Recovery of the Mind
Summary: Spending a summer with two Slytherins weren't so bad. But how will those two Slytherins react when their former master, before dying, leaves their anchor Harry Potter in a shape no one could imagine? And how will they heal him? Non-slash.
Pairing/s: None.
Warnings: Blood, violence, maybe some other things.
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter.
Happens after Sirius dies.
-
Chapter Four
Draco looked at Ron and Hermione as they entered Harry's room, wondering why Severus had even let them into the potions master's quarters. Poppy had released Harry from the Infirmary, as there was too many students coming in and out (both for real reasons and for wanting to catch a glimpse of the Harry Potter) and for the reason that Harry was healthy enough to live with the two Slytherins.
"What is it?" he asked with a sigh, Harry's head in his lap. The raven-haired teen had been up all night screaming himself raw due to nightmares, or maybe memories he was better without, and Severus had been with him so Draco could catch some sleep. Now Severus had been given a break and Draco had after an hour of hysterics and screams managed to calm Harry down long enough to take a nap. Of course the teen had been given a few drops of Dreamless sleep potion so he would sleep deeper.
"Just wanted to see how Harry was," Ron sneered.
"Will you give that up, and grow up for once?" Draco asked. "I'm not a copy of my father, may he rot in hell, and I'm not taking your friend away. I'm trying to help Harry!"
Ron was about to reply, when Hermione none too discreetly kicked him in the shin. Ron swore and hopped around while the girl came forward.
"Sorry about him," she said and sat down. "And sorry for my behaviour as well. We haven't really seen Harry like that, so… well, it's not really an excuse. How is he?"
"He's been having nightmares all night and morning," Draco said and rubbed his eyes. "I barely got any sleep and Severus has been up for two days."
"Two days?" she asked. "He ought to have a rest now."
"I tried, but he was behind with some potions he was going to make," the blonde said.
Hermione threw her hands up, got up and muttered:
"Boys!"
She stormed out of the room, Draco staring after her. Harry continued to sleep while Ron had stopped swearing. He looked after Hermione and said:
"Boy, I feel sorry for professor Snape."
"How so?" the blonde asked.
"When 'Mione got that look on her face, it ain't going to be pretty," Ron said. "I've been the victim of that look more than once, and Merlin did I run. Too bad she caught up with me. So Harry's been having nightmares?"
"Yeah."
"But he's better now?" Ron asked as he sat down on the bed carefully.
"A bit," Draco said, stroking away the hair from Harry's forehead.
"He… he told us you guys were great," the redhead said. "That you were like his family."
"He is my family too," the blonde murmured.
"I was acting up, bitching against him and all that stuff," Ron said. "Not very much of a friend am I?"
"You just had your opinions about us; I can't blame you for that."
"Did you always mean your comments about my family?" the redhead asked, genuinely curious. His hand was securely on Harry's waist, and Draco saw no danger in letting him do that.
"In the beginning," Draco said. "When I didn't know better. After the first year… not really. I should apologize to Miss Granger for calling her a Mudblood."
"She probably will say it's not a big deal anymore," Ron said. "I know your dad is an ass, but what about your mother?"
"She's different," Draco said. "She tried to help me. She sent me to Severus when she realized she had to flee England."
"Is she coming back now when Voldemort is gone?" Ron wondered.
"Not yet," the blonde replied and hushed Harry as the teen stirred with a whine. "She is coming after Christmas."
"But it's only October!" Ron exclaimed, albeit quietly.
"I can handle it," Draco said with a smile. "And she will probably have a lover when she gets back that she will be with most of the time. I don't mind; I got Severus and Harry. That's plenty for me."
In that moment Hermione returned with a big grin on her face. Ron groaned and said:
"'Mione, you didn't hex him did you? He's still a teacher!"
"Oh no, I didn't hex him… sort of," she said and her grin turned bigger if that was possible. Ron grew pale and said:
"Don't tell me you used 'it'!"
"Oh, you bet I used 'it'," she said. Draco looked between the two of them and then said:
"What's 'it'?"
Ron shuddered, and Hermione let out a cackle. Suddenly Draco had no wish to know what it was. Harry happily slept on.
-
"Is it safe to see what you did to Severus?" Draco asked the bushy-haired girl, raising an eyebrow. It had been thirty minutes and he was dying of curiosity.
"Oh, it was not that dangerous," she said and waved a hand dismissively. "It's just that Ron hates it, and therefore gets frightened every time I use it."
"What is 'it'?" the blonde wanted to know as he rose up to check up on Severus.
Hermione stroke Harry's hair and smiled. She then turned to Draco and said:
"It's a spell."
