Giving In
a Harry Potter story
by SunSprite3

The yard of the Burrow was alive with the sounds of music, laughter and talk. Everywhere people were chatting in groups, eating plates of Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking, or dancing under the large tent that had been erected. This was the reception of Bill and Fleur's wedding, and the Weasleys had outdone themselves preparing for it. The yard was beautiful, especially as evening was approaching and the fairy lights in the trees were glowing to life. Besides the elegant decorations, Mrs. Weasley had prepared a lavish spread of her most decadent dishes.

Underneath the tent in the middle of the yard there was a raised stage where "The Enchanters" were providing the dance music. There were various pairs waltzing around the dance floor, including Remus and Tonks, who were smiling dreamily at each other, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who were finally relaxing now that the wedding was over. Nearby, Hermione had Ron by the hand and was trying to pull him out onto the dance floor, which he was vehemently resisting.

The only person who did not seem to be enjoying himself was Harry. He was sitting alone at a table in the corner of the tent, his hand supporting his aching head. He wasn't feeling well at all. His head hurt and his nose wouldn't stop running for the life of him. He had been fighting this head cold all day and had been working hard at not letting anyone know he felt ill; he didn't want to ruin Bill and Fleur's big day.

Harry grabbed a napkin from the table he was sitting at and sniffled into it, gazing out at the dance floor. It seemed as though Hermione had finally persuaded Ron to dance with her. She looked beautiful in pale yellow dress robes and her hair was elegantly twisted at the nape of her neck. Ron looked nervous- he was staring down at his feet, apparently trying not to step on Hermione's. Harry grinned ad he rubbed his nose with the napkin. He turned his attention to Tonks and Lupin. Remus looked happier than Harry had ever seen him, dressed in dark blue dress robes and beaming down at Tonks. Tonks' robes were magenta. Although her hair was sleek and brown.

The song ended and everyone applauded. Some of the couples left the dance floor for a break, including Tonks and Lupin, who started coming over to where Harry was seated. He hastily balled up the napkin as they sat down.

"Wotcher, Harry," said Tonks, "Why aren't you dancing?"

"I dunno," said Harry, wincing at how hoarse his voice sounded, "Just don't feel like it, I guess."

"No partner, eh?" said Tonks, winking, "Come on, handsome, come and have a go."

"Er, no thanks, Tonks," said Harry. Talking was making his throat hurt. "Maybe later."

"Alright then," she said, frowning. The band struck up another tune. "Oh, come on, Remus, I love this one." Tonks took Remus by the hand and they returned to the dance floor.

Harry coughed, massaging his throat. He wanted to be in bed, but he couldn't see any way he could sneak away without being noticed. He sniffed into the napkin, which was quickly becoming overused and making his nose sore.

"ehchssshh!" He sneezed quietly. As he looked up, he saw Ron and Hermione sitting down at his table.

"Harry!" said Hermione brightly, "Will you dance with me?"

"It's not that I don't want to dance with you, Hermione," said Ron quickly, "but I've had enough embarrassment for one night."

"And so have I," said Hermione, "Come on, Harry, will you dance with me?" Harry really did not want to dance with Hermione at the moment. Not only was he a terrible dancer when he was well, but this cold was really getting to him.

"Er," he said, "You know me, Hermione, I'm not a much better dancer than Ron."

"I saw you at the Yule Ball, you weren't bad. Come on, this is a really good song." And she grasped Harry by the hand, pulling him to his feet. He felt his head pound as he stood up and rubbed his temple as he weaved through couples with Hermione, making their way to the dance floor. His nose was running again but he had left the napkin back at the table. He sniffed quietly and rubbed at his nose.

