Chapter 9
Harry gradually came to the world of wakefulness for one of the first times in many months rather than being startled awake by visions of Voldemort. In fact, it was so pleasant that he could not hold a small smile back. When he opened his eyes and saw that he was still in the same room as he was before for some unexplainable reason, he felt even more at peace, and that small smile soon turned to a large grin. The light streaming through the windows told him that it was no longer morning.
James was cautiously watching Harry waking up, not wanting to startle him but still in a sense of shock that he had his son back. Once that, he could tell that Harry was sufficiently awake not to scare him with moving. Nudging Lily to draw her attention from the lesson plans that she was making, he slid his chair closer to the bed and grabbed the lunch tray that had been brought earlier, handing it to Harry, saying, “You need to eat something.”
Harry took the tray onto his lap and noticed it was, as he had guessed, soup. This had him somewhat concerned because even as his “parents” had not seemed to notice the way his body was shaking, he didn’t think he could possibly hold the spoon even though the pain from earlier had finally passed. Thankfully, there was a small amount of bread tucked into the plate, so Harry carefully broke it into pieces so that he could dip it in the soup. Once he finished the bread, he pushed the tray away and looked up, startled to find three identical looks of concern on the faces of his parents and godfather.
Lily was the first one to break the silence saying, “Harry… you really need to eat more. Please, you barely even touched your soup.”
Harry looked down in shame, not wanting to admit it but still softly whispering, “I can’t hold the spoon.”
James cut in at this point, knowing how embarrassing this could be for a almost 16-year-old to admit with the amount of quidditch injuries he had had at that age, “would it help if we got something like a sandwich that you could hold?
Harry’s eyes shot up in shock with how considerate they were all being, causing his mouth to say the first thing that popped into his brain, “Grilled cheese?” realizing that he probably should have just said yes and taken whatever they gave him, he stuttered, “Only if it’s not to much trouble though honestly, I’m fine without it.”
James, with a small wink to Harry, cleared his throat of the small lump forming there at the smile Harry gave back said, “No trouble at all. Mitsy?”
At that, a house elf popped into existence at the end of Harry’s bed wearing a Saint Mungos uniform that seemed to have been custom made for her. She had very large ears that seemed to almost cover her equally large eyes as she moved to bow. Upon seeing the action that he had been trying for three years to get Dobby to stop doing, he said, “Oh, please don’t do that it’s not necessary.”
If Harry had thought about the reaction, this would cause he might have not even said it. Mitsy immediately burst into tears, James and Lily looked shocked but proud, and finally, Sirius busted out laughing.
Slightly offended, Harry asked, “Why are you laughing? What’s so funny?” he was beginning to become concerned that he had done something wrong.
“Nothing, nothing, I promise. It’s just Lily told the Hogwarts elves that same thing in our 6th year, and let’s just say that dinner was almost an hour late that night because of how overwhelmed the elves were!” Sirius said in between his laughter
“Oh, you would have gotten along great with my friend Hermione then. She created S.P.E.W. to try to get the elves more rights last year. It did not go very well, but she tried.” Harry said wistfully
With this, James finally came out of his stupor, saying, “Mitsy, could Harry please get a grilled cheese to eat instead of the soup?”
Wiping her last few tears away, she said, “Of course, sir, one moment, please.” With a slight pop, she disappeared
James leaned forward and said, “Harry, there is something me and your mother need to talk to you about.” Seeing the look of fear across Harry’s face, he continued, “It’s nothing bad, I swear.”
Harry sat up a little straighter saying, “Okay….”
Sirius suddenly stood up and said, “Welp, that’s my cue to leave then.” And sauntered out of the hospital suite.