Harry and Lily were still in the library trying out Charms for the notebook when suddenly Minerva’s voice echoed through the school. “Everyone in the castle please come to the hospital wing immediately.”

Harry groaned. “Do we have to go too?” he asked his mother, absolutely annoyed.

“Yes, Harry, I think so; Minerva said ‘everyone’,” Lily confirmed. “Now, Harry, let’s go. We have been doing this now for four hours, so it’s time for a break anyway.”

At that moment, Lily’s mobile phone rang. It was Minerva, who told Lily that she and Harry didn’t have to come to the hospital wing and that they’d tell her what it was about later when Harry was in bed.

“Oh, it’s all right, Harry. We don’t have to go. Shall we continue then?”

Harry gladly agreed and returned his attention back to the book he was just skimming when he had heard the announcement.

An hour later, Poppy entered the library. “Harry, I’d like to speak with you for a moment.”

“Hello Aunt Poppy,” Harry said pleased as he liked his godmother very much. He carefully put a bookmark into the book and replaced it on the table in front of him.

“Harry,” Poppy started, sighing worriedly. “I have spoken to Head Healer O’Brien from St. Mungos. He wants you to provide St. Mungos with twenty mobile phones, Charmed so that they’ll work at St. Mungos.” Ignoring the happy twinkle in Harry’s eyes, she asked sternly, “Harry, do you need much magic for that Charm?”

Harry shook his head. “No, Aunt Poppy, it’s fairly easy.”

“All right. Now, Harry, I want you to refrain from using much magic during the rest of the holidays. You need the holidays in order to rest as much as possible.” Poppy sighed. It was difficult to admonish Harry without telling him the truth. However, they had decided not to let Harry in the problem yet. It would be early enough to inform him when Lily and he became ill.

“I will try, Aunt Poppy. But the mobile phones are really easy and don’t take much magic. Can anyone go with me to London to buy them tomorrow?”

Poppy turned to Lily. “Lily, would you mind me taking your son to Muggle London tomorrow afternoon?”

Lily shook her head. “No, of course not, Poppy. I’m glad that Harry is able to help people. Let me guess how long it will take until the Ministry comes to Harry, asking for mobile phones.”

Harry’s eyes started to twinkle happily. “That’s all right, Mummy. As long as they pay for the mobile phones, I can Charm them for them.”

Poppy thought for a moment. No – there wasn’t really anything she could do for her godson at the moment. They could only wait. “Harry, would you like me to take you to the zoo for the day?”

Harry gave his godmother an enthusiastic glance. “Yes, Aunt Poppy, that would be so great! Oh, please, yes, let’s do that. Can we go, Mummy, say yes, please!”

Lily shook her head at her excited son and said, “All right, if you promise to behave for Aunt Poppy.”

“Yes, Mummy, I promise,” Harry answered immediately.

-----

In the evening when Harry was fast asleep, Severus told Lily about the virus, with which Dumbledore had infected her and Harry. Lily gave her husband a shocked glance. “So that means we only have two weeks until Harry and I are going to fall seriously ill and perhaps die of the illness?” She should clutch him fearfully or desperately, willing the illness to go away. ‘If I stay here in his arms nothing bad can happen to me,’ she wanted to believe so badly.

Severus sighed, rubbing her hair soothingly. “You’re very strong, and your magic is very powerful, so you’ll survive it although it might be rough for a few weeks.” He hesitated and took in a shaky breath before continuing. “However, I’m very concerned about Harry. His magic is as strong as yours or mine – at least – but his body is much too weak for the amount of magic he has. For him, it’s much more dangerous. Therefore, we have to make him rest and not let him use magic at all if possible.”

“All right,” Lily agreed immediately. “We will stop doing our research and tell him we want to enjoy the holidays until we’ll be back from our real holiday.”

“That’s a good idea,” Severus said, giving his wife an approving smile.

“That reminds me of something I should have done long before,” Lily suddenly blurted out. “Poppy is going to take Harry to London tomorrow to visit the zoo. In the meantime, I’m going to see my sister. I’m looking forward to seeing her face when she sees me!”

