Chapter 9
Harry's Recovery
Severus had carried Harry down to his family quarters in the dungeons as Skull flew behind him.
"How is Bran-boy?" Skull said quietly "Traumatised, I just hope that between myself, Lena and his friends and you, we will help him to recover quite well."
Skull ruffled his feathers and crooned a Celtic lullaby as he settled down beside Harry as he groomed the young boy's hair soothingly.
"You sleep, Severus, I will alert you if he has nightmares."
"Why, thanks for your permission, Skull?" Severus drawled in a tired tone of voice.
"Goodnight, Severus, go to bed before you fall asleep on that couch"
Severus was asleep before his head hit the pillow and Skull flew to the open cupboard shelves and clutched a blanket in his beak laying it over his human.
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Minerva and Dumbledore knocked on the door of Severus' family quarters. They had Dante with them who was so worried about his cousin Harry, that he almost had a meltdown in the Ravenclaw common room.
"Do you think that they are okay?" Dante asked
"They are, Minerva, do you know Severus' password?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes! It is Anne Boleyn"
The snake statues moved aside for the Headmaster and his colleague and the three stepped inside.
"Severus! You have overslept!" they called out
"Leave them be!" Skull squawked from his perch.
"Skull, Molly Weasley is here to do some therapy with Harry, it involves some therapeutic arts and crafts. This could be the best thing for the boy and it will also be good for Molly"
"How is the bigoted mother of the Weasley's good for the adopted son of a Slytherin?"
Minerva found herself nodding, suddenly agreeing with skull's point of view, but Molly really did want to make amends for her attitude.
"Skull, we promise you, if we find out that this is a bad idea from the very first session, we will find Harry a properly qualified mind-healer. You have my word and my oath as a witch on that."
"What's the racket?" Harry was there rubbing his eyes in his pyjamas. Dante made his second mistake and went to hug Harry who flinched back from the boy's attempted touching. He flung out his arm over his head "Don't touch!" he growled out in emotional pain. Dante looked at the young boy in horror "Harry, it's me, Dante, I promise that I will never, ever hurt you."
"I know but right now I cannot stand any touching, please understand?" the young boy's green eyes shone with hurt and fear.
"Okay, I will give you time, I just wanted to check on you, I have been so worried about you and Uncle Severus" Dante took a step back even though it hurt not to hug the young boy.
"Where's my Dad?" Harry asked as he sat down at the family table. "Harry, Severus is asleep, what we were thinking is that none of us are qualified as mind healers, but we had an idea yesterday that will repair a fragile friendship."
"What time is my appointment with Molly Weasley?" Harry stunned them all with his precise conclusion.
"That is what I would like to know?" Severus drawled from the open doorway of his bedroom.
"Would 10:30 am suit you, Harry?" Minerva asked kindly and sympathetically.
Severus slowly approached the breakfast table and took Harry's hand gently. "It is your decision, Harry, it won't hurt my feelings if you choose Molly as a therapist, it might be better as I am too emotionally attached to yourself as your father."
"Are you sure, dad?" Harry choked as more tears fell "You aren't ashamed of me, are you?"
Severus turned Harry to face him "I will never be ashamed or disappointed in you, Harry, you hear me, never! This is not your fault. I admire you for your bravery and forthcoming truthful feelings. I love you, you are my son, had things worked out between your mother and me, you would have been my son by blood." Harry hugged his father and smiled.
Harry wiped his face as the others watched solemnly "I'll do it, Molly Weasley was very kind to me when she showed me how to get onto the Platform in my first year. I am trying to remember that kindness and when I stayed at the Weasley's when the Revenant was at this school putting everyone in danger. I think that Ginny being possessed by the diary has awakened Mrs Weasley's awareness that I attract danger like a moth to a lightbulb." Harry could no longer find the words to say. "Mrs Weasley was protecting her youngest children."
"That is a very wise and thoughtful answer, Harry, I am very happy that you don't bear malice against Mrs Weasley." Dumbledore said softly as he too wiped tears from his eyes. "But Harry, I want you to come to me or your father or Minerva if things become too much for you."
"I will" Harry promised.
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Harry, Dante and Severus had breakfast together and were nervous. "Harry don't forget your nutrient potion, please?" Harry looked at the flask like it was the enemy. "Do I have too, Dad?" he whined.
"Yes" Severus grinned and he uncorked the small flask then passed it to Harry who drank down the awful thing then made a surprised face.
"There, it wasn't so bad now, was it?" Harry nodded "Did you put something in it to make it taste like Bananas?"
"Yes, these are vitamin potions that are made from fruit."
"Wow, much better than before."
"Thank you, dad, for making it taste better" Harry wrapped his arms around his dad and ran to the bathroom to get showered and dressed.
"Uncle Severus, do you think he will be okay?" Dante asked concerned
"I imagine, in time, I know it's an awful thing to say but I am glad he doesn't have an actual fully formed memory of Lockhart…raping him"
"I just wonder if he will cope with testifying against Lockhart." Dante said with sadness
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"Mrs Weasley" Severus nodded in respect to the matriarch of the Weasley Clan. Both Molly and Severus were tense after the letter Ronald sent Harry."
