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Chapter 21 – Back Home

-II-

Ivy cupped his cheeks. "Harry, yes, we are worried that you still are very ill, and it scares us that you are denying it so much and trying to find an excuse for everything. Still, if the healers say it is best that you come home, we will, of course, take you home. We would do anything to help you get better. You are not weird." She looked sadly at him, and then something shifted in her expression. As if a thought had stuck her, the sadness went away and determination took it's place. "You will come over to sit with us now, and we will listen to what the healers have to say to us so we can leave soon. Then you can sleep in your own bed tonight, have a cup of hot chocolate, and I will read to you until you fall asleep. How does that sound?"

"Good," Harry croaked.

Ivy smiled, kissed his forehead, and then looked past him at Healer Jacob. Harry couldn't see what the healer did, but Ivy nodded and pulled Harry off the healer's lap. Then she moved him over to where she was sitting.

"I'm sorry, we got off track a bit, Healer Elppa. I think the last thing we spoke about was how dangerous it could be if Harry manages to trick us and throws up," Ivy said to get the meeting running again.

-II-

After a short glance at Harry, Healer Elppa replied, "Yes, you are right. It will be very difficult to control Harry's eating. We need to have him understand how important it is to work together with us. Harry sees himself as awkward for being as he is right now, so it wouldn't be good to make his condition to obvious for his school mates or, god forbid, the press. That means we can't let special food appear for him in the Great Hall. I also can't charm a place at his table as I remember from my own time at Hogwarts that there is no set seating arrangement.

"My solution for now is to keep Harry under a nutrient measuring spell. It's not too much magic for him to handle in his current state. Harry will have a small coin in his pocket which will vibrate as soon as he has finished enough food. It is connected to the spell. Like I said, it will depend on Harry's cooperation on how good this will work. As we will have his physical health under close watch, we will notice it very soon if he can't handle it. If that happens, we will have to look for another solution then. Right now, we will try this. Do you think you will manage, Harry?"

Harry nodded.

Healer Elppa smiled. "Good, I'm glad to hear you are willing to work together with us. You will see us once a week, Thursday at four. There, we will speak about how you cope and about your physical state, which will be controlled by Healer Smith or Madam Pomfrey on a daily basis until we are out of the danger zone. Of course, you can call me sooner if you need me, or you could just drop by while you are here for another therapy."

Harry nodded again. All he could think about, at the moment, was what Ivy had promised to him. It had sounded so good. Her reading to him and a nice hot chocolate, if possible Poppy's. He was almost drifting in a land of dreams when James snapped his finger, and Harry was pulled out of his day dreaming. Healer Jacob was talking now.

"Besides dancing therapy, we decided that Harry should continue with the motions and relaxing therapies. If the motions therapy goes well and his health is allowing it, we will start sports therapy as well. Harry needs to learn his limits, and we can best practice that in motions and sports therapies. The relaxing therapy will be needed for the same reason as the dancing therapy. To balance his magic and his stress levels. There will be a lot of sessions which will need a family member as a partner for Harry. I will let you know one week prior so you can plan who's going to be able to attend. This will take a partner he trusts and whom he is willing to get very close to. This will be very similar to the relaxing session we had with you, Professor McGonagall and you, Mrs. Snape."

"Why am I allowed to balance on the high beams in the gym but not fly on a broom?" asked Harry, feeling a bit more self-confident again.

"Because you can't fall off the beams. They are charmed, Harry," Healer Jacob explained patiently. Then he turned back to Ivy. "Harry reacted well to the therapy. His heartbeat was stable and his mind was in a very relaxing state. He still needs to be able to see his limits though. When his body is showing very clear signs of exhaustion, he doesn't want to stop. We will try to make him listen to his body more closely and notice the signs. It will take some time, but I'm sure that we will be successful."

"Nurse Anne will now give a short valuation from the nurses. After that, we will speak about Harry's schedule, and then you can finally leave, Harry," James explained.

Harry looked fearfully over at Severus. His father was pale, paler than normal. He didn't look the least bit convinced that this will work at all. It scared Harry to see Severus like this.

When Severus felt Harry's eyes on him, he turned to his son questioningly. He was puzzled when Harry fearfully looked away from him.

"Harry is a very nice young man. He is open and always worked well together with the nurses. You can be very proud to have a son like him. Still, after all we know about Harry, it must have been to your credit that he is such a well behaved and open boy. It is very clear that he loves you both and the rest of his family very much, and I can see that you do as well. Love is the best medicine, and you seem to have a lot of it, so don't doubt yourselves." She looked first at Severus then at Ivy. When she finally looked at Harry again, she added, "And you, young man, should never forget that it is not shameful to ask for help and let others take care for you."