“Lily, don’t kill her,” Severus admonished his wife, who was giggling mischievously, having the same twinkle in her eyes, which Severus knew so well from Harry. “Don’t forget that Harry needs you here and not in Azkaban.”

“Oh, Sev, I won’t kill her but you know, during my research with Harry I’ve found a few very nice new Charms,” she said wickedly.

-----

In the morning, Harry and his godmother Floo-ed over to the Leaky Cauldron from where Poppy Apparated them near the zoo. Harry had been to the zoo a few times, and he liked it very much. There was a baby polar bear that had just been born the week before, and it was absolutely adorable. Harry stood there for a very long time, watching the cute, white polar bear baby playing in the mud.

“Oh, look, Aunt Poppy how naughty he is, playing in the mud. He’s getting brown all over,” he said, pointing at the bear.

“I don’t think he’ll stay white for a long time,” Poppy answered. “But he isn’t naughty; that’s what baby polar bears do. They’ll give him a bath afterwards and he’ll be clean again, at least for the moment.”

The time passed much too quickly for his liking, and suddenly Poppy told him they had to leave the zoo in order to buy the mobile phones for St. Mungos.

---

At the same time, Lily headed to Little Whinging to pay her sister a visit. She Apparated to a small side street of Privet Drive and walked to the Dursley’s house. When Petunia opened the door, she looked at Lily as if she were a ghost. “Who are you and what do you want?” Petunia finally hissed.

“Oh, hello to you too, Petunia. Is that a way to greet your long lost sister?” Lily asked, trying to stay as friendly as possible. “I came to speak with you. Do you want to talk here or would you like to invite me inside your house?”

Petunia hesitantly opened the door fully and let Lily in, guiding her into the living room. “What do you want?” she asked again as soon as Lily had taken a seat.

“Oh, Petunia, I wanted to thank you for taking care of Harry all those years,” Lily offered with obvious sarcasm.

Petunia snorted. “I don’t know how you managed to come back from the dead but be glad that you didn’t have to be with that horrible child all the time. He was such a nuisance, such a burden, taking everything from my Dudley. Then suddenly he stopped coming over the summer, and we just couldn’t believe our luck, finally getting rid of the freak.”

Lily couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “Harry is neither a nuisance nor a burden; he is a very fine child. But what you did to him is reprehensible. She paused and drew in a breath to continue her tirade. “You mistreated and abused him, starved him and provided a horrible childhood for the boy that is your nephew! You’re the most horrible person I’ve ever met!” Lily shouted at her sister angrily, enunciating every word with a wand point before stopping when she was toe to toe with Petunia.

“I don’t think we’ll meet again,” she said finally, after casting a silent Spell at her sister. “From now on, you will feel every pain and every illness Harry feels, and I can tell you it will be a lot as he is de-aged and is nine at the moment. You’ll be able to feel your own treatment of my son, so have fun!” With this, Lily Apparated back to Hogsmeade from where she slowly walked up to the castle.

Lily went straight into Severus’ lab and threw herself into her husband’s strong arms. “I kind of killed her, Sev,” she sobbed into his robes. “When Harry gets ill, she won’t survive it because she doesn’t have magic, right?”

Severus sighed. “Now, calm down, Lily. You haven’t done anything bad. You can’t even know if Petunia is able to get the illness, as it is a magical disease. And if you look at Harry and see how his first childhood is still affecting him you don’t have to feel bad about putting the Charm on her. It’s all right, Lily. Now, why don’t you go and rest for a while. I’ll just finish this potion and then I’ll join you, hmm?”

Lily gave Severus a grateful look and kissed him softly before she went through the adjacent door into the living room. Severus followed shortly later, and Harry’s parents for once enjoyed what parents can enjoy best knowing that their children are away in good hands.

-----

When Poppy and Harry returned to Hogwarts, they sat down in the living room of the Snape quarters. Under Poppy’s watchful eyes, Harry Charmed the twenty white mobile phones, which they had bought today.

“Do I have to take them to St. Mungos, or can I just ask Fawkes to deliver the phones?” Harry asked softly when he finished the Charms.