"Severus, I am so sorry for what I said about Harry and Draco, I was so horrified for Ginny after the diary nearly possessed her." Molly fell silent and didn't know how else to make this right.
Hermione and Draco were by Harry's side as he took a slow walk down to the desk at the end of the hospital wing.
"Hi, Mrs Weasley" Harry said nervously. The other two didn't say a word.
"Hello, Harry, how are you today?" Harry shrugged but then thought of a good idea to rid Molly's idea about Draco being a posh snotty kid.
"These are my friends, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger" Molly was nervous too "Hello, Draco, Miss Granger?"
"Hello" they replied quietly "Mrs Weasley, how are Ginny and Ronald getting along with their mind healer?" Hermione asked politely. "They are getting along fine, Hermione, they sent me an owl this morning saying that they were going on a day trip with Bill to Thorpe Park in Surrey. I can send a letter to them for both of you if you would like?" This broke the ice a little and Draco then Hermione gave a pleasant smile and hugged Harry. "Thank you for helping our friend, Mrs Weasley" they both left the hospital wing then and the tension in the large room dissipated a little.
"Right, Harry, I have some art and crafts equipment? We can do some drawing to start with and then some talking?" Harry nodded and smiled a little "That would be good, Mrs Weasley."
Severus kneeled to face Harry and hugged him gently. "Try not to get too upset, Harry, this is to help you so when you do a victim impact statement, it won't be so draining and fraught with heavy emotions." Severus stood up and faced Molly. "Thank you for this, Molly, hopefully, my son's recovery won't be too far down the road."
"I am sorry for casting aspersions on your parenting skills," Severus shrugged "Molly, you are a loving mother who loves her children, I imagine when Harry gets older that he will cause me to go grey quite early on, especially with all those acrobatics he does on his broom." Harry grinned cheekily and for a moment, Severus saw Harry retain some of his normal happy-go-lucky self in a smile.
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Harry was curled up on the sofa as he sobbed his heart out. He was having flashbacks of what had happened the passage between Hogsmeade and the castle. He could still smell the awfulness of the chloroform over his mouth and nose and he could feel it when Lockhart grabbed his neck and bent him over the rock! "Noooo!" he screamed. Molly grabbed Harry in a motherly hug and just let him cry as she too shed a few tears. They had been doing a picture of their favourite place when Harry broke down and ran to the sofa. "It used to be a haven, Mrs Weasley, now 'he' has spoiled it." Molly let Harry sit down and get comfortable "What do you mean, Harry?"
"I used to look at the trophy cabinet with my dad's and mum's awards, it is by the one-eyed witch passage to Hogsmeade. Now I can't walk by it, I just avoid it because of the 'situation' and I feel physically sick."
"I have an idea, Harry, look at me, not today because you are too upset, but later-on. We will have 10 more counselling sessions and over time, we will get you to a point where you can look at your parent's trophies for services to the school without feeling sick and without having flashbacks."
Harry nodded and hugged Molly again "Okay, thank you, Mrs Weasley"
"None of that, young man, call me Molly, alright? Now, I do believe we can have a visit next week, Ron and Ginny will be home for the weekend. You will always be welcomed at the Burrow and yes, your friend Draco as well. As long as Madam Malfoy does not object." Harry kissed Molly's cheek and ran off out of the hospital wing with a face as red as a tomato. Molly smiled widely and chuckled as Dumbledore walked in. "I take it that Harry's first counselling session was a breakthrough?"
"Yes, yes it was, thank you for allowing me to come here."
"Molly, you are most welcome here, you know that, in fact, I have just had the most excellent idea."
"Albus, what are you up to?" Molly narrowed her eyes. "Me, nothing my dear?"
"Alright, but this would benefit all, not just Harry, have you given any thought to training as a professional mind-healer? Not only would I sponsor you at St Mungo's Wizarding Hospital to train in an apprenticeship but also you would be guaranteed a Job as a student counsellor here at Hogwarts."
Molly's mouth dropped open in shock and she sat down on the sofa "All I have ever done is try my best to raise my own seven children, cooked and cleaned, I have never given any thought to my own career, this could be a whole new learning curve to me. Arthur would have the pressure taken off him as being the only breadwinner at the Ministry."
Molly was not sure if she could be a student again even if most of the assessments were practical in nature. But there would be no drawbacks to this and Molly was still young for appearances sake.
"I'll do it, only on the proviso that I can talk this over with Arthur tonight and get back to you tomorrow. What is the wage of the apprenticeship at St Mungo's?"
"One of the students showed great promise in healing from this very school, she was 17 and a Hufflepuff, I think. She earned 60 galleons a week because of her age. You would be classed as a mature student, so I would roughly gather about 125 Galleons a week."
Molly was eager to prove her worth, so she made a verbal agreement to come back to Hogwarts the next day. "No need, Molly, would you like to owl Arthur from here and you are welcome to spend the night in our guest quarters? I will write up a contract of agreement and a sponsorship form and you can spend overnight discussing this proposal?"
A/N Well, that was a very good manoeuvred move by Dumbledore, quite manipulative too 😊
