Old Habits Die Hard (HP - Harry)

[Not_Telling]

@Seniorstatus14: I know!!! Aren't they the best?

@Kali: Aw, ur amazing Kali, as usual <3

@HarryPotterGeek: Yeah, I love the parts where they're all concerned for Harry. It's so sweet~ oh! almost forgot your

@BringVerityTheHorizon: Aw, thanks Vers :3 And look! More!

Hey, thanks everybody for your sweet comments. You're all so so nice and I love you!

Here's Part Seventeen!

***

Part Seventeen (N_T!)

After a long, fitful night, Harry awoke among the lesser glamorous ways to rise: by falling off the couch and onto the floor. He felt no better than the day before, and was sure that if anyone saw him like this, his cover would no doubt be blown.

Harry looked around the common room. It seemed that nobody was awake just yet, as it was a Saturday and most wizards were probably sleeping in. Fred and George were snoring loudly on the armchairs by the fire. True to their word, they had kept watch over him all night.

As much as he wanted to take it easy and get some rest, that just wasn’t going to happen. Harry would have rather encountered a whole cluster of dementors than to be caught with his illness. Why…? Let’s just say he had his reasons.

“Kshh! Kshh!”

George stirred, and Harry clamped his hand over his mouth, holding his breath. Luckily, George fell back asleep. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and slowly got to his feet. Forgetting about the basin of water sitting at the foot of the bed, he accidentally stepped into it, tripping over and splashing water all over the place. Fred opened his eyes.

“What’s going on?” He mumbled, not seeing Harry.

The fifth-year wizard panicked and sprinted out through the portrait hole, hastily stuffing his wand into his pocket. A few Ravenclaws looked at Harry strangely as he toppled down the first staircase and took a face-plant on the landing. Luna Lovegood knelt down next to him and cautiously helped him up.

“Merlin, that was quite a fall! Are you alright, Harry?”

Harry drew a big intake of breath and yanked his hand out of Luna’s grasp, turning away just in time as he was struck by a miserable fit of sneezing.

“Hik’shh! Kishshh! Eh’ksshh! Ksshn! Heh’ksshn!”

When the irritation would not go away, he moved to leave as quickly as possible to avoid sneezing in front of her or anybody else, mumbling a quick “Fide. Bye Luda,” before hurrying down the corridor.

***

Ron and Hermione were sitting at breakfast, talking about the Quidditch game and wondering where Harry was. Their conversation was interrupted when Fred and George rushed frantically into the Great Hall, stopping in front of them and talking frantically between breaths.

“Ron! Hermione!” Fred gasped.

“Have – have you seen – Harry?” George wheezed. “Please tell me you’ve seen him…”

Confused, and a bit worried, the fifth years shook their heads. The twins’ hearts sunk into their chests.

“So he wasn’t at breakfast? Or in his dormitory?” Fred asked hopefully.

“Nope. Sorry, mate.”

“Damn it!” Fred and George shouted at the same time and scampered out of the Hall, equally as flustered and panicked as before.

“What was that about?” Ron questioned.

“I don’t know. But I think we should go looking for Harry. They looked pretty worried.”

Ron nodded in agreement, and they abandoned the rest of their meal in search of Harry.

[Dylan]

O.O

Dies again bc fabulous

I swear, this is me right now -

I'M GONNA DIE IF THE NEXT PART IS BETTER THAN THIS...

[CHOCOLATE <3]

THIS IS SO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD OH MY GOSH HOLY CRAP!

I CAN'T HANDLE THIS

[Emily]

okay okay okay okay

i need to calm the truck down before i flip my desk

FRED

GEORGE

ARGH

OMG

GAAAAH

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

[Seniorstatus14]

OH MY GOODNESS!! So much perfect!!! I need to calm down to study for my exams, but I can't! This was too good and now I'm dying of excitement for the next part!

