For the next month Harry felt himself being pushed past his limit. Professor Umbridge somehow found reasons for assigning Harry detention which gave her hours to drill into his head what a troublemaker he was while he mutilated his hand with writing lines. In addition to the D.A. and Council meetings, all of the fifth year students were given so much homework that it was impossible to get a decent night’s sleep so Harry did the only thing he could do.

He cut back on sleep.

Moans were heard.

“Come on! Doesn’t anyone notice? Are they all blind? Harry has to be favoring his left hand don’t they find it weird?” James cried distressed.

“It’s unbelievable the lengths people will go to ignore a problem and pretend everything is fine,” Remus said dryly. “They don’t do it because they are bad but no one likes to have their peace disturbed so they find excuses. Why do you think Fudge has it so easy denying Voldemort’s return? Because no one wants it to be true. The same applies here. Harry makes up weak excuses and everyone believes it.”

Throughout the detentions it was becoming more and more difficult for Harry to remain silent while Professor Umbridge ridiculed him, Sirius, Remus, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall but somehow he managed.

“Okay, Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore I get,” Lily said. “But McGonagall. What does she get with that?”

“Minnie has always been a strong supporter of Dumbledore,” Sirius shrugged.

That didn’t mean he left those nights unaffected. After spending hours in bed calming himself down Harry fell into nightmares of everyone he cared about telling him he was nothing more than a burden and should be sent back to the Dursleys. As soon as the nightmares started Harry was extra careful in casting the silencing charms around his bed. His four poster bed soon became a fortress of charms that made Harry’s head ache but at least no one heard him cry out.

Ron and Hermione were also feeling the strain with their Prefect duties that had steadily increased as the holidays drew near. It wasn’t uncommon for Ron and Hermione to disappear for hours and return with Ron complaining about trouble causing first years with Hermione only moments away from losing her patience with him. It was hard to figure out who was more stressed with their duties: Ron or Hermione. Hermione clearly loved being a Prefect but still took her responsibility seriously which aggravated Ron who enjoyed his position when he didn’t have to discipline or when he didn’t have a lot of schoolwork. Their hectic schedules were probably the only reason they hadn’t started to question the slowly increasing shadows under Harry’s eyes.

Remus shrugged skeptical and said, “See, what did I say? They make excuses. If they have supposedly more responsibilities than Harry they should question why he looks more stressed than them but they don’t.”

As Christmas drew near everyone seemed to become more and more anxious for a break away from the walls of Hogwarts. Harry was no different. His weekly correspondence with Sirius and Remus had only increased the want to see his guardians face to face although Harry was also nervous. Sirius and Remus were extremely observant and had a tendency to know when Harry was hiding something. There was also the problem that Harry wouldn’t be able to blame his exhaustion on schoolwork at home.

“Good,” James nodded. “This way Moony and Padfoot can do something about her,” and the way James spat the ‘her’ could be only interpreted as an insult.

Ron and Hermione were also going home which would mean this was the first Christmas they were completely separated. Hermione was going skiing with her parents and Ron was going home to The Burrow. It took a while for Harry and Hermione to explain the concept of skiing to Ron who still thought it was ridiculous to strap pieces of wood to your feet and slide down a mountain but they managed.

With everyone leaving for the holidays (especially everyone from the Council), D.A. meetings were being put on hold until everyone returned. When the final D.A. meeting before the holidays arrived, Harry made a point to arrive to the Room of Requirement early only to see that someone had been extremely busy. Christmas decorations were hanging all over the place. It seemed that Dobby had taken it upon himself to spread a little Christmas cheer. The Council arrived shortly after him, also admiring Dobby’s handiwork.

“I love Dobby,” Sirius said fondly.

“Oh, mistletoe,” Luna pointed out dreamily that Harry was standing under it causing Harry to quickly move and the rest of the Council to laugh.