“I thought we could go together but if you’re tired, you should just ask Fawkes,” Poppy answered, sighing.

Harry gave her a nod and called Fawkes. “Please, Fawkes, could you take these mobile phones to Healer O’Brien at St. Mungos?”

#Of course, my Nestling. I’ll be right back# Fawkes trilled happily and was gone. Five minutes later, the phoenix appeared back on Harry’s shoulder and handed him a ‘Thank you’ note from Healer O’Brien.

The next few days were very eventful. During the next two days, Harry received exactly twenty ‘Thank you’ letters from different Healers at St. Mungos as they immediately noticed how convenient the mobile phones were compared to the Floo Network.

A day later, Lily discovered that she was pregnant, which Poppy confirmed immediately. “I don’t know if that was such a good idea, Lily, but we’ll do what we can. I don’t know how much the illness will affect such a small baby,” the Healer told her honestly.

In the evening, Lily told Severus about her pregnancy, sobbing fiercely. “Now, Lily, stop crying, don’t spend your energy unnecessarily. We have to wait and see and if it’s not all right this time then it’ll be fine the next time. Don’t worry about it now,” Severus advised his wife softly, carefully pulling her into a fierce embrace.

The next day, Harry was called into the Headmistress’ office again. As Lily had foreseen, the Minister of Magic had come to see Harry.

“Good morning, Harry,” the Minister greeted Harry as if he were a good friend. “I’ve heard that you again managed to invent something very useful for the Magical world.”

Harry gazed at the Minister uncertainly. “You mean the mobile phones, sir?” he enquired softly.

“Yes, Harry. Would it be possible for you to provide the Ministry with fifty mobile phones, please? I also suggest that we patent the mobile phones for you, so that nobody else will be allowed to Charm them.”

Harry smiled. ‘They wouldn’t be able to anyway,’ he thought but answered, “Thank you, sir. Yes, I think I can Charm fifty phones for you. I just have to go to Muggle London to buy the phones first.”

Here, Minerva jumped into the conversation. “Minister, I know that Harry is glad to be able to help. However, I cannot approve that he has to go to Muggle London to buy the phones in order to first help St. Mungos and now the Ministry. Maybe you could send someone to retrieve enough mobile phones and that way, Harry only has to Charm them?”

Harry gave Minerva a grateful glance. In fact, he didn’t feel well at all that day, although he tried to hide it as best as he could. Charming fifty mobile phones would be bad enough but he didn’t want to think about travelling to London today. “Yes, that would be really nice, sir,” Harry added quietly.

“All right, Harry, Minerva. What exactly do they look like, and do we have to consider something when we buy them?”

Minerva quickly showed the Minister her mobile phone as Harry was still too small to have his own phone, and Harry simply explained what kind of phone it had to be.

“Okay. I will see to it and you’ll probably receive the phones in two hours the latest.”

“All right. I’ll Charm them immediately and send them back to you with my phoenix,” Harry promised, glad that the talk was finished.

As the Minister had promised, two hours later Harry received a huge box containing fifty mobile phones. He started to Charm them immediately. However, the task was so strenuous that he stopped after thirty-five phones and thought about asking his Mummy if she could help him and Charm a few for him.

When Harry left his room to look for his mother, he found her in his parents’ bedroom, lying in bed. “What’s wrong, Mummy? Are you ill?” he asked worriedly, hesitantly sitting down on the edge of her bed.

“Oh, it’s all right, I just don’t feel so good today, Harry. Could you perhaps Floo-call Aunt Poppy, Harry?”

“I’ll just send Fawkes to fetch her,” Harry replied and quickly walked back to his room to speak to his familiar. Then he returned to his mother’s bedside until Poppy arrived and threw him out.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry had only two mobile phones left, when Poppy entered his room. Harry threw the Healer an absentminded glance, saying the incantation to Charm another mobile phone.

“Harry!” His godmother’s stern voice got Harry’s attention. “Your mother is very ill, Harry,” Poppy told him. “It will take a few weeks, but then she’ll be all right.”

