Last Time
That could have been disastrous. They'd have all ended up in Azkaban for harbouring known escapees of the prison, the Lestranges and the Malfoys, along with him. Thank Merlin for Kreacher and his invaluable position as his spy. Everyone always forgot about the house-elves. Even the Malfoys and the Lestranges, knowing that he had an inside spy on the Order, did not once think that it was Kreacher who was passing along information. It was to their detriment and his benefit.
Tomorrow, the manor would be raided. Law Enforcers would look for signs of abuse. They'd look for evidence that he was under the influence of potions or a spell. They would tear the manor apart and Harry hated the very thought of such an invasion. The Order had a lot to answer for and Harry couldn't wait to unleash both barrels on Dumbledore when he got back to the castle.
Chapter Thirty-Six – Raid
Harry was awake very early the next morning. He had hardly been able to sleep, but he had managed a few hours of restless tossing and turning. He was in the dining room, drinking a strong coffee and contemplating waking up Narcissa and Lucius to let them know what had happened last night when his father walked in.
"You're up very early, Harry." Lucius said worriedly.
"I've heard from my Order spy, we're going to be raided today. I woke up early to send the Lestranges away."
Lucius' face tightened in fury. "Does this have anything to do with Dumbledore?"
Harry nodded. "He's told the Law Enforcers that I'm being abused here."
"So, naturally they are going to raid our home to make sure that you aren't."
Harry nodded again. He was tired of these games. He just felt so bone-deep weary of it all.
"Once again your spy on the Order of the Phoenix comes in handy."
Harry hummed in agreement and sipped some more coffee.
"You know we don't like you drinking coffee, Harry." Lucius told him.
"I'm a legal adult."
"You are living under my roof."
"I'm very tired." Harry said.
Lucius didn't look very impressed. "As you will, but try not to let your mother see, she worries about you. Have you only had the one cup?"
Harry nodded. "Just this one, I am up early, but it wasn't that early."
Lucius gave his shoulder a pat.
"I am going to make sure everything that the Ministry shouldn't be seeing is hidden. If they raid before I come back be sure to keep your calm and say nothing unless you are with your mother or me, am I clear?"
"I might let out an angry outburst if they demand anything from me, but I would never incriminate you or my family."
"Good boy."
Harry squirmed at the praise. It still made him feel slightly uncomfortable as he wasn't used to it, but that didn't mean he didn't still like hearing it. It was very complicated.
Lucius didn't notice, or if he did then he didn't draw attention to it. Instead, he went to make sure that the manor was made safe. Harry sat and finished his coffee and he did have the thought to maybe do something, anything, so that he didn't waste the entire day waiting for this supposed raid, but he could hardly concentrate on anything so there wasn't much point. He didn't like feeling that he was being unproductive, though. Not when he had so much on his plate, so many things he could be doing, and what amounted to a free weekend to actually get things done.
He sighed, pushing those thoughts away for a moment, and instead he finished his coffee before serving himself some tea from the set that Pimsey had laid out in preparation for breakfast.
"Sweetheart, your father told me what you said. Are you okay? You should have woken us last night, I don't like the thought that you were fretting about this by yourself."
Narcissa looked angry too, but she came to him, cupped his face in both of her soft hands and kissed his forehead.
"I was fine, Mother." Harry told her. "I knew it was unlikely that they'd raid us overnight, they're not Aurors after all, but I wasn't going to gamble with Rabastan like that, just in case."
"That is likely for the best, sweetheart. Did you manage to get any sleep? You look tired."
"A little. I have been very worried about Rabastan, so I had a few nightmares about him being caught."
"It didn't happen, Harry." She assured him. "The Lestranges are safely in their own manor. We will see through this raid and then we'll carry on from there."
Harry smiled and allowed the words to reassure him.
"Come, let us eat breakfast and then read in the parlour. Nothing speaks of abusing children more than sitting in a quiet room reading together."
Harry laughed. His mood had lightened, as Narcissa had intended, enough for him to eat a small breakfast.
Harry went to his bedroom to collect some of his law books. If he was going to have a quiet morning reading then he was going to at least try to be a little productive about it.
Narcissa had had tea and biscuits laid out, almost as if they were waiting to welcome guests. Harry set his books down on the table, sitting opposite Narcissa, and he went through them, a notebook by his hand so that he could note down anything he thought he might need and where he'd read it so that he could look it up again if he needed to.