"Alright," said Hermione over the music, "Now, remember, you take my right hand with your left…" Harry grasped her right hand and secured his other arm around her waist while she placed her left hand on his shoulder. They began a slow three-step waltz. Harry felt he was doing rather well considering how distracted he was with concentrating on his nose. It had begun to itch as though he had to sneeze, but he tried to hold it in so that he did not sneeze all over Hermione. She was smiling at someone over his shoulder and he turned his head to see who it was. Ginny was waving from the middle of the floor where she was dancing with Charlie. She looked stunning in her bridesmaids' dress robes, which were pale gold and fit her form perfectly.

"Ginny looks nice," said Hermione. Harry turned back to her.

"Yeah, she duh…ah…s-sorry-" Harry released her hand and pulled away, stifling three sneezes in the crook of his arm. "Heh'nxt! Gnxt! Etchx!"

"Bless you," said Hermione.

"Sniff! Thanks," said Harry, sniffling like mad. His head felt heavy with congestion. He wished he hadn't left the napkin at the table. He gave his nose a quick rub and said, "Thanks for the dance, Hermione, but I think I'm just gonna go sit down."

"Alright, thanks, Harry," she smiled. She turned when Fred tapped her on the shoulder and they began dancing together.

Harry wended his way back to his table which he now saw was occupied by Ron, Ginny, George, and Verity, the girl who worked at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, who George had brought as his date. Harry sighed. He supposed he would have to fend off his cold for a little while longer until he could get away from everyone. He sat down at the table and everyone looked up.

"How was it?" said Ron.

"Not too bad," said Harry. His throat throbbed in protest of his talking and, coughing slightly, he took a sip from the glass water goblet in front of him. He sniffed. He really needed to blow his nose but couldn't do it with everyone sitting here. Unfortunately, if he was worried about alerting everyone to his illness he would have to hold in another sneeze because his nose was tickling again. He sniffed again and gave his nose another furtive rub.

"So, Harry," said Verity with a slight Scottish accent, "have you been round to see the shop yet? George tells me you're good friends with Ron."

"Oh, yeah I haah…huh-hiitchoo!" The sneeze escaped before he could stop it, but he felt that he was not quite done. "Sorry, excuse me-hnxt! h'cht!" He stifled the last two in his napkin.

"Bless you," said four voices as Harry sniffed as quietly as possible.

"Thanks, sorry about that," he said, "Yeah, I have seen it, it's fantastic." He felt his head pound and took a deep breath. He wanted more than anything to be in bed, alone with his cold, which no one seemed to have realized existed yet, exactly what he had wanted. Harry shivered and rubbed his hands up and down his arms for warmth. He guessed that he was getting a slight fever.

"You alright, mate?" asked Ron.

"Yeah, fine, just a bit chilly," Harry responded.

"Yeah, it is getting nippy out here," said Ginny.

"Some dancing would warm us up," said George, "Verity, shall we?" Verity smiled and the two disappeared amongst the other twirling couples. After several more minutes of Harry trying not to sneeze anymore Ginny was whisked away by one of Fleur's cousins. Now it was just him and Ron. Harry felt that he could no longer hold back the sneezes he knew were longing to come out, so he turned his head away from Ron and sneezed into the crook of his arm, doing his best to completely stifle the sound.

"ixtch! h'ngt! Chh'k! n'kt!"

"You sound awful, mate, you coming down with something?" asked Ron concernedly.

"Er," said Harry, "I don't think so, I feel fine, dunno why I'm sneezing so much." He took another drink of water to ease his sore throat, which was making talking very painful. Harry ran a hand through his hair wearily. "I'll be fine, though."

"Alright…" said Ron just as Hermione approached their table again, cheeks pink from dancing.

"Well I guess the dancing gene skipped you, Ron, because Fred is an excellent dancer." she told Ron as she sat down. "This is so much fun, I can't believe Bill and Fleur are married. I mean, I do hope Ginny gets used to Fleur, I think she will. I wonder if they'll move out of the Burrow or-"

"Hitchoo!" she was interrupted by a fairly quiet sneeze from Harry, who sighed slightly and cradled his forehead in his hand tiredly.

