* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART FOUR

Brave New World

Chapter 52: Give Me Therapy

Harry was expecting a berating on Wednesday afternoon, and he wasn't disappointed. The minute Lilly reached himself and Neville in the hospital wing, she shot him an irritated look and said, "Hey, babe."

Neville smiled, "That's a 'hey babe, I love you and miss you, but I have to yell at your best friend', isn't it?"

"Yep," Lilly said. She pulled a chair up and sat in front of them, "Give me your hand, Harry."

Harry held out his hand cautiously.

"Today's class is about mending broken bones," Lilly said matter of factly, "Which is convenient because – muffliato – I can do this," she snapped one of his fingers, and the spell muted his cry of pain, "-and get away with it."

She murmured the counter curse to muffliato, and Harry glared at her, "Ouch."

"Now I'm going to teach you how to heal it, so don't cry like a baby," Lilly said, "Neville, copy my wand motion."

Neville raised his wand and did so. Lilly looked at Harry, "We can't talk about how stupid what you did was in public, but it was stupid, and if it wasn't for the fact Neville and Theo are very clever, you would have gotten kicked out for it," she said in an undertone, "But that's not what I'm pissed off about. I'm pissed off that you jumped to conclusions before having a calm conversation with Daphne about it. You two might enjoy fighting then crashing together for angry, make-up sex now, but you'll have a kid soon, and you can't do shit like that when you've got a kid so learn to communicate."

"Neville – repeat after me."

Neville did so, and Harry's finger set itself.

"Any pain?" Lilly asked.

Harry shook his head, "Just a bit stiff."

"I could fix that, but I'm not going to because I'm pissed off with you," Lilly said as she rose to her feet, "Is my message understood?"

"Loud and clear," Harry said, "Thanks for being such a good friend. Daphne needs that, even if she'll never admit it."

"Well, what are friends for?" Lilly shrugged, "You've got to see Lamb today, by the way."

"Who?" Harry asked.

"The mental health Healer who does the rounds," Lilly answered, "She needs to talk to you about the war, and you had better be entirely honest because she'll use a low-level legilimency charm, so she will know if you are lying. She'll be able to feel your emotions and see the memories at the forefront of your mind."

Harry nodded, "Thanks for the heads up," he said, "I have a present for you, from Daphne."

Lilly frowned as Harry handed her a box. She opened it and said, "It's a mirror?"

"It's a two-way mirror," Harry explained, "Daphne and Sadie have them. Tracey used to have one too. Daphne had three more made for you, Hermione and Susan. You can only talk to one person at a time, but they are brilliant because you can walk around the house talking rather than being stuck in the fireplace on the floo."

"That was sweet of her," Lilly said with a smile, "Do I just activate it by saying 'show Daphne to me' in Latin?"

Harry nodded, "Yep, and it's 'terminus' to end the communication."

"It's a brilliant idea," Lilly admitted.

"And you'll be able to use it after lights out without getting caught," Neville said.

"That's what gave Daph the idea," Harry admitted.

"So you two have made up then?" Lilly asked.

"She says we have, but things are still a bit icy," Harry said with a shrug, "But we'll be okay."

Before Lilly could say anything more on the subject, Frasier called, "Potter! Can we have a word in private?"

Harry got to his feet and shot Neville and Lilly a nervous look, "Wish me luck."

"Good luck, mate," Neville said, patting him on the back as he headed into the office with Frasier and a younger woman who they hadn't seen around before.

"Recruit Potter, this is Healer Lamb," Frasier said curtly, "She's our mental health specialist, and she'll be doing a psychological evaluation on you based on things that happened during selection."

Harry nodded, and Frasier left.

Lamb didn't look overly intimidating. She was a tall, slim woman who looked to be in her mid 20's. She had dark brown hair, which she wore in a bun and hazel eyes, which seemed as kind as her smile.

"This is such a personal thing; I think it's better if we use first names, don't you?"

Harry just nodded.

"So I'm Caroline," She said.

"Harry," Harry said stupidly.

"Right then, Harry," Caroline said kindly, "The first thing I need you to do is nip into the bathroom behind me and fill this pot with a urine sample. It's not glamourous, but we do need to make sure that you aren't under the influence of any illegal potions or alcohol."