Together, they actually relaxed. It was very quiet, only a murmur now and then as one of them asked Pimsey for more tea or more biscuits, the rustle of a page being turned, or Harry's quill scratching as he wrote.
"Damn, I'm out of ink." He said, going to dip his quill only for him to realise that the inkwell was almost completely dry.
"Do you have any other inks here, darling?"
Harry shook his head. "They're all at Hogwarts."
"Pimsey."
"What can Pimsey be doing for Mistress?" The house-elf asked.
"Fetch Harry some more ink from Lucius' office."
Pimsey nodded and left just as quickly as she had come.
"Will father mind?" Harry asked.
"Of course not, sweetheart. You know we like to encourage you in everything."
It was an anxious wait for the raid to happen, as Harry opened the brand-new inkwell that Pimsey had brought him and started taking more notes.
They didn't know when the raid would happen, or how, so when it actually did happen, it was so shocking that none of them even had to act surprised or like they hadn't been given prior knowledge of the raid.
"Harry Potter, come with us." A man in a crisp, decorated uniform demanded.
"Absolutely not!" Harry replied angrily. "You, get your hands off of my mother this instant!"
Harry went straight for the man who had actually had the audacity to grab at Narcissa and he put himself between them, glaring so hatefully that the Law Enforcer actually backed off.
Narcissa immediately took charge of the situation and she pulled Harry behind her, shielding him.
"How dare you invade my home!" She snapped. "What possible reason could you have for this intrusion?!"
"We've received an allegation of child abuse. We are naturally concerned about the child in question, Mister Harry James Potter, so we are following up on the complaint."
"Who is the complainant?" Harry asked.
"We are not at liberty to disclose such information. Please, come with us."
"I am not leaving my home!" Harry snapped. "If you want to speak to me, you'll do it right here."
"You don't have a choice."
"I know the law. I am a child." Harry said, hating that he was claiming as such, but in this case, it was used to his advantage. "You have declared me as such yourself, thus I demand parental representation, as is my right."
The Law Enforcer noticed his mistake immediately. If he'd claimed Harry as an adult, as he was over seventeen, then Harry could have been removed from his parents. As they had come in here on an allegation of child abuse and had declared him the said child, then that defence could no longer be used to split him from his parents as Harry had duly invoked his rights to have parental representation. Harry controlled the urge to smirk as he waited for the Law Enforcer to make his next move.
"That is the law." The man sighed.
"Graeme, we can't leave him with them." Another man spoke, trying not to let Harry and Narcissa hear, but they did.
"The fault lies with me." Graeme said, immediately owning up to his mistake, which made Harry begrudgingly start to like him. "I named him a child and Mister Potter has invoked his rights for parental representation. Please, have a seat."
Narcissa bristled at being invited to sit on her own settee in her own home, but she sat stiffly back into her seat. Harry sat beside her.
Harry watched as the Law Enforcers looked over the cosy room. The tea set and half a plate of biscuits on the table, the book that Narcissa had been reading and the ones that Harry had been reading, and how on both sides of the table there was clear evidence that both of them had had a cup of tea.
"Please, lay out whatever questions or evidence that you have that I am being abused." Harry invited.
"Are you?" Graeme asked him.
Harry laughed. "No. No, I'm not."
"We are concerned that you are being forced to say as such against your will. Will you consent to a magical check for potions or spells upon your person?"
"I will." Harry said immediately.
"I will be the one performing the check, Mister Potter, if that is okay with you." A woman told him.
Harry was getting annoyed that they were calling him 'mister' instead of 'lord', and that they were missing out the 'Black' portion of his title too, likely on purpose, but he took a breath and he nodded his head.
"My name is Katrina. Most people just call me Kat." She said in a friendly way.
"I won't repeat what most people call me." Harry said. "Though I insist upon being called Lord Potter-Black, as is my due."
The Law Enforcers all shared looks with one another, but Katrina soldiered on with her check.
Harry tried not to squirm as he felt the foreign magic trickling all over his body. It felt invasive, it made his skin crawl, and the check was going on for way too long in his opinion and he just wanted it to stop already. It took everything in him to remain sitting down and silent, to not automatically fight the intrusion, but as the minutes ticked by the hairs all over his body stood up on end and he started bristling at the continued exposure to another's magic. It just felt wrong to allow someone to do this to him and he didn't like it.
