing more than a nuisance

“Exactly!” Sirius cried, “He’s mental that elf! He hated me!”

 but after the first few days of bed rest, the house elf had entered Harry’s bedroom muttering about his mistress. Harry knew from Sirius that Kreacher’s mistress was Mrs. Black, Sirius’ mother and took it upon himself to ask Kreacher what the woman had been like. This caught Kreacher off guard but since Harry had been adopted by a member of the Black family, Harry was technically a part of the Black family meaning Kreacher had to obey him.

Kreacher had told Harry about Mrs. Black in a way that only an obedient servant could. There were very few witches and wizards in the Black family that opposed Voldemort. Kreacher had grown up in the Black house, believing whatever the Blacks told him no matter how distorted it actually was. Since Sirius had run away from home while he was still at Hogwarts, Kreacher believed that Sirius had betrayed his mother and therefore hated him with a passion. The odd thing was that Kreacher didn’t treat Harry in the same fashion. Even though Harry was against Voldemort, Kreacher treated Harry impartially because Harry was interested to learn about the Black family line.

“See, maybe if you were kinder to him he would be nicer to you,” Lily said kindly.

Sirius did not take that kindly and hissed, “That elf is completely bonkers. It’s impossible to be nice to him.”

“Harry manages,” she said back.

“I say this with all the love in the world but Harry is very weird!” Sirius said, Lily rolled her eyes.

That didn’t mean Kreacher treated Harry’s friends that way. The old house elf had in fact called the Weasleys blood traitors and Hermione a Mudblood (a foul name used against muggle-born witches and wizards).

“See, what did I tell you; mental I say. Mental!” Sirius sad triumphantly.

After hearing about it both Harry and Sirius had scolded the house elf, ordering him to stay away from any visitors. Ever since then, Kreacher hadn’t really been seen by anyone.

The ‘beloved’ portrait of Mrs. Black was another part of the Black home that had startled Hermione and the Weasley teenagers. Fred and George had been walking down the stairs talking loudly when to their surprise the curtains on the far wall opened to reveal a portrait of an old woman looking at them angrily before she started shouting at them. This got the attention of everyone in the household.

“Yep, that’s mother alright. More pleasant lady you won’t find,” Sirius said sarcastically.

Mrs. Weasley and Remus were the first to arrive and tried to close the curtains but had no success. Harry and Sirius came running in followed by Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Noticing Harry, Remus pulled a confused Mrs. Weasley out of the way. “That’s enough, Grandma!” Harry shouted at her. Having the-boy-who-lived call her that caused the old woman to pass out, allowing Remus to pull the curtains over the portrait.

“Can you read that again?” Sirius said eagerly.

“SIRIUS!” Lily scolded.

“Aw, come on,” he whined.

It had been interesting to explain that to the Weasleys. When Harry revealed that Mrs. Black wasn’t actually his grandmother, Mrs. Weasley let out a sigh of relief. Most of the Order members knew to be quiet around the portrait of Mrs. Black so none of them had seen Harry silence her. Sirius and Remus were trying to silence her the first week Harry had come home and was supposed to be resting. Hearing Mrs. Black’s screams, Harry came out of his room and sat down at the top of the staircase watching in confusion. That was when Mrs. Black noticed Harry, staring at him with wide eyes. Harry had heard Sirius call her ‘Mum’ so Harry just smiled and said ‘Hi grandma’. Mrs. Black had fainted allowing Sirius and Remus to close the curtains. Ever since then all it took to shut Mrs. Black up was for Harry to call her grandma since they hadn’t been able to remove the portrait from the wall.

“Oh, if mother had a heart she would have a heart attack at knowing I adopted Harry,” Sirius said delighted.

“Why?” Lily asked.

“Harry is what purebloods call a half-blood, because you are Muggle-born. Sirius is the heir of the Black Family. He’ll be the head of the house and so will his older child, in this case Harry,” James explained.

“And as Mrs. Black is so bent on the pureblood ideals, having a Half-blood as future head of the family is worst than the world ending,” Remus finished smacking Sirius who was rolling on the bed laughing.

By the end of the week, Harry had come to the conclusion that keeping Hermione and the Weasley teenagers away from the Order meetings was easier said than done. He had warned Sirius about the Extendable Ears during one of his training sessions so precautions had been taken, much to Fred and George’s annoyance. Unable to hear anything, the teenagers retired to their rooms for the night, at least that was what they claimed. Too tired to fight about it, Harry went to bed. He had survived a two hour training session that morning and was certainly feeling it now.

