Chapter Ninety-Six

Therapy, Ultimatums and Research

'Misters Weasleys,' Flitwick said. 'If the two of you could take a seat. What is it that you wished to discuss?'

Filius, of course, had a good idea of what was going on. After all, Cadmus Weasley had become Ronald Weasley's new guardian, and the boy was the only one of Arthur Weasley's branch to neither disown themselves nor be arrested. Of course, he was facing some minor demeanour charges on the grounds of accepting stolen property but given his age the worse he could be expected to receive was a fine and community service.

Of course, if he was charged the Board might push for him to be expelled. Given that at least some of the crimes was committed against another child in the school it wasn't impossible to see that going through especially with the victim's sire being on said Board. Especially, if Heir Slytherin ever wanted to return to Hogwarts and decided he did not want to do so with Mr Ronald Weasley still in attendance.

Filius wasn't sure how to feel about that. Of course, what Ronald Weasley had done to the boy who thought he was a friend was terrible. But at the same time, he didn't want to deny anyone an education. He knew perfectly well that if his mother had not been a Gamp there was no way he would have been allowed to attend Hogwarts.

But if Ronald was expelled, with Cadmus Weasley being middle class, it was unlikely he would be able to afford to send his ward abroad. And unless something drastically changed Ronald Weasley's grades were nowhere good enough to get an international scholarship anywhere. And with a criminal record there was no chance of that!

So that would mean home-education, not deplorable under any circumstances. But given all the scandals surrounding the Weasley family it would be unlikely that Ronald Weasley would be able to get a job anywhere in the British Wizarding World.

'I am sure that you are aware of the … circumstances my brother and his family find themselves in,' Cadmus Weasley said.

Ronald Weasley snorted but quieted at the look his Uncle gave him.

'I am aware, yes,' Filius said dryly.

You would have had to be living under a rock to not know about that!

Mr Weasley nodded, 'well since becoming Ron's guardian he has been seeing a therapist on dealing with the faulty notions that his mother and Dumbledore have left him with.'

Ronald flushed and glared at his Uncle, 'I'm fine! I'm not crazy. I'm only seeing one because of Uncle Cadmus' insistence!'

'There is no shame in getting help when one needs it,' Filius said gently. 'And I am sure that your uncle is just concerned and wants to make sure you go on to live a happy and fulfilling life.'

'He is showing good progress,' Cadmus went on.

Of course, Ronald's outburst contradicted that statement so Filius would reserve judgement. He probably wouldn't really be able to tell until term began and watched his interactions with the Slytherins which always had a tendency to escalate far further than they had any need to.

'But I would like to see him continue that,' Cadmus continued.

'Is that really necessary?' asked Ron a whine in his voice.

'I think,' Cadmus spoke as though his nephew had not spoken, 'that the best option would to be to pick him up on Friday night or Saturday morning for the appointment on Saturday and keep him until Sunday evening or Monday morning so that I can be there to support him post-session.'

'That seems acceptable,' Filius nodded.

Cadmus hesitated seemingly wanting to say more, 'I – his therapist has declared him not be a danger – but I think it might be advisable to keep Ron away from Heir Slytherin as much as possible.'

'What do you think I'm going to do – attack him?' asked Ronald. 'I'm not stupid!'

'Good,' Cadmus said. 'I am glad, I just don't want you to do something that will make it even worse for you!'

'Heir Slytherin has been withdrawn from the school so that will not be a problem,' Filius said. 'But he will always have a place should he ever wish for it. And, if that does happen, we might have to revisit the situation then. In this case we will have to take the victims wishes first – that means if Heir Slytherin refuses to attend Hogwarts with the perpetrator of his theft also present we would have no choice but to expel you. Do you understand?'

'Yes,' Ronald said a bit curtly.

'Good,' Filius said. 'I should also warn you that if you are charged with receiving embezzled property or conspiracy to commit embezzlement, then there will be some who will push for his expulsion. After all, some of your crimes were committed in Hogwarts or at the very least upon a then-Hogwarts student, so it is almost certain that will happen. If that happens you will have to look at alternative education!

'Unless you show significant improvement in your behaviour. My suggestion to you is concentrate on your OWL, do not get into any altercations with your students, and do not give us any reason to punish you for when it comes to evaluate your continued schooling, I can assure you that the staff and the board will be looking at that!'

Harry entered the small, mostly disused drawing room on the other side of the manor that had been set up for his Mind Healing appointments. Harry felt his lunch try to make a sudden reappearance. He really did not want to do this, but his father had insisted and even Lucius thought it might help after everything he had been through.

Franco Hoghedge was already present seated on a black leather armchair. There was a floating tray of pumpkin juice, tea and ginger biscuits beside him. Hoghedge was a man with light brown skin, a mop of curly black hair that put Harry's to shame and bright blue eyes. He was wearing traditional white Healer's robe and seemed to be wearing a wearing a kindly expression on his face, which Harry returned by glaring at him and crossing his arms.