Before anything else could be said D.A. members started to arrive. Tonight was just a review which meant everyone from the Council had a portion of the lesson. Neville covered the Impediment Jinx, Cho covered the Stunning Spell, Justin covered the Disarming Spell, Hannah ran through the basic Protego Charm, Ginny and Luna ran through some basic jinxes, and Harry covered a few of the more advanced spells that the D.A. had learned. From time to time Harry had actually taught when no one from the Council felt comfortable teaching the material. It was a rare occasion for no one from the Council to grasp the material in the Wednesday meeting but it did happen.

Watching the representatives instruct, Harry couldn’t help but be amazed at the progress everyone had made so far. Neville and Justin had found confidence, Cho had found something to throw herself into so she wouldn’t dwell on the past, Hannah had gained patience, Ginny had stepped out of the long shadow made by her many brothers, and Luna…would always be Luna. She certainly had a unique perspective but now she wasn’t hesitant to voice it. The Council had accepted each member for who they were which had done wonders for their self esteems.

After two hours of running through everything, Harry called the meeting to a halt. “Everyone is making excellent progress so far,” he announced as he walked back to the Council. “After the break we will begin to cover more advanced material, perhaps even Patronuses if time allows. It all depends on you and how hard you work for it. If you have any questions or ideas, you know who to talk to. Have a Happy Christmas everyone.”

Sirius chuckled.

“What?” James asked and Sirius’ chuckled turned into full blown laughter.

“I think he has reached his limit and has finally succumbed to insanity,” Lily said knowingly.

“That would imply he was sane to begin with Lily,” Remus said, “And we all know that is not the case.”

“Hey!” Sirius cried. “I am so sane!”

“Why were you laughing?” James tried to divert an argument.

“Because after the way Harry was against being the leader he is always acting like one.”

“He does have a point,” Lily shrugged.

Everyone slowly filtered out, wishing Harry and the Council a ‘Happy Christmas’ as they passed. Soon it was just the Council left who cleaned up before they departed for their own towers. Harry walked with Neville and Ginny who were talking quietly about possible material to be covered after Christmas. Harry just listened to the excited chatter. His supervisor role had slowly shifted to supervising teacher but he found that he enjoyed the change. He enjoyed teaching. As long as everyone treats me normally, I’m fine.

With the final week of classes before break arriving, Harry made every effort not to give Professor Umbridge any ammunition to give him detention. With the ever increasing pile of schoolwork, Harry really couldn’t afford it. He had been up late every night and early everyone yet he was only just getting by. It was almost like all of the teachers were trying to push all of the fifth years into exhaustion before they left.

“They live to torture,” Sirius said and gave Remus a dirty look.

“I will ignore that,” Remus said lifting his hand and showing his palm to Sirius with a disdainful expression.

Unfortunately for Harry, Professor Umbridge wasn’t in the Christmas spirit. Just as class ended on Monday, she declared that Harry would have detention on Wednesday for not paying attention in class. This completely enraged everyone in the class. They had been reading the entire time! How could you be punished for not paying attention when you weren’t supposed to be paying attention to the teacher to begin with? What even shocked the class more was that Harry just accepted the unfair punishment and left with Ron and Hermione hurrying after him.

“I can’t believe this!” Hermione ranted as they walked to the Great Hall, not caring who may be listening. “That—that hag! How can she possibly use that as a valid excuse for giving anyone detention? We were reading the entire time!”

“Really Hermione,” Lily huffed. “Like any of her other excuses were valid.”

“You should really say something to Dumbledore, Harry,” Ron added. “Umbridge is out of control. How many detentions has she given you the past month?”

“Yes Ron, thank you for trying to make Harry see some sense,” Remus said gratefully.

“More then I care to remember,” Harry muttered honestly. His detentions had been at least twice a week which made it extremely difficult for his hand to heal completely between detentions. He had grown accustomed to having his sleeve cover his right hand all the time now to hide the bandages. He had slowly started using his left hand more so he wasn’t attracting attention to his right hand and so far it was working.

“So what does she have you doing in detentions, Harry?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Er—just writing lines,” Harry said evenly. It wasn’t a lie necessarily, just not the complete truth. Harry had become extremely talented in half-truths lately. It was an accomplishment that he wasn’t proud of but he had convinced himself that it was necessary.