At long last the magic stopped poking at him, slipping into places it shouldn't to check for things Harry knew weren't there, and as Katrina stepped back, her magic finally leaving his body, he felt like he was able to breathe again for the first time in several long minutes. Katrina didn't look happy, though, and Harry tensed up.
"No evidence of any spells, curses, potions, or anything otherwise, Sir." Katrina reported to Graeme, who slumped a little as if that wasn't what he'd been expecting to hear. These people were actually upset that there were no spells on him or potions in his system and that made Harry grind his teeth together.
"Are you at all unhappy here, Harry?" Graeme asked him after gathering himself.
"No, I'm very happy, thank you."
"Have you ever been hit or hurt?"
"No."
"Have you taken any injuries while under the care of your adoptive parents?"
"No."
"Are you made to feel unwelcome or unloved here?"
"No." Harry snapped this time, getting a little angry and defensive.
"Are you being coerced into protecting your would-be abusers?"
"No!"
"Will you consent to be looked over by a healer?"
"My parents are the ones who took me to a healer in the first place!" Harry snapped, his anger red hot. "They are the ones who have supported me and made sure that I was healthy! They are not abusing me!"
"So, you don't consent?" Graeme asked him.
Harry inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. He would not allow himself to be backed into a corner.
"I will consent, but I want it noted that I said beforehand that there was no need."
"It will be noted." Graeme assured him.
"Must I go to the hospital or can a healer be brought here?" Harry asked.
"We would like you to go into a hospital environment."
"It will be fine, darling." Narcissa told him. "I am sure your father will escort you."
Harry nodded. "I will go to the hospital as long as my father escorts me there as I insist upon parental accompaniment."
Graeme looked a little worried at having Lucius escort them, but he had to consent because Harry had invoked his minor rights to parental representation. It had been his mistake for that slip of the tongue and both of them knew it. Harry would be incredibly happy to exploit it too.
It took ten minutes before Lucius joined them from where he'd been cornered in another room.
"Have you consented to a hospital visit, Harry?" He asked, coming to stand beside him.
"Yes. I got the feeling that it would have made things worse if I had refused, Father, despite knowing that it will be a complete waste of time. I'm fully healthy now."
An arm wrapped around his back, up by his shoulders and Harry dropped his defences slightly, despite that they were in public, to lean into him a little.
"Hurry back, darling." Narcissa said. "I don't want Harry late for lunch."
"I am sure this won't take overly long." Lucius said, giving the lead Law Enforcer a sneer. "After you."
Harry was furious when they arrived at the hospital and there was a team of healers waiting for him.
He tried to remain calm but he felt that his privacy had been invaded. He felt disrespected as he was directed to strip himself off and put on a tiny pair of paper shorts in front of everyone, not just his father and the healers, but several members of the Law Enforcement team too.
"There's no need for any of this!" He growled, hunching into himself as his scars were put on display by the bright, harsh lighting and he could see the Law Enforcers sharing pointed looks. They were almost fucking excited to see the evidence of abuse on his body
Lucius stood beside him as he was examined, tall and strong and reassuring as Harry tried to keep his temper. Having him here helped to keep him calm as his body was once again physically examined and then checked with magic.
"Well?" The leader of the Law Enforcers, Graeme, demanded as the healers stopped flitting about him and had seemingly finished their examination.
"Lord Potter-Black is in good health." The one healer, an older man, said sternly.
"He is covered in scars!" Graeme exploded, jabbing a finger at him.
"These are old scars." The healer waved off. "Older than the indicated time period that you asked us to check between."
"I was removed from my former home for neglect." Harry said, his voice pitched low and dark. "I was being abused there and no one cared. Where were you then?" He demanded of the Law Enforcement team. "Why didn't you investigate my home life when I was actually being abused? I have not been hurt or injured at all since my adoption. When are you going to understand that I was removed from an abusive home, I am not living in one now. I have a supportive, loving family and they are not hurting me."
Lucius gave his back a gentle pat and Harry breathed out, trying to settle himself, trying to calm himself and regain control of his anger that was burning hot.