Harry didn't want to be here.

'Do you want to sit?' asked Hoghedge.

'No,' Harry said folding his arms. 'I'm fine! I'm not crazy!'

'Of course, you're not,' Hoghedge said quietly. 'But you have been hurt! Look at it this way if you hurt your arm, you would seek Healing treatments, would you not? Well, Mind Healing is the same, just the same except you are seeking Healing for your brain! And should not be considered lesser because people can't see the damage that has been done.'

Harry frowned considering that, 'the Dursleys wouldn't have bothered to get me any form of treatment for a broken arm. They didn't think I was worth it.'

'The Dursleys?' asked Hoghedge. 'That would be the Muggles who raised you?'

'Yes,' Harry bit out. 'I don't want to talk about them!'

'They hurt you, didn't they?' asked Hoghedge gently.

'Yes, but, I'm fine now,' Harry said sharply. 'They're in prison and I'm safe with my father who loves me!'

'That is good,' Hoghedge said quietly. 'Safety is important, but can you really say that they do not affect you.'

Harry looked away trying not to think about his worries that his father or Lucius would one day come to think that he wasn't good enough and leave him. It was something he had grown up hoping – that one day he could be good enough, that one day he would earn their love. Even at the age of twelve he had allowed himself to get his hopes up that Vernon had remembered his birthday! Harry sat down on the soft green sofa curling his legs under himself and grabbing a glass of pumpkin juice to distract himself.

'Yeah, maybe, so what?' asked Harry.

'I'm not going to lie and say that I can magically make it all better, that speaking will Obliviate it from you, you were hurt, and it will always be a part of you, but one day it will be a small part of you,' Hoghedge said.

'But what if there is a lot of bad?' asked Harry. 'I've wanted a family all my life. I got father, but with that came the realisation that my best friends, who I loved more than anything were only using me for money! It just seemed like every time things look good for me, something bad comes around the corner.'

'That's a natural reaction after having been hurt,' Hoghedge said gently. 'To expect more hurt to come. It doesn't necessarily mean that it is correct.'

Harry snorted, 'two weeks ago father had taken me on my first holiday. We went to France – it was beautiful. Then a couple of nights ago we were almost killed. My godfather might still die, die saving me just like dad did!'

'It wasn't your fault,' Hoghedge said gently.

'THEY WERE AFTER ME!' Harry shouted.

Hoghedge waited for him to take a calming drink of juice before he spoke again.

'Do you think it was your father's fault?' asked Hoghedge.

'What, no,' Harry said quickly.

'But they were after you because you are his son,' Hoghedge said quietly. 'Do, you think he was to blame for you being attacked because you are the son the Dark Lord?'

'No, of course not!' Harry said. 'He couldn't have known what Dumbledore's real plan was – he tried to protect me!'

'And could you?' asked Hoghedge.

Harry blinked, eyes a little wet, 'no. I … just felt so useless … Sirius and Lucius were fighting for me and I couldn't do a thing to help them! I hate him! Why couldn't he just leave me alone? I've never done anything to him?'

Hoghedge surveyed him for a moment, 'what Albus Dumbledore has done to you was wrong! And it is quite natural when faced with an abuser to feel powerless.'

Harry stiffened, 'I … didn't say that!'

But it was true, wasn't it? He had always been powerless to protect himself as a child – from the Dursleys, Dumbledore, the Weasleys.

But he wasn't now.

He had chosen Lucius, fought his father for him. He had managed to form a relationship with his father despite Dumbledore trying to rip from each other. He had friends who he liked and who loved him dearly.

Things were complicated, but he wasn't powerless.

'How are you?' asked Lucius.

Marcus sighed tiredly, 'as well as can be expected given the circumstances.'

There were rings under his eyes making it clear to him that Marcus had not been sleeping properly. Not that Lucius could blame the Flint Lord for that! Lucius was glad that he was not in the older man's situation. Parents should not outlive their children. The miscarriages and stillbirths had been bad enough.

But this had to be so much worse.

Lucius was sure had he been in Marcus' situation he would have not done as he had done. It might make him a traitor but if Draco had done what Marcus done, he would have protected Draco from death even if it would have meant his own.

But saying as much wouldn't help Marcus.

Nor did he disagree with killing the traitorous whelp who had been involved in the plan to kidnap Harry. Just because the Flint boy was little more than a sacrificial pawn meant to distract the Dark Lord didn't change what he had been willing to do to Harry for money!

'And you?' asked Marcus obviously wanting to turn the conversation away from his son. 'I heard you got injured during the attack?'

Lucius nodded, 'Healer Whitehead says that I should be able to stop applying the burn paste in the next two to four days.'

