A Family Once More

TWENTY EIGHT ~ I love you

Hospital Wing

"Harry's been asleep for a really long time, do you think he's alright?" Ron asked Hermione. It's been around 15 hours since Harry fell asleep after meeting his parents, and Dumbledore was discussing Harry's lack to education this year with James and Lily. 

Hermione gave him an exasperated sigh, "Madame Pomfrey has already told us that she suspects he will be asleep for quite a while considering he had an emotional day yesterday." 

'Right, that makes sense." 

Hermione went back to reading, while Ron snacked on some Bertie Botts flavoured beans. Sirius and Remus had gone down for lunch after the lunch time in the Great Hall due to James insistance, seeing as they wanted to stay by Harry's side. 

However, after another 10 min, Ron sighed, "I'm bored." 

"Well, maybe you can get started on your homework seeing as tomorrow is Monday, and we have OWLs this year too." Hermione suggested, raising her eye brows. She knew Ron had yet to start on his homework for the weekend. 

"Maybe the teacher's will let me off? Seeing as I was with Harry." 

"I was with Harry too, Ronald." 

"But you're Hermione!" Ron exclaimed with a huff. "Oh all right. But can I bring it here so you can help me?" 

"Sure." 

He took one last look at Harry's sleeping figure and left the Hospital Wing to retrieve his books and writing materials. 

Soon after he left, James and Lily returned back to the Hospital Wing, glad that Harry was still asleep. They did not want to leave their son's side while he was sleeping. However, Dumbledore said that it was a convenient time to discuss since they were going to have a staff meeting soon, and hence they would be able to discuss Harry's plans for school with all the teachers there. 

"Hello Mrs and Mr Pot- Sorry I mean James and Lily. How did the discussion go?" Hermione greeted Harry's parents. 

James and Lily sat down by Harry's side, holding his hand before Lily answered. "Well Dumbledore gave us 2 options to consider. The teacher's had volunteered to provide Harry with private lessons to catch him up on his school work when Madame Pomfrey deems him ready for school. Or, James and I can teach Harry what he has missed, seeing as we did quite well during our time at Hogwarts." 

"Of course we want to be able to teach him, seeing as that would grant us with some quality time with him as well. But there might have been a change in syllabus and we aren't really trained teachers as well, so he may not get the best education from us." James added on. 

Hermione thought this over for a while. She knew how much they wanted to have the chance to teach Harry, so she came up with an idea. "What if I lend you my school books for a week? Will that be enough time for you to look through the syllabus and plan out your lessons? I know the textbooks pretty well anyways, I can do without it for a week. And I'm guessing a week should be enough to let Harry recover enough to start some theory work?" 

James and Lily immediately smiled at Hermione's suggestion, grateful that their son had such a thoughtful and smart friend. 

"That's a brilliant idea, Hermione. Thank you for that." James smiled kindly at her. 

"Also, Harry didn't wake while we were gone right?" Lily asked worriedly. 

"No, he's been sound asleep." 

James and Lily look at Harry with loving smiles on both their faces. 

"Hermione, can we start with Charms first- Oh hello James and Lily." Ron greeted when he realised that Hermione wasn't along with Harry anymore. 

"Nice to see you again Ron." James smiled. 

"So what's going to happen to Harry?" Ron asked. 

"Well, Hermione is going to lend us her textbooks for a week so that we can refresh ourselves on fifth year syllabus so that we can help catch him up to date with the rest of his year." Lily told him. 

"That's great then, all of you get to spend more time together." Ron looked back at Hermione, "So, can we start with Charms?" 

With a nod of her head, Hermione started to explain the different uses of Aguamenti, and the restrictions of it so that Ron could get started on his essay. 

While the two of them were working on Ron's essay, Sirius and Remus came back to the Hospital Wing with 2 trays of food for James and Lily, since Ron and Hermione had eaten before during their lunch time. 

The five school friends continued catching up, reminiscing their times at school, as well as baby Harry. Sirius and Remus also added in their stories of Harry as a teenager, with Hermione and Ron butting in at times, telling James and Lily how absolutely stubborn their son is, but of course a good friend none the less. All of them could not wait to talk to Harry again when he wakes. 

It was near dinner time when Harry finally awoke. He had slept for a good 20 hours or so. Madame Pomfrey had, of course, shooed everyone out so that she could check on Harry, except for James and Lily, who of course demanded to stay. 

While Madame Pomfrey checked on Harry, James and Lily continued to hold on to his hand, neither wanting to let go anytime soon. 

"How long was I asleep for?" Harry asked, he did indeed feel more energised than the day before, with a little more strength in his body. 

The couple briefly looked at each other before looking back at their son, "Around 20 hours." 

"20 hours!" Harry exclaimed aghast. "Did you stay the whole time?" 

"Well... not really no." James said apologetically, looking down at their hands that were intertwined. "Dumbledore called us to his office for around an hour or so." 

"He wanted to discuss your education plans while the teachers were having their fortnightly staff meeting." Lily rushed, hoping that Harry wouldn't hate them for leaving his side after they promised they would be with him.  "We didn't want to leave of course, but Dumbledore insisted. We hope you're not mad." 

"No, I'm not mad..." Harry stoped himself from saying 'mum', he really did love having parents again, but it felt weird and unusual having his real mother by his side, and not just a motherly figure. He didn't know what he was supposed to say around them. He knew he loved them, but it was all still so new to him. "I didn't expect myself to sleep for so long, if I did, I wouldn't have asked you to stay." 

"Whether you asked us to stay, or insisted us to leave, we would have definitely stayed by your side anyways. We are really sorry for leaving you, but Ron and Hermione were by your side so you weren't alone." James apologised. 

Harry felt tears brim his eyes when his father told him that they would have stayed anyways. He never felt so loved and protected before. 

Before he could stop himself and without really registering what he was about to say, he looked at both his parents in the eyes and said, "I love you." And he knew he meant every word. 

Tears brimmed all the Potters' eyes, along with loving and bittersweet smiles. 

"We love you too." 

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And that's the end of this chapter!  

I never realised how much I missed writing this fanfic, and I do sincerely apologise for not updating in a REALLY long time. I had just finished all my exams! Yayyy! So hopefully school and dance does not take up so much of my time, and I can continue writing this fanfic more regularly. 

Thank you to those who have stayed during these months of me not updating to read this 1000+ word chapter, it's not the longest, but I hope it will suffice till next time, which will hopefully be soon.