“Hey! Stop that!” Sirius cried at being assaulted by flying pillows.

“You’re running my baby to the ground,” James cried, “He’s sick.”

“James, Madam Pomfrey told him too,” Remus reasoned just to receive a pillow too.

Crawling into bed, Harry could feel the charms cast around the room come to life like they did every night. A soft beeping noise filled his ears as Harry pulled up his covers. Closing his eyes, Harry let his mind wonder like he always did. Focusing on something just kept him up for hours. Within no time, Harry drifted off, the atmosphere of his bedroom fading into darkness.

The problem was it wasn’t a peaceful darkness. Strong emotions seemed to fill the air. There was anger, hate, despair, and rage. Those were the ones Harry could make out. They were so strong it was almost painful. Surrounded by darkness, Harry double checked for his wand holster only to remember that he had taken it off. Just great. I’m trapped in this…place with no weapon.

“Trapped where?” Lily asked worried.

“I think that’s a vision,” Remus said grimly.

“But Voldemort is knocked out,” Sirius cried, “Snivellus said so!”

A distant voice broke through the air. Straining to hear, Harry subconsciously took a step towards the voice. If someone else was here then perhaps they knew a way out of wherever he was. And maybe they’re a Death Eater wanting to kill you. Harry had to groan in annoyance as that idea ran through his head. He had to admit that with the current state of things it was more likely that whoever’s voice he heard was an enemy than a friend.

All of a sudden pain seared though Harry’s scar forcing him to fall to his knees. Grabbing his head, Harry tried to ignore the pain and focus on the voice that was coming clearer but he couldn’t make it out. He started to panic. The only reason his scar could hurt was if Voldemort was nearby or if Harry was having a vision about the Dark Lord but that was impossible. Voldemort was supposed to be in a coma!

Unless this is a dream, Harry realized. Does this mean Voldemort has woken up?

“NOOOOOOOO!” the four cried.

If this was indeed a dream then couldn’t he just wake up? The pain increased causing Harry to cry out as he held his head. He could feel his heart racing in his chest. How do you wake yourself up especially from something like this? Telling yourself to wake up doesn’t work. The voice grew louder, completely surrounding him. It was somewhat distorted but there was definite hint of anger in the voice.

“Revenge…kill…them…all…”

“No! Shut up! You won’t kill anyone! I won’t let you!” James yelled.

Harry forced himself to rise to his feet and run away from the voice. It sounded too much like the voice he had heard in his second year. He didn’t make it far before something slammed into his back, sending him flying forward. Harry landed on the hard floor with a thud. Pain shot through his chest as Harry struggled to breathe. Rolling over onto his back, Harry stared into the blackness, unable to do much else. Slowly the ability to breathe returned but came in short gasps. Ignoring the pain, Harry sat up and came face to face with the last person he expected to see.

Cedric Diggory.

“Oh, poor Harry,” Lily cried and James rubbed her back.

Harry stared at the seventeen-year-old in shock, unable to find anything to say. This wasn’t possible. Cedric was dead. Harry saw it happen. He saw Crouch use the killing curse that night in the graveyard. This is a dream…it has to be. This isn’t real. Realizing that Cedric was waiting, Harry took a chance. “Cedric?” he asked nervously.

Cedric smiled. “Hey Harry,” he said as he extended a hand and helped Harry to his feet. “You don’t belong here. You need to wake up. Your godfather isn’t handling your distress too well.” Cedric reached out and grasped Harry’s shoulder. “Stay strong, Harry.”

Lily sobbed and James kept soothing her. Remus smiled sadly and said quietly, “Even in death he looks out for Harry.”

Before Harry could respond he felt like he was being pulled out of the darkness. The pain from his chest and scar slowly decreased. Sounds filled his ears. Someone was telling him to wake up as they held him to their chest. Opening his eyes, Harry let out a moan as he moved his left hand and grabbed the sleeve of the person holding him. It took Harry a few moments for his mind to clear and realize that it was Sirius who was holding him.

“Harry?” Sirius asked carefully. “You’re awake?”

