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Opening Old Wounds.

The girl looked up at them, her blue eyes showing distrust and barely concealed resentment. Her jaw was set and even for a six year old, she looked quite formidable.

"Hailie..." Elaine prompted; but Hailie remained silent. Harry stood back and gestured for them to come in, exchanging a worried glance with his wife.


Chapter 3 – Unusual Teddies.

The three adults gathered around the small table in the middle of the living room. Harry and Ginny sat on one side while Elaine and Hailie sat on the sofa on the other. Harry glanced towards the child a few times as the silence stretched uncomfortably. He noticed that her jaw was still clenched and she was looking around the room with a feigned indifference, feigned as he could see the curiosity in her eyes. They widened almost imperceptibly as they landed on a charcoal coloured owl that dozed on top of one of the tall bookshelves that flanked the fireplace.

"Well," Elaine hesitantly began, glancing between the three others. Clearly nervous, so Harry took over.

"Ms Dowbridge, the arrangement is that Miss Scott will stay with us for a week. I was told that we'd need to sign a final form?" He questioned.

"Oh! Yes, yes, of course..." She said, and began rummaging in a bag that closely resembled the colour of her suit. "Ah, here it is." She handed the piece of paper to Ginny who began to read.

"It's just a confirmation form that releases her into your care formally. I believe you signed one similar when you met Mr Shaw?" Harry nodded. "Yes, that one was an agreement that you were willing. This finalises things, putting her into your care for a week. After the week is up the forms are void and Miss Scott will be returned into our care." She explained. Her mouth formed into a thin line that could rival Harry's old Head of House at the last sentence.

"And if we want her to stay?" Asked Ginny, looking up. Elaine Dowbridge looked her in the eye for a long, measuring moment.

"You have read the case? You have heard about past foster homes?" She questioned, puzzled.

"Of course," replied Ginny. She couldn't see why Elaine had no apparent awareness that the child in question was sitting right with them. Apparently neither did Harry as he interrupted Elaine before she spoke again.

"I don't think it's necessary to be having such a discussion right now," he said, glancing furtively towards the child who was still watching the owl. "We will sign the form and see you in a week's time to discuss things further." He leant forwards and signed the paper along with Ginny. After three signatures had been received the parchment glowed a soft, golden colour then vanished with a slight 'pop'. Harry showed the woman to the door and assured that he would see her in a week. She smiled sadly and replied,

"If you don't call before that, that is. A few days perhaps?" She looked at him with something akin to pity. He hated pity.

"A week." He corrected. Looking into her eyes and seeing that she expected him not to last the entire week had him riled in a way he hadn't felt for a long time. She turned away from him with a muttered 'we'll see. Goodnight Mr Potter', to which he never replied. He raised the wards again and walked into the living room. Ginny was attempting to make conversation with Hailie and he made his way over, sitting next to Ginny again. He remained quiet, leaving Ginny to coax the child into speaking with her, all to no avail. She was looking around the room with her arms folded, determined not to look or speak with them and Ginny turned to Harry at a loss of what to do.

"Hey," Harry said softly. He wasn't sure if she'd heard but her eyes flickered towards him for a fraction of a second so he took that as a good sign and carried on. "I know this must be scary, coming into a new house and all, especially with people you don't know..." He received an encouraging nod from Ginny when he started to trail off, "Do you want to see your room?" He asked. There was no reply so Harry stood, "C'mon, follow me, I'll show you..." He made his way out of the room and walked slowly towards the bottom of the stairs, hoping she would follow. At the sound of small footsteps he turned around and smiled encouragingly, slowing his pace even more for her to catch up. She remained silent as they climbed and walked towards the door next to the master bedroom. Opening it, he watched the child's face to gauge her reaction. She looked around the room as they entered, taking in the yellow walls with lilac borders, the lilac bedcovers and the toy box in the corner. There was a bedside table and on it sat a lamp and a children's book. There was a wardrobe and dresser to the side and at the foot of the bed sat a small trunk with her things that had been magically sent earlier that day. As she looked, her expression was blank apart from when her gaze landed on the trunk.

"Yes, that's yours. Your clothes are in the wardrobe already but Ginny will of course help you with those in the morning ok? There are toys and books for you to read as well, whenever you like, just help yourself ok Hailie?" She nodded and went to sit on the bed. She climbed up and looked at Harry. He was confused to say the least, nothing had made her smile, speak or even acknowledge what was going on. Perhaps she just needed time to settle, he thought. He smiled and closed the door.

He told Ginny about her impassive reaction and she agreed that the child needed time to adjust. After all, she had been moved from house to house and so she obviously wasn't feeling secure right now. But she was six years old and Harry had never seen a six year old seem so... lost. There was a stark contrast between Hailie and Lily, one which made him eternally grateful that he could provide such a warm, loving environment for his kids to grow up in.