[CHOCOLATE <3]

]

OH MY GOODNESS!! So much perfect!!! I need to calm down to study for my exams, but I can't! This was too good and now I'm dying of excitement for the next part!

I'M IN THE SAME BOAT

[Kali]

This is getting so long!!! Not that I'm complaining Your writing was perfect, as usual! I honestly look forward to this story at the end of each day, so I'm always happy when I see you've added a part. How do you make this so adorableee???

[HPG]

Oh my gosh!

[VividBubbles!]

BringVerityTheHorizon: Well thank you very much. Your love is greatly appreciated.

Seniorstatus14: I agree, it was one of the more adorable parts, at least out of the ones I wrote. Stuffyvoice!Harry is just super cute.

8lifflefoot: Oh, you have no idea how much I fangirled when I saw your profile picture. Edward Elric is amazing.

Kali: Favorite stories list? Well that's an honor! It always makes me so happy when something I wrote, or helped write, is considered good enough to be someone's favorite.

fang815: You're marvelous.

Awko the taco: I promise I won't tell. Thanks for reading!

So here's part 18! It's not the best, mostly filler to move the story along so just bare with me until N_T's next part.

***

Part Eighteen (VB!)

Truthfully, Harry knew that he was being a bit rash as he hurried from the castle and away from his friends. His rational mind, the part of him that wasn't being plagued by panic and fever, told him in its tiny, whispering voice just how idiotic he was being.

However, a larger, much more controlling part of him at that time just pushed him forwards through the confusion and congestion and fever towards a goal that was unknown until it came into his eyesight. Hagrid's hut sounded like the perfect place to Harry's addled mind and exhausted body and in his almost giddiness he completely ignored the hulking figure just in front of him until he bumped straight into it.

"Well hello, Harry!"

Harry looked up to see the smiling face of Hagrid and visibly deflated. Now he had nowhere to hide from his overly concerned friends.

"Hello Hagrid." He replied, his voice coming out raspier than he expected. Apparently, Hagrid noticed the rasp as well and tilted his head, giving Harry the once-over.

"Yeh all righ', Harry? Not feelin' peaky or anythin'?”

Harry shook his head. "Ndo, I'mb feelig okay, Hagrid.”

“Yer sure?” Hagrid frowned, his big paw of a hand reaching out for Harry’s forehead. Harry dodged the enormous mitt and tried to ignore as Hagrid’s frown got a bit larger.

“Where are you headed off to?" He said, trying to change the subject.

"Hmm," Hagrid hummed a bit in a concerned fashion. He could plainly see that Harry was feeling badly, but decided to humor the boy and that might make him get some rest faster. "Well, I'm jus' collectin' a bit 'o mandrake root fer Snape's Pepper Up, since Poppy’s at that conference. The Hospital Wing never seems ter have 'nough of it 'round this time 'o year. Anyways, I should get goin'. Snape's expectin' me."

"Okay, Hagrid, I'll see you later then." Harry said, waving as Hagrid walked off. Now where was he going to go?

Depressed and still very feverish, when Harry felt the first drop of cold rain, he did the only thing he could think to do besides go back to the castle; he headed into the cover of the woods.

[Seniorstatus14]

Oh yes, the woods, Harry! Go and make yourself sicker, please! More misery for me to obsess over! Gahh!! Not the woods! You're going to make yourself worse! Your friends are going to be so worried!

[Dylan]

HARRY HARRY HARRY GO AND MAKE YOURSELF WORSE. >.<

I love love love this update :3

[Kali]

I love how you perfectly set these things up!! You're so talented. I'm jealous. Can't wait for you to continue, as usual. This is my stress relief story at the end of the day... It just makes me so happy haha.

[Not_Telling]

@BringVerityTheHorizon: Glad you enjoyed it! Hope you don't die so you can read this next part

@XLeftyX: Oh, you have no idea. I can't handle all these sweet comments!

@Emily: So I'm guessing you liked it?

@Seniorstatus14: Aww sorry for distracting you

@XLeftyX: Everyone's got exams, eh?

