AUTHOR'S NOTES: So while I'm not going to be as evil to Harry as I have been in past stories, he's not walking away unscathed.

Also, the later part of this chapter deals with the reason Ardelia doesn't speak, and while it is not graphic, it is very dark subject matter concerning the sexual assault of a very young child. You have been warned.


Fairbotham Memorial Hospital

Shrewsbury, England

Morgan slept for nearly two days straight after the surgery to remove the tumors from her lungs and throat, and when she finally woke up, her lower chest ached and her neck hurt with even the slightest movement. Seeing her mother sitting by the bed, Morgan tried to give her a smile, but it ended up more like a wince. She tried to talk but her voice was gone.

"Easy, honey," Lily cautioned, as she stood so she was in visual range of her daughter. "You're not going to be able to talk for… for a good while."

Morgan gave the slightest nod as her mother adjusted the hospital bed so she was sitting up. Seeing the tube that was protruding from her throat, Morgan raised both hands and signed, 'What's wrong with me?' It was strange to her to be 'talking' to her mother like this. She could still remember when she was a child and hadn't understood why she and the rest of her family had to learn sign language when Ari was the one who didn't talk. But now it seemed that Morgan would also need to use her hands to communicate if she couldn't speak normally.

Before James and Sirius had left for the States to see Harry, James and Lily had talked for several hours about the best way to tell Morgan about what was wrong with her as well as what was going on with Harry. Lily had wanted to put off the discussion at least a day or two so Morgan could at least recover a bit from her surgery before dealing with everything else, but James had said that Morgan would want to know and was likely to be impatient waiting for answers and after a while, Lily had agreed, promising to tell their daughter when she woke up.

When Morgan repeated the question, looking scared as she saw how quiet her mother was being, Lily slowly sat down on the edge of her daughter's bed and wished she didn't have to give the terrible news to her child. Every instinct within her wanted to shield Morgan the bad news but she also knew that she had to do it. "You have lung cancer," Lily said, finally, her heart breaking at the expression on her little girl's face. "You stopped breathing because of tumors in your lungs and throat. The doctors removed them and the healers did what they could for the damage done, but…"

'But what?' Morgan asked. If it weren't for the machines breathing for her, she probably would have stopped breathing for a second time. Cancer… Just saying the word in her head was too much. For a moment, the only sounds in the room were the beeping of the machines and the soft, steady hiss of the ventilator.

When Morgan had come out of surgery and the operating surgeon had come into the waiting room where James and Lily were sitting, Lily listened with heartbreaking disbelief as the doctor reported on the procedure.

The tumor in Morgan's throat had been removed fairly easily but the surgeons had had to cut extremely close to her vocal cords and there was a high probability of permanent damage. It would be some time before the doctors could tell whether Morgan would still be able to speak.

While the cancer had not invaded her diaphragm too badly—the consulting oncologist believed that the chemotherapy and radiation therapy would take care of any lingering malignant cells in that area—Morgan's lungs themselves hadn't fared well at all. One tumor had deeply invaded her right lung and—upon closer inspection—another large mass had developed in her left lung as well. The surgeons had been forced to remove nearly half of Morgan's right lung and the smaller lobe of her left in order to remove as much of the tumors as possible.

Lily explained the surgery and resulting complications to her daughter as best she could and tried not to let Morgan see just how crushed she felt about everything. When Morgan reached up a hand to wipe the tears welling up in her eyes, she bumped the tube protruding from her nose and looked scared as she realized that the tube went all the way down her throat. 'Mum, what's…? What is this thing?' she asked, horrified, as she felt a strong desire to pull the tube out.

Lily pulled her daughter's hand away from the tube as she explained. "It's called a nasogastric tube. Because of the surgery to remove the tumor from your throat, you can't swallow anything more than water right now. So the doctors and healers are using that tube to give you a nutritional formula. Hopefully, it'll be removed in a couple weeks."

Morgan looked from her mother to the ventilator that was breathing for her… the machine that was now likely going to be a permanent part of her life. It took a few minutes before she finally asked, 'So what happens to me now?'