At the end, James finally explained Harry's schedule. Two times a week, Harry would have a session with Healer Wright, and once a week, they would have a family therapy session. Harry's sessions with James were once a week at home. James had explained that Harry would feel safer to talk about his past at home instead of at the clinic. To Harry's horror, they also had decided that his sessions would also include play therapy, and at some point, his parents or another family member would have to take part. That's going to be so embarrassing, Harry thought to himself. When the talk finally was over, Harry's ears were ringing.

"Harry, would it be a big problem for you if you ate lunch here? It will be awhile before we can fetch you to go home. You could say good-bye to Victor and even have one last nap here," Ivy said. When she was finished, Ivy looked at James.

"Yes, I think it would be a good idea, Harry. You must be very tired already from the calming you got from Healer Wright. It's not so bad to spend a last nap-time with Victor, right? Those naps will be going on at Hogwarts anyways. Remember, it's on you schedule."

Harry nodded and looked down at his full schedule. And here they were always talking of him overdoing things. Harry was that engrossed that he didn't see the puzzled look Severus gave Ivy, and that Ivy just shook her head to indicate to him that she would explain it later.

/

So, Harry spend lunch and his last nap-time with Victor. He was a bit too scared of what would await him back home to speak much with Victor. Victor didn't notice since he was depressed about Harry's leaving and didn't want to speak to Harry anyways.

Harry could once again hear his two brothers before they stormed into the room. "You won't believe it, Harry," Eathan said excitedly.

"Yeah, guess?" Lysander said and hopped around.

"Daddy is back home!" both boy screamed in unison before Harry had the chance to answer.

Harry's jaw dropped open, and he looked confused at his parents, who now stood in the door frame.

"I promised, didn't I?" Severus said and smiled at his sons.

Harry looked at Ivy, who smiled weakly. It was a compromise, Harry could see that, but at least, they were trying.

/

Harry let himself fall down on his bed with a sigh. Closing his eyes, he breathed in deeply and enjoyed the familiar smell of his room. Home. Yes, this definitely feels good, Harry thought. Another sigh escaped him before he pushed himself up to unpack his clothes.

Ron and Hermione would be coming over soon, and Harry wanted to be finished unpacking when they arrived. Eathan and Lysander were sulking because they weren't allowed to help Harry unpacking, but Severus and Ivy tried their best to distract them with playing at the moment.

Fifteen minutes later, Ron and Hermione had arrived. "Harry, god, I'm so glad to see you. How are you?" Hermione exclaimed and hugged her friend tightly.

"I'm fine," Harry said and petted Hermione's back awkwardly, while he smirked at Ron, who rolled his eyes over Hermione's behavior.

When Hermione didn't let go of Harry, Ron made his way over to them. "Hey, mate," Ron said and clapped Harry on his shoulder, while he stepped over to the bed and let himself sink down on it.

Finally, Hermione let go of Harry, and now she held him an arm-length away from her. "You don't look fine to me. Will you come back to classes next week?"

"Yes, I will, and I am fine. Otherwise, they wouldn't have let me go, would they?"

Hermione looked skeptically at Harry. He used this as his chance to put some distance between her and him and went over to Ron. "Thanks for your chess set, Ron. It was a nice distraction." With a wave of his wand, the chess set flew over to him, and he gave it back to Ron.

"I thought so. How was it over there? Did they put needles into you and stuff like that?"

"Ron, really," Hermione said exasperatedly, but she looked interestedly at Harry, while she sat down on the bed beside Ron.

"No, it was more about controlling me and making me eat and talk about my problems. I would prefer to not talk about it. I'm so glad to be back. What happened here?"

"Same as always, mate. Only that Transfiguration has become more harder and your dad is finally his normal self again in class. When he asked us to stay after class yesterday, I imagined myself scrubbing cauldrons even though I hadn't done anything wrong."

"But instead he just told us that you would be coming back, and that we would be allowed to visit you," Hermione explained. "Did you get my notes from the classes you have missed? Did you have time to go over them? Do you have questions?"

"Damn, Hermione, give him some peace. He has just come back from that clinic," Ron intervened.

"I managed to keep up on Potions and Charms, and Henry helped me with Transfiguration. I hope I can manage to keep up with the rest of you on Monday."

"With me you can most certainly keep up, mate. I had no clue what to do in the last Transfiguration class. Why can't we just skip that class? It's horrible."

"Ronald Weasley, Transfiguration is one of the most important classes we have to take. You need Transfiguration for so many things later. You just need to concentrate and do your homework."

Ron rolled his eyes. "I'm so glad you are back, Harry. At least, there is one whom understands me."

Harry smiled. It felt so good to be back with his friends. "Let's worry about school next Monday. I really need to tell you about Victor. He was my roommate, and he is really cool. Alastor and Poppy are going to adopt him. When he gets discharged from the clinic, he will move in here, and hopefully, he will even go to school here, but he is one year older, so we—"

"Whoa, calm down, mate. You started to get all hyper. You don't want to get an attack, right?" Ron said to calm Harry down.