@Kali: Loooots of practice

@HarryPotterGeek:

Here's the next part!

***

Part Nineteen (N_T!)

His hair dripping with sweat and rainwater, Harry slunk down against a tree trunk, shielding his body under the branches as much as he possibly could to avoid getting soaked. The rain had already gone from a drizzle, to a light shower, to a full-on downpour. He hugged his arms over his chest tightly, and buried his head into his sweater sleeve.

“Kshhu! H’kshh! Kshhu! Kshh!”

He raised his head slowly to a startling crack of thunder. A few seconds later, another loud thunderclap sounded and he jumped to his feet when a lightning bolt struck a tree not ten feet away from him. Malfoy was right, Harry thought. I am an idiot.

The fear bubbling up inside his chest told him to run. And so he did. He ran as fast as his wobbly legs could take him. Wheezing and panting, Harry wasn’t sure where he was going. In fact, he couldn’t even be sure whether he was going in a straight line. His senses all felt kind of muffled. Everything looked all fuzzy, everything sounded all fuzzy; it even felt all fuzzy. It was almost like he couldn’t even feel the ground beneath him. Like he was just running in space.

Another thunderclap behind him. He picked up the pace.

The last of his energy drained, Harry dropped to the ground, coughing dreadfully. He closed his eyes unwillingly, mumbling to himself, “Have to get up…I have to get up…” But his weakened arms and legs wouldn’t allow it, so he lay there motionless as the rain poured on top of him, one icy unforgiving drop after another.

***

Eventually, Harry did escape the treacherous thunderstorm. A centaur came along and generously gave him a ride out of the Forbidden Woods. By this time, the storm had ended, and the sun shone brightly over the puddle-ridden fields. After Harry had ensured the centaur that he could make it back on his own, the creature returned to his home in the woods, and Harry began to make his way back to the castle.

He was hopeful. But in the back of his mind, Harry knew that his chances of making it back okay weren’t great. Just being able to walk without collapsing was a miracle in itself. It took a lot longer than he expected.

Who are those two figures…in the distance…?

“Oh my god, Harry!”

“You look bloody awful, mate.”

“Harry, you don’t sound well at all!”

“M’fine, Hermione.”

“Hagrid! Harry’s just fainted!”

“At least he’s not completely unconscious.”

“I guess all we can do now is take him back to Gryffindor Tower.”

“…’Mione? Wha-”

“Shh. Just rest. We can talk in the morning.”

[Seniorstatus14]

Ahh!! Now we're back to the beginning! Yay!!! So excited for the next part!

[8lifflefoot]

That was amazing!!! I can't wait to find out what happens!! Oh Harry, you just had to go out and make yourself worse didn't you. more fun for me

[Pyrus_Fangmon]

OH MY LORD. I'm gone for a few days and come back to this beautiful, gifted writing! <3

[Dylan]

I haven't died yet.... XD

But I was so close...

Aww, Harry you silly thing! >,<

[Emily]

Hohohoho

Harry m'boy, you just outdo yourself every single time. Love your fighting spirit. I look forward to the next part. >)

[Kali]

Loving this as usual. You use my favorite spellings!! it's awesome how you can include a plot under all the yummy stuff.

[CHOCOLATE <3]

I love this!

[VividBubbles!]

So it's super late and I'm really tired so I'm not going to address all of your comments. Sorry you guys. Thank you so much, though! They all really make my day.

Here's part 20!

***

Part Twenty (VB!)

The first thing that Harry sees when he wakes up is the late morning sunlight streaming through the window by his bed, little pieces of dust swirling around serenely as they dance in the spotlight that the window forms. The vision elicits a tickle in Harry's nose, and he buries his face in his pillow to muffle the flurry of sneezes so as not to disturb the others.

“Heh'kshoo! K'shnn! Ek'shhooo! H'keshh!”

