"Dude, are you sure that you're alright?" Peter asked Harry midway through their field trip after Harry had sneezed for what felt like the twenty-fifth time.
"I'm fine," Harry insisted before coughing slightly.
"You don't look fine." Gwen frowned as she looked at Harry who was looking a lot paler than he normally did, not to mention the fact that he looked like he was sweating quite a bit. The fact that he kept sniffing and rubbing his now red nose didn't help matters.
"Really, I'm okay." Harry insisted once more before he was hit by another coughing fit. 'Damn it, why is my own body trying to prove me wrong?!' He mentally raged.
"No, you're not," Gwen placed a hand on Harry's forehead. "you're burning up. We should tell someone."
"I'm fine," Harry pulled her hand off. "besides, I don't want to make a fuss." There were few things that Harry hated, and being confined to a bed in a hospital wing was one of them.
"Harry, I…"
"If I get worse then I'll tell somebody," Harry cut her off. "I promise, but the way I see it, there's only a couple of hours before we go home."
"Fine," Gwen lightly tutted as she stared at him. "but you had better tell us if you get worse."
"Aw Gwen," Harry lightly laughed as he placed an arm around her shoulder. "it's so nice to know that you care, I'm flattered."
"Ha, ha." Gwen let out a fake laugh before she pushed his arm off. "you're as hilarious as always."
"I know." Harry grinned at her.
"See, he can't be all bad if he's still cracking jokes." Reasoned Peter, joining Harry in trying to lighten the mood.
"Don't encourage him, Peter," Gwen rolled her eyes. "honestly, I swear the two of you are going to drive me mad one day."
"You love us, really." Harry moved forwards to jokingly kiss Gwen's head but she quickly jerked her head out of his reach.
"I'd rather not, thank you," She said as politely as she could. "no offence, I'd just rather not catch whatever you've got."
"I…" Harry stopped and turned his head away from the two of them before he began coughing violently. "… fair enough." He croaked.
...
"Dude, dude, wake up." Harry heard Peter say before Harry opened his eyes and saw Peter standing in his room.
"What?" Harry blinked repeatedly before he began rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, noting that he was lying down in his bed.
"Well, you fell asleep on me." Peter began explaining.
"Huh?" Harry blinked once again before he recalled exactly what happened. "Oh yeah," He nodded, he remembered him and Peter coming back to his house after the field trip. They had gotten started on their homework before Harry had lied down on his bed, that was the last thing he remembered before being woken up. "How long was I out for?" He asked.
"About two hours, give or take a few minutes," Peter answered. "I finished my bit of homework and then I played on your PlayStation for a bit. I would've left you to sleep but I've got to go home and your mother is making food."
"Hmm, food," He said in an impression of Homer Simpson, a smile appeared on his face. "I could go for some food right now." His stomach chose that moment to rumble.
"I can see that," Peter said in a dry voice. "anyway, I'll be going now, see you later." Peter gave him a little wave before walking out of the room.
Harry let out a sigh before he laid back in bed, it was about ten minutes later before Harry was able to muster up the energy to sit up, he rubbed his eyes once more before he looked down at the back of his right hand and saw the bite mark from the spider that had bitten him. A part of Harry knew that it was better to probably tell someone, but another part of him couldn't help but feel like he should stay quiet and leave it alone. He was positive that he'd be fine eventually.
It was another five minutes before Harry felt ready to stand up, even then he was more than ready to go back to bed. Harry let out a deep yawn as he walked downstairs where he found his mother laying out dinner on the kitchen counter.
"Hey Mum," Harry gave her a small smile as he took his seat.
"Hello, Harry, how are you feeling? Peter told me that you weren't feeling well," She replied as she sat down with him. "do you need to go to a doctor?" She asked.
"I think it's a virus or something," Harry coughed. "I'm sure I'll be better by morning."
"You're always so stubborn about being sick," Emily complained. "with you, I can never tell if it's something minor or major because you treat them all the exact same." She sighed, remembering that time that Harry had slipped down some stairs and ended up banging his head on the floor when he landed wrong. Any other child would have been bawling their eyes out but he had tried to wave it off as a minor bump.
"Sorry," Harry said in a sheepish voice. "I just don't want to make a fuss."
"Harry, your health is important to us, it is not making a fuss if you tell us that something might be wrong." Emily admonished. "What do you think makes more of a fuss? Telling us early that something might be wrong or letting it get worse and making us take more time and effort." She gave him a look, the same one that she would occasionally give his father. Harry felt himself wilt slightly under her gaze, something that was fairly impressive when you consider the other things that Harry had stared down over the years.
"Sorry, Mum," Harry apologised.
"That's fine," Emily rubbed her forehead as she looked at him. "I'm not trying to nag you, Harry, but it is important that you tell me these things. Now, are you okay?"
"Well," Harry paused, indecision on his face before he was interrupted by a particularly violent cough. "not really."
"Well, what's wrong with you?" Emily asked, somewhat pleased by his admission, but also not entirely happy given the fact that her son was ill.
"Well, on our trip earlier I was bitten by a spider and…"
"What?!"