"There's no sign of any potions or curses?" Graeme asked desperately.
"None." The healer replied curtly. "Lord Potter-Black has improved vastly since his last visit and shows no signs of any injuries or abuses. There are no spells upon his person and no potions currently in his system."
Graeme looked utterly defeated and Harry controlled the childish urge to shout out 'I told you so' and instead, he opted for looking coolly disinterested and slightly annoyed that his important time had been wasted, his day interrupted.
"Was that all?" Lucius drawled. It was the same drawl that Draco had…it amused Harry to know that Draco had emulated his father.
"No." Graeme replied, almost angrily. "There is a mind healer on standby. Lord Potter-Black is to have a psychological evaluation as well."
Only Lucius' arm around his shoulders kept Harry's rage from exploding. He was almost at the point where he would start using physical violence…or a few jinxes.
"Are you calling my son's mental health into question?" Lucius demanded, his tone low and soft. It made the hairs at the back of Harry's neck stand up on end and the words weren't even directed at him. He really needed to learn how to do that.
"We have a strict itinerary that we must follow to the letter." Graeme defended himself. "We are not calling Lord Potter-Black's mental health into question, a psychological evaluation is a part of our duties to the person in question."
Harry looked at Lucius, almost begging him to stop this, but his father sighed and his hand squeezed gently on his shoulder.
"It will not take long." Lucius tried to placate him. "It will all be very routine."
"You will stay with me, won't you?" Harry asked, a small hint of his insecurities peeking through.
"If that is what you wish, of course." Lucius assured him. "If you could lead the way." He directed at Graeme, who looked sullen and sulky that he'd completely lost control of this situation…all because he'd labelled Harry as a child in a slip of the tongue. It would have been amusing to Harry, if he wasn't so pissed off.
Harry was escorted down the hall, up three flights of stairs to the fourth floor. They went through various wards until they made it to what seemed like an office block. There were several doors, all emblazoned with the names of various mind healers. Harry was taken to the door at the end of the corridor, which was larger and fancier seeming than the others, and it was stamped as the office of Head Mind Healer Sebastian Vasey.
Harry took a deep breath as they entered the large office space. The mind healer was sitting behind his desk, clearly waiting for them.
"You can leave us now." The man said, his voice calming and soft.
"Vasey, no, we've already said that we will stay." Graeme insisted.
"The comfort and privacy of my patient is more important to me than your curiosity." The man stated, standing from his seat, showing that he was more than averagely tall.
"Mister Potter is being evaluated for abuse!" Graeme burst out, a tick forming in his cheek.
"I've told you to give me the title I am due as a lord." Harry snapped back. "Stop belittling and demeaning me!"
Lucius rubbed his shoulder and Harry blew out a harsh breath, trying to control himself, but he was failing. His anger felt like it was a part of him, as intimately connected as his blood. His hand flexed towards his wand without conscious thought.
"I will be conducting a full evaluation, as asked of me." Healer Vasey said, still calm and endlessly patient. "I will not compromise my patient's right to privacy merely because you wish to have a first-hand account. I will give my report after I have conducted my evaluation and until then, I am going to insist that you leave."
The Law Enforcers looked furious, but Harry was grudgingly starting to like Healer Vasey. The last thing he wanted was any sort of audience for a mental evaluation. He was too angry, and only getting angrier.
"Lord Malfoy, I will ask you to step out as well." Healer Vasey insisted.
"No." Harry said, shaking his head, his hand reaching out to grip onto Lucius' sleeve. "I've invoked my rights to parental representation." Harry said firmly. "I want my father to stay."
"My evaluation will ask questions that I find most patients will refuse to answer honestly in front of parental eyes and ears." Healer Vasey told him, still calm and soothing,
Harry shared a look with Lucius, who gave a soft sigh and nodded.
"I will be right outside the door, Harry, if you want me for any reason then just open the door."
Harry swallowed and he nodded.
He stood there awkwardly, watching as Lucius glared at the Law Enforcers until they left, and then he followed them out, pulling the door closed behind him. Harry swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous.
"I am not here to harm you or to make you feel trapped." Healer Vasey told him gently. "I only wanted to see you alone so that I was assured that your answers would be honest. Please take a seat, Lord Potter-Black."