"Well," Lily started with a deep sigh. "Next week, the doctors are going to put in a central line to make the chemotherapy treatments easier. Then you'll start the radiation and chemo a few days after that." It all sounded so easy, but in truth, it was far from. And she hadn't had the heart to tell Morgan that—depending on how she responded to the chemotherapy drugs—the NG tube might become a long term thing in order to avoid malnutrition complications.

Morgan signed that she understood what her mother had told her as her mind scrambled for a distraction from her own problems. Remembering that Remus was following up on a lead about her brother, she asked, 'What about Harry? Did you find him? Is he okay? Where is he?'

Lily's look of relief was fleeting, but she replied, "We found Harry." When Morgan started to run through the questions list again, she quickly went on. "He was in a muggle hospital in Pinckney, Michigan in the United States. He was badly hurt, but hopefully he'll be home soon."

'How bad was Harry hurt?' Morgan asked, worried. Just the idea that Harry was in a hospital was bad enough but it had been two months since Harry had disappeared. So he had to have been in the hospital for at least half that time. When her mother didn't reply, Morgan asked again. 'Mum, how bad was Harry hurt?'


Martinelli Wizarding Hospital

Howell, Michigan

The sounds of beeping and indistinct voices were what greeted Harry as he emerged from unconsciousness. He blinked his remaining eye, but his world was presently still one of total darkness.

"Harry? Harry, can you hear me?"

His father's voice was muffled at first, but eventually became clear. Feeling that the back and neck brace was gone, Harry slowly nodded that he could hear his dad, but when he tried to respond, he found that his voice was gone.

A warm glow slowly started spreading across Harry's face and after a few moments, the darkness gave way to light and a minute or two later, he could see again. Everything was still a bit fuzzy without his glasses and by the fact that half of the room was still in darkness, Harry deduced that he was still missing his left eye. Looking around the room as best he could, he saw that he was in a hospital and two healers stood next to the bed, working on his broken body while his father and godfather stood nearby.

The cast the muggle doctors had put on Harry's arm was still present, as was the cast on his left leg, but, thankfully, the back and neck brace which helping to keep his spine immobilized was gone. Still, Harry felt his stomach churn viciously when he saw that his left arm and entire right leg were still missing.

"Just relax, Harry," James told his son, calmly. "The healers wanted to take care of the broken bones before attempting to regrow your arm and leg."

Harry looked again at his missing limbs and just nodded silently. But when one of the healers put a hand on what remained of his left arm, Harry suddenly flashed back to when one of the Death Eaters had first broken it. He remembered someone grabbing his arm roughly and pulling him up, dislocating his elbow in the process.

For days he'd lain on the floor as the Death Eaters continued the torture…Somewhere during that time, Harry thought he remembered trying to use wandless magic to sever his arm, but his right arm wasn't in good shape, either.

James watched Harry recoil from the healer's touch and went to his son's side, calmly putting a hand on his shoulder. "What did those bloody bastards do to you, Harry?" James thought as he said aloud, "Harry, you're okay. You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you."

It was hours before Harry finally stopped flinching every time one of the healers touched him, but eventually, he started to calm down a little, and he finally noticed that—although the back and neck brace was gone—he was still on the ventilator and he was still unable to feel anything from his chest down.

"It will be a while before you're able to breathe or feel anything below your shoulders," Sirius warned as one of the healers started working on the fractures to Harry's leg. "The Death Eaters used some particularly nasty dark magic to keep you from healing properly. You've got a long road ahead of you, I'm afraid."

Harry nodded that he understood and even though he couldn't speak, he mouthed the words, "Why can't I talk? What happened to my voice?"

Sirius sat down next to Harry's hospital bed, looking grim. "Someone used a curse on you which severely scarred your vocal cords. It was dark magic that, frankly, I have never seen before. I don't know if it can be reversed."

James sat on the other side and when Harry turned his head to look at him, he said, "The healers aren't going to be able to fix everything, son. They're going to do what they can, but you're going to have to live with some disabilities."

