Chapter nine

To keep himself occupied when he was alone, Harry would read the books on the glamour charm, but he also read the books Snape gave him on sex and relationships. Those books he made sure he hid in the drawer when he finished so his friends never saw them. He didn't want Ron to think he was thinking about having sex with his sister. Harry wasn't really thinking about sex, but he thought he should educate himself so he could work it around his leg when the time comes and since he was stuck in a bed while he learned to walk properly it kept him occupied.

Every morning Snape would help him walk and after Harry always slept for a couple of hours. When he woke Hermione, Ron, sometimes Ginny and Mrs. Weasley would be sitting near his bed. Harry wasn't sure what to say to Ginny as she just didn't seem herself and he wasn't sure if it was because of Fred or if it had to do with the way he looked. He knew he had to give her time to get used to his scars, but she seemed to be the only one that was having a problem looking at him. He thought she would be more comfortable once he learned how to do the glamour.

Andromeda Tonks sent a note saying she would bring Teddy to see him, so Harry asked Snape if he could do the glamour on him so the young boy wouldn't get frightened. Harry sat in his bed holding Teddy, Andromeda sat beside the bed and they spoke in regards to Teddy's upbringing. She told Harry that she had seen the picture that was in Witch Weekly and said as Teddy is so young Harry's scars probably wouldn't affect him at all if he wished to leave the glamour off when he visited. Harry had some thinking to do on that, so for now he would have the glamour covering his scars whenever he saw the small boy.

Severus stepped behind the screen, 'How does your leg feel this morning Potter?'

'It's still painful but I'd say about a quarter of the pain has dropped, if that makes sense.'

'It does, what about when you are standing or walking?'

'The longer I walk the more painful it gets. I'm not sure how I will go with stairs the first time.'

'It will place more strain on your leg so it will be more painful. So after this treatment I can levitate you while sitting on a chair down to the potions room if you still wish to learn how to make the pain potion?'

'Yes, I do, thanks. I get a bit bored just sitting here all the time. I've read through those books you got me three times already. I thought I'd start practicing the glamour, just as you said, on one part first, see how I go. But it seems easy enough so I don't think I'll have a problem.'

'No, I don't think you will if you concentrate. So let's get on with your treatment so I can teach you the right way to make a potion,' Severus removed the blankets, then started to rub the cream into Harry's injured leg. Even though it was a healing cream it has worked well on his scars so now they are faded, they can still be seen. 'How's the pain now while I'm massaging your leg?'

'It still hurts, but thankfully not as bad.'

'That will ease as well,' Severus finished, cleaned his hands, 'So I'll help you with your clothes then into a chair.'

Harry nodded, he was able to put his pyjama shirt on, but needed help with his pyjama bottles, then with Snape's help and his walking stick, he stood then sat on the chair. Snape levitated Harry and they moved slowly down through the school to the dungeons where Harry noticed everything was set up. The chair he was on was too low for the work tables, but one swish of his wand, Snape had charmed the chair to be higher. Harry listened to what Snape said about the potion, watched while he sliced some ingredients and would grind others. So with the book in front of him Harry started to make his pain potion, he started slow, always checking the book after each ingredient was ready. When it was done, Harry smiled hugely when Snape said his potion was very good, not perfect but good and could be taken safely.

Once back in his bed Harry sat, took some parchment, ink and quill and started to draw a house. Harry was a pretty good at art, but he'd never done buildings, just Hedwig and dragons. So he concentrated on houses he'd seen on tv, and when Hermione had shown him pictures of her in her parent's house, he even remembered the odd picture from one of the magazines Petunia had.

'That looks well thought out Harry.'

Harry smiled up at professor McGonagall, 'I wanted something homey, but also something that would be easy to move around. One thing I love doing at the burrow is sitting outside, even during the cold weather. So I figured a nice glass covered room would be wonderful in the cold weather, but if I add blinds or shutters, it would be nice in the warm weather as well.'

'Yes and the sun has natural healing properties, the only thing I would suggest is hand rails in the bathroom. You could also add them throughout the house but made them look like they are part of the wall.'

'I've gotten the hang of my walking stick, so I will in the bathroom but not the house. But what you said about the bath, I might see about a step to go in and a step to go down into the bath, or I could just levitate myself.'

'I believe you should start by levitating yourself, once you are more at home with moving around the house then decide on what works better for you. Every person is different even people dealing with injuries. You have the basics of what you need, no stairs, large rooms and wide hallways. So when do you think you'll see a builder to erect your home?'

'I'm going to speak with Madame Pomfrey, see when she thinks I could.'

'That shows you've grown up Harry, you used to be so impatient especially about leaving the hospital. But you know what, I'm proud at how you handled all this. I could see it was hard, but you pushed through everything because you knew you had no choice, just like you have done many times,' Minerva smiled then left Harry with a bit of a shocked look on his face at the compliment she had given him, something she didn't do very often.