“Why is she so ill?” Harry asked flabbergasted. “What’s wrong with my Mummy?”

Poppy sighed. “She has Basilisk Pocks, which is one of the most serious magical diseases, much worse than Dragon Pocks, which is already very bad.”

“But she will be all right, you can help her, Aunt Poppy, right?” Harry questioned his godmother, horrified. “Are you going to take her with you to the Hospital wing?”

“No, Harry, I will leave her here for the moment. As she will be very ill for a few weeks, she should have it as comfortable as possible. Therefore, I want her to remain in her own room. However, the Headmistress has asked the castle for a connecting door from my office directly into your living room for the time while your mother is so sick, so that I can care for her even if she stays here.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Harry answered, slightly relieved. “Can I do anything for Mummy?”

“I will tell you whenever you can do something. However, I’m afraid that you might get sick as well. Therefore, I’d like to check on you now. Can you lie down on your bed for a minute?”

Harry frowned. He knew that he was probably getting ill too as he had been feeling unwell the whole day. “Wait a moment, please, Aunt Poppy. Let me just Charm the last mobile phone. Then I’m finished here.”

“All right, go on,” Poppy said, patiently waiting for Harry to finish the Charm and box the phones, so that Fawkes could take them away.

As soon as Fawkes flashed away Harry lay down on his bed, noticing how good it felt to lie down. Poppy waved her wand at him, frowning at the reading. “Harry, you’re much worse than your mother; you must feel horrible. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I don’t know,” Harry replied quietly. “I haven’t felt well the whole day but somehow I was very busy and just didn’t think it was so bad.”

Poppy waved her wand at Harry, transfiguring his clothes into light pyjamas. “Now, Harry, I don’t want you to stay here in your room all on your own. I want you to stay in your parents’ room together with your mother.”

“But I can’t…”

“Harry, listen to me,” his godmother spoke in the stern voice, which she knew that Harry used to listen to. “In fact, we knew about the possibility that you and your mother could get ill because Dumbledore tried to make you ill. You don’t have to worry about your father or anyone else here in the castle falling ill because everyone else has been vaccinated against the disease. Therefore, I want you to sleep between your parents, so that your father and I are able to look after you at the same time.”

“All right,” Harry said and climbed out of his bed, following his godmother into his parents’ bedroom.

During the next weeks, Poppy, Severus, Minerva, Luna, and Hermione took turns taking care of Lily and Harry. Both of them had many green boils all over their bodies, which hurt so much that their caretakers had to put a cream on them every hour. Fortunately, Severus had already prepared enough cream in advance, so that they could start applying it to the boils as soon as they appeared. At the beginning, Severus hadn’t relished the thought of his colleagues staying in his bedroom, caring for his wife and son, while he was sent away to eat, sleep, and brew potions even during the night. However, as the weeks passed he had gotten used to the situation.

Lily and Harry were in bad condition. Apart from the ache due to the boils that seemed to bite into their skin, both of them drifted in and out consciousness, and Harry was often stuck in fever dreams and nightmares. Sometimes he was even thrashing around violently, which worsened the pain to his boiled skin.

However, after three weeks, Lily’s condition started to improve slowly. Her fever broke and she started to become more and more alert. However, Harry so far didn’t get better at all. In fact, his condition began to worsen daily. His fever rose to dangerous heights, he remained unconscious all the time, and his body started to reject the potions, which Poppy forced into him.

One day, when Lily was allowed to get up for the first time, Poppy remained at Harry’s bedside the whole day. In the evening, she asked Severus to attend dinner in the Great Hall and bring the others with him down to his quarters after dinner.

When everyone had assembled in Lily’s and Severus’ bedroom, watching the white face of the small boy, Poppy gave her colleagues a sad glance. “I don’t know what else to do, I’m losing the fight,” she confessed in a hoarse voice. “Harry’s inner organs have stopped working, and it’s only his strong magic that’s keeping him alive. However, I don’t know how long that is going to work. Probably not long enough for his body to recover.”

Poppy turned away, grabbing Minerva’s arm, and started to cry into her friend’s robes while Lily lay down next to Harry, cradling the child close.