I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Note: Yes, I did say earlier this week that I am decreasing my updates. However, my completely atrocious day prompts me to do an extra update this week because I really would love to see some positive energy. I also managed to do some more chapters this week so I am comfortably replenishing my bank as I post.

I hope everyone enjoys a chapter that was a long time coming. Have a lovely day!

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The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 74 – St Mungo's Care

Harry looked about the exam room with mild interest. He vaguely remembered visiting the Nurse's office before when he went to Muggle school. More often than once to be honest, usually due to the not-so-tender care from Dudley and his friends. He remembered a very clean and white room with a nurse who at first was rather kind. Then the nurse somehow thought Harry was responsible for his own injuries, even going so far to accuse him of self-inflicting them for attention, and he never went back.

Of course, he had spent more than a few hours in the Infirmary at Hogwarts. Enough for Madam Pomfrey to sarcastically dub one of the medical beds as "Potter's Bed". He did not mind the tongue-in-cheek term; he really did use the same bed each time and it was rather comfortable.

St Mungo's was a proper magical hospital. Upon entering, he was shocked to feel the sheer amount of magic in the air. Places like Hogwarts and Diagon Alley literally felt magical. One could feel the energy play across your skin, feel it tingle on your tongue. You were fully aware that a high density of magic surrounded you. It saturated the air like humidity after a hard rain.

St Mungo's was just like that, if not more so. It was very clean and on the surface it appeared organized. The patients that waited in the main room brought the chaos in, sporting all sorts of magical maladies and cursed appearances. Harry had looked around with gigantic eyes at the sheer range of magical afflictions. It was equal parts impressive and horrifying.

He and Sirius had been sent to the Continuing Care floor. Here people undergoing long term treatment as well as being seen for routine exams visited and it was much more quiet than the loud waiting room. Sirius had gone into the room slightly down the hall from Harry's and so Harry sat on the exam table quietly. He looked around, not pretending to guess at the contents of vials and potions bottles that filled a cabinet, nor did he want to guess what some of the instruments did.

The door finally opened and much to his relief, he recognized the woman that stepped in. "Hi Mrs. Bell!"

Samantha smiled warmly at Harry. "Hello dear, it's lovely to see you." She closed the door behind her and beamed at him. "May I give you a hug?"

He nodded eagerly and happily embraced her. "It's good to see you too."

She stepped back after he let go. "Now before we begin, I wanted to ask you something. To be honest, I saw your name on the schedule and requested to see you. If you're comfortable with me, I'd be more than happy to be your primary care Medi-Witch. You're allowed to request another considering I'm the mother of one of your friends. I assure you I will divulge nothing to anyone save you and your magical guardian."

"Why would I request anyone else?" Harry asked.

"You might not be comfortable with me because I'm Katie's mother," she explained. "Or for any other reason really."

"Is it bad that I want you to be my primary because of that?" he asked sheepishly. "You've been really nice to me and I trust you."

She smiled brightly. "Not bad at all and don't worry, I'll take extra good care of you." She looked furtively about and her voice dropped into a conspiratorial whisper. "Don't tell anyone I said that though." She delighted in his giggle.

With a wave of her wand, she soon had several things floating around Harry. "Since you've never had a proper exam before, I'm going to do an in-depth analysis. This is going to take a bit of time, but it will make records of your health and that way we can figure out what's going on and what needs fixing. You'll feel some poking and prodding and you might feel slight changes in your temperature, but that's just the charms doing their work. However, feel free to ask me any questions while it's running."

She whispered a few incantations and soon the diagnostic charms began their work. Small silver instruments floated around Harry, sometimes touching him and other times measuring things. A roll of parchment floated to the side and a quill began to write upon it. A clipboard floated to Samantha's side and she would mutter things under her breath and another quill would write on the clipboard.

Harry let her work for a few moments before he interrupted her. "Are you upset with me?" he asked in a small voice.

Samantha instantly stopped, staring at him. "Upset with you? Whatever for?"

Harry looked down. "For Katie almost getting really hurt because of me."

Samantha felt something in her chest throb. She reached out gently, lifting Harry's chin so she could look him in the eye. "You mean when she leapt off her broom at an incredible height over the ground in the middle of a storm?"