As one, the three Marauders and Lily thumped their own foreheads and moaned in despair.

“Oh,” Hermione said in amazement. It was clear that she hadn’t been expecting to hear that. “Well, I guess it could be worse.”

“Exactly how?” James cried desperately.

“Right,” Harry said softly. “It could be worse.” Although he didn’t know how it possibly could.

Soon enough time for detention on Wednesday arrived and Harry had to endure hearing Professor Umbridge berating Harry, claiming that he was a trouble-making burden and it was only a matter of time before the wizarding world wizened up and realized the truth while Harry wrote lines in his own blood. Truthfully, Harry was too tired to do anything but listen as Umbridge went on and on for at least an hour before sitting down behind her desk to grade assignments. By now he was used to Umbridge’s scolding voice and tried to just ignore it as much as he could.

He was released around eleven and quickly followed the pattern of hurrying to the bathroom to clean and bandage his wound before hurrying to the Gryffindor Tower. By now he had everything down to a routine. He made his way through the empty Common Room without having to look, hurried up the staircase and entered the dark dorm room with Neville’s snores being the only loud sound. He maneuvered past the belongings his roommates had left on the floor to reach his bed before changing, casting several silencing charms and crawling in with a hope that tonight would be a night without nightmares.

But like every night, tonight wouldn’t be that night. He quickly fell into a nightmare where Sirius and Remus were shouting at him, telling him he was a good-for-nothing freak who would be given back to the Dusleys as soon as Vernon was released form jail so some sense could be knocked into Harry since that was what Harry so desperately needed. Harry tried to plead with his guardians but they wouldn’t listen. To them, Harry wasn’t worth listening to.

“You know, the fact that Remus was shouting should make Harry realize it’s just a nightmare and definitely not possible,” Sirius said wisely.

Then the nightmare changed. His body changed. His body was now smooth and flexible. He was gliding like he was on ice but it was cold, dark stone. He was sliding on his belly, flat against the floor. It was strange but he didn’t feel strange for some reason. The objects around him pulsated with strange colors. Looking down the corridor, he noticed someone—a man sitting on the floor with his head bowed, his outline clear despite the darkness. He was obviously asleep.

Sticking out his tongue, Harry could taste the man’s scent in the air. It was strangely familiar but he couldn’t place where from. It was so familiar. He knew this man. Why couldn’t he think of who it was? The man started to stir causing his silver cloak to fall as he jumped to his feet, noticing that he wasn’t alone anymore. The man was tall compared to him but that didn’t matter. He watched as the man pulled out a wand leaving him no choice, no choice at all…

But why? Why didn’t he have a choice?

“Well, because the man is about to attack you!” Sirius said in a matter of fact tone. James, Lily and Remus eyed Sirius with a look that clear said they highly doubted Sirius’ intellectual abilities.

“I think Sirius,” Remus said slowly in an annoyed tone. “That this is clearly not a normal dream”

“How do you know?” Sirius asked huffing.

“Because the first part of the dream wasn’t as detailed as this one,” Lily said. “The author wouldn’t bother detailing it if it was just an unimportant dream.”

“Oh well,” Sirius said clearly offended and continued in a mock serious voice making quotation marks with his fingers. “If the ‘author’ says so. I am so sorry I am not as versed as you geniuses in literary tools.”

Remus looked to the side and bit his lip toying with the book’s pages, Lily chewed her hair and nodded her head to James towards Sirius.

“What? Why me?” James whispered. “I didn’t even open my mouth.”

Lily huffed exasperated and James sighed, “Sorry Padfoot. I think we are all a little on edge because of the hag. We may have taken our temper on you. Especially the people that are not me in the room.”

Remus fidgeted with the book a little more and mumbled embarrassed, “Yes, sorry Padfoot.”

“Sorry,” Lily said sincerely.

“Well,” Sirius said crossing his arms, tilting his head upwards and looking at them from above. “I don’t know if I’ll forgive you. I have to think and delibera- oof,” he was assaulted by three hugs and thrown on the bed.