Harry nodded again and took the pot from her. Once he had filled it and placed the sample on the shelf provided, he returned to the room and was informed that the next step was a physical examination. The Healer listened to his heart, examined his scars and asked him about them. She wondered if he had a history of malnourishment due to his short stature, and he replied that he did.

"Okay then," Caroline said, "Take a seat."

Harry did so, and Caroline leant back in her chair. Her quill was poised over a clipboard, and she asked, "Are you ready to begin?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Harry admitted.

"There are three sections to this evaluation," Caroline informed him, "And the first one that we need to discuss is your mental health history. Do you know if there is a history of depression in your family?"

Harry frowned, "I'm not sure. I mean, I talk to my Great Grandfather's portrait about it a lot because he was in World War One, but more immediately than that, I don't know."

Caroline nodded, "And do you have a history of depression?"

"Yes," Harry replied honestly.

"When did that start?"

"When I was 16," Harry replied, "After I watched my godfather die."

"Did you experience spells of anger, numbness, guilt and helplessness?" Caroline questioned.

Harry nodded and swallowed.

"How long did those feelings last for?" Caroline asked.

"A couple of months."

"Okay, and what about anxiety. Do you have a history of that?"

"Uh…no, I don't think so," Harry replied.

"You've never had a tight pain in your chest as if you were having a heart attack?"

Harry shook his head.

"To the best of your knowledge, have you ever had an anxiety attack?" Caroline asked, "Your heart pounds, and you sweat, your body shakes, you have difficulty breathing. Does that sound like something that has happened to you?"

Harry frowned, "Uh…no…."

Caroline jotted something down, "Have you felt suicidal in the past six months? Have you had thoughts about death or ending your own life?"

"No," Harry replied honestly.

"Okay," Caroline smiled, and Harry felt a slight tug. She was in his head, but he could see what Lilly meant about the low-level Legilimency charm. He knew she was there, but it was the most gentle pull; a skilled Legilimens could do it easily without the person working out that they were there.

"The next section is about your personal history, and I suspect it will take a bit longer than the last part," Caroline said. She flipped the page and dipped her quill into an inkpot.

"So we will be discussing major traumas in this section. The first one concerns your childhood," Caroline explained, "Do you remember your parents' death?"

"Not really," Harry replied honestly, "I remember a scream, my mother's and a flash of green light, but that's all."

"Did you ever have nightmares about that or flashbacks?" Caroline asked.

"I used to as a kid, but not so much anymore," Harry replied, "The nightmares these days are usually about what happened to my parents happening to me and my fiancé, of my godson, becoming the boy-who-lived."

"I see," Caroline said with a nod.

"I also heard my mother die and saw that flash of light every time a dementor came near me when I was younger," Harry replied, "I used to pass out, but then I learned the Patronus charm."

"What age were you when that happened?"

"It was in my third year of school," Harry replied, "But my teacher taught me the Patronus charm in third year, so it got better."

Caroline nodded, "And you mentioned something about malnourishment during your physical test?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, "After my parents died, I was raised by my muggle aunt and uncle. They treated me like a slave; I slept in the cupboard under the stairs, wore my cousin's old clothes and cooked for them. They fed me, but it was scraps."

"And would you say that left a mark on you?" Caroline asked.

Harry shrugged, "Not really. I got treated worse by wizards, you know?"

"That's what I want to get onto now," Caroline said, "Would you say you have witnessed a traumatic event directly?"

Harry snorted, "Is that a trick question?"

"I know you haven't had an easy life, Harry," Caroline said with a smile, "But I need you to tell me about these events. I can't just sit here and throw questions at you for an hour."

Harry sighed, "I've witnessed a lot of traumatic events. The first one was when I accidentally killed my Defence against the Dark Arts teacher because Voldemort possessed him. It was a long story, but because my mother died to protect me, it triggered some ancient blood magic relating to love, and because Voldemort couldn't love, my touch physically hurt him."

"And the host, Quirinus Quirrell, died," Caroline said with a nod, "Did you have nightmares about that? Flashbacks? Feelings of guilt?"