Harry nodded glumly.

"No dear, I am not upset at you at all. I'm not even that upset at Katie. I'll admit that I'd never imagine she'd do something like that and the first time I heard of it my heart stopped. But things ended well enough so don't you even entertain that thought anymore. Okay?"

He nodded again, reluctantly.

"Katie, I'm sure you know, can be quite stubborn. Let me tell you that if she doesn't want to do something, she won't do it. Caused me plenty of trouble when she was younger, still does to tell the truth. So her actions are solely hers. You have nothing to feel guilty over. You're a good boy to think of her so and be concerned."

"She's one of my best friends. I really care about her," he said with conviction. "She's saved my life."

Samantha's smile grew. "I'm glad she has such a good friend. It makes me feel good knowing that."

It was hard to keep her smile, unfortunately. She kept glancing at the parchment as it listed ailment after ailment, symptom after symptom. It kept going, listing more and more. She was mentally begging for it to stop but it continued. She had managed to get a copy of Madam Pomfrey's letters when Harry's appointment was made and she had hoped that her old mentor's diagnostic charm was a little too sensitive.

If anything, the Matron's assessment was somehow not as thorough as Samantha's.

"How are things with you now, Harry?" she asked. "Better I assume since you're here now and that you have a certified, public knowledge, magical guardian."

"Oh yes, I'm living with Sirius now. Grimmauld Place is a bit…well grim, but it's so much better than being with the Dursleys. I have my own room that's much bigger and nicer. I don't have to worry about being quiet. Sirius doesn't yell at me. Even Kreacher is nice in his way."

"Kreacher?"

"He's a House Elf. He was alone for a really long time. He's a little cranky sometimes but he's not mean."

"Glad to hear it," she said sincerely. "And how are you doing diet wise?"

"Really good. I don't have to…well you know." His voice dropped in volume and he looked sheepish. Despite knowing that Samantha knew his past circumstances, he was still reluctant to speak so plainly about it. So honestly. "I'm cooking mostly for us. Kreacher likes to complain that I shouldn't be cooking but I think he likes what I make. Sirius was surprised but he hasn't argued much either. He says I can order whatever groceries I want for us."

Samantha breathed a big sigh of relief. "I'm so happy to hear that," she said and it was very clear that she was truly happy. She narrowed her eyes playfully. "I hope you're not buying too many sweets."

Harry giggled. "No ma'am. I actually haven't asked for any yet. I've been mostly getting regular food."

"That's a good boy. If you like, I can give you a few pamphlets on nutritious foods. Give you an idea of healthy balanced meals and add some variety." She laughed at his eager nods. "I'll definitely get you some before you go."

Finally, the charms finished and she spent long moments looking over the results.

Harry looked worried at her expression. "Is everything okay?" he asked, nervous.

Samantha cleared her throat. "Well, I regret to inform you that you are in fact, a boy." She looked solemn, which made Harry snort after he comprehended what she said. "It's okay though. Slightly less than half of the general population share the affliction and go on to lead rewarding lives."

"That's a relief," Harry replied with a smile.

"Otherwise, well, you are still a bit under-weight. Now that you have more reliable…eating abilities, we can fix that. Some potions will help with nutrition absorption. You have some badly healed breaks and some bone issues. Potions can help fix that and some spell-work will fix the breaks. We won't have to vanish and regrow any bones."

Harry shivered. "That sounds terrible, regrowing bones."

"It's not fun. We'll do the spells over the next few weeks so you better get used to popping back in and seeing me."

"That'll be nice to see you," Harry said shyly.

"And for me to see you. Now, about the scars on your back…" Samantha swallowed her ire. "We have some salves that can reduce them a little. We can try to vanish them, but unfortunately, the scar tissue is so dense, we won't be able to get rid of them completely."

"How about this one?" Harry asked, pointing to the one on his forehead.

"That one was created with dark magic. We can't fix that one," she said sadly.

Harry sighed but shrugged. "Well, I'm used to it I guess. The ones on my back don't bother me that much anymore, but I'll ask Sirius."