"Yeah, but you need to get to know Victor. I already told him so much about you two. I hope you guys will like him."

"When will he be coming?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I will ask Alastor or Poppy when I see them next."

Ron grinned. "It's always so funny when you call them by their first names."

"What else would I call them?" Harry said, knowing that he would feel as awkward as Ron did now if there positions were switched.

Ron shrugged. "Uncle and aunt?"

Harry snorted. "Very funny."

"Cheer up, mate," Ron said and bumped Harry's shoulder. "I think I would survive it."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You boys are so stupid sometimes."

"I take that as a compliment, Hermione. So, you think we are not stupid all the time," Ron replied teasingly.

"Ron, she thinks sometimes we have some lucid intervals," Harry said in amusement.

Hermione screwed her face. "Very funny, boys. So, what house do you think he will be sorted into?"

"Maybe Slytherin or Hufflepuff. I'm not sure."

"So, he won't be in our dorm." Ron already seemed to be disappointed even though he didn't even know Victor yet.

"No, but we can meet with him after class. We could go fly or play Gobstones, and I want to show him Hagrid and his animals and—"

"Harry!" Hermione warned her friend.

"Yeah, I know, I'm just so excited to be back," Harry said and tried to calm down his breathing.

"So, how is the situation here?" Ron asked cautiously. "I mean...are they...they seem to be more close lately."

"Severus moved in again, and I think they are really going to try," Harry said, but he couldn't hide his fear and sadness.

"They will work it out, Harry," Hermione said emphatically and hugged Harry.

"I really hope so."

/

"What's this?" Eathan asked. Eathan and his twin were not moving from Harry's side as Harry tried to sort his school books and Hermione's notes. Last night in his own bed again was amazing, and he hardly wanted to crawl out of it this morning. The breakfast with his whole family was also very nice. Severus and Ivy had spoken to each other as if they had never lived separately, and Harry could try out the coin that would tell him when he was allowed to stop eating. It was a bit challenging now without the nutrient powder, and he had to eat more than at the clinic. James had said that if it didn't work, he would apply the powder to Harry's breakfasts and suppers, which he would have to eat in his quarters.

"That's my music player. I need it for my relaxing and dancing training."

"Dancing? Will you dance with us?" Eathan asked excitedly, and Lysander nodded his head in agreement.

Harry sighed. "Why not?" A bit of energy burning would be nice now. Patricia had shown him the different ways to activate the music box. It could play music to really dance, music to meditate, music to just swing, and music to really let out some anger or energy. "Where are Mum and Dad?" It would be one thing to dance wildly with the twins, but it was another to let some of his relatives see him like that because of the loud music. He wasn't allowed to apply a silence charm on his door, no matter what, and Harry wasn't willing to get into trouble for doing so, so soon after his release from the clinic.

"Working in their offices. Only Paul is here, and Grandma said we should stay with you," Lysander explained as Eathan was reaching cautiously for one of the buttons on the music box.

"Eathan!" Harry warned.

Eathan pulled his hand back as if he had burned it and looked sheepishly up at Harry. "Sowwy."

"You are five, Eathan, and you can speak perfectly. The cuteness effect isn't working on me. You know you are not allowed to touch my things without me allowing it."

Eathan looked down and started to sob.

Okay, maybe the pity effect worked on Harry. "Shh, Eathan. We will dance, okay?"

Eathan smiled from one ear to the other and wiped the spilled tears from his face. "Now?"

"Yes, now," Harry said and activated the music box. Loud metallic sounding music came out of the small box, and both small boys looked at it in astonishment. They had heard music come out from grandpa's old music box, but that looked much bigger than Harry's box, and the music was very different to what they heard now.

Harry grinned, seeing their astonished faces when the Heavy Metal like music filled the room.

Eathan and Lysander looked questioningly at Harry, and their big brother laughed and started to jump around wildly while banging his head like crazy. Soon, Eathan and Lysander started giggling wildly and imitated their brother. They all jumped around wildly, and Eathan eventually landed on Harry's bed which creaked dangerously under his jumps. Lysander landed laughing on his bum and needed some time to stand up again because he felt dizzy from shaking his head so much, and Harry was enjoying letting out some steam, and the giggles from his brothers warmed his heart.

When the song stopped, they all were out of breath, and Harry turned back to the music box. It was not the music box that caught his eyes, but Severus leaning in the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest and an amused grin on his face. "Enjoying yourself, boys?"

Eathan and Lysander still giggled, and Eathan jumped down from Harry's bed to run over to his father. "Yes, Daddy. Come on, dance with us."

"Oh no, I don't think so, but I thought we maybe could go and visit Uncle Hagrid. What do you say?"

"Yeah!" Eathan and Lysander shouted and danced around their father.

"What about you, Harry? I thought you would like to visit Hagrid as well."

Harry nodded, still red faced. He told himself it was from the wild dancing and not from embarrassment. "Yes, that would be great."

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