“Come on Padfoot!” James cried. “Forgive us already.”

“We won’t get off you until you do!” Remus said in a singsong voice.

“Pretty please,” Lily begged.

“Oh, fine. Now get off me. You are running the hair style,” Sirius said shoving them off him and straightening his hair and robes.

An overpowering wave of pain flooded him especially around his scar, pushing away any protest as Harry cried out. It felt like his head was being split open by an extremely powerful force. He had absolutely no choice he had to strike the man. It was needed. It was necessary. But why?

He reared high from the floor and struck the man’s side…NO! A commanding force pushed Harry backwards allowing him to see a familiar looking snake strike two more times. Harry instantly recognized the man now yelling in pain before falling back against the wall and slumping to the floor, his blood soaking the floor around him. It was Mr. Weasley.

“WHAT?” Remus spluttered looking at the book horrified.

“NO!” Lily cried.

“Mr. Weasley can’t die!” James said shocked. “He can’t! He’s nice Mr. Weasley, who likes Muggles and is Ron’s dad. The author can’t just go and kill him. It’s simply not done.”

“Yeah, what James said,” Sirius said. “With the literary tools and all.”

Before Harry could act the scene quickly distorted into darkness as he quickly sat upright in his bed. He was soaked with sweat, breathing heavily, his head was completely throbbing in pain, and feeling like he was about to lose his stomach. As quickly as possible, Harry untangled himself from his sheets and hurried out of the dorm room, tripping over Seamus’s shoes in the process. He ran to the nearest bathroom, to the nearest stall and emptied his stomach in the toilet. Now feeling completely exhausted, Harry flushed the toilet then sat down with his back against the stall. At the moment he didn’t trust himself to be able to sit up without some form of assistance.

“Harry,” Lily said sincerely “I appreciate that you are not feeling well but… MR. WEASLEY NEEDS HELP! HE IS BLEEDING OUT!”

“Harry!” Ron shouted as he entered the bathroom and made his way to the stall. The moment he saw Harry, his eyes widened at the sight of his friend. “Harry, y—you’re bleeding! There’s blood all over your face! What happened?”

“What? Blood? How? Where’s the blood coming from Moony?” Sirius asked shaking Remus who had to work a lot to pry Sirius’ fists from his robes.

“We’ll find out if I am allowed to read!”

“McGonagall…please,” Harry said weakly which was all the incentive Ron needed to run out of the bathroom as fast as he could.

Closing his eyes and tilting his head back against the stall, Harry desperately tried to keep his thoughts in order and not give into the pounding pain in his head. Unfortunately his stomach didn’t agree with staying still forcing Harry to retch whatever little was left in his stomach in the toilet. Flushing again, Harry fought the urge to collapse and retook his spot leaning against the stall for support as several people entered the bathroom at an extremely quick pace.

“Mr. Potter!” Professor McGonagall cried at the sight of Harry as she knelt down at his side. “Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Thomas, fetch Madam Pomfrey. Mr. Weasley, inform Professor Dumbledore, the password is Fizzing Whizzbee. Mr. Finnegan, dampen a cloth with cool water. Move boys!”

They didn’t need to be told twice and hurried to do as they were told. Harry felt someone moving his fringe off to the side and looked over to see Professor McGonagall with panicked look on her face. He knew he had to tell her what he saw before Ron came back. “Order guard… in corridor…injured badly,” he said tiredly as his eyes closed.

“Yes, finally!” Lily cried relieved.

“Are you sure Harry?” McGonagall asked in an urgent whisper.

“Of course he is sure,” James said annoyed. “Now get moving woman!”

Harry started to nod but stopped when the movement caused the pain in his head to amplify. He let out a moan but it had been enough for Professor McGonagall who quickly left after instructing Seamus to put the damp cloth on Harry’s forehead. A moment later Harry felt something cold applied to his forehead, sending chills down his spine. He suddenly felt so cold but couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it. He head lolled forward as he slowly lost consciousness. The last thing he remembered was the feeling like he was being effortlessly lifted out of the stall.