"You don't have to call me that." Harry said shyly. "I only told the Law Enforcers to because they kept calling me Mister Potter, which was incorrect."
"What would you like me to call you? You may call me Sebastian or Healer Vasey if you wish."
"Just Harry." He said as he sat in the soft, squishy chair stiffly.
"Can I get anything for you, Harry? A drink or perhaps some fruit?" The man asked as he came around his desk and sat in the chair opposite Harry, a sturdy, solid wooden coffee table between them.
Harry shook his head.
"I would like to assure you that everything you say here will be completely confidential." Healer Vasey told him. "My final evaluation will be my opinion of your overall mental health and will not include any details that you choose to share with me today."
Harry relaxed ever so slightly and he pushed a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture. He was, at the least, reassured that none of what he said would end up on the front page of the Prophet.
"So, Harry, can I ask how you're feeling?"
Harry didn't think a snapped, petulant 'fine' would work here, in this room, so he took a moment to consider how he was actually feeling, but only one answer kept rolling around his mind.
"Angry." He admitted grudgingly.
"Let us explore this a little. Do you know why you're feeling angry?"
"All of this!" Harry said, waving a hand.
"Can you explain a little better for me?" Healer Vasey asked.
Harry blew out an aggrieved breath.
"I…I just feel like I've been manipulated into doing things I didn't want to do." He said. "I had to give evidence in a court trial, which was difficult anyway, but then just a day later my home was invaded, they tried to split me up from my parents and would have succeeded if I hadn't been studying law and knew my rights, but I was still forced to see a team of healers, and now this. None of it was my choice. I feel like I've had my choices ripped away."
"That would make anyone feel angry." Healer Vasey assured him.
"I just…I feel like everyone is making decisions for me and I have no say in any of it!" Harry vented. "The Law Enforcers wouldn't even tell me who complained about my home life. I was having such a nice morning with my mother too, settling down from the stress of court case."
"Will you tell me about your morning?"
"We had a nice breakfast and then we went to the front parlour for tea and biscuits. My mother was reading a novel and I was doing some note work with my law books, just jotting down things I read that I thought might be useful for my law reforms. It was nice, peaceful, until they just burst in and scared me half to death."
"Then they refused to give you any details about what was happening?" Healer Vasey asked.
Harry nodded. "Yeah. I asked who had complained about my home life, because it certainly wasn't me! I just…I feel like I'm not in control of any aspect of my life. That anyone can just burst in and force me to do things I don't want to and I have no choice but to comply."
"Are there any other examples of this, except the Law Enforcers visit today?"
"Right from the beginning when I lost my parents. They were murdered and I was shuffled into an abusive home, but thanks to Dumbledore I had to stay there. I told him I didn't want to go back but he forced me to. As good as my adoption has turned out to be, I wasn't given a choice in that either. I was collected from one house and taken to the Ministry and I was just handed over like an object, no one told me what was happening then, either. I didn't know what was happening to me or why, nothing was explained. I was treated like a lackwit child."
"Were you angry at that point too?" Healer Vasey asked him.
Harry nodded. "Unbelievably so. I didn't quite grasp that I was safe, that I was out of that abusive household. I wasn't settled and people were messing with my life, so I was angry. It took a while for me to settle, for me to understand that I was safe, it happened gradually, but it did eventually happen and now I'm glad of that adoption."
"If someone asked for your opinion now, would you choose to stay where you are?"
"Absolutely. I've never felt so safe and supported in my life." Harry replied and he truly meant his words too. "It started out rocky, I was angry, scared, I was performing because my choices had been taken away, but…do you know the saying better the devil you know?"
"I do." Healer Vasey assured him.
"I knew what to expect with the Dursleys. I wasn't happy there, I certainly wasn't safe, but I knew what to expect, so going into something else was terrifying. I didn't know what to expect or how I would be treated. Yeah, I might have been safer and treated better, but I didn't know that and it seemed like the worst thing in the world to take such a leap of faith. What if I was treated worse, you know?"
"That is a perfectly understandable fear."
"But…but I wasn't given that choice. I was adopted without my knowledge or consent, I was forced to make that step that I was too afraid to take on my own, and I was treated so much better. I started to feel safe. It was novel for a while because I don't remember ever having that before, sometimes it still is novel to me, like when I'm treated fairly, when someone shows me that they care about me, even in little ways it still gets to me, because it was more than I'd had before."