Harry nuzzles his face into his pillow, ridding the remainder of the tickle from his nose, before rolling to turn back onto his side. And that's when he sees Ron—sleeping while curled up on what looks like a smaller version of one of the large, plush reading chairs in the common room, his cheek and chin resting on his hand to keep his head up—and all of the events that had transpired the day before come rushing back to him.

The embarrassment of what his fever-addled counterpart had done washes over him like a tidal wave and he turns his face back into his pillow to let out a groan of despair which comes out much louder than he expects it to. Ron startles awake with a snort and immediately stands, stepping over to Harry, a wide frown of concern crossing his face.

"Harry," he says, reaching his arm out and placing it on Harry's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

He doesn't mean it to, but the first thing that comes out of his mouth is, "Please tell me you and Hermione didn't have to carry me up here."

Ron's frown of concern transforms itself into one of confusion.

"Umm, no," Ron says, and Harry gives a sigh of relief before letting out another groan when Ron says, "Hagrid did."

"Merlin," Harry groans, covering his face with the palm of his hand, "Malfoy's going to have a field day with this."

At that Ron's frown turns into a small smile and a chuckle. "Yeah, that idiot probably will."

Ron pauses shortly, his small smile fading a bit. "But you're twice the idiot he is for not telling me or Hermione you were so sick. You slept for 15 hours, Harry! We were so—"

Ron stops, his eyes going wide. "Bloody hell!"

“What?" Harry asks, watching as Ron hurries to the door.

"I was supposed to get Hermione when you woke up! She'll absolutely loathe me if she doesn't get the chance to see you before class this afternoon."

And at that Ron exits the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Harry alone to ponder over how he's going to explain himself to his best friends.

[Pyrus_Fangmon]

Uh-oh, Harry. you better start running before she finds out you selp in. He's such a cutie, Ron as well.

[Dylan]

Hermione wants to see Harry : >

HARRY WOKE HIMSELF UP SNEEZING THEN WOKE UP RON

OMYGOD

*dies*

[Kali]

Soooo cute!! You are so awesome. Already looking forward to the next part!

[Not_Telling]

@Seniorstatus14: Yup, back to the beginning and ready for more

@8lifflefoot: I know, stupid Harry

@fang815: Welcome back! And thanks so much~

@BringVerityTheHorizon: So close, yet so far away

@Emily: Yep, Harry's a trooper alright. Keep it up, Harry! Oh...wait...

@Kali: Thanks! These are my favorite spellings, too. I love using 'k' sneezes with Harry

@XLeftyX: Aw, and I love you!

Okay, first off, I want to thank everyone so so much for all of your continued support. You guys have been so sweet and I just wanna give everyone a super big ! This is the last part but there's a short epilogue after this I will post tomorrow. Thanks again everybody, and I hope you enjoyed our story!

***

Part Twenty-One (N_T!)

The overexcited redhead hurries upstairs to the girls’ dormitories, not giving a second thought to the rules forbidding it. He bursts into the room and goes straight to Hermione’s bed, shaking her compulsively whilst ignoring the dirty looks given to him by the other girls in the room.

“HermioneHermioneHermione…!”

“Ron! What are you doing in here?!” Hermione shouted. “When I tell Professor McGonagall-”

“Hermione, Harry’s awake!”

“HE’S AWAKE?”

Hermione springs out of bed and rushes out of the room, dragging Ron along with her and ranting with a mix of relief and anger until they reach the entrance to the dormitory.

“Obviously I’m glad he’s okay, but is it beneath him to admit to anyone when he’s not…”

A dead silence floods over the two as the door to the dormitory opens. There, in the center of the room, shirtless and covered with several deep, painful-looking gashes, is Harry.

***

Harry quickly fumbles for his sweater, hugging his arms over his chest in an attempt to conceal his scars. But it’s too late. Ron gapes at him, his mouth hanging open and his eyes widened with shock and bewilderment. Hermione looks like she is about to cry.

