Cared For

Chapter 24: Don't ever go chasing Dark Lords

Published: 17th March, 2022

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11 year old Harry Potter opened his eyes to be met with the ceiling of the Infirmary. Honestly, he's already used to seeing this place, but right now, it was for a bigger reason. Memories of the night swarmed through his head. Quirrell, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the Mirror of Erised, the Philosopher's Stone-

Shit, the Philosopher's Stone.

 Harry flew up in a sitting position.

"WE NEED TO GET THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE! PROFESSOR QUIRRELL-"

"Harry, calm down!"

Minerva jumped up from her seat, seeing Harry's mental state. She took hold of Harry, preventing him from jumping out of the bed. "You don't have to worry about it. Professor Dumbledore handled it already." Minerva got Harry to lay down again. He's already been through hell for an 11 year old, taking responsibility for something so big. 

Harry allowed her to get him to relax. She led him through some deep breathing, something she's always did to calm him down when he was younger. Now that he was calmer, he was able to take in the room he was in. The bed was surrounded by hundreds of cards, and flowers, even some sweet treats on the tables. Minerva took one of said sweets, a packet of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans, and passed one to him. He took one brown one and ate it. 

Mental note: Never risk eating a brown one hoping it is chocolate.

"I was planning on taking these to our dorms, but I thought it would make you happier seeing them," Minerva said. "These came from your 'loyal fans'" Minerva said, making air quotes and smirking. Raising Harry, she had learnt a bit of the quirks of conversation amongst young wizards.

Her smirk was only short lived though, as her face fell into a frown. Harry wanted to ask about the Stone, but Minerva had other plans.

"Harry, what were you tHINKING? Staying up after bed, to run after a Dark Lord? You've grown up in the Wizarding World, I thought you would understand the risks!! And under my nose no less!"

Harry felt a bit guilty now, but how exactly do you redeem yourself? "Hey, I'm sorry for running after someone affiliated with the Dark Lord and attempting to fight him"??

"You should have come for someone, I'm always here to talk to, even if I haven't defeated Dark Lords before. Even Albus is here, and he has!"

Now growing up with Minerva, Harry has always been a very sensitive boy. Spontaneous, yes, but he always cried getting told off. Minerva sometimes accredited his sensitivity with the trauma he might not remember. So to Minerva, she wasn't very surprised to see him looking like he was about to cry. He was, very visibly, trying to stop the tears that threatened to spill. Minerva's face softened. She wrapped her arms around him, allowing him to sink into her hug.  

"Harry, I know you feel sorry, but you are my family. To me, family never ends with blood. Losing you would have killed me inside, Harry." Minerva said softly, gently rubbing Harry's back. By now, he as crying about everything. The intense stress he had been under for the entire year, the guilt, the fear. All the emotions he stuffed away this year came up and he sobbed. Minerva stopped her lecture, letting him cry. It's not like she didn't cry while he was unconscious anyways.

Harry cried and cried, for god knows how long. Not only was being chewed out like this a lot for him, he's just been through a long and terrifying ordeal. The fear of dying, the adrenaline rushing through him when he saw He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the constant worry of the Stone. It was too much for an 11 year old, even an 11 year old boy reputed for "defeating" a Dark Lord. He just wanted to remain in this warm embrace forever.

"How long have I been here?" Harry managed to choke out after a while.

"About two weeks. Your friends were worried about you, and so was I. They came round in only two days." She unconsciously stroked his hair. Harry was secretly glad student's beds had curtains around them. Everyone knew that Harry was adopted by their Transfiguration teacher, but Harry was 11 years old and most 11 year olds don't like public affection with their mothers. He was fond of it within the privacy of her quarters though. 

"How did you ever survive two weeks without your favourite person?" Harry said sarcastically. Minerva shouldn't have let Severus be with him so often, but hey, at least he's the same Harry she raised.

"I don't even know." she muttered. Harry soon broke the hug and looked his mother in the eyes.

"What happened with the Stone though?" 

"You're gonna have to ask Albus about that. He dragged Quirrell off of you and brought you here." she said. "I merely watched him take you, Miss Granger, and Mr Weasley out and helped bring them to the Infirmary." Minerva grabbed the Bertie Bott's packet (that had been forgotten for a while) and kept it in her bag."You're not going to indulge in these while you're staying here," she lectured. "And I will make sure Madame Pomfrey knows it as well."

Harry slumped into the bed. He was grateful that, despite her overbearingness, she was here. This entire year, learning about Quirrell and getting involved with the Philosopher's Stone had been draining for him. He was glad that this was over, for now at least. But man, he just fought a Dark Lord, he might as well have something nice to celebrate.

Minerva took her things with her in her bag and proceeded to get ready to leave. "I shall call for Madame Pomfrey and inform your friends that you have woken, but after you talk to everyone, you hAVE to tell me how you got past my large Chess set. I want to hear all the details." She gave him a small grin, happy that he as still alive. As she turned around, Harry called out to her.

"Wait-"

She looked back at him.

"I love you mom."

Minerva's heart swelled with love. She strided back to his bed quickly and kissed his head. She felt so blessed that she's gotten such a blessing of a son. A son that gets himself into mischief, yes, but she wouldn't have traded it for the world. 

"I love you too Harry. Don't ever go chasing Dark Lords like that ever again."

At that, she walked through the curtains, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts, only temporarily though, as Madame Pompfrey came in to check on him, followed by his friends a few moments later. He was going to ask Headmaster Dumbledore about the Stone later.

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I finally got around to writing a chapter in this book. I was thinking of keeping this book and possibly updating it every now and then, while maintaining a second one shot book for more fluff stuff.