Bound To You

Chapter 30: Hello, Little Ones

Time passed in a relatively uneventful way for Harry and his friends. Even though he didn't expect this year to be more or less calm, it still surprised him. With his experience with his previous years, it was no surprise. There had been whispers about something happening next year, but he's got all Summer to figure it out.

And this Summer, he won't have to go back to the Dursley's, and that is and always will be a plus for him. He knew that by the time next year rolls around, he'd be as healthy and as strong as his peers. He doesn't take too well being a few centimeters shorter than Ginny--it was embarrassing, even though Tom seemed to like it better when he's shorter. He was still hoping that sometime that Summer, he'll get his growth spurt.

He was currently sitting in Severus' sitting room, sipping his cranberry tea--something Severus was currently craving--and just generally escaping Gryffindor's usually rowdy common room. Severus himself seemed to not mind much, as he was reading a potions journal. He wasn't surprised that that'd be his choice of reading material. The potions master himself had invited him there since a few months back, saying that they needed to mend their rather strained bond.

He was, at first, a little bit afraid of what they'd talk about, but he didn't need to worry. It seems like sharing a comfortable silence in front of the fire with just the two of them was enough for their bond to gradually recover. He'd been visiting almost every night ever since the detention incident, and even Severus had offered him to call him 'Severus', while in turn he'd call him 'Harry' when not in class.

It was great.

Harry was engrossed in reading about Basilisks in the Creatures Used For Potions book Severus had lent to him, the only book he'd shown an interest in out of all the other potions-related books Severus owned, when said man groaned quietly.

It would've been too quiet for Harry to hear, but after years spent on listening for the slightest of noises in the Dursley household for various reasons, he'd honed his listening skills to the point that such a quiet sound was easily audible to him.

That's how he also heard Jamila's mutterings back in second year.

"Severus?" Harry asked, seeing that while his expression was neutral, his skin was a bit too pale to be normal. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he groused. "Just a bit sore on my back." Harry watched him wince.

"On or in?" he asked.

"... In."

"Oh, god! I gotta call Madame Pomphrey!" Harry declared, taking some Floo powder to call for the infirmary Matron. "Madame Pomphrey?"

"Yes?" the woman called, turning from her paperwork to see Harry.

"I think something's wrong with Severus."

"Oh, dear, could you tell me what ails him?"

"Umm, he said he's a bit sore in his back..."

"Goodness gracious! I'll be right over!"

Harry stepped back and waited for a few seconds before Madame Pomphrey stepped out of the green flames. She went over to Severus with a, "Go call Remus, will you?" and a, "Let me check over you, dearie."

Harry complied and called for the other professor, which coincidentally was grading a stack of papers with Sirius and Tom helping him.

"Harry? What is it?" the werewolf asked.

"Something's wrong with Severus," he said simply, and all three men immediately abandoned their works. Stepping away once again, Harry startled when Severus groaned loudly in pain. When he turned to follow his voice, Remus had arrived. "Come on," the teen beckoned.