"At least I'm alive," Harry mouthed, trying to sound optimistic. Somehow, he managed not to wince too hard when his father and godfather hugged him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took more than two days to heal Harry's spinal cord and regrow his right leg, but the healers were still unable to regrow the teenager's arm and eye.

And while Harry was able to move his legs again, he had reduced mobility in his left leg. The healers advised that Harry would probably require some sort of brace and would need to use some sort of crutch or cane to walk.

Still, Harry thought as he took a deep breath, trying to relax, it was better than his situation a month ago.

First, there had been the torture, made worse by the Death Eaters blinding him before starting in on him.

Then there had been the first time he'd woken up in the muggle hospital. The doctors telling him he'd lost his arm and leg and that the blows to his back had caused permanent nerve damage to his spine, paralyzing him from the chest down… that his right arm would likely never be the same again and he'd be stuck in a wheelchair the rest of his life, almost completely dependent on others to take care of him.

Looking at his missing arm, Harry found that he didn't care about that. True, it would make things harder when he finally managed to get to walking again, but there was the prospect of a prosthetic to be considered. And even if he had trouble walking and was missing his eye, it still beat the idea of being paralyzed from the chest down and having limited use of his only arm.

The door to the room opened and Harry sat up quickly when Ardelia came in, giving her brother a big smile and an ever bigger hug. 'Hey, Harry,' Ari signed as she sat on Harry's bed. 'How are you feeling?' Studying her brother for a moment, she added, 'You look good. Mum and Dad told me how bad you were hurt and about the dark magic used on you. I thought you'd be in worse shape.'

'Yeah, the healers did good work,' Harry agreed. Thinking on the question of how he felt, he frowned slightly before he eventually signed back, 'I'm happy to be alive… But I'm still a little terrified…'

Ari just nodded, not even asking what Harry was terrified of. 'Nightmares?' She asked, knowingly. When Harry nodded silently, she added, 'Flashbacks… panic attacks?'

Harry just stared for a moment at his sister and he finally asked, 'Ari… what happened to you that night?'

Ardelia's gaze grew haunted as she thought back to the night Voldemort had attacked her family. Even as she got older, she still couldn't talk about what had happened to her—either verbally or in sign language. It had been something that, at 3 years old, she'd never been able to fully understand. Not that she hadn't tried. But all she could remember was Voldemort's face and another man wearing a hooded cloak and a mask coming closer and closer, a hand reaching out to hurt her… 'I can't tell you, Harry,' Ari replied. 'I want to, really. I remember bits and pieces, but… I just can't say what happened. It's like my brain just blocked out that part.'

'I wish I could block out what happened to me,' Harry replied with a wistful expression on his face. When Ari reached forward and put her hand on his, Harry was surprised when he didn't flinch. But after a while, he withdrew his hand from his sister's and said, 'After I destroyed Voldemort, one of the Death Eaters hit me with some spell, knocking me unconscious. When I woke up, I couldn't see a thing. I was beaten… they broke both my arms and my legs… they fractured my spine… I was totally blind, but I remember every second of pain and torture I experienced.'

Ardelia leaned forward and hugged her little brother tightly, tears falling down her face when Harry held onto her, shaking as he started sobbing.

It was a while before Harry calmed down and although Ari asked if he wanted to avoid talking about what happened, Harry shook his head. Instead of talking about his attack, he turned the focus to his current condition. 'The healers weren't able to regrow my arm or my eye. And walking is going to be hard since my leg is still bad.' Touching the stump where his arm had been, Harry couldn't believe the limb was really gone. It felt weird being without a part of his body that had been with him forever. The same with his eye. When he said as much to his sister and showed her the empty socket where his eye had been, Harry tried to keep from crying again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When James went into Harry's hospital room later that night, he couldn't help but smile as he saw Ardelia asleep in her brother's hospital bed, one arm wrapped around him protectively.

Once Ari had stopped talking, James had been worried about how his oldest daughter would get along with her siblings. But for some strange yet wonderful reason, Ardelia's silence just served to bond the three children even more. Morgan and Harry knew they could tell their older sister anything and when the two had nightmares, they would fall back asleep almost instantly as soon as Ari lay down with them.