"Harry, are you alright?" asked Hermione worridly, peering at him closely, "You've been sneezing a lot tonight…"

"Fide," muttered Harry, although he sounded far from it. His voice was hoarse and congested. He was very pale and his nose was a bit pink.

"Says he doesn`t know what`s up with that," said Ron. Hermione looked skeptical and reached out her hand as if she wanted to feel his forehead but he pulled away as Ginny came back over.

"Ginny!" He jumped at the chance, "Want to dance?" Ginny looked hesitant, but then said, "Yeah, sure," and led the way to the dance floor.

Once they began dancing, Harry's nose acted up again. He sniffled like mad but didn't sneeze once, until-

"Sorry, s'cuse me-itch! etch! Hitchsh!" He had pulled away from her just in time.

"Harry, you don't sound well," Ginny said, "Don't look well, either. Do you feel okay?"

"I feel fihhh…hetchoo!"

"Come on," said Ginny resolutely. She took him by the hand as he sniffled, handkerchief less again, and led him out the back of the tent and around some trees where no one could see them entering the house.

"Really, Ginny, I'm fine, honestly," said Harry hoarsely, but even as he said it he could feel his guard coming down and he obeyed the guiding pressure of Ginny's hand willingly. Ginny said nothing but led him up the stairs to Ron's room where she pulled back his Chudley Cannons bedspread and motioned for Harry to get in. He hesitated, but then his head gave a particularly painful throb and he climbed into bed, sinking gratefully down into the pillows.

"I won't tell anyone," said Ginny, "I think this can wait until morning."

"Thanks, Gin," Harry mumbled, already half asleep, fully clothed and with his glasses on. Ginny left the room and Harry gave into blissful sleep.

Harry awoke slowly next morning, putting a hand to his head and wondering vaguely why he felt so miserable. He was quickly reminded, however, when his nose suddenly tickled fiercely and he sneezed softly into his blankets.

"Ehtshh! Ittchsshh!" Harry sat up slowly and looked around. He was still in Ron's bed and Ron, he saw, was in the camp bed Harry had been using. Ron was slightly too big for it and his feet were hanging off the end. Harry sniffled and leaned back against the pillows. He felt, if possible, more miserable than he had last night at the wedding.

Harry got up, deciding to take a shower and catching a glimpse of himself in Ron's mirror as he went past. He was quite pale and tired looking considering he had just woken up, and his nose was red. Harry opened the door and peered out into the hallway, making sure no one was there before crossing to the bathroom.

The steamy shower did him good, easing his aching muscles and relieving some of his congestion. He headed downstairs for breakfast, though he wasn't hungry, preparing himself for another day of acting healthy. When he got downstairs he found Hermione, Ginny, and Charlie sitting at the kitchen table and Mrs. Weasley frying kippers at the stove.

"Good morning, dear," she said cheerily as she spotted Harry.

"Morning Mrs. Weasley," said Harry. His throat throbbed painfully. He looked across the table at Ginny, who gave him a significant look back, as did Hermione. Ginny had probably told her and Ron what was going on last night so that they wouldn't wonder what was up.

"Here you are." Mrs. Weasley brought over a plate of kippers, sausages, and scrambled eggs. Harry took some with no intention of actually eating them.

"I hope Bill and Fleur are having fun in Egypt," said Hermione.

"Yes, I'm sure they're doing a lot of sightseeing," replied Mrs. Weasley. Charlie and Ginny snorted.

Throughout breakfast Harry tried to join in the conversation so that he did not look too suspicious. Soon, however, he felt the ominous tickling in his nose and knew he had to sneeze. He took a cloth napkin from the table. Looking around, he saw Charlie hidden behind the Daily Prophet and Mrs. Weasley's back turned towards the oven. He sniffled quietly, trying to rid himself of the tickle, but it only increased. He raised the napkin to his nose and stifled three sneezes. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other, then Ginny said, "Thanks for breakfast Mum, it was great."