"Not really…no," Harry admitted, "He was stupid enough to let Voldemort possess him, so…."

"But surely, as an eleven-year-old boy, you must have felt something?" Caroline prodded.

"Sure, I felt pretty frustrated that me and my eleven-year-old friends were left to deal with it," Harry remarked, "Who puts a giant three-headed dog in a school? Who lets a bunch of kids do his bidding for him? Well, Albus Dumbledore clearly."

"Did you trust Dumbledore?" Caroline asked carefully.

"I thought I did," Harry replied, "Up until the point that I realised he had spent seven years raising me as a lamb to the slaughter."

"Okay," Caroline said, "We'll get onto that later. What was the next significant trauma that occurred for you?"

"That would be the Basilisk in second year," Harry replied, "It petrified my best friend, and for a while, we didn't know if she would wake up, which was pretty scary. Then I had to go save Ginny from it because our DADA teacher was useless-"

"Ginny Weasley?"

"Yeah, my other best friends younger sister, who I later dated," Harry filled in, "I went down there, had to fight a Horcrux, although I didn't know it was a Horcrux yet. The Basilisk bit me-"

"Forgive me for interrupting, Harry," Caroline apologised, "But if a Basilisk bit you, how are you still alive?"

"Oh, Dumbledore's phoenix conveniently showed up and healed me," Harry replied, "It also brought me the sword of Gryffindor so I could blind the Basilisk. Then it helped get me out of the chamber of secrets."

"Right," Caroline said, "Would you mind if I took a blood test? Even if you were healed, dark venoms like that can leave a trace in the blood."

Harry rolled up his sleeve, "Sure, but you'll find more than that. I was also bitten by Nagini, Voldemort's snake, who was a Horcrux."

"Any other venomous bites you want to disclose?" Caroline asked, slightly in jest.

"Oh, a rattlesnake," Harry said, "While we were on a training exercise last month."

"I'm guessing you don't like snakes," Caroline remarked.

"No, I love them," Harry admitted, "I can talk to them, and they are very sophisticated creatures. I actually have a pet Boa Constrictor."

Caroline raised an eyebrow at him, "Does this snake have a name?"

"He's called Dave," Harry replied.

"Just to clarify, you mean you're a parseltongue?" Caroline asked.

Harry nodded, "Do you need me to prove that so you know I've not had a nervous break?"

"I kind of do, yes."

Harry shut his eyes, cleared his throat and then hissed something in parseltongue.

"Okay," Caroline said, "That's a new one."

"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly, "I'm not your standard recruit."

"I can see that," Caroline admitted as she did the blood test, "Did that event haunt you with nightmares or flashbacks? Did you feel any guilt, shame or blame surrounding the event?"

Harry frowned, "I felt guilty that I let it happen. I feel like I should have worked it out sooner, and I regret Ginny getting dragged into it because it left a real mark on her, being possessed by a Horcrux all year."

"Okay. Was there another traumatic event in the following school year?"

"Yeah, there's at least one for every school year, I think," Harry answered, "Third year was a real rollercoaster. You know what a rollercoaster is?"

"My mother was a muggle-born, so yes," Caroline smiled.

"Right, well…I found out that Sirius Black was on the loose and spent the majority of the year thinking he wanted to kill me. Then I discovered that he was my godfather. I thought he had betrayed my parents for a while, but then the truth all came spiralling out. It turned out that Sirius was the good guy, who had been in jail for 12 years for a crime he hadn't committed," Harry rattled off, "And the guy who did do it was actually an animagus who had been living as my best friends rat. Oh, and on top of that, my DADA teacher, who I admired and looked up to as a father, turned out to be a werewolf who was in love with my godfather, so yeah, rollercoaster and not a fun one either. It was like one of those ones when you're in the dark, screaming with no idea when it's going to end."

"Okay, that's a lot to process. How did all of that make you feel?" Caroline asked him.

"Confused," Harry answered.

"Yes, I can see why," Caroline admitted, "You loved your godfather then? And admired this teacher of yours?"