Harry let out another moan as he nodded slowly. Sirius tightened his hold on Harry as he buried his face in Harry’s hair. Harry just remained still, too tired to even think of moving. He wanted nothing more than to fall back asleep but found that he was being held in a fairly uncomfortable position. His upper body was twisted so that his godfather’s knee was digging into his rib.

Remus rubbed Sirius’ back. He didn’t make any comments; he knew how his friend got when someone he loved was hurt. The first time Remus let Sirius and the others see him after the full moon Sirius was beside himself with worry and would hover over Remus asking if he needed anything. It was a bit annoying but very heart worming.

“Sirius, please let him go,” Remus said quietly. “Madam Pomfrey needs to check Harry over. She needs to check his heart.”

That was all it took for Sirius to relax his hold and lower Harry down on the bed only to grab Harry’s hand and hold it instead. Harry’s eyes were partially open as Madam Pomfrey’s blurry form came into view. She waved her wand over Harry a few times, focusing on his chest. Harry knew the routine by now. Whatever had happened must have set off the charms that had been placed around his room.

No wonder Sirius was so distraught.

Once Madam Pomfrey was done, she pulled up the covers to his chest and rested a hand on Harry’s forehead. “Remarkably there is no further damage to Mr. Potter’s heart,” she announced. “Other than a slight case of exhaustion, I can’t find any ailments.”

“Good,” James whispered relieved.

Sirius let out the breath he had been holding. Harry opened his eyes a little more to see a blurry Remus sit down on the edge of the bed by Harry’s head and try to smooth out Harry’s messy short hair. It was a hopeless act but it was clear that Remus wasn’t really doing it because Harry’s hair needed to be straightened. Like Sirius, Remus needed a reminder that Harry was fine and still breathing.

“He’s okay Moony,” Sirius said calming his friend.

“Very well,” said the voice of Professor Dumbledore. “Sirius, Remus, I trust you two will hear about the rest of the meeting from another source.” When Sirius and Remus nodded in response, Dumbledore left the room followed by everyone else who had remained by the door.

The moment the door closed both Sirius and Remus seemed to crumble. Sirius leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Harry’s chest while Remus leaned forward and buried his face in Harry’s hair. With Harry’s free hand he wrapped his arm around Sirius and started to slowly rub his godfather’s back. He remembered Remus’ words: ‘I’ve never been so scared in all my life’. Harry couldn’t imagine what Sirius and Remus had gone through when the alarms went off so he just let them be as he slowly drifted off.

“If Harry keeps this up, Moony won’t be the only one with grey hair,” James said wisely to Lily and ducked to dodge two pillows.

Harry had learned by now that sometimes it was best to let Sirius and Remus work through whatever they were feeling on their own because he was bound to hear about it tomorrow…and the next day…and the day after that…and the day after that…

“Yeah, well. That’s what you get for scaring the day light out of us!” Sirius said affronted crossing his arms.

---

The following morning was tense to say the least. For the first time since the holidays began, Mrs. Weasley had prepared breakfast alone. No one spoke of what had happened the night before, much to the annoyance of Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George. They had heard the alarms followed by several Order members running past their rooms to Harry’s. They poked their heads out of their rooms to see Bill running back to the stairs while Sirius’ shouts filled their ears, begging Harry to wake up.

They had hurried back in their rooms when they heard Bill hurrying up the stairs with someone following him. They came out again at the sound of Harry’s screaming. Fred and George had to hold Ron and Hermione back from running to Harry’s room as the screaming ceased. They had never heard Harry scream so loudly or so full of pain before. Mrs. Wealsey entered the hallway a moment later and ushered them to bed, claiming that everything was under control. They went into their rooms but no one went to bed.

“Yes, well. You can’t expect them to sleep after that!” Lily cried.

“Must have been quite frightening,” James nodded.

It was almost nearly a quarter of an hour later when they heard footsteps and soft voices move past their doors. They heard nothing else for the rest of the night and nothing about it the following morning. Breakfast was a silent affair with most of the adults who seemed to find their coffee and tea cups extremely interesting. Ron had even asked about the night before out of frustration. After an uncomfortable silence, Mrs. Weasley informed the teenagers that Harry had a nightmare but wouldn’t say anything more other than to tell the teenagers to give Harry and his guardians some space today.

