Chapter 14 – The Round Tour II

Thanks a lot to my beta-readers, Orodruin and AmyLouise, for correcting my mistakes.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.

Chapter 14 – The Round Tour II

Now Eathan and Lysander were in full action again. They grabbed Harry's arms and pulled him eagerly to the corridor beside the stairs. They passed a big cupboard in which Harry assumed the brooms the boys wanted to show him earlier were stored and then reached the part behind the stairs. This corridor was a little bigger than the one on the other side. The twins were pulling him past two doors that were positioned opposite to each other and dragged him to the room on the front wall of the corridor.

Soon Harry found himself surrounded by a lot of toys. The walls of the room were painted very colorfully and had moving objects painted on them. One wall was covered with a meadow and some trees. Birds and insects were flying around on it, and the sun was standing very low, looking calm. Maybe it is enchanted to change according to the time of day, Harry thought while looking at the wall in awe.

"These are the Chudley Cannons," Eathan said while pointing at the flying Quidditch player on the wall on the other side of the room.

Harry laughed. "I know. I have a poster of them."

"They're the best team," Eathan said proudly.

"Oh, yes, they are. You really have to show this wall to my friend Ron." Harry's lovely, happy feeling vanished abruptly. He could feel his chest tighten and negative thoughts were trying to suppress the good ones he had gained in the last few minutes.

Lysander felt the change in Harry's mood immediately; he took Harry's hand and then looked to his mother for help.

Harry could feel Lysander's hand in his and the tense silence in the room. He had the feeling he needed to cry and tried very hard to push it away. He didn't want to lose control again. Now less than ever. It was embarrassing enough that James and Ivy had see him like the weak freak he was; he couldn't stand it if the others saw it as well. His breath became quicker, and he knew he would lose the battle soon. Ivy's hand was on his shoulder, and her voice was speaking softly, but he could hardly hear, let alone understand her meaning. It couldn't help him win the battle. Only when a bigger and heavier hand was placed on his other shoulder did he feel his surroundings slowly coming into focus again. He could now understand Ivy's words; she was telling him to relax and that everything would be okay soon, that he would reconcile with Ron.

Harry realized that the heavy hand and the flow of magic that went from it into his body belonged to Albus. He took some quick, panicked breaths but could only breathe better and more calmly when Albus increased the amount of soothing magic he was sending into him.

"It's okay, Harry, try to breathe very slowly and deeply. There is no reason to panic," Albus said calmingly.

Oh, Merlin, I screwed it up, Harry thought, devastated. He wanted to be in control again, so he did what Albus told him. When he closed his eyes, he managed to take some deep breaths. He wanted to apologize, "I..." but the words didn't come out. And when a sob escaped him, he just wanted to run away and hide.

His eyes were still closed when he heard footsteps coming near him.

"Come on, Harry, drink your potion!" Severus said while taking Harry's free right hand and carefully placing a vial in it. "You know it will help you to relax."

Harry would have given anything just to escape the embarrassing situation as soon as possible.

Albus could feel Harry relax after he had taken the potion and slowed the calming magic flow. He let his hand remain on Harry's shoulder to give him one more anchor to reality.

Ivy took the empty vial out of Harry's hand.

When Harry opened his eyes again, he looked straight into the concerned face of Severus.

"Better?" Severus asked while taking a close look at Harry's eyes to see if he was fully back in reality.

"Yes, thanks," he said, blushing deeply and looking down at the floor. While he did this, his glance fell on his left hand, locked onto the small hand of Lysander. With shock, he realized that he was squeezing it hard. He let go of it immediately and tried to back away. "I'm sorry, oh, Merlin, I'm sorry."

Albus shifted his hand when he felt Harry stumble backwards, and now he was grabbing him by his upper arm to prevent Harry from falling over. "Easy, Harry, calm down. Everything is okay."

"Yeah, Harry, it's okay. I'm fine, look!" Lysander said and waved with his hand.

Harry calmed down again. The rush of adrenalin had given the potion the last boost it needed to kick in completely. The heavy feeling on his chest vanished, and he felt much lighter now. As if the earth's gravity didn't have as much effect on him as it normally did. He could still remember what caused the panic attack, but he couldn't understand why it had affected him that much. He could think about Ron now without panicking. Why wasn't that possible before?