Harry nodded, "But he had to leave when the students found out that he was a werewolf, and I let Peter Pettigrew slip away, which meant that I couldn't free Sirius. Then I had to go back in time and battle dementors-"

"Sorry, you went back in time?"

"Yes, my best friend was given a time-turner so that she could attend all of her classes," Harry replied.

Caroline blinked, "Uh…okay."

"So we saved a hippogriff, and then my godfather flew away on the hippogriff," Harry said simply, "But I kind of had to mess with time. I used a Patronus to save myself from the dementors; it was confusing."

"And uh…did this leave you scarred?" Caroline asked, "The usual nightmares? Feelings of guilt?"

"Not so much the nightmares," Harry said, "But feelings of guilt, yeah. I felt like it was my fault that Pettigrew had escaped, and I had this vision of Sirius's name being cleared and me getting to live with him. I wouldn't have had to go back to my abusive family-"

"Sorry, did you say abusive?"

"Yeah, my uncle thought he could beat the magic out of me," Harry said glumly, "Put bars on my window to keep me in the house, you know?"

"Noted," Caroline remarked, "What about the following year?"

"Yeah, that one sucked," Harry admitted, "I was entered into the Triwizard Tournament. Everyone thought I had cheated to get into it. One of my best friends turned against me, and it all culminated with myself and Cedric being port-keyed to a graveyard. Then I watched Cedric die, my blood was used to resurrect Voldemort, and then due to priori incantatem, I saw the echoes of my dead parents."

Caroline blew out a breath, "Right."

"That one really did cause me nightmares," Harry said, a dark look flitting across his face, "I woke up in a cold sweat every night. I used to scream Cedric's name in my sleep. My cousin tormented me; he was always asking if Cedric was my boyfriend."

"Was he?" Caroline asked.

Harry shook his head.

"No feelings like that there at all then?" Caroline probed.

"At the most, maybe a slight crush," Harry shrugged, "Call it a curious phase, I suppose."

Caroline nodded thoughtfully, "And then there was the small matter of your trial before you returned to school for your fifth year?"

"Yes, I was put to trial by the ministry for defending myself against dementors," Harry said darkly, "And I was made to feel like a liar all year because the ministry refused to believe that Voldemort was back. Dumbledore had my back but then spent the rest of the school year avoiding me at a time when I needed him most. My DADA teacher tortured me that year because I dared to speak out about what had happened in the graveyard. She made me use a blood quill which left me with these scars."

Harry held out his hand, and Caroline swallowed, "I see."

"Anyway, that year culminated in my godfather dying, which made me sink into a pretty deep depression."

"The one you mentioned earlier," Caroline said.

Harry nodded again, "Then there was my sixth year. That year ended with Snape killing Dumbledore in the Battle of the Lightning Struck Tower. That messed me up; it was just another father figure that I had lost, you know? And my best friends brother was mauled by a werewolf too…."

"Did you have nightmares about Dumbledore's death?"

Harry simply nodded, "And I felt guilty, but I also felt a huge responsibility because Dumbledore had been grooming me to defeat Voldemort. I knew about his Horcruxes, and when Dumbledore died, it fell to me to defeat them, which was what I did while I was on the run."

"Could you talk to me a little bit about that?" Caroline asked.

Harry sighed and leant back in his chair, "It was hard, and it was lonely. To begin with, it was just me, Ron and Hermione, then Ron couldn't cut it, so he left. When it was just Hermione and me, things were tough, and we became…involved."

Caroline nodded.

"We had to wear a Horcrux because we had stolen it from the ministry, but we had no way to destroy it, and although we took turns, that was hard," Harry admitted, "Carrying a piece of Voldemort around with you…it wore you down, and it left its mark."

"I can only imagine," Caroline said.

Harry sighed, "Then we were captured, and I had to listen to my best friend scream while she was tortured and branded."

"The one you had become involved with?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah," Harry frowned, "Then there was the final battle and the point where I realised that I had been raised to die at the right moment. I was a Horcrux, one that Voldemort had created by mistake, but a Horcrux all the same. That was what the prophecy meant when it said that neither could live while the other survived. I had to die so that Voldemort could be mortal."

"That must have been difficult to accept."