---

Intense cold surrounded him yet he was covered with blankets. He was shivering, his teeth chattering as he rolled onto his left side and tried to pull his bed covers tighter around him in a hope for some warmth. His head ached and his stomach was uneasy. It took Harry a moment to remember why he felt so ill. His vision. Great, just great. Now he didn’t have to worry about normal nightmares but scar nightmares too.

“I can’t explain it. I don’t know why he isn’t responding to any of the potions but I also can’t explain how his scar started to bleed. Perhaps the two are connected.”

“Because of the vision people!” Sirius cried. “Is everyone incompetent around here!” he moaned into his hand.

“It’s a possibility, Poppy. We won’t know for sure until Harry wakes. Until then, I must ask that no one be allowed to see him, including his friends. Harry doesn’t need the distractions right now.”

A cold hand gently brushed his cheek causing Harry shiver. It was almost like he had been touched by a ghost. The hand quickly pulled away then rested on his back with the covers separating any coldness the touch may provide. The hand started to move slowly almost like it was trying to coax Harry to awaken. Harry let out a groan in protest as he tried to bury his face in his pillow. The hand against his back was alerting Harry that his clothes were wet and sticking to him.

“Okay,” Sirius said annoyed. “I know I have let my feelings about this known on several occasions in the last few days but I have to…I mean…no one is listening,” he inhaled deeply and bellowed, “LET HIM SLEEP!”

“Come on, Harry,” Professor Dumbledore said softly. “Time to wake up.”

Harry let out another groan in protest but he did slowly open his eyes and looked over his shoulder to see an overabundance of white that could only belong to Professor Dumbledore. Reluctantly, Harry rolled onto his back and blinked tiredly at the Headmaster. “P’fessor?” he asked groggily. “Is Mr. Weasley okay?”

Professor Dumbledore carefully slid Harry’s glassed on allowing Harry to see clearly. “Arthur is currently at St. Mungo’s,” he said quietly. “I must thank you, Harry. Because of you we were able to find him before it was too late. Do you feel up to telling me what you saw?”

“St. Mungo’s does not mean he is okay,” Remus pointed out, “You did not answer the question Dumbledore!”

Harry swallowed painfully, discovering that his throat was extremely dry. Professor Dumbledore appeared to realize this and helped Harry take a few sips of water before sitting down at Harry’s bedside. Slowly, Harry told Professor Dumbledore about his ‘scar nightmare’, having to take periodic breaks for a drink of water when his sore throat made it too hard to continue. It was odd. His throat almost felt like he had been screaming for a long period of time.

When he finished, nothing was said for what felt like a long time. Turning his head, Harry saw Professor Dumbledore had a thoughtful look on his face. “If I understand correctly, you saw everything from the snake’s point of view until the attack when you saw everything from the third person point of view,” Dumbledore concluded. “I wish I could give you answers for the questions I know are running through your head right now, Harry, but I must ask you to be patient for now, can you do that?”

Harry slowly nodded but had to stop when the movement caused the pain in his head to increase. Professor Dumbledore was about to call for Madam Pomfrey when the sound of the door opening startled both of them. Dumbledore instantly stood and turned, his body blocking Harry’s view for a moment until the Headmaster moved aside and allowed a familiar black haired Marauder to hurry to Harry’s side and pull him into a fierce hug.

Sirius gasped as he loosened his hold on Harry and felt the teen’s forehead. “You’re burning up!” he exclaimed the looked at Dumbledore. “You didn’t tell us that Harry was ill when you sent us to retrieve Arthur! Why hasn’t he been given something for it?”

“Yes,” Sirius said triumphantly. “Thank you! Finally someone with some sense.”

James eyed his friend and said biting back his laugh, “Padfoot, you and sense do not mix.”

A pillow hit James face.

“I didn’t know, Sirius,” Dumbledore said honestly. “Poppy has tried everything but so far Harry isn’t responding to any of the potions. It could be any number of things. At the moment Harry just needs some uninterrupted rest.”

“Then let us take him home,” Remus said calmly. “He wouldn’t have to deal with any distractions like he would here, you wouldn’t have to worry about someone sneaking in to see him and we know enough from this summer to help him recover.”