"You haven't seen my wall, Harry," Lysander said to distract Harry. He really liked Harry and didn't want him to feel bad. "Look!" He pointed at the wall on the side opposite to the door where a window was. It was painted in blue. Golden stars were spread on it, and between them a white unicorn ran and a white owl flew with it. "Grandma said you have an owl like this. Does it have a name?"

"Hedwig," Harry said, still a little dreamy from the potion. "I can show her to you tomorrow if you want."

"Yes!" Lysander said happily.

"Me, too?" Eathan said in a small voice. He was unsure if his wall was responsible for Harry's problems and so feared that Harry was mad at him now.

Harry felt the tension and the worry of Eathan. He knew very well the feeling of being scared of being responsible for something from his time with the Dursleys. "Of course, you too. Hedwig wants to get to know both of my new brothers."

"Yeah!" Both boys shouted and started to dance around each other in excitement.

Harry had to smile at this, and the noises didn't let him hear the long restrained breaths that the adults in the room let out when they realized that the twins had helped Harry to feel better again.

Ivy regained her composure first and said, "Yes, but this wasn't the room I meant by the most important part for Harry, boys. Come on, show him your bathroom and then finally his own room."

Again, Harry had one twin at each hand, dragging him through the corridor. First they showed him the bathroom. It was medium sized and had a shower, a bathtub, a toilet and a sink. It was covered with beige tiles which made it look very clean, but still very warm.

Minerva moved behind Harry and laid a hand on his shoulder. "It is a child-proof bathroom, Harry. We cannot lower the wards for you, but you will get used to them."

"Child-proof?" Harry asked in confusion before Minerva had the chance to explain it more clearly.

"That means no sharp things, Harry. So when you start shaving," Severus said and let his hand brush over Harry's chin, "we will have to make other arrangements." Seeing Severus grin was something Harry definitely had to get used to first.

Harry felt his chin as well, just to see if Severus could have felt anything and to memorize the touch of the professor. He remembered how he had held him in front of the infirmary and felt the warm and safe feeling it had given him again. To Harry's disappointment, there wasn't anything to be felt on his chin. All the boys tested it from time to time and compared their private parts and amount of hair in the shower. Harry had been very proud when he had seen the first hairs, but he hadn't gained much lately. Ron was much luckier than he. Again Harry realized that he could think about Ron now without getting a bad feeling in his chest. This potion is really magic.

Seeing the disappointed look on Harry's face, Severus chuckled and ruffled Harry's hair. "If it doesn't start growing soon, we will see if a fine shave won't convince your body to start with it."

Harry's eyes sparkled in pleasant anticipation. Ron's dad didn't let him try to shave his face with his older brothers. He will die from jealousy, Harry thought proudly.

"We want to shave, too," Eathan said to his father and looked up at him hopefully.

"No, that is just something for your older brother," Severus said while scooping his son up in his arms.

Eathan leaned into his father's chest. He was really tired; the day was so exciting. He had a new brother now, and tomorrow they would do so many great things with him.

"I fear we are fast past your bedtime, my boys. Just let us have a look at Harry's room, and then we will put you two to bed," Severus said, chuckling gently.

That no protest came from his little sons made Severus realize that they were really tired, so he didn't put Eathan down but just carried him in his arms to the room opposite the bathroom.

All the adults made room for Harry to open the door and go in, but he was too nervous. Harry was glad when Lysander took his hand again and led him into the room.

It was smaller than the twins' room, but still very big for Harry's taste. Directly opposite the door was a big window, and a big bed was standing at that wall, slightly to the left of the window. In the right corner, arranged on the side wall, were a desk and some shelves. A big cupboard for clothes was positioned to the left of the door. Oh my, I don't even have enough clothes to fill one drawer with. On the left wall stood a wall unit for who knows what. Dudley had one of these for his toys, but what should I use it for? This room is too big. Near his bed stood his trunk. It was still closed.

"Your broom is already in the broom cupboard in the corridor. If you like, you can place Hedwig's cage here and let her live with you, but I think she will enjoy the company of the other birds more than spending her days and nights here. It's your decision. For us it is okay either way," Ivy said.

Harry was speechless.

"Maybe we should let Harry unpack and put these two into bed now," Severus said, to give Harry some time to adjust with the new situation. "We will check on you in half an hour, okay?"

"'Kay," Harry said, still in shock. He could hear the door close and now was standing alone in the middle of the big room. His room.

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