Harry shrugged, "I was so fed up by that point that I kind of welcomed death."

"So you felt suicidal?" Caroline asked.

"I wouldn't say so," Harry frowned, "It wasn't like I wanted to die, but I knew that I had to, so I accepted my fate. Obviously, Voldemort killed me and, in doing so, killed the Horcrux inside of me and then somehow, I came back."

"Do you know how?"

"Not entirely," Harry admitted, "But I think it has something to do with the sacrifice my mother made for me. Dumbledore always said that blood magic was ancient and mystical."

"It is," Caroline agreed.

Harry shut his eyes, "But my biggest regret, I suppose, is the battle and all of the people that I lost. I still see the bloodshed when I close my eyes. I can still picture all of those bodies lining the hall…."

"Do you know how many people were lost that day?" Caroline asked.

"Fifty," Harry replied simply.

"Can I give you another perspective?" Caroline asked.

Harry opened his eyes and replied, "Please do."

Caroline pulled a file out of her bag and opened it, "I have the statistics from the battle here."

Harry scoffed, "What do statistics matter? People died, people that I knew and loved."

"I know that, but I think this might give you some perspective," Caroline said honestly, "Fifty people died that day but do you know how many survived?"

Harry shook his head.

"475," Caroline said softly, "475 people whose families did not have to bury them. Of those people, 374 were students or returning students. Those people will go on to marry, have careers and have children because of you."

Harry frowned, "But if I hadn't gone to Hogwarts to destroy the final Horcrux, none of them would have died."

"If you hadn't gone back to Hogwarts to destroy the final Horcrux, Voldemort would not have been defeated, and even more than that would have died," Caroline said, "People would have been oppressed, muggles and muggle-borns would have been slaughtered then Voldemort might have moved on to Europe. He could have become worse than Grindelwald."

Harry sighed.

"Now…the highest proportion of the deaths were of students," Caroline explained calmly, "That was primarily due to the collapse of the central tower. Do you remember that?"

Harry shook his head, "I was fighting in the grounds when it happened."

"Nine students and one Auror died in the crush," Caroline said as she looked down at a ring on her finger, "I understand exactly how painful it is to lose someone you love because that Auror was called Eddie, and he was my husband."

Harry's eyes snapped up, "I'm sorry."

She smiled sadly, "Why? It wasn't your fault. He died trying to save the kids trapped in that tower. He got eleven out, even though his lower body was trapped beneath the rubble. By the time they got him out, he was too far gone, and he bled to death."

Harry looked down and wrung his hands together.

"He saved more kids than he lost," Caroline said. She cleared her throat, "And so did you."

Harry looked up, "What do you mean?"

"Of the fighting forces, Dumbledores Army lost the least people, proportionally," Caroline told him, "The deaths were grouped into three categories: Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix and the Aurors. The Aurors suffered greatly; 1 in 4 of them died in the final battle."

Harry's frown deepened.

"But the Order of the Phoenix, a group created and led by Albus Dumbledore, full of skilled witches and wizards, lost 1 in 6 members in the final battle."

Caroline smiled proudly, "The group of children that you trained lost 1 in 7, Harry."

Harry took a shuddering breath as a few tears slid down his cheeks.

"Is that the first time you've heard those figures?" Caroline asked gently.

"Yeah," Harry replied quietly.

"And how do you feel about those numbers?" Caroline asked.

"I feel bloody proud of them," Harry said, his voice was choked, "Not the numbers, but the people."

"You were a great leader Harry, and you are going to be a great Auror," Caroline said, "Once you learn to let go of the guilt."

Harry nodded.

Caroline flipped the file shut and went back to her notes, "We're nearly done, I promise. I know this isn't your idea of fun."

Harry wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his shirt and nodded.

"The last section that I need to go through with you here is about your mental state at the moment," Caroline said, "So it shouldn't take long."

Harry laughed weakly, "That's what you think."

Caroline frowned, "Okay. Have you had any dark thoughts or feelings? Such as thoughts of turning dark? Or of using your magic to hurt people?"

Harry sighed and said, "I had dark thoughts for a long-time, but I was never sure if they were my thoughts or if they were the part of Voldemort inside me manifesting."