Watching his son and daughter, James knew it would be a long time before Harry got over what had happened to him the past few months. But hopefully, now that Harry was home and safe with his family, he could start dealing with the nightmares of his ordeal.

As far has Harry's physical recovery, magical blocks had been discovered on Harry's left leg, left arm, and left eye. The blocks, one healer explained, were preventing Harry's leg from being healed completely and any attempts at regeneration of his arm and eye. The blocks were the results of dark magic and, if not removed within 24 hours of application, resulted quite often in permanent injuries.

Turning his gaze from his only son to his elder daughter, James wished that the rest of his family could be there to help Harry through this difficult time, but knew that it was impossible at the present time. Morgan's oncologist and surgeons had refused to let her leave the hospital and Lily hadn't wanted to leave her side, especially so soon after the surgery.

Thinking of his three children, James settled himself into an armchair in one corner of the room, frowning slightly as he watched Ari and Harry. Between the complications of Morgan's cancer surgery and the curse placed upon Harry by the Death Eaters, James realized that, in all likelihood, he'd never hear his son or daughter's voices again.

Leaning back in the chair, his thoughts running rampant, James barely registered his eyes closing before exhaustion took over him and he drifted off to sleep.


Ministry of Magic

London, England

1 week later

It had taken a while to track down the Death Eaters that had taken Harry Potter from the graveyard, but once the Aurors had done so, they immediately went to work interrogating the perpetrators to try and get the details of the circumstances. Of course, when threatened with Azkaban, most of the Death Eaters—including Lucius Malfoy—folded fairly quickly, confessing a great deal of secrets about not only the Death Eaters but about the attack on the Potters 13 years ago.

Over the years, Severus Snape had heard rumors about what happened the night of October 31st, 1981 that had left Ardelia Kristine Potter without her voice. The common theory was that the poor child had simply been scared into permanent silence.

But as years went by, whispers started spreading that Voldemort hadn't been alone when he'd gone to Godric's Hollow and whoever the second person had been, they had done something horrible to Ardelia who had fallen silent as a result.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As he stood outside Morgan Potter's hospital room, looking inside at the younger Potter daughter and Lily, Snape wished he didn't have to be there. Lily had been dealing with so much already and adding to her problems hardly seemed like something a former friend would do. But Lily deserved to know and Snape knew that he had to be the one to tell her.

"What are you doing here, Severus?" Lily asked as she came out of the room, closing the door behind her. She had seen the potions master in the hallway earlier and she didn't know why he was there as the two of them had had a falling out as friends back when they were students at Hogwarts.

But perhaps Snape was there in a professional manner, consulting with Morgan's oncologist about the teenager's treatment or any potions or medications to help counter side effects.

Snape paused for a moment and then led Lily just out of view of the window before he started speaking. He knew that Morgan—like her brother and older sister—was highly adept at reading lips and didn't want the young girl to find out about her sister second hand. Keeping his voice down, he reported, "The Death Eaters who captured your son were questioned and some rather atrocious facts about 13 years ago have come to light."

Of all the ways Lily imagined the start of the conversation, that had caught her off guard. Why was Snape bringing up the past? She remembered that night with startling clarity. It was impossible to forget, after all. Voldemort had found her family after they had been betrayed by Peter Pettigrew and Voldemort had sent James crashing into the nearest wall before going after Morgan and Harry in the nursery. Lily had told Ardelia to stay in her room, lock the door, and not to come out for any reason.

Voldemort had turned his wand on Lily and the twins and after rendering Lily unconscious, Voldemort had tried to kill Harry and Morgan which had backfired. Harry had ended up only with a lightning shaped cut on his forehead and Morgan wasn't harmed at all.

When Lily had finally woken up, she ran to check on Ardelia while James tended to the twins. Ari had been huddled in her closet, wrapped up in the sheet on her bed and only whimpered quietly when her mother picked her up.