"That's fine. He'll get complete records of everything too. One last thing I want to go over with you." She rubbed her neck. "I'll just come out and say it. You've experienced a lot Harry, far more than fully grown adults. Those sorts of experiences, the amount of trauma, it can really hurt you. Not immediately either. It can last for years after the experience."

Harry nodded. "Like how my forehead scar used to hurt me even though I got it a long time ago?"

"Yes exactly." She frowned. "Does your forehead scar still bother you?"

"Actually, no. The last time it did was during my second year."

"That's good, make sure you mention it to someone if it does."

"I will." He hesitated. "How do I fix the trauma experiences?"

"The best way is to speak to someone about it. You can always talk to friends of course, but there are trained professionals that help too if you don't feel comfortable talking to a friend. We call them mind healers, but Muggles call them therapists. Talking about your experiences can give you a different perspective and help you figure things out."

Harry chewed his lip for a few moments. "Can anyone benefit from seeing a mind healer?"

"Of course. You don't need to have incredibly traumatic experiences to get help. Though, as you imagine, it really helps those that have had those traumas."

"I don't think I'm comfortable talking with someone I don't know about those things," Harry said slowly. "But…can I give my time to someone else?"

Samantha felt her heart twinge. "Someone else that could use the help you mean? You know someone that could benefit?"

Harry nodded. "A friend had a really rough time two years ago. She also had a really bad reaction to the Dementors like I do. It's just…her family isn't well off so I don't know if they could normally see a mind healer. But maybe you can give them mine?"

Samantha shook her head. She had heard of Harry's kindness from Katie many times, but to experience it first hand like this was amazing. "You don't have to do that Harry. It's incredibly sweet of you but you don't have to sacrifice your time. If you don't want to see one now, I won't make you. If you tell me the family you're referring to, I'll offer them the opportunity too." Her smile matched his. "Let me grab you those pamphlets and start you on the potions."

She left the room and came back, carrying the said papers and potions. She watched with amusement at Harry's face as he drank the bitter concoctions. "Normally, you're a bit old to be getting lollys after a visit but since this is your first real one, I'm going to make an exception. I also have it on good authority that you prefer one of these."

Harry eagerly took the sugar quill from her. "These are my favorite," he said happily. He opened his arms and hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Mrs. Bell. You're a wonderful Medi-Witch."

Samantha blushed lightly. "You don't really have too many to compare me to," she teased.

"Doesn't mean I'm wrong," he said cheekily.

A loud thump on the door made them jump and the door cracked open. The sounds of arguing spilled into the room and Sirius stuck his head in, shaking his head at the raised voices. "Alright, I get it! I'll do things at my pace! I just got out of Azkaban for Merlin's sake. If I have any questions, I'll ask my cousin!" He rolled his eyes and smiled at Samantha and Harry. "Hey Harry, you all set in here?"

Harry frowned lightly at Sirius. "This is Medi-Witch Bell. She took good care of me."

Sirius stepped in and offered his hand. "Hello there, I'm Sirius Black, Harry's godfather. Sorry, I got into a bit of an argument with the Healer that saw me. Something about being more responsible or some such. Anyways, I'm getting a bit antsy and was hoping Harry was finished."

Samantha looked nonplussed at Sirius' attitude. "We did just finish. Here's a copy of Harry's treatment plan and we started him on recovery potions and nutrition potions. We also discussed seeing a mind healer."

Sirius looked at the parchment. "Sounds great to me." He frowned when he looked at some of the things written on the parchment.

"Would you like me to explain anything?" Samantha asked.

Sirius shook his head. "Not right now thank you. I can ask more questions when we come back next week for his follow-up. If I have any questions before then I'll owl or I can ask my cousin. Nice to meet you, Healer Bell. Let's go Harry!"

Harry frowned at Sirius again, but came back to Samantha for another hug. "Can you say hi to Katie for me please?"

"Of course dear. Feel free to send me an owl directly if you have questions too, okay?" She waved as he left and huffed a surprised breath as soon as the door closed. She thought Sirius would have shown more interest in Harry's care, but then again, like he said, he did just leave Azkaban. Normally Samantha would question if he was capable of taking care of himself, much less a minor. That being said, it was still a far better situation for Harry than his old living conditions.