A couple of hours past and none of them had heard a peep from the child. After a brief hushed argument, it was decided that Ginny call her down for dinner while Harry cooked some pasta. Ginny knocked and entered. The girl was sat on the bed and hadn't moved since Harry had left her there.

"Hey, Hailie, dinner's almost ready. I'll show you where the bathroom is so you can wash up." Hailie got up and followed Ginny down the hallway. Well, at least she's following, she thought. They entered the bathroom and Ginny took out the stool from under the sink for Hailie to reach. She climbed up and washed her hands, looking warily towards Ginny every now and then. What is going on in her head, Ginny wondered. She smiled at the young girl and they both made their way into the kitchen. The small table was set for three and so they sat. Well, Ginny and Harry did whereas Hailie remained in the doorway and glared. Taken aback, Harry spoke;

"Hailie? Come and sit down. There's a seat right here next to Ginny," he gestured. "What's up?" She continued to glare at them for a moment and then strode towards the drawers and flung them open, grabbing cutlery and throwing it on the floor. They sat there stunned as she opened a cupboard and threw more things out as she screamed, this time she took out small plates and flung them on the floor, the crash unfreezing them. Harry ran forwards and took the plates out of her hand whilst Ginny repaired the broken ones with a wave of her wand.

"Hailie, no." He said firmly, looking into her eyes. "You do not break things here, that's unacceptable." His voice was calm as he spoke and she looked up at him. Hatred and anger stared back at him. She turned around and grabbed the chair, pulling it over. Ginny made to stop her but Harry cut her off with a small shake of his head. They watched as she screamed, tipping over the chairs in anger. The fury that emanated was scary, her magic was in the air and they could feel it, the atmosphere buzzing with the charge. Ginny was at a loss, she had never seen a child so distraught, they watched as the tears came through the child's shouts. Harry stood there and let her ride out the anger. Perhaps that was why she was so quiet; she just let it build up inside of her. Harry knew what that felt like as he'd done it many times to himself. He knew that she'd heard what he'd said and resolved to make sure she knew he was serious. He had let her know it was unacceptable and so her actions would have consequences, he just didn't expect to be disciplining her barely hours after her arrival. When she had started up again he noticed that she had glanced towards him, almost expecting him to run forwards and forcibly restrain her and in that moment he knew that he shouldn't. Was that what everyone else had done? What was she doing? Testing boundaries? Venting anger? He thought it was perhaps a mixture of the two.

When the tears had started, he wanted to pick her up and comfort her. But he knew that was out of the question and so he let her carry on tipping and breaking things. Quite a few times he had to stop Ginny from going towards her and so they both picked up a chair and sat watching, waiting for her to finish. A few minutes later, she stopped. Hailie looked over at them in a defiant glare towards Ginny which shifted to apprehension upon meeting Harry's eyes. She stood there for a few moments, surrounded in cutlery and broken china. Harry was glad he had cast a silent shield charm towards her when she'd started so she wouldn't get hurt. The silence stretched on, each waiting for the other to break it. Harry spoke up,

"Hailie, like I said before, this is unacceptable." He said it evenly as it wouldn't do anyone any good if he were to start raving and shouting at her, he decided. She gave him a calculating stare and they could see she was wondering what he was going to do next. He had made up his mind.

"I really hoped we could've gone through the rules tomorrow, and in better circumstances." He added quietly. Ginny glanced at him but remained quiet and he was grateful for that, it enabled him to think.

"Sit down." It wasn't a request and Hailie could tell. For a moment it seemed as though she would start up again, but she walked tentatively forwards, glancing away from Harry and towards Ginny every now and then.

Ginny felt as though the world had tipped upside down. Which it literally had in the kitchen, she thought. She had no idea how they were going to handle it, if it was one of her own children who'd trashed the kitchen then she wouldn't have hesitated to give them a good sharp clip around the ear and shout the house down. However she knew this wouldn't be the case. The child had issues and she had guessed that this was only the tip of the iceberg. She was glad Harry had spoken first as he'd sensed her temper boiling and had quickly intervened when she started to trash the place. She had been so close to grabbing the child, it worried her. She would need to keep her temper in check with Hailie but she wasn't sure she could do it, they needed her to trust them, not fear them. Harry seemed to draw the same conclusion when he stated the rules.

"Right, time for some rules. First of all, you do not damage any of our things, just as we would never damage any of yours. I will fix things up here, and you will lose privileges as punishment. We will sort that out tomorrow." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Is there anything wrong with that Hailie?" He asked, confused.

"Lose privl'ges?" She spoke quietly for the first time since entering the Potter household.

"Yes, Hailie. You will have privileges such as toys, sweets and free time. You'll earn them through good behaviour and lose them through bad. We won't hurt you." Ginny glanced at him in surprise and was even more shocked when Hailie's shoulders visibly slumped. He carried on,

"Secondly, treat each other as you'd like to be treated. It's not exactly nice or fair if you call someone names and then expect them to be nice to you is it?" He asked with a faint smile. Hailie however missed it as she was staring resolutely at the table.