The next day, as the Potter family regrouped in Sirius Black's small house nearby, they wondered why Ardelia hadn't said a word. She hadn't even really cried.

Looking at Snape, Lily didn't like the look on his face. It was the look of someone who had found out something heinous and was torn between wanting to tell her and wanting to spare her the truth."Severus… what do you know?"

Snape sighed resignedly and asked, "When the muggle doctors and healers examined Ardelia after the Dark Lord's attack that night, did they do a full examination of your daughter?"

Lily didn't know what exactly Snape was asking, but she shrugged. The first thing she'd wanted to do was take her children to hospital to make sure Voldemort's curse didn't have any side effects and why Ardelia hadn't said anything. But even after 3 days being examined, all three Potter children were deemed in good health. "Well… yes, of course. She had a couple bruises, but…" She thought back, her mind running through dozens of possible situations and noticing how twitchy Snape was being, she felt her heart plummet and her stomach turn over violently. She hadn't even considered the possibility until now. "Did Vol—Did he…?"

"Not Voldemort," Snape corrected, swiftly, seeing the line of thought in Lily's eyes. "Another Death Eater who accompanied him. He… He was dispatched during the apprehension of Harry's attackers."

Lily tried to fight the urge to vomit and she pressed a hand to her mouth, closing her eyes as the truth slammed her hard. Of all the reasons she'd thought of over the years as to why Ari remained mute, the idea of someone sexually assaulting the child had never come to mind. Lowering her hand slowly, Lily looked at Snape, horror in her eyes, and said, "A Death Eater attacked—molested—my little girl?" Her stomach churned violently and Lily ran for the bathroom, just making it to the nearest toilet before dropping to her knees and throwing up.

God, it made so much sense now. After that night, Ari had seemed to shut down for years. She wouldn't talk to anyone and for the first few years afterwards, she flinched whenever someone touched her. Ardelia had been only three at the time—there was no way she would have been able to fend off her attacker or even comprehend what was happening to her. There had been 8 hours between when Voldemort and his mystery companion had arrived and when Hagrid and Sirius had arrived… Lily suddenly vomited again as she thought about what Ari had been through during that time.

When it felt like there was nothing left in her stomach to throw up, Lily spat to get the last bit out of her mouth before slowly getting to her feet and going over to the sink to rinse the taste out of her mouth. Leaning against the sink, she dropped her head as she started to cry. She felt like the worst mother in the world. How could she have not known about this? More importantly, how could Ardelia not have told her?

No, Lily thought, resolutely, shaking her head. None of this was Ardelia's fault. She'd been 3 at the time. There had been no way she would have understood what had happened to her, or even that it was wrong.

A tentative knock on the bathroom door made her jump and she whirled around to see James coming in, looking concerned. Lily didn't even say a word as she threw herself into her husband's arms, feeling him hold her tight as she continued to cry.

xx

As soon as James, Ardelia, and Harry returned to England, James had wanted to take Harry home immediately to rest, but the teenager had insisted on seeing his twin sister first. After very little argument, James agreed and a short time later, the trio entered Fairbotham Hospital, Harry seated in a wheelchair, his left leg in a full length brace and propped up on the footrest.

When Ardelia, James, and Harry got to the oncology ward where Morgan was, they were surprised to see Severus Snape outside the hospital room, looking rather distressed.

"Where's Lily?" James asked, confused, as Ari and Harry went in to see Morgan who quickly started to talk to her siblings in sign language.

"Bathroom," Snape replied, simply, turning so that his back was facing the window. When he caught James Potter's questioning look, he balked at the idea of telling James about what had happened to Ari. Lily had acted about how Snape had expected, but James was far more hotheaded and would likely to go to the Ministry of Magic to find and personally punish the fiend who had attacked his daughter, even though the perpetrator was already dead.

"What are you doing here?" James asked, curiously, as the presence of his old school rival wasn't what he'd expected.

Snape straightened and decided to bite the bullet. "It's about what happened to Ardelia when she was a child…"

x

Ardelia and Harry sat on either side of Morgan, neither able to look away from the trach tube in their sister's throat and the ventilator she was hooked up to. 'So… what are the doctors saying?' Ari signed, looking at the bandage on Morgan's neck, the NG tube, and the bandages on her chest.