"What kind of spell?"
"Do-as-I-say-or-else spell."
"It changes depending on who it is," Ron offered. "'Mione never did it on Harry though."
"That's because he at least listened to me," the girl huffed. "You did not."
"It wasn't my fault!" Ron cried out, albeit lowly to not wake the raven-haired teen up.
"And you did that spell on Severus?" Draco asked with wide eyes.
"He never knew what hit him," the girl said dreamily, looking off into space. Ron shuddered and muttered:
"Totally crazy that girl…"
Draco swallowed before deciding not to have a look what the potions master was suffering. As he sat down again, Hermione absently patted his head and said 'Good boy' followed by Draco staring at Ron who only shrugged and said:
"She does that to me and Harry once in a while when she decides we aren't completely idiots."
-
Harry opened his eyes carefully, feeling it was someone else than Draco petting his hair. He looked up to see a girl with bushy hair talking to Draco. It was her small hand who patted his hair. It felt nice. She felt nice… but he recognized her. Maybe. He was not entirely sure.
He let out a yawn and the girl looked down.
"Good morning, Harry," she said with a smile.
How did she know his name? Did Draco tell her? And what was her name?
"I'm Hermione," she said, seeing his confused look. "Are you hungry? Draco said you hadn't eaten anything."
As on cue Harry's stomach rumbled and he had the grace to blush. He tried to say he was hungry, and as expected it came out as a gurgle. Draco saw the teen getting frustrated, as he had been a lot when he discovered he could not say the words he wanted, and moved over. He gently helped the raven-haired teen to sit up and moved an arm around him.
"It's okay," the blonde said. "You'll be able to speak soon, don't worry."
Harry nodded, knowing that Draco never lied to him. His stomach rumbled again and Hermione jumped up.
"I'll get some lunch for us all," she declared. "Ronald, help me."
"Didn't you just say you were going--?"
At her look, Ron paled and jumped up with a 'Yes, ma'am' before following her out of the door. Harry looked after them and then up at Draco. He chuckled at the teen and said:
"You know, Harry, they are totally okay. They are your friends."
Harry was silent for a while and the blonde assumed he had stopped listening again. But then he opened his mouth and said slowly:
"Friends?"
Draco stared at him, and said quietly:
"You spoke."
"Friends," Harry repeated. His eyes lightened in delight as he could say 'friends' without problems. "Friends, friends!"
"Yes, friends," Draco said with a smile. "The boy with red hair, that's Ron. The girl you know her name."
"Her… herm… mione?"
"Hermione. Try it."
"'Mione!"
"Noo, Hermione."
"'Mione!" Harry stubbornly insisted. Quite loudly. And in Draco's ear. The blonde teen tried to make the ringing stop and muttered:
"Well, I guess that's good enough…"
-
When Hermione and Ron came back, Draco smiled widely and said:
"Alright, Harry, who's coming in?"
"Ron 'nd 'Mione?"
Hermione nearly dropped the tray. Ron blinked and said uncertainly:
"He couldn't say our names before we left to get lunch."
"Well, he's a fast learner," Draco said. "Although I can't make him say Hermione. He likes 'Mione much more."
Hermione put the tray down and Harry grinned at her.
"'Mione!"
"He's been repeating your names a few times," the blonde said. "And likes to shout it in my ear, so I'm currently deaf on the left side."
Together they managed to get Harry eat a normal portion and even drink some pumpkin-juice. He was not fond of either drinking or eating so it was a hassle each time.
Draco knew Harry had enough when the teen began to move, turning his head into Draco's shoulder.
"It's enough," he said quietly to Hermione. "Harry can't speak when it's enough so he shows it instead."
"So what do you normally do after meals?" she asked as she continued to nip bits of some crisps.
"Either read for him, or trying to learn him something," Draco said. "Right now he's not up for either."
"How do you know that?" Ron asked as he looked at Harry for any signs.
"The way he hugs," Draco said. "He's in the perfect position for resting, so that's what he wants to do. If he wants to have me or Severus read a book, he usually tries to hit us with a book to notify us of this. If he wants to learn, he keeps bugging me until I get the point."
-
"He's getting restless, Sev."
"I know, but what can we do?" Severus asked, looking at Draco.
"Teach him perhaps how to walk," Draco said. "He's sick of being confined to the bed all the time."
"What, so he can run away without us?"
"No, so he can have more freedom. Would you like to be in a bed 24/7?"
Severus sighed, knowing Draco was right. He rubbed his forehead and said:
"I guess you're right. I just don't want him to walk around alone when he can hardly speak."