"You've alluded to the abuse you suffered at the hands of your previous family. Do you want to talk about that?"
Harry shook his head. "No."
"That's okay." Healer Vasey assured him. "Back to the Malfoy family, then. How is your relationship with your father?"
"Great." Harry replied stiffly.
"I didn't mean to bring up your defences again, I'm sorry for that." Healer Vasey told him. "Would you like water or perhaps some tea?"
Harry shook his head, feeling too uncomfortable to ask for a drink, even though his mouth was feeling a little dry and it had been freely offered. He took a breath and tried to ease himself down. He was trying to stop the Law Enforcers from removing him from the Malfoys, to do that he needed to convince an actual mind healer that he wanted to stay. He took another breath and brought up his 'lord' persona.
"Lucius treats me just like he treats Draco." Harry said, more relaxed and natural. "I never had that at the Dursleys. They favoured their own son and made sure I knew it right from the start. I thought…I thought at the very least that the Malfoys would favour their own child more than me, but they don't. We're treated the same, punished the same, we get the same sort of gifts only differing in our separate interests. It was that which worked to settle me quicker, seeing that we were actually equals."
"And your relationship with your father now?"
"He's teaching me everything I need to know. I didn't even know about my lordships, my own birthright. He's patient with me, I'm still learning and I make mistakes, but I'm corrected. I have a chance for trial and error and I never had that before either, that chance to make mistakes and correct myself. It used to be I'd do something wrong and it went right to punishment. Sometimes I didn't even have to do something wrong to earn a punishment."
"You have structure now?"
Harry nodded. "I didn't realise I needed it so badly until I was given it. I've got set rules to follow, I know what is expected of me now and best of all, I know exactly what will happen if I step outside of that structure, if I break a rule. I know I'll be standing in a corner now and it takes all the fear away. I don't fear failing, or breaking a rule because even if I did it on purpose, the punishment is always the same."
"Are you punished the same as your brother?"
Harry nodded.
"Can I ask how you would have been punished before?"
Harry drew in a breath and then frowned. "It's difficult to answer because it was never the same. It changed by the day. Sometimes it would be the same." He corrected, thinking of the endless hours he'd spent locked in his cupboard with no meals. "But they mostly reacted in the moment, out of anger."
"So you were physically hit?"
Harry swallowed, but he nodded. "Sometimes they'd just fist my hair and drag me to…to my room." He said, hesitating over mentioning the cupboard. "Other times it was a smack or a kick. If my uncle had had a particularly bad day…"
Harry trailed off and sent frightened eyes up to Healer Vasey.
"You are safe in this room." The man assured him calmly, gently. "You may carry on if you wish to speak of this, or we can talk about something else."
"Something else." Harry said quickly.
Healer Vasey nodded and made some sort of notation in the book in his lap. He had a self-inking quill, which was likely for the best as Harry feared he was writing down every word that he said.
"How did you come to be adopted?" Healer Vasey asked after a moment that stretched too long for Harry's comfort. "Why was it decided at that particular moment, do you know?"
"I hadn't really had much interaction with Lucius Malfoy." Harry said softly.
"So why did he make the decision to adopt you out of the blue?"
"I found out about my birthright. I went to Gringotts to claim my lordships and Lucius was the member of the Wizardry Protection Movement on duty when the goblins contacted the Ministry for a representative. He was present when I fumbled my way through trying to claim my birthright, he saw first-hand that I had had no clue about any of it and given that I had a claim to two seats on the Wizengamot, he realised that my education, at the least, was being neglected. He told me that I should have been told about it, that I was supposed to be taking lessons on all of it and I wasn't. He patiently coached me through all the necessary documents and legal contracts, I would have been lost without him there that day, even if I was angry."
"Why were you angry?"
"I was embarrassed." Harry said, in place of saying he knew that Lucius was a Death Eater and he didn't want to be near him at the time. "The goblins were looking at me like I was particularly stupid and with everything that Lucius was telling me that I should already know, I…I felt humiliated, and embarrassed, and I channelled it into anger. Anger was familiar to me at that point."
"And your adoption?"