'About my lungs and throat or the cancer?' Morgan asked, before reaching up to touch the central line inserted just below her clavicle. 'My lungs are bad. Because of how much the surgeons took, they don't think I'd be able to breathe off the ventilator. So even once I finish with the radiation and chemo, I'll have to be on a portable vent.'

'How long are you in treatment for?' Harry asked, thinking about when school started up again in September. Would Morgan be able to return to Hogwarts when the new term started?

Morgan was a bit surprised at the fact that her brother was sticking with signing, but then she remembered what her mother had said about some of the curses used on Harry—one of which had destroyed his vocal cords. 'Radiation therapy 5 days a week, chemotherapy for the other two days and that goes for a full 10 weeks. The worst part is I'm stuck in the hospital until it's over.'

Ari and Harry exchanged the briefest of looks. For the past 13 years, neither Ardelia, Harry, nor Morgan had ever had any serious illnesses. The occasional cold or flu, sure, and all three had chicken pox when they were little—but never had any of them been this sick. As they sat in silence, looking at their sister, Harry and Ari couldn't tear their eyes away from the tube coming out of Morgan's throat and leading to the machine that was keeping her alive.

Glancing out the window briefly, Harry started when he saw his father slamming Snape against the window, splintering the glass. Ari leapt up from her spot on the edge of Morgan's bed and she looked worried when she saw the almost homicidal look on their father's face.

Morgan sat bolt upright, her face contorted in pain as her stitches pulled, sharply. 'What the Hell…?'

Ari signaled Harry to stay put and she dashed out of the room, staring in disbelief as her father kept Snape pinned against the window, one hand around the Potions Master's throat. She immediately went to James, trying to pull him off of Snape but her father wouldn't budge. Ari stared, wide-eyed, wondering what could have happened that would make her father feel the need to choke the life out of Snape. She had to stop him!

Taking a deep breath, she tried to get her voice to work, but she could only mouth the word silently. But Ari wasn't deterred and after another deep breath, she managed to speak.

"Stop."

James froze and turned to look at his oldest daughter in stunned disbelief. The word had been the faintest whisper but somehow, it seemed to be the most amazing sound he'd ever heard in his life and something he'd started thinking that he'd never hear again.

"Dad, stop," Ari spoke again, her voice weak, even though she tried to say the words as loudly as she could. It hurt her throat after being silent for so long, but she didn't care. If hearing her speak out loud was what it took to snap her father out of it, she'd do what she had to.

James looked from his daughter to Snape and back again before letting the other man go and hugging Ardelia tightly, crying with tears of joy. But after a while, he pulled away slightly and the look on his face shifted to one of pained anguish as he said, "I am so sorry, Ardelia. I didn't know."

'Know what?' Ari signed as her throat sore from her brief bout of verbal communication. She looked at her father and her mother who had come running over before looking at Snape again. Ari saw the looks on their faces and after thinking for a moment, she felt her stomach turn when she realized that they were talking about 13 years ago. 'You mean what happened to me when I was little?' She asked, looking from one adult to the other. 'I want to know.' But when no one responded, she took a deep breath and said aloud, "I need to know."

x

In Morgan's room, Harry and Morgan watched as their parents and Snape spoke to Ardelia. Their mother looked like she was going to vomit and she was crying and their dad looked like he wanted to bust heads while Snape looked calm as always, although there was a sadness about him that was astoundingly out of character.

But it was Ardelia's face that was most startling. She truly looked like she was going to be sick, she'd gone pale, and tears streamed down her face. When James and Lily went to touch her, she withdrew quickly, as though she didn't want to be touched.

A moment later, though, Ari dashed to a nearby trash bin, throwing up and crying. Lily stood next to her daughter and the two cried as Ari hugged her mother tightly.

Harry and Morgan didn't have the slightest idea what might have been said since the door was closed and they didn't have the best angle to read anyone's lips, but both of them wondered.