Samantha left the exam room and went to her office. She scattered Harry's chart and results into the air, moving them about with her wand so she can look at all the information at once. Seeing the sum of his hurts made her feel ill. The poor boy had truly suffered in his short life. It really was amazing how kind he was all things considered. Offering his space to Ginny Weasley? Not many would be so generous with their resources.

She heard a door slam outside in the hall and the low angry mutterings of a friend. With a grin she opened her door and looked at Andromeda with interest. "Bad patient Andi?"

Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Not even my patient, technically Sammi. Good thing too. If he was my patient, I'd petrify him and force feed him the potions and hang the ethical quandary."

Samantha snickered. Andromeda was her senior by a few years and her mentor as she began Medi training. They became close friends and frequently worked together on cases where their specialties overlapped. Not to mention they always vented to one another.

Andromeda entered Samantha's office and closed the door behind her. "I thought Healer Beck would be good for Sirius. He's calm, patient, kind. But if anyone could find Beck's one angry nerve, it would be my cousin. I had to step in to prevent a duel."

"No! Beck wanted to duel Sirius?!"

"Beck wanted to sedate Sirius and damn the consequences. I debated taking Sirius' case but figured he wouldn't listen to his cousin. I guess I should have asked Healer Lyra to take point."

"What does Lyra have that Beck doesn't?"

"It pains me to say this, but she has two very large things Beck doesn't. Sirius always had problems listening to certain people and perhaps Lyra could have incentivized him to listen." Andromeda rubbed her temples. "He's a dog in more ways than one." She smiled weakly to Samantha's unrestrained laughter. Then she noticed all the charts floating in the air and her eyebrows rose as she looked at them. "Merlin's taint, tell me your patient is over eighty years old and is a professional duelist or charm tester with these kinds of injuries."

"No and no, sadly. He's a young boy who has had a very traumatic life." Samantha frowned thoughtfully. "What's the rule about family of Healers and patient care again?"

Andromeda's eyebrow rose. "Healers can join the care of family members unless expressly denied by the patient in question. It's more legitimate if the patient in question asks for the family member's aide."

"Does that apply to godfamily?"

Andromeda waggled her hand back and forth. "Debatable but explainable."

"And if said blood family member patient said and I quote, "If I have questions I'll ask my cousin,"?"

Andromeda smiled. "Then I have all the permission I need. That'll teach Sirius to mouth off." She looked closely at the charm test results, wincing as she did. "What the hell did they do to poor Harry?"

"Lots of terrible things, which I wish I could inflict on the ones that did it." Samantha sighed and rubbed her eyes.

Andromeda's eyes narrowed as she examined a specific reading. "That's…a concerning amount of dark magic residue. Localized around his scar. Ah, that must be where the killing curse impacted."

"You want to see the strange thing?" Samantha flicked her wand and two pieces of parchment floated up to the side. "That scan was done three years ago at Hogwarts, and this one was done earlier this year. Look at the levels of dark magic."

The other witch looked with interest. "There's almost none last year compared to the initial exam. I wonder what changed?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Samantha shrugged. "There's precious little information on the after-effects of the killing curse for obvious reasons. I'm just glad that the levels of dark magic have dropped considerably. Still a lot more than you want normally, but when you compare it to earlier levels…"

"It's night and day, no I agree." Andromeda frowned. "I suppose the best thing to do now is observe and monitor. Maybe some silverbell essence to see if we can leach out more of the dark matter."

"Can't hurt." Samantha gave Andromeda a sheaf of parchment that she made notes on while working with Harry. "This is the treatment plan. I also gave Harry some information on balanced meals. He mentioned he's cooking?"

"Yes, surprisingly. Dora and I had dinner with them yesterday. He cooks very well." Andromeda nodded at the treatment plan. "I have an idea that may help. Dora is in her more sedentary period of Auror training, something she has complained a lot about. What would you say to her helping Harry exercise? I can pass along some physical therapy exercises to her. Between that and proper nutrition and care, Harry should recover nicely."

Samantha breathed a huge sigh of relief. "That would be fantastic. Would Dora mind?"