“Don’t remind me,” Lily said darkly.

“Well, at least we know Padfoot and Moony will make him better,” James nodded satisfied.

“You don’t have to convince me, Remus,” Professor Dumbledore said pleasantly. “Harry is your charge. If you two want to take him home until he recovers then that is your decision. Poppy is the one you have to convince. You know how protective she is of her patients, particularly Harry.”

“Make a run for it Moony!” James cried. “Get Harry and run! She’s getting old, she won’t catch you.”

Remus looked skeptical, “I think she would, no matter how old she is, and I don’t fancy facing the consequences of running from her,” he shuddered.

Sirius gently lowered Harry back to the bed and covered him up before running a hand through Harry’s wet hair, the familiar action instantly causing Harry to relax and close his eyes. “Get some rest, Pronglet,” he said with a smile. “We’ll be home before you know it.”

Remus reached out and gave Harry’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “If you need anything, just let us know,” he said gently. “We’ll be right here.”

Harry let darkness consume him knowing that for the first time in a long time, he felt safe knowing that Sirius and Remus were by his side.

“Aw,” the four sighed together.

---

For Harry it was almost like he was trapped in a place between sleep and consciousness. One moment he was in a soft bed and the next he was being carried up stairs with his head resting against his carrier’s chest. He was wrapped in a blanket but it just wasn’t enough to stop his shivering. A muffled voice spoke so quietly that Harry didn’t bother in trying to figure out what was being said. Another muffled voice replied but it was so distant, so faint that Harry wasn’t sure he had indeed heard someone speaking. His mind was such a sea of fog at the moment that he really couldn’t make out anything yet alone what people were saying.

The person carrying Harry had finished ascending the stairs and was now walking on a smooth surface allowing Harry to begin his descent back into slumber. The descent wasn’t long. Before Harry knew it he was being lowered onto a bed and instantly curled up, clutching onto the blanket as if his life depended on it. Hopefully the large piece of cloth would warm him soon.

Hands carefully pried the blanket out of Harry’s grasp and pulled him out of his cocoon. Harry moaned in protest as he felt bitter cold surround him even more. He was pulled into a sitting position and held upright as hands started to lift his shirt up. All of the cloudiness in his head instantly vanished as he realized what was happening. Removing his shirt would mean someone seeing his bandaged hand that was currently hidden in his sleeve.

“YES!” James cried delighted.

 Harry tried to push the hands away, earning a chuckle at his antics.

“Don’t chuckle,” Remus said angry. “Find out what’s happening!”

“Come on, Harry,” Remus said gently. “You’re clothes are wet. Changing into some dry ones will warm you up.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow at Remus and Remus huffed:

“Well, even the best sometime make mistakes.”

“The best,” James mouthed to Lily who giggled.

Harry let out another moan of protest as he broke free of Remus’ grasp and backed away. He instantly curled into a ball, clutching his hand to his chest. He couldn’t let them see. He couldn’t let them know what he had to endure for the last term. He didn’t want to be a burden. He didn’t want to cause trouble because that was what letting them see would do. It was better this way.

“Yes, because that is not suspect behavior at all,” Sirius snorted sarcastically.

“Moony, just cast a drying charm,” Sirius said on Harry’s behalf. “He needs his rest right now—”

“No, Moony don’t!” Lily ordered. “Grab his hand and find out what he is hiding!”

“—no Sirius,” Remus interrupted. “Poppy told us not to use magic. Besides, look at him. Something’s not right.”

“Yes, thank you Moony,” James said relieved. “I knew we could count on you to figure this out.”

He then moved closer to the teen. “Harry, what’s wrong with your hand? Let me see it.” Receiving no reply, Remus took another approach. He wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him upright. “Sirius, look at his hand.”

Sirius easily pried Harry’s hidden hand out of his grasp and slowly pushed up the sleeve to reveal white gauze that was wet with a mixture of sweat and blood wrapped around his hand. “What in Merlin’s name?” Sirius asked in shock. “Harry, what happened?”