“Bloody hell,” Ron whispers.

Harry doesn’t say anything. He pulls the blanket off his bed and wraps it around himself, turning away from his friends.

“Don’t look at me,” Harry mutters, shivering visibly, and suddenly begins sneezing.

“Eh…Hesshnk! Ksshnk! Hikshh!” He doubles over, his whole body overtaken with each outburst. “Hkshhn! Ik’sshhooo! Kishshh!”

Hermione rips forward as Harry sinks to his knees. “Go away. Don’t look at me.”

She places a hand on his shoulder, biting her lip and trying to remain calm. “Harry-”

“I SAID GO AWAY!”

As soon as she touches him, Harry starts weeping. Teardrops roll down his cheeks and drop to the floor as he sobs uncontrollably, unable to keep himself composed any longer. He’d been holding it in for so many painful years, longing desperately for love and compassion but instead receiving nothing more than cruelty and remiss. Harry crumples to the ground, hugging to his knees to his chest and refusing to look up at Ron or Hermione in fear of what they may say or do.

They don’t ask for an explanation. Hermione just gently, cautiously rubs his back while he whimpers softly. Ron crouches down next to him in silence. When he’s finally calmed down, they help him sit up and he gives Hermione a big, tearful hug.

“It’s okay, mate. Just let it all out.” Ron pats his back reassuringly.

After a few minutes, Harry pulls away and wipes the tears away from his face. “M’sorry,” he mumbles, looking down. “I-I’m not supposed to complain. That’s why I didn’t tell you. Whenever I mess up…back at home…” Harry takes a deep, quivering breath. “Well, I’d rather not say, to be honest.”

Hermione throws her arms around his neck. “Don’t be sorry, Harry. You can’t help it when you don’t feel well. Don’t think for a minute that we would ever hurt you. You can always come to us.”

Harry nods. “I know. I just…I can’t help it. I’m so used to keeping it in all the time. I’m still scared.”

“We understand. You’ve been doing this for so long, it’s become sort of a habit,” Ron says. “But you know, it’s not going to get any easier until you break it.”

Harry grimaces. “I know it’s hard. I remember when I was little; I used to always bite my nails. Had a nasty habit of it; did it without even thinking. My mum used to always get on me about it. She said it was bad for my teeth and all that. Took me forever to quit.” Ron pauses for a moment, pondering something. “Mum says that the longer you do something, the harder it is to stop. But once you admit to yourself that what you’re doing isn’t good for you, that’s when you’ve taken the first step.”

Harry nods in understanding, breathing in deeply.

“Old habits die hard, Harry.” Hermione adds sympathetically. “But that doesn’t mean you have to go through this alone. We’re here for you.”

Then, for the first time in days, Harry looks up. And smiles.

“Thanks.”

The rasp in Harry’s throat causes him to start coughing, and his friends wince at how painful it sounds. They help him to his feet and rub his back comfortingly. “You should really get back to bed Harry-”

“HARRY!”

The three Gryffindors turn their heads to the now-open doorway. Standing there is Hagrid, looking rather relieved to see that Harry is alright, and next to him is none other than the prominent Madame Pomfrey. They come into the room without hesitation.

“I’m so glad teh see yer a’right, Harry. Gave us a righ’ scare yesterday,” Hagrid bellows.

Madame Pomfrey crosses over to Harry, placing her palm on Harry’s hot forehead.

“Good heavens child, you’re burning up! Have you been feeling ill all this time? Come on, dear, let’s go get some Pepper-up into you.” And with that, she drags Harry along with her to the Hospital Wing, muttering listlessly about mandatory conferences and how if the stupid Ministry really cared about students’ health, they would at least think to provide another nurse in her stead.

As Harry lies in the hospital wing later that night, he stares up at the ceiling, thinking about what Ron and Hermione had said earlier. Sure, old habits die hard. But Harry has good friends to help and support him. And he thinks that maybe he’s ready to take the next step.