"Since the Horcrux was removed then?" Caroline asked.

"No," Harry replied honestly.

"Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose?" Caroline asked, "Either with magic or with objects such as knives?"

"No," Harry replied.

"Have you ever used any illegal potions?" Caroline asked, "The sort that help you sleep, make you hallucinate or give you an artificial high when you're depressed?"

"No," Harry replied.

"Okay," Caroline said with a smile, "One last question-"

"I can already tell you that it's gonna be the biggie," Harry said dryly.

Caroline frowned, "Would you say you have ever had a dependency on alcohol?"

"Yes," Harry replied simply.

Caroline's hand hovered over the parchment, "Would you say you still depend on alcohol or is this a historical problem?"

"Well," Harry dead-panned, "I relapsed on Monday night and drank a bottle of Ogden's because I thought my fiancé was cheating on me with her boss."

"Did you come to work under the influence yesterday?" Caroline asked. Her carefree attitude had gone.

"No," Harry replied, "Because Neville and Theo, that's Recruits Longbottom and Nott, sobered me up and put me through hell to repair the damage that it had caused to my liver so that I wouldn't get caught, but I don't feel like hiding the problem is the way forward."

"You're right," Caroline said, "When did this start?"

"After the war," Harry replied, "I drank during the summer and then when I went back to school, it eased off. I still drank too much at parties or on special occasions, but when I left school…it got worse."

"Did it reach a point where it caused you problems, socially?"

"Yeah," Harry frowned.

"Did it have an impact on your relationships with those close to you?"

"It nearly lost me, my fiancé, and with that, my godson who we are adopting," Harry said honestly, "But Neville brought me to my senses. He had my back then, and he has done every day since. Without him…I don't know where I would be."

"Which is why you share such a profound bond," Caroline realised, "That's good. We like Auror partners to understand each other inside, out."

"Is it going to get me kicked out?" Harry asked.

Caroline shook her head, "Extra precautions will be put in place, but we cannot punish you for an issue that you have been so honest and open with us about. If you had tried to hide it, that would have been a completely different matter."

"Well, at least for once, I made the right decision," Harry joked weakly.

Caroline put her notes away and rose to her feet, "I am sorry that I kept you for so long, Harry, but the first meeting always takes the longest."

"So there will be more then?"

"I expect so," Caroline replied, "But I will have to report my findings to your Senior Auror, and he will make the decision about what happens next. Don't be alarmed if you are called in for a meeting in the coming days, but I promise you, it will not be to kick you out."

"Okay," Harry said. He let out a breath, "Thank you."

"Thank you for being so cooperative," Caroline countered. She opened the door, and they stepped out together, "See you again."

Harry nodded and made his way back over to Neville.

"Are you alright? You were in there ages!"

"The 'have you ever witnessed a traumatic event' section took a while," Harry murmured.

"You alright, though?" Neville asked nervously, "You look like you've been crying."

"I got told a couple of home truths," Harry shrugged, "Some good, some bad. I came clean about being an alcoholic too."

Neville's eyes widened, "Harry-"

"They aren't kicking me out," Harry cut in, "She was grateful that I was so honest and open about it. I sang your praises in there, by the way."

"Why?"

"Because you pulled me out of it. I could have spiralled, Nev, I could have lost everything, but you made sure I didn't and then when I relapsed, you were there. I mean, you were angry, but you were there," Harry whispered, "Caroline said we share a profound bond."

"Oh no, that's what Theo and Draco are always saying about themselves," Neville joked.

"Well, Nev, there are some things you can't go through together without ending up sharing a profound bond," Harry whispered, "And killing a dark lord together then getting me through being an alcoholic are two of those things, so deal with it."

Neville smiled at that, "Ah, I can live with it. I think our other halves are becoming inseparable anyway."

"What are you saying about me?"

"Nothing," Harry and Neville chorused.

Lilly raised an eyebrow at Neville then looked at Harry. Her harsh expression softened when she saw his bloodshot eyes, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Lilly countered.

"No, I'm not," Harry admitted, "But I will be."

Neville put his arm around Harry's shoulder, "Yeah, you will be."