That didn’t settle well with Ron and Hermione. The entire Order of the Phoenix doesn’t rush into your bedroom for a simple nightmare. Madam Pomfrey isn’t called for a simple nightmare. Something was wrong with Harry. It would explain why Sirius and Remus were so protective but why didn’t Harry say anything? Didn’t Harry trust them anymore?

“Oh, it’s not that,” Lily said sadly.

“Harry just relies on his guardians now,” Remus said, “Everyone does. You don’t tell Harry every problem you have. Your parents deal with that.”

“I guess they’re used to being the ones Harry comes to and now they feel left out,” James said knowingly.

Entering the kitchen for lunch, Ron and Hermione stopped in their tracks when they say Mrs. Weasley and Remus placing some food on a tray while talking quietly. Remus looked exhausted making Ron and Hermione wonder if he slept at all last night.

“Are you sure he’s all right?” Mrs. Weasley asked softly. “When he started screaming…”

“It was scary, I know,” Remus said as he rubbed his eyes. “Harry doesn’t really know what happened. He said his scar hurting was the reason he screamed. Harry has a very high tolerance for pain. I don’t want to think about how much it must have hurt to justify him crying out. I already sent word to Dumbledore. If Voldemort—” Mrs. Weasley and Ron flinched, “—has awakened then Harry will be in more danger than we could ever imagine.”

“And Sirius?” Mrs. Weasley asked.

Remus shook his head. “Sirius refuses to leave Harry’s side,” he admitted. “I think we may need to slip him something to keep him from going with Harry to Hogwarts.

“Hum, that’s a good idea,” Sirius said tapping his chin with his finger, “I think Harry could use a pet.”

“He already has an owl,” Lily said annoyed.

“We can work around that,” Sirius shrugged. Lily huffed.

 We thought this was over. We had worked so hard on making Harry see that Cedric’s death wasn’t his fault.” Seeing Mrs. Weasley’s confusion Remus took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Cedric was in Harry’s nightmare last night. That was probably what was the hardest for him to deal with. It’s hard to see someone in your dreams then wake up and remember they’re dead.”

Mrs. Weasley covered her mouth in shock as tears filled her eyes. “That poor dear,” she said in a wavering voice. “He’s been through so much. I never thought it was this bad. I’ll take care of everything today. You and Sirius spend the day with Harry. If you need anything, anything at all let me or one of the children know. Will Poppy be stopping by today?”

Remus nodded. “She wants to be absolutely sure there is no further damage that could prolong his recovery,” he said as he picked up the tray. “Harry claims he’s fine, of course. I swear Harry is so much like his parents it isn’t funny. We had to tie James to the bed in the hospital wing after a Quidditch injury so he could be healed.

James whistled and Remus and Sirius glared at him.

“I have no idea what he is talking about,” James told Lily, “So I am not too fond of Pomfrey. Who can blame me?”

 Lily would just deny anything was wrong with her. We had to literally drag her to St. Mungo’s because she had been so sick only to find out that she was pregnant with Harry.”

Lily huffed, “I don’t deny. It’s just that I never get sick.”

“Huh, huh,” Sirius said, “That’s why Mary had to drag you to Madam Pomfrey last year because you were shivering like mad and you could cook an egg on your head. ‘No Marry I’m fine. Atchoo. Atchoo’,” Sirius mocked. He received the patented Evans’ glare of Death.

Mrs. Weasley smiled at Remus only to have it fade when she noticed two teenagers standing in the doorway. She nudged Remus then nodded at the door. “How much did you two hear?” she asked as Remus turned to see Ron and Hermione.

“Enough,” Ron said through his teeth as he glared at Remus and his mother. “What’s wrong with Harry? Why won’t anyone tell us? Why is it such a big secret? We care for Harry too!”

Remus let out a sigh and put the tray down. “We know that,” he said calmly. “Harry didn’t want you knowing because he didn’t want you to treat him like he was going to die any moment.” He noticed the eyes of the teenagers widen at the comment. “Which he isn’t,” Remus added quickly.

“Smooth Moony,” James snickered.

“The duel with Voldemort—” he ignored the flinches that came from Ron and Mrs. Weasley, “—caused more damage to Harry more than we originally thought. He’s getting better but slowly. Right now his heart can’t take a lot of stress which was why you heard the alarms last night. They were set to warn us whenever his heart rate reaches a certain mark.”

