The changes started not long after he got home from the second year at Hogwarts, making him doubt that the Phoenix years Fawkes had shed, had truly done what they were supposed to do and heal him from any damage the Basilisk venom had done to him.
Not that he doubted the phoenix, that right now, it didn't feel like he had been totally cured, if anything he was starting to feel like the venom was making its way back through his system, only at a more sedated pace.
Adding to that, it was summer right now, so he had no way of looking anything up. Nor could he ask his relatives, knowing them they'd think he brought home some incurable magical disease - giving them yet another reason to lock him up in his room without anything even remotely magical close by.
Harry sighed, turning on his back and groaning, the pain he felt all over, staying even if he had taken some painkillers, he nicked from the bathroom cabinet the last time he was out on a toilet break. However, the pain didn't seem the radiate from the bite mark still on his arm, it seemed to come from deep within and spread out over his limbs.
Looking at the empty cage next to his bed, he was glad for the foresight of letting Hedwig stay at Hogwarts, should he want to send a letter, he was sure the smart owl would know and make the journey to him.
It was safer for the owl, anyway, after last summer and his rescue from the Dursleys by the Weasley boys, he was afraid Vernon would do something to her.
The pains he had been feeling since he got to the Dursley's had not stopped, in fact it would seem that they had worsened, even if it went very gradually. He couldn't sleep all that well, like he'd been doing a lot if sports suddenly and his muscles protested to the sudden influx of movement.
Not only that, but he was also nauseous after everything he ate, as if his stomach had suddenly decided that bread and vegetables made it upset. He hadn't thrown up yet, but he knew that was only a matter of time.
The only thing that wasn't impacted were his chores, of which a lot took place outside. He lived being outside, it seemed even that the pains he felt, as well as the nausea subsided when he was outside, digging his hands in the ground to plant, one again, new flowers in Petunia's garden.
He even relaxed in the sun, no matter how hot it turned on his back, it just seemed to soot him, and at several points almost made him fall asleep where he was kneeling into the grass.
While the whole one with nature thing wasn't freaking him out, the other symptoms were, progressively so. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide it for much longer, not from his relatives, even if that was the least of his concerns.
So, he was scared it was some magical decease which would make him stop his studies at Hogwarts, which was the absolute last thing he wanted to do. After finding the Magical World, he didn't want to leave it behind just like that. Even if some of their practices were archaic and discriminating, it made him feel at home - most of the times at least.
He just hoped he could sit it out at least until he could get back to Hogwarts and look for an explanation there. He just had to hold on for a few more weeks, he had managed this long, so he would be able to manage these last remaining few.
--
He didn't manage to last a few more weeks, if anything the moment the Dursley's announced that Vernon's sister Marge would be staying with them for a couple of days. He knew he was screwed. The woman hated his guts and had the habit of letting her dogs either chase after him or attack him.
The first day went well, seeing as he could stay up on his room. Yet the second day at dinner, the woman had gone on and on about his parents and his Petunia and Vernon should have just dumped him the moment they found him on their doorstep.