"He can say short sentences."
"That's not good enough. There are still people outside and Merlin also in Hogwarts willing to hurt him."
"He'll listen to us," the blonde said. "You know that. Please, he wants to. I can see it on him when I'm walking around, that he wants to be able to do that as well."
-
"Why did you end up having to teach Harry how to walk?" Hermione asked.
"Because Sev doesn't have time, you guys have things to do--"
"So have you."
"But I at least live with him. Plus you two are getting tighter aren't you?" He was talking about the girl and a certain redhead who was currently not with the bushy-haired girl.
Hermione blushed heavily and said:
"N-no we aren't!"
"Come on, even Harry sees it!"
"What?!" she shrieked, hiding her red cheeks as Draco laughed. "No, no, no!"
"Anyway," the blonde said, shaking his head, "Harry wants to walk and I'm gonna teach him no matter what."
-
"Ow! Harry, not now! I'm doing my homework."
"Walk!"
"I know you want to, but I said after dinner!"
"Now!"
"No!"
"Walk!"
"No!"
"Having troubles?"
Draco growled at his terrible amused godfather and then tried to continue with his work. Harry was getting ready to throw a new book in frustration when Severus sat down and took it away.
"Draco needs to focus, Harry," the man said gently. "Come on, you can sit in the living room with me until dinner. Then Draco will be with you the whole night and you can torment him whenever you want to."
Harry seemed happy about that and Draco groaned. The potions master lifted the teen up and carried him to the living room, Harry happily grinning.
Severus put him down on the couch and winced a bit as Harry hardly could stay up even in a sitting position. They had neglected his body's functions a lot, and it was good Draco had decided to start it all. Harry could not sit very well without some kind of support; it was only his arms that had regained strength. He had no idea even how to crawl because he had no instincts for that.
It ended up with Harry half-lying in the man's lap while Severus read up a text for him. You might think Harry wanted to hear a child story but no; he could easily follow with a potions text or defence theory which might suggest Harry knew more than he could express.
This text was about defence, as Harry had liked DADA the most before. Severus read for ten minutes before he discovered Harry had fallen asleep on him. He carefully put down the text onto the table in front of him and cradled the back of the teen's head in his hand, rubbing softly. He let time go by as he watched Harry sleep.
-
"Sev?"
"Hmm?"
"It's dinnertime, and you've done nothing in three hours."
"That's okay," Severus said as he gently removed his hand from Harry's head. "Sometimes it's good to just sit and think."
"Or let your brain rot," Draco observed.
"Draco!"
-
Harry was almost crying in frustration. No matter what Draco did the teen had not managed to stand up. Now he was sitting on the floor, tears glimmering in the corners of his eyes. Draco saw this and thought frantically of any other methods he could use. He searched his mind for any, and finally came up with something that might work. He only needed to convince Harry of it.
"Okay, Harry. We're going to try something else," he said, crouching down before the raven-haired teen. "Put your arms around my neck, like a hug."
Harry did so, sniffing quietly. Draco's arms encircled his waist and the blonde rose up. Harry made a noise of protest as he was forced to stand if he did not want Draco over himself on the floor. His legs were shaking and he was leaning most of his weight on Draco, terrified to let go of the blonde teen.
Draco's hands were resting comfortably on his waist, letting him know the teen was not going to let him fall. Slowly Harry got used to the thought of standing and planted his feet more strongly to the floor.
"This was so much better," Draco murmured into Harry's hair. "This was a better tactic, right?"
Harry nodded, daring to let go of the teen a bit.
"Don't strain yourself," the blonde said. "We'll take it slow and easy just to be sure."
When Severus entered fifteen minutes later, he stopped to watch the scene.
Harry was unstable on his weak legs but he was standing almost on his own, only one of Draco's hands on his waist. The blonde teen let him place an arm around the neck after a few moments as Harry could not handle standing without support for long.
"I see we are making some progress," the potions master said as he walked into the room, notifying the two he was there.
"Sev!"
"Harry!"
Draco caught the excited teen and Severus smiled as he closed in; Harry had apparently forgotten he could not really walk but had started to do so anyway.
"Seems like he has some instincts," Severus said to Draco as he let Harry hug him tightly.
"If we just train his muscles, he should be walking in no time," Draco said. "Right, Harry?"
"Right!"
"You didn't even listen to what I said, right?"
"No!"
"Don't sound so happy about it…"
Tbc…
Sorry for the late update, seems I have to say sorry for the lateness of all my stories -sweat drop-
Chapter five: Harry has now learned to walk and walks off on his own. What will happen?
Until later,
Ja,
Tiro