“That hag used a blood quill on him!” Sirius said outraged.

“Sirius,” Remus said calmly. “You asked Harry not yourself.”

“I was just informing me,” Sirius tried to defend himself.

Harry tried to pull his hand back but Sirius wouldn’t let go. How could he tell them? What would they think? They would be angry…no, furious. That much was a given. Remus tightened his hold on Harry, pulling the teen deeper into his chest. Harry couldn’t move. He was trapped. He could only sit there as Sirius slowly unwrapped the gauze and look closely at the wound.

Sirius inhaled sharply. “Harry,” he growled angrily. “Who did this to you?”

“THE HAG!” the four cried.

Harry was clearly shaking but now it was from a mixture of fever and fear. His breathing quickened as panic settled through his body. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t think of anything except Sirius’ anger. ‘Who did this to you’ changed into ‘what did you do’ in his mind. It was after all his fault, right? It had to be. He had been the only one singled out by Umbridge. No one else had been punished like this.

“I so hope you kill her Sirius,” James hissed through gritted teeth as he strangled a pillow.

His head was tilted backwards before cool liquid filled his mouth, causing him to gag. Some of the liquid escaped his mouth but the majority of it found its way down his throat. The reaction was instantaneous. Harry’s body relaxed. He was still shaking from fever but it wasn’t anything like it had been a moment ago. Instead of panic Harry found himself unable to think of anything substantial. It was like he was in his own personal bubble. Nothing could hurt him here.

“Yes,” Lily prodded. “So now you can tell them everything so they can go and kill the hag very slowly and painfully. But all in a very humanitarian way,” Lily added that last part as she received some very shocked looks.

A calm voice that sounded a lot like Remus’ entered the bubble. “Harry, what happened to you hand?” he asked.

“Detention,” Harry answered groggily before he could stop himself. “Lines…Umbridge…”

“Finally,” Remus sighed.

Whatever happened next, Harry was too out of it to know.

---

“I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, DUMBLEDORE! I WANT UMBRIDGE ARRESTED AND TRIED FOR ABUSE OF A CHILD AND ABUSING HER POSITION! BLOOD QUILLS ARE ILLEGAL! FUDGE HAS GONE TOO FAR THIS TIME! I WILL NOT STAND BY AND LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS!”

“See?” Sirius said frantically pointing at the book. “I told you they were illegal.”

“And we don’t need the book to tell us who that was,” Lily said approvingly.

“Yes, Padfoot and Moony to the rescue!” James clapped his hands.

Harry’s eyes flew open at the sound of Sirius’ angry voice. He wasn’t so cold anymore but now he had an uneasy stomach although not as bad as he had after the vision of Mr. Weasley being attacked. Looking around Harry saw that his room was dimly lit, the source of light being the hallway light shining in from his partially opened door. From the sounds of it Sirius was right outside his door. Pulling his bed covers over his head, Harry slowly tried to make sense of what Sirius was shouting about. The last thing he remembered was talking to Sirius and Remus in the hospital wing. Clearly he wasn’t there anymore. He knew his own bed too well to make that mistake.

“Sirius, please calm down,” Remus pleaded, his voice sounding tired. “You’ll wake Harry and you saw what happened the last time you were upset. Harry was afraid of you. I’m angry too but shouting isn’t going to solve anything. Right now it’s just Umbridge’s word against Harry’s. Do you have any idea what a trial like that would do to him, especially now with the condition he’s in?”

“Moony,” James said slowly and dangerously. “Please tell me you don’t plan to let Umbridge get away with this.”

“I hope not,” Remus said sincerely.

So they know, Harry thought grimly. He knew it had been too much to hope that his detentions would remain a secret, especially with him being ill. From the sounds of it that was all they knew, which was a blessing in its own right. If Sirius found out what Umbridge had been saying…he would probably track her down and curse her for hours…unless he agreed with her…

“Okay,” Sirius said tiredly rubbing his temple. “First of all; I do not agree with the hag. Second of all; don’t you dare keep all she’s done from us Harry James Potter or I’ll…I’ll…I know, I’ll ground you, yeah, until your fifty or something! Ha!”