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione. They got up, motioning that Harry should do the same.

"It was no trouble, dears. Go and wake Ron, will you?" she said, and they started upstairs. On the first landing, Harry paused.

"Hiihtchoo!" He caught the sneeze in his hands and when he looked up, Hermione was holding up a handkerchief.

"I'm sorry you're ill, Harry. I had an idea last night that you weren't feeling well." Harry took the handkerchief gratefully and dabbed his running nose.

"It's alright, it's just a cold," said Harry.

"Still, it's no use suffering," Hermione said, "Why don't you just ask Mrs. Weasley for some Pepperup?"

Harry sniffed. "She'll just fuss and it isn't necessary."

The three of them continued upstairs into Ron's room. There was no need to shake him awake; Harry's nose served as a perfect alarm clock.

"Ehhtchoo! Hetchuuh! Etchshh!" Ron stirred and then opened his eyes as Harry went to the bedside table and pulled out a few tissues from the box there.

"Oy, Harry," said Ron groggily, "You should've told us you were ill, mate."

"Don't worry about it," said Harry. "Iitchssh," he sneezed into the tissues. "I'm fine."His friends looked skeptical. "Really," he assured them, "It's just a sniffle, I sound a lot worse than I feel." But that was a lie. He felt terrible, but he didn't want to worry his friends.

Harry was exhausted. He had spent the entire day pretending to be perfectly fine to fool his friends and Mrs. Weasley. He had spent the day playing Quidditch, chasing garden gnomes, and stifling sneezes. Now he was sitting in the living room playing chess with Ron. Hermione was reading a book as knitting needles clicked in midair in front of her. Ginny was playing with Arnold the Pygmy Puff and Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, and Charlie were talking softly together.

Harry was losing the chess match far worse than usual because he was distracted by his cold. His nose tickled constantly causing him to sniffle quietly periodically. His head and throat ached and his eyes itched with tiredness. He was too tired, even, to bother trying not to sneeze. He have in to the tickle, muffling the sneezes in the crook of his arm.

"hetch! chsshh! Hitchsshh!"

"Bless you, dear," said Mrs. Weasley distractedly.

"Thadks, Brs. Weasley. Snff!" muttered Harry. "Dight to…t-hutchoo!" Ginny and Hermione could see that Harry was fading fast.

"Oh, Harry, I forgot, I have that book for you in my trunk in Ginny's room. Let's go get it." Taking the hint, Harry nodded and followed the girls and Ron upstairs. He groaned as he flopped down on his bed.

"I never get sick like this," he mumbled hoarsely.

"Everyone gets sick, Harry," said Hermione.

Ron said, "Yeah, but most people aren't thick enough to pretend they're not, they just take the Pepper-"

"Really, I don't need any Pepperup," Harry insisted.

"Oh, really?" said Ginny, "Then I guess I can just throw this out." She was holding up a red bottle with the label "Athello's Apothecary" on it. "I owled for it yesterday night and it arrived a little while ago. So, Harry, whether you want it or not, you owe me three galleons."

Harry eyed the Pepperup Potion a little longingly. He supposed that there was no use in trying to deny his illness any longer. He was still making his friends worry, and besides, he so desperately wanted to give in and let them care for him, so he didn't have to think or worry about anything. He sighed and shook his head defeatedly, reaching out his hand for the bottle. Ginny smiled and said, "You're going to feel so much better, Harry, and that's all we want."

Harry drank a mouthful of the potion, which burned going down and made steam come out of his ears. Hermione and Ginny turned down his covers and Ron got him a glass of water and a box of tissues. As he got into bed and removed his glasses, he felt slightly embarrassed at all of the attention, but also glad. Glad that he would soon feel better, and glad that he had friends who loved him and were willing to take care of him. In the months ahead, as he toiled and searched for the Horcruxes, his friends would prove themselves countless times again, and Harry was more thankful than they would ever know.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I'm not making any money off of this.