"We'll get you through," Lilly agreed with a smile, "And I'd hug you, but we're at work, and I don't want those two idiots to start calling us a quad."

Harry chuckled, "Like they could talk anyway. Do you know something, though? Caroline asked me if Cedric was my boyfriend?"

"Yeah..." Lilly admitted, "I think the whole school wondered that at some point, Harry."

"Daphne said something similar," Harry frowned.

"I kind of thought he was your boyfriend too," Neville admitted.

Harry snorted, and a loud shout from across the hospital wing distracted them.

"Draco! You were meant to break my finger, not my whole fucking wrist!"

Lilly sniggered, "Duty calls. See you at the weekend, guys!"

In duel class later that day, the topic of Lilly was brought up. They were all sectioned off in a large room, and they were practising shield charms in their Auror pairs.

"I really want to propose to her, Harry," Neville said.

Harry replied, "Do it then."

"I bought a ring and everything," Neville said as he threw a curse at Harry, which he shielded quickly.

"Then why are you talking to me about it like you're not sure you're going to do it?" Harry asked, throwing a homemade curse at Neville.

Neville threw an entrail expelling curse at Harry, "Yeah, but it's more complicated than that because I don't want her to think I'm just proposing to her to bring her home."

"But you aren't?" Harry said, throwing a cutting curse at his best friend, "You're proposing to her because you love her."

"Yeah, but is that how she's going to see it?" Neville asked. He sent a spray of boiling water at Harry.

"Does she even know about the loophole?" Harry asked pointedly.

"No," Nevile snapped. He threw a blasting curse at Harry, which he had to dodge, "But I'm going to have to tell her because otherwise, it feels like I'm lying, and I hate lying to her."

"Yeah, but you guys need to get better at white lies," Harry said, "Because they are necessary sometimes."

Neville got a bit irritated at that, "It's not even about that. It's just too much to be away from her all of the time," he snapped as he sent wand arrows at Harry.

Harry shielded against them with a wall of ice and said, "Take it out on me, I can handle it, and you obviously need to get all of this out of your system cause you're even using Lilly's signature spell on me!"

"Oi, shut it, you blocked with Daphne's! And anyway, I'd like to see you try it," Neville muttered. He threw a knee-reversing jinx at Harry and said, "It sucks when you only get to see the girl you love for a couple of days every other weekend! And there's something-"

Harry jumped to avoid a ball of fire that Neville had aimed at his feet.

"- that I can do about it! But I don't know if I'm doing it for the right reasons or because I'm desperate to have her back!" Neville was on a roll now, so Harry had stopped sending curses back at him. He was just dodging and defending to let his friend get his frustration out.

As Harry dodged a decapitation curse, Draco slipped Theo a few galleons and said, "My moneys on Harry."

"Nah, Neville's got this," Theo whispered.

"I'll put ten on Harry," Blanche cut in.

"Five on Neville," Ophelia whispered.

"I get that it's shit Neville, but you can't let it taint your decision!" Harry yelled over the sound of the last blasting curse he'd had to avoid, "You love her to bits! You'd ask her to marry you in a few months, so why not do it now and get the bonus of having her home a bit early?"

At that point, Neville told Harry that he didn't want to talk about it anymore, so they threw themselves into a full-blown duel. Even Sumner had stopped to watch them; in fact, he had conjured up a chair and was sitting down with his arms crossed watching the duel play out.

It lasted for well over 20 minutes, and by the time it ended, several very nasty, homemade curses had flown around the room, and both men were very sweaty. In the end, Neville won by reliving the events of their second year at Hogwarts.

He conjured up a snake when Harry was in the middle of sending a curse his way. Before he could defend himself, the snake had bitten Harry and taken him down. It gave Neville the chance to disarm him and grin smugly.

"Why do snakes bite me all the time?" Harry remarked, "I love them. Why don't they love me?"

"I know man, I feel the same about plants," Theo said sincerely while Draco snorted and patted him on the back.

A round of applause echoed throughout the room.

"Alright, girls, have we settled our little love feud?" Sumner asked as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Yes, sir, I apologise for letting my personal feelings interfere with my work," Neville admitted.