“I never thought I’d hear those words coming from your mouth Padfoot,” James said astonished. “Don’t do that again. It’s freaky!”

No! Don’t think that! It’s not true! It can’t be!

“Harry can handle it, Moony,” Sirius said confidently. “He’s strong. He’ll do the right thing.”

I was doing the right thing, Sirius. I was keeping you safe.

“No, you weren’t,” Lily moaned.

“If that’s the case then why did he try to hide it from us?” Remus countered. “Harry’s scared, Sirius. He’s scared of us. This is not the same Harry that we’ve talked to every week. Something happened to him, something traumatic. We need to find out what it was and we won’t get anywhere if you can’t control your temper. If that’s too hard for you, Sirius, then you’ll have to stay away from Harry for the time being.”

“WHAT?” Sirius cried shocked. “You can’t do that Moony!” he told Remus.

“If it’s the best for Harry-“ Lily started.

“Keeping me from Harry is the best?” Sirius cried.

To his surprise James said seriously, “If you can’t control your temper Padfoot, it may be. Would you rather Harry not tell them what happened and shut down?”

“No,” Sirius said in a small voice. “But I don’t want to go away. I’ll control my temper, I promise.”

“What is important is to find out what happened to Harry,” Professor Dumbledore said calmly. “I spoke with his friends but they knew little. Harry had only mentioned that Professor Umbridge writing lines. He hid it from everyone, Sirius. The question is why. Why would Harry hide something like this?”

“Because he was being stupid!” James cried. “That’s why!”

“Umbridge obviously threatened him,” Sirius said instantly. “Harry would have told me otherwise.” There was a long silence. “Why didn’t he tell us, Moony?” Sirius asked painfully. “I thought he trusted us. Why couldn’t he trust us with this? Why does Harry always think he has to deal with everything himself? He’s just a kid.”

“Yes Moony!” Lily asked desperately. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Remus said. “Because of the Muggles maybe,” he offered.

Harry pushed back the covers and slowly sat up. The hurt in Sirius’ voice was too much to bear. Ignoring the wave of dizziness, Harry pulled himself out of bed and stood up, fighting a wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm his stomach. He covered his mouth with one hand as he grabbed hold of his bedside table with the other to stop the swaying, knocking over a half-full glass of water in the process.

In the blink of an eye Harry found himself being supported underneath his arms and almost carried to the bathroom. The sudden movement was too much in Harry’s already nauseated state causing him to lose the fight with his stomach. Fortunately there was nothing actually in his stomach so nothing actually came up. After nearly five minutes of dry heaving, Harry sat back on his heels and was gently urged to lie down on Remus’ lap while Sirius covered him with a blanket.

“Feeling better, Harry?” Remus asked softly.

Harry could only let out a groan as his eyes closed. There was so much he wanted to say but he just couldn’t find the energy. He wanted Sirius and Remus to understand that he never meant to hurt them.

“We know,” Remus patted the book gently.

If there was one thing he learned this year it was that his fame made him a target in more ways than one. Everyone wanted to make an example of him; Voldemort, Death Eaters, Draco Malfoy, and Professor Umbridge being among the many.

“Back to bed,” Sirius said as he burrowed his hands underneath the teen’s back and knees. “Poppy will be stopping by a little later and then we need to have a talk, kiddo.” He repositioned Harry and carefully lifted him off the floor. “Someone’s lost weight…again,” he muttered as he carried Harry out of the bathroom. “You’re supposed to be gaining weight at Hogwarts, Harry, not losing it.”

It was clear that Sirius was talking to fill the silence since Harry was half-asleep as it was. Remus could tell that Sirius finally realized that there was a lot more going on with Harry. They had suspected something had been off with Harry but the fifteen-year-old had always claimed that he was stressed with homework. They had believed him and ignored any suspicions they may have had.

Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were certainly kicking themselves for it now.

“Don’t kick yourselves,” Lily said sadly. “Unfortunately Harry is very convincing.”