“So what happened last night has happened before?” Hermione asked fearfully.

“A few times,” Remus admitted as he picked up the tray of food again. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a teenager and a man who believes he’s a teenager waiting for their lunch.”

James, Lily and Remus laughed.

Sirius looked at them indifferently and drawled, “So I am and always will be a young spirit. That’s why I don’t go grey like some people!” Remus stopped laughing and hit Sirius with a pillow.

Ron and Hermione moved out of the way so Remus could leave the kitchen. As he carefully walked up the stairs, Remus tried to think of a way to break it to Harry that his friends had found out. He had known it was only a matter of time before Ron and Hermione found out that things weren’t as ‘fine’ as Harry let them believe but Remus had hoped Harry would have been the one telling them.

Entering Harry’s room, Remus had to smile at the site of Harry lying in bed with his eyes closed as he mindlessly pet ‘Midnight’. The large black dog had his head rested on Harry’s stomach allowing Harry better access to scratch his ears. Remus had to shake his head. It was amazing how Sirius knew exactly what Harry needed without being told.

“I am very wise,” Sirius beamed.

“And such modestly too,” Lily mocked, “I don’t know how come he didn’t become priest with such qualities.” Remus and James couldn’t hold the laughter any longer.

Remus moved over to Harry’s bed, startling both ‘Midnight’ and Harry out of their thoughts. With a pop, Sirius was sitting on Harry’s bed instead of ‘Midnight’ with an eager look on his face. “Food!” Sirius said happily.

“Thirty-four year old teenager,” Remus snorted.

“Young at heart, Moony. Young at heart,” Sirius said wisely.

 “I take it Molly is the cook for today?”

“Hence the overabundance of food,” Remus said as he set the tray down and handed a plate and fork to Sirius. “Do you feel up for eating, Harry?”

Although Harry wasn’t really hungry he knew Sirius and Remus wouldn’t let him skip a meal because of it. “I’ll try to eat a little,” he said as he propped himself against his headboard. “How is everything down there?”

Remus handed Harry a plate then pulled up a chair and sat down before taking his own plate of food. “Well, it’s pretty quiet to tell you the truth,” he said at last. “I didn’t see the twins or Ginny so I don’t know what they’re up to.” He took a bite and glanced at Sirius nervously, something that Sirius noticed. “I did run into Ron and Hermione though.”

Harry also noticed the glances shared between the Marauders and let out a sigh of disappointment.

“You know Moony. I haven’t got a clue how you can keep your furry little problem a secret,” James pondered.

“Meaning?” Remus narrowed his eyes.

“Meaning,” Sirius started ticking things off with his fingers, “You’re a bad liar. You give things away just by looking at you. I mean honestly, when Minnie asked who had set the Filibuster Fireworks in the library did you have to look at me?” he finished hands on his hips.

“Oops,” Remus shrugged sheepishly.

 “They found out, didn’t they?” he asked softly as his gaze fell. “They know about all of this.”

Remus set his plate of food down and scooted his chair closer to the bed. He reached out and gave Harry’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Yes, they know about your heart condition,” he admitted. “They overheard me talking to Molly and demanded answers. I didn’t tell them everything, just enough to settle their curiosity for now.” Not receiving an answer, Remus decided to continue. “Cub, they’re worried about you. They heard the alarms go off last night. They heard you scream. What are they supposed to do? Forget about it?”

Harry stared down at his plate of food, unable to meet the gazes of his guardians. He knew they were bound to find out sooner or later. He had just wished it would have been later when he wasn’t being monitored so closely. They were going to overreact just like everyone else. “What am I going to say to them?” Harry asked.

“I would suggest the truth,” Remus offered gently, “at least about your heart condition since they already know it exists. You will have to decide what to tell them from there on. You know how we feel about this, cub, but you have to do what’s right for you. You trust us but we won’t be there at Hogwarts with you, Ron and Hermione will. Ron would be able to help you at night if you have a nightmare.”

“If Padfoot goes then-“

“SIRIUS! You will not go as Harry’s pet,” Lily scolded. Sirius pouted.

Harry let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes underneath his glasses. “But what if they tell someone?” he asked quietly. “I don’t want the entire school finding out that I can’t sleep through the night on my own because my heart might give out. Secrets don’t remain secrets at Hogwarts. Nothing about me remains a secret at Hogwarts.”