Sumner shrugged, "I had a nice little coffee break and nice work Longbottom, not many people can say they have taken the chosen one down in a duel. Might deflate your head a little bit, eh Potter?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "Yes, sir."

Sumner slapped Neville on the back, "Real good duel Longbottom. You might become the Senior Auror in this partnership yet."

"What!"

"What?"

Draco and Theo shared an amused look and shook their heads in exasperation.

Senior Auror Jack Sumner was thinking about heading home for the day when a knock sounded at his office door.

"Come in!" He called wearily.

Caroline Lamb stepped into his office and smiled, "Bad time?"

Sumner shook his head, "I was just thinking about heading home, but I can always make time for you."

Caroline sat down across from him and asked, "When you asked me to come here and perform my first psych evaluation since getting back in the field, did you know that the trainee in question was Harry Potter?"

Sumner smiled, "Yes."

Caroline chuckled, "Well, you always did like to throw me in at the deep end, Dad."

Sumner leant back in his chair, "So you're here as my colleague today, then?"

Caroline pulled a file out of her bag, "Yes. I am. Now, do you know how messed up that poor kid is?"

"I know he's messed up," Sumner said honestly, "But I need you to tell me how messed up he is."

"Well," Caroline mused, "From his answers, he should be a sociopath, but somehow, he's quite normal."

Sumner raised an eyebrow, "Define 'quite', Caroline."

"He has some deep-rooted issues," Caroline admitted, "Chiefly concerning authority figures. It's not that he has a disregard of the rules, but more that he mistrusts those in a position of authority because they have either wronged him or died on him."

Sumner frowned.

"So you are going to have to tread very carefully," Caroline continued, "If you make one small mistake with him, he will lose every ounce of respect he has for you."

"Noted," Sumner said.

"He also has a temper," Caroline said, "Which seems to flare up when his depression does. I'm hardly surprised that he's prone to bouts of depression considering what he's been through."

"No, neither am I," Sumner admitted.

"He feels immense guilt about the final battle," Caroline added, "He feels that it was his presence that drew Voldemort to Hogwarts, so he feels responsible for every single death. I read him the figures, and he got emotional, so I think I'm starting to get through to him."

"I think you will have to meet with him again," Sumner said as he leant back in his chair.

"Oh, I know I will," Caroline said. She put a sheet of parchment down in front of him.

Sumner looked down, and his eyes widened. He shook his head and muttered, "Well…shit."

"Yeah," Caroline agreed.

"He's going to need to be monitored," Sumner said.

"Can I suggest you take a urine sample every morning for six weeks?" Caroline asked, "The spells we use can detect alcohol up to 48 hours after it has been drunk. There was a trace in his urine today, there should have been more, but Longbottom and Nott healed his liver after his relapse on Monday night."

"Fuck," Sumner sighed.

"He's been through a lot, Dad," Caroline said, "The section about major traumas took us an hour to go through. Every year at school, something bad happened to him, and it makes me question what kind of Headmaster Dumbledore really was."

Sumner frowned at his daughter, "Elaborate."

"Dangerous things happened at Hogwarts," Caroline sighed, "Harry had to face things that no school child should have had to face. The death of Cedric Diggory seems to be the start of a downward spiral for him. From there on, he lost more and more people until it started to break him down."

"Okay," Sumner said, "I'll tread carefully with him, but he's going to need to see you regularly. Would you say his reliance on alcohol stems from the war?"

"Most definitely," Caroline replied, "I would recommend weekly sessions with me to help him work through some of the guilt he feels surrounding the war and to help him come to terms with things that he did and saw back then."

"Right," Sumner agreed, "I'll talk to him tomorrow then and Caroline."

Caroline turned around, "Yes?"

"This is great," Sumner said with a smile as he looked down at the report, "It's real thorough, and you seem to have made great headway with Potter."

Caroline smiled at him, "Thanks, it feels good to be back."

"It's good to see you back on your feet again," Sumner said gently, "After Eddie's death and Edith been born, it's…it's good to see."

"I love you too, Dad," Caroline said with a knowing smile. She leant across the desk and kissed his cheek, "See you around."

* ~ TBC ~ *