"Thirdly, we use manners in our house Hailie. A simple 'please' and 'thank you' goes a long way." He got up and walked around the table towards the unit where the food was, waving his wand to repair and clear up the mess on the floor. Luckily the food was too high up for her to reach. Waving his wand, he cancelled the automatic Stasis charm and brought the plates over, setting them down in front of them.

"Thank you." Ginny said, glancing from Harry to Hailie, hoping she would follow her lead.

"Thank you." Came a rather timid voice which belied the frown on her face. Ah well, Harry thought, it was a start.

"You're welcome." They ate in silence apart from when Ginny would attempt to make conversation with Harry about little things. He could tell that she was just trying to ease the tension but he couldn't focus on what she was saying and so in the end she gave up. Harry finished first and got up to clean his plate. He gave it a quick wash in the sink and by the time he was done, Hailie had cleared her plate too. He washed Hailie's and led her to get ready for bed whilst Ginny sat eating still, absorbed in a magazine. He offered to help her brush her teeth but she refused and insisted she was just fine to do it herself and that she didn't need him. He hated to admit; the way she'd said it had hurt a little. She climbed into bed and lay down, watching him warily. What on earth had he done?

He sat on the bed and tucked the covers in around her like he did for Lily. He reached up to brush the hair from her eyes and she flinched when he touched her. She looked up at him startled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump." Inside, he felt something stir. He used to flinch. He knew how frightening it was to let someone close and so he got up, murmured a goodnight and closed the door.

Downstairs Ginny was making her way to Harry's study. Upon entering she saw him and stopped. He was sat in his chair and had his elbows propped up on the desk, head resting in his hands. She stood and watched for a few moments as the fire illuminated the room and gave the furniture flickering shadows. Eventually he sighed and looked up, noticing her in the doorway. They looked at each other for a moment and then she went over and sat in the wooden chair on the other side of the desk.

"How did it go?" She asked softly.

"Well, she hates me." He shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea what went on in the kitchen." Harry said, shaking his head.

"You handled it well, really well. I was so close to shouting at her. I can see it wouldn't have helped in the least." She gave a wry smile.

"Honestly Gin, I can barely remember what I said. I just rambled on about some rules." He laughed quietly. "I'm probably going to need to add to that list 'cause I think that three rules aren't going to cover everything. As for the shouting, no I don't think it would've. Although you held it back, well done, I know it's difficult." Harry smiled at her.

"Only cause you said not to!" She scoffed and Harry shrugged.

"Well you looked pretty close to not listening to me but you did." He replied, his tone making it clear she would get nowhere by contradicting him.

"So what's the punishment then?" Ginny asked, taking his hand over the desk. He stroked the back of her hand for a moment whilst thinking.

"I guess... No sweets and she can have toys tomorrow evening. She can do some reading during the day instead." Ginny nodded in agreement and made her way around the desk.

"I'm having an early night ok? Don't stay up too late you look exhausted already." She gave a tender kiss on his head and closed the door behind her.

About an hour later, Harry made his way to bed. He'd managed to sort through some cases that had been delivered by a large tawny owl earlier that morning. He got ready for bed and as he passed Hailie's door he peeked in. Harry was just about to close the door when he heard a sniffle. He walked in quietly and the sniffling sounds abruptly stopped. Hailie was curled onto her side facing the wall with the blanket pulled up to her chin. Harry noticed she was clutching what looked to be a Jack Russell teddy. Strange, he thought, weren't teddies usually... bear shaped? Putting that irrelevant thought aside he touched her shoulder, ignoring the flinch.

"Hey, it's ok." He said softly.

"'m sorry. Didn't mean to wake you up, 'm sorry. Please..." She mumbled in a panicky voice. Harry tried to reassure her by whispering words of comfort and squeezing her shoulder but it just seemed to make things worse as she started sobbing, repeating the same line over and over. Harry decided to just abandon everything and do what his instinct told him. He picked her up and climbed further onto the bed until he was leaning against the wall with her in his lap. She fought against his arms as he tried to soothe her,

"Shh, Hailie it's fine, you're ok, you're safe. I'm not going to hurt you." She struggled and cried.

"No- No, Please. I'm sorry..." He held her to him, ignoring her protests. After a few minutes she calmed down until she was sniffling loudly but no longer struggling. They sat together on her bed for a long time until she dozed off again. Harry sighed, a bad dream, why hadn't he thought of that? Of course she would have them. And there was also the fact she thought he was her father. Perhaps he had visited her in the night? He stopped that train of thought right there. No, there was no use getting worked up. He stood up with her in his arms as gently as he could and bent over to put her into her bed again. He laid her down and made to stand up when he noticed she had a fistful of his shirt in an iron like grip. He pried her fingers away as gently as possible and tucked her in again. She stirred slightly as he left her bedside but she never woke.

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