Andromeda snorted. "Not at all. She's going stir crazy from inactivity. This will help her stay busy and give Harry some care and attention. She's only met him the once and she's already noticed a few things that disquiet her."

"Dora's a good girl. Observant." Samantha hesitated for a moment. "Pardon me for asking and do say if I am overstepping, but is Sirius…capable of taking care of Harry?"

Andromeda shook her head slowly. "You ask a question I've asked myself more than once when I learned of his plans. Sirius…well, he's very stubborn. It's a family trait. If Harry was not in an unenviable position before, I would have insisted Sirius take some time recovering. However, he has focused the majority of his energy in getting things ready for Harry. He's taken far more care in that regard than his personal health.

"He feels like he has a lot of to make up for. He thinks he failed Harry all those years and is desperate to account for it."

"That's not exactly healthy."

"Certainly not. I feel like Sirius will take far better care of Harry than he will himself at this moment."

"Neglecting himself into the ground won't help Harry though."

"That's why I'm going to be more involved. Don't get me wrong, I planned to ever since Sirius reached out after being exonerated. Harry's presence gives me enough excuse to pay more attention. I find him very pleasant and more mature than expected."

Samantha sighed sadly. "You don't know the half of it."

Andromeda said nothing for a long time, looking at Samantha carefully. "You knew of things before meeting Harry?"

"We've met before, outside of St Mungo's. He's also close friends with Katie. He's told her things and she's relayed them to me."

"Ahhh, hence why you insisted on being his primary care provider." Andromeda rubbed her chin. "I wondered if it was your instincts that drew you to him."

Samantha looked bold, without shame or reservation. "He deserves a lot of attention and care after all he's been through."

"I don't doubt it, and I will learn of his past in time, at his pace. No need to break any vows or promises." Andromeda gave a look of mock weariness. "I foresee a lot of extra work outside of work for me from now on."

"You always did complain the most when you're bored," Samantha said with a smile.

"At least I won't have to practice my best bed-side behavior when dealing with Sirius," Andromeda laughed.

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guest - Everyone will need to adjust in different ways and I hope they make the change along the way.

diffident-serpiente - I'm glad you like the new introductions and the interactions with Kreacher. It's was a little hard to find that same tone of the fic with meeting new characters after so long with the core characters. However, I adore Tonks and Andromeda as characters and really want to do them well. I also really want to make Kreacher feel like how he is but make him fit better, while making him believable.

D.J Scales - I don't intend on seeing the Dursleys in person ever again and while their effects will be felt by Harry forever, what's done is done.

Monto242 - I always felt bad for him. He was truly a product of his environment so I hope to show that he could have been different with a different environment.

Guest - You are far too kind. Thank you for the incredible praise. I really hope Kreacher and Sirius feel believable and fit in my little pocket universe and I have some plans for Sirius to make him feel real.

Thespianpoet - I love Tonks. She is one of my favorite characters and I kind of wish I planned something different for her in this fic. Don't worry, nothing bad and she will be very important, but just something different. Something to do in another story I suppose. I really want to get her character right and make her be more than the clumsy meme style character she sometimes seems to be otherwise. Also thank you. I love thinking about how magic works and want to make it a feature but not a focus of this fic if that makes sense.

yogibears - You're wondering shall cease as of this chapter. I love Tonks and Andromeda as I've said and want them to be fully fleshed out characters in this fic. Also I do plan on making Kreacher curmudgeonly with Sirius as his focus so hope those jokes continue to land.

Urgaew - It's so hard to resist waving a wand, literally, and making friendship magic happen. At the risk of sounding repetitive, believability and plausibility really matter to me. I want things to feel like it could organically and realistically happen in the setting. So I want Kreacher to develop into a different character while keeping his personality to a degree.

Thank you. Obviously this fic had the Quidditch Team at it's core, but you need to bring in more characters. I don't want this fic to just be a tiny environment of just the team, I want the team to fit into the whole world. I want them to grow and interact with others. Which brings in Sirius and Andromeda and Tonks so far. I adore the ladies and want them to feel real and to be a part of the story.

alix33 - Not just smelling like her mother. Remember the House Elves at Hogwarts could smell people's magics on others in the way they interact. An odd detail I created solely for the creepy jokes.