“So you’re going to let your fear of something that may or may not happen decide your life?” Sirius asked. “I hate to admit it, Pronglet, but Moony does have a point.

Remus put his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow to Sirius.

“Well, it’s bad enough you’re usually right and you want us to admit it?” Sirius cried affronted, James nodded vigorously.

We can’t physically be there at Hogwarts with you—unless, of course, something happens and we’ll be there before you know it.” Remus cleared his throat alerting Sirius that he was getting off track.

“Padfoot does that a lot,” James explained to Lily.

“I know,” she chuckled, “Professor Slughorn asked me to tutor him last year after he managed to tell all his love life on an essay about the Amortentia Potion.”

“I have no idea why he didn’t appreciate it,” Sirius huffed.

 “Er—what I mean is we can’t physically be there but your friends can. If they knew how important it was to keep this a secret from Voldemort then they would probably be more careful not to say anything.”

There was a soft knock at the door, startling all three of them. The conversation ceased as the door slowly opened followed by Ron and Hermione poking their heads in. “Er—is it okay if we talk to Harry for a little bit?” Ron asked nervously as he and Hermione stood in the doorway. “We promise not to upset him.”

Sirius and Remus glanced at Harry before grabbing their plates and standing up at the same time. It was almost like a conversation without words passed between the two men by a simple look. “We’ll be right outside,” Sirius said to Ron and Hermione with a hint of warning to his voice. “If the alarms go off you two will not be allowed anywhere near Harry for the remainder of the holidays.”

Ron and Hermione nodded nervously as they moved out of the way so Sirius and Remus could leave. As soon as the door closed, an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Both sides had plenty to say but were unsure of how to start the conversation. “So how are you feeling?” Hermione asked at last.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “Better,” he said honestly. “I’m still tired for some reason. Sirius and Remus have ordered bed rest for the day. I guess I really scared them last night. I really thought this entire mess was over with. I haven’t had a bad nightmare in a few weeks.”

Hermione was the first to move and sat down on the foot of Harry’s bed with Ron following her. “But you still have nightmares?” she asked gently. From the look on Hermione’s face Harry could tell she was fighting with her curiosity. “Are—are they about what happened?” Hermione asked softly.

Harry nodded as he looked away. “There is no way either of you could possibly know what it was like that night,” he said softly. “I was sure I was going to die, just like Cedric. The things I saw…the things he did will probably haunt me for the rest of my life. Dueling with someone like Voldemort—” Ron flinched but Harry ignored it, “—is not something I would recommend. Sirius and Remus have helped me a lot but I can tell they still see the fourteen-year-old that came back that night, battered and near death. I know I’m not completely healthy yet but I couldn’t stand if my friends were to look at me that way too. I am getting stronger. It’s just taking longer than I thought it would.”

“I’m sure they won’t,” James said.

Lily snorted, “You’re very naïve James.”

Ron’s gaze fell to the duvet. “What happened?” he asked quietly. There was no question to what Ron was talking about. He was asking what happened to make everyone act like Harry was so fragile.

“I had a nightmare one night and started screaming,” Harry answered evenly. “Sirius and Remus came in and tried to wake me up but couldn’t. My heart couldn’t handle the stress and went into shock. It stopped beating for almost ten minutes, according to Madam Pomfrey. That’s why there are so many charms and spells in here, to keep it from happening again…which it hasn’t. I take a potion every morning and other than a few light episodes I’ve been fine. You do understand that no one can find out about this, right?”

Ron and Hermione nodded. “We won’t say anything, Harry,” Hermione said confidently. “You can trust us.” For a moment it looked like Hermione was pondering on whether to ask a question or not. Her curiosity won out once again. “Is You-Know-Who really in a coma, Harry?” she asked. “Fred and George overheard something like that with their Extendable Ears.”

Harry let out a tired sight then nodded. “That’s partially the reason I’m not allowed to leave the house,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “The Order thinks Voldemort’s supporters will try to grab me to find out ‘what I did to their master’ which is hogwash.” That of course was a lie since Harry knew from his conversations with Dumbledore that the coma was because of the magical outbursts he had experienced while dueling the Dark Lord but telling Ron and Hermione about the outbursts was a discussion Harry really wasn’t ready for. “I didn’t do anything to him.”