'That's good,' Marcus said. 'And the Dark Prince.'

Lucius couldn't help the smile that formed at the thought of Harry, 'he's physically healed. The attack and Dumbledore's death has left him shaken, but he's the strongest person I know he'll get through it, he always does.'

Marcus almost smiled, 'you really love him, don't you?'

'Yes, I do,' Lucius said.

'Good,' Marcus said.

'What about your twins?' asked Lucius.

'Healthy, Healer Whitehead sees no complications so far,' Marcus said eyes looking lighter. 'To tell you the truth, sometimes their existence is all that keeps me going.'

Lucius squeezed his shoulder, 'I … I am glad you have them at least.'

'So, what's the deal with the wand?' asked Hadrian.

'I don't know,' admitted Tom.

It was driving him nuts. He had been through his collection of Runes dictionaries, but there didn't seem to be one thing about the strange triangular symbol in any of them. He knew it wasn't a house crest, so he was going through his collection on magical orders wondering if it was related to that.

'Then why not toss it in the fire?' Hadrian said quite vehemently. 'I want nothing to do with anything of that man's!'

Tom put down the book on Occult Practices in the Romano British Period by Olivia Ollivander. Hadrian had just returned from the appointment with the Mind Healer. He was frowning but didn't seem nervous or angry.

'How was it?' asked Tom.

Hadrian shrugged and refused to look at him for a moment, 'alright.'

Tom didn't want to pry about things that were personal, 'will you be going back next week?'

'I think so,' Hadrian replied.

Tom breathed a sigh of relief at Hadrian's response. Tom knew that Hadrian wasn't okay, but he didn't want to force him to seek help, didn't want to take Hadrian's autonomy from him. But he didn't want Hadrian to suffer either when there was help so readily available. Didn't want him to be driven to desperation until he was sitting in a bathroom with the body of a twelve-year-old wondering when opening the Chamber of Secrets had seemed like a good idea. Tom shook his head to clear it of those particular memories.

'So, what is the deal with the wand?' asked Hadrian again.

Tom picked up the wand showing Hadrian the triangular symbol etched very purposefully onto the bottom. Hadrian didn't react to it – had no reason to as he had never seen the Peverell ring. To him it was just a strange symbol.

'The symbol?' asked Hadrian.

Tom nodded, 'it was on a ring I inherited from the Peverells. I could never track the source down then, so it is strange that it turns up now. Especially as the Peverells were known to be talented necromancers. So, the question is why is Albus Dumbledore carrying a wand that has a symbol in common with a family of necromancers?'

'Any luck?' asked Hadrian.

Tom shook his head, 'none. But there must be some record of it somewhere!'

Harry sat down opposite to Barty across the still form of his godfather. It had been three days since the attack. It was the first time Harry had been to see his godfather due to his father had been worried about further attacks. However, he finally agreed as long as he went to.

'How is he?' asked Harry.

'He is showing some more limited awareness,' Barty said. 'But the Healers have said that although it is a good sign, he could remain in this state for years.'

Harry nodded, 'hi, Sirius, it's Harry. I'm sorry this happened to you. And I'm sorry that I haven't been to see you. Father was being overprotective, but I'm sure you agree with him. So, Fred, George and Percy are coming over to do their sale's pitch this afternoon. I hope they get it – but father doesn't want me involved because I'm too close.'

Harry trailed off trying to think of something else to say. What do you say to somebody who couldn't answer back? What did you say to someone who might never wake up? Harry felt a lump in his throat and found himself unable to say anything else.

His father, however, took over, 'Black, I know we haven't always seen eye to eye. About the only two things we can agree on is our love for James and Hadrian, and once again I find myself thanking you for protecting my son to the point of injury.'

'He'll get better,' Harry said suddenly sure of it. 'He survived Azkaban he won't be brought down, not by this.'

'I hope so,' Barty agreed stroking Sirius' hand.

Harry couldn't help but smile slightly watching his old Defence Professor carefully. It wasn't something that Harry had seen coming. But after Lupin, Barty was good for his godfather and it was clear that the Crouch Lord really cared for Sirius.

'I'm glad he has you,' Harry said.

'How are you holding up?' asked his father. 'I know how difficult it is to be the one left behind.'

'He's not dead … my Lord,' Barty said sharply.

'Of course not,' the Dark Lord said. 'Doesn't mean it is not difficult for you. When was the last time you went home?'

Barty shrugged, 'Narcissa and Andromeda take turns to make sure I go home and sleep. I just want him to wake up. I know that won't necessarily mean everything is alright, but at least he'll be there.'

'So, do I,' Harry said.

Blackness

…

Indistinct voices

…

Blackness

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A hand on his.

…

Blackness

…

More voices.

New voices.

…

Blackness

…

The world drifted between nothingness and vagueness.