Remus shook his head and put it in his hand, “Harry, don’t lie to them.”

“S’okay Moony. Some things you have to learn by yourself no matter what others say,” James said calmly.

“Well, we can understand why you didn’t tell us, Harry,” Ron said sounding a little overwhelmed by everything he had learned. “I probably wouldn’t want to talk about it either. So…what can we do to help? I mean, I know we can’t…well…”

“I know what you mean, Ron,” Harry said with a smile. He had to admit that he missed talking openly with his friends like this without having to worry about saying something wrong. “I guess I really need you two to just treat me normally. Everyone treating me like I’m made of glass only reminds me that something’s wrong. I don’t need to be reminded of it twenty-four hours a day.”

“We can do that,” Hermione said with a nod. “But you know they’re only treating you like that because they care, don’t you?”

For the second time a knock on the door ended all conversations. The three teenagers turned their heads to see the door opening followed by Madam Pomfrey entering followed by Sirius and Remus. She was carrying a small bag that Harry was quite familiar with. Inside that bag were a variety of potions and nearly every one of them tasted horrible. Harry had learned quite a few tricks to dampen the taste but he still tasted enough of them.

“How are you feeling today, Mr. Potter?” Madam Pomfrey asked as she set her bag on his bedside table. She noticed his plate that had very little eaten off of it. “I see your lack of appetite is back. Is there anything else? Chest pain? Muscle spasms? Headache? Difficulty breathing?”

Harry shook his head. “I’m just a little tired,” he admitted. Since he had been seeing the woman at least once a week he knew better than to lie to her. She always seemed to know when you were lying. Or maybe I’m just a bad liar, Harry mused.

“No Harry, she is evil, I tell you. Evil!” James cried. Lily patted his shoulder.

“That is understandable, Mr. Potter,” Madam Pomfrey said as she pulled out her wand and waved it over Harry. After a few moments she put her wand away and opened her bag. “It seems that last night was only a minor episode. You are quite fortunate there is no further damage. I trust you have already taken your potion?”

Harry nodded as he watched her pull out a few vials of different colored potions. Out of the corner of his eye Harry could see Ron and Hermione shifting around nervously at the foot of Harry’s bed. They obviously didn’t like the fact that what happened last night was considered minor. Glancing at Sirius and Remus, Harry couldn’t help but notice how tired they looked, making him wonder if they had slept at all last night. Probably not. They were most likely afraid something would happen if they did.

“Don’t worry about us cub,” Remus said, “We’ll be fine.”

“For now, Mr. Potter, I suggest you take it easy for the rest of the day,” Madam Pomfrey said breaking into Harry’s thoughts. “I will leave a dreamless sleep potion for you to take tonight; you know the routine by now. I’ll leave tomorrow’s activities up to your guardians.” She looked over her shoulder at Sirius and Remus for a moment before returning her gaze to Harry. “There are also few calming draughts, a muscle relaxant potion and a few more doses of your prescribed potion. Don’t be afraid to use them if you need them, Mr. Potter.”

“Yes ma’am,” Harry said with a nod as Madam Pomfrey closed her bag and picked it up. He had no intention of using the extra potions but he wasn’t about to tell her that. The last thing he wanted was to become dependent on potions with school starting in less than a month. He really couldn’t take a potion in front of everyone there. That would be clear indication that something was wrong.

James fell backwards on the floor and slapped his forehead, “Why, why is he so stubborn?”

“Genetics?” Sirius asked.

He received two very evil glares.

Once Madam Pomfrey bid farewell and left, Remus approached Harry and took the plate out of Harry’s hands. Looking up at Moony, Harry saw a reassuring smile before the man motioned for Harry to lie down. “I’m sure you two can talk more with Harry later,” Remus said to Ron and Hermione as Harry’s head it the pillow. “Right now he needs to rest.”

Ron and Hermione also bid farewell and left. Watching the door close, Harry couldn’t help but feel somewhat relieved. They had taken it better than Harry thought they would. He thought they would be angry and hurt that he had kept something from them. He had expected for Ron and Hermione to demand to know everything that happened. As he closed his eyes Harry had to wonder how well he actually knew his friends. They seemed so different from the people he had known only a month ago. Maybe he wasn’t the only person who had changed.

“Probably not,” Lily said, “Seeing Harry hurt like that must have changed them.”