"Lucius realised my need. The first person to ever do so. He saw how my education was being neglected, he'd seen me up close for the first time, as he sat next to me for hours in the bank that day. It didn't really take a genius to figure out that my home life probably wasn't the best, so he moved immediately to remove me from that situation. He took it upon himself to teach me everything I was lacking, not just about my lordships and my birthright, but everything. He even changed my electives at school and tutored me personally to catch me up to my classmates so that I'd have better options in the future. He took control and yeah, I was angry about it at first. I argued and pushed back, purposefully broke rules just to see the outcome, I tantrumed like a toddler and I'm not proud of how I behaved in the beginning, but the punishment was always the same. It never changed and as soon as that truly sunk in, I started to settle."
"I see from your medical notes that you had a healer's appointment made for you, was that due to Lord Malfoy knowing about your abuse?"
Harry nodded. "It took a while to convince me to go, as he didn't want to just drag me there against my will, though he says now that he wished he had given the serious diagnosis I was given as those extra months could have helped me get healthier quicker. The healer told us both that even half a year could have deteriorated me quite significantly, so my father was kicking himself that it took so long to get me that appointment. I'm glad he didn't force me, though. I'm glad, despite the additional months I suffered, that he let me make that decision for myself."
"Why didn't you want to see a healer at that time?"
Harry thought about it seriously. Why hadn't he wanted to see a healer?
"I suppose I just knew how bad I'd been treated, especially with the comparison with how the Malfoys treated me. I knew they'd hurt me terribly and I knew I had scars all over my body from what they'd done to me, I guess I just didn't want to admit the truth. I didn't want anyone to see how bad it had been or the marks of it that I would be left with for the rest of my life. I thought that if I could delay it enough that everyone would just…forget about it." Here he gave a hollow-sounding laugh. "No such luck for me, but even that turned out to be for the best. I was terrified when the healer told me that I might have died before I was twenty without swift and powerful medical intervention."
"How are you feeling now?"
Harry smiled. "I'm completely healthy. I was signed off by the healers in early July."
"That must give you a powerful feeling of relief."
Harry nodded. "Knowing that the hypocalcaemia isn't hanging over my head anymore is like a crushing weight has been taken off me. The regime of potions I had to undertake was awful, but I didn't miss a single dose. I was in school, I had exams while on those potions, I had my Wizengamot duties, and personal duties too and I didn't slip. But it was hard having that hanging over me, but now that it's gone and I'm healthy, I want to keep it that way."
Healer Vasey gave him a gentle smile, making more notes, then he paused and seemed to read through his words.
"You mentioned that your father changed your electives, how did you feel at that moment?"
Harry frowned. "I wasn't overly bothered. I did like Care of Magical Creatures, but the teacher was a little too enthusiastic and some of the things we were shown…we probably shouldn't have been. As for Divination, I took it because my friend did, and I figured that I'd have someone there with me, but it was mostly a joke. At the time I chose them I didn't have anyone to talk to about my future, or about careers or electives, so I chose poorly and I realised that when I didn't like either subject. I wasn't averse to Lucius insisting that my electives were changed to Arithmancy and Ancient Runes and I've since found that I love both subjects and I am glad they were changed."
"So you didn't get angry over that?"
Harry shook his head. "No. I didn't like the subjects I'd chosen and I didn't have the motivation to change them myself, I needed someone to do it for me and to help me catch up, and that's what Lucius did. I was grateful for that care, for the support towards my future."
Healer Vasey hummed and wrote more down.
"Have your aspirations for the future changed since your adoption?"
Harry laughed. "Oh, definitely!" He exclaimed. "I didn't really have a future before I was adopted. I…I figured I'd be an Auror, but it was only because of a lack of ambition. I…I honestly thought I wouldn't even get that far, you know?"
"Because of the abuse?"
Harry nodded shakily, opting to mention nothing of Voldemort or the brewing war. "It was getting worse. Learning that I had magic made it worse, going to Hogwarts made it worse, then as I got older, it was only getting worse. A part of me always thought that I wouldn't even get to graduate. That I'd never leave that house."
"How do you feel now that you are out of that house?"
"Like I've been given a second chance. A better chance, so I've seized it with both hands. I've found that I like trying new things and my family encourages me to try new things, especially food. I've realised that I do have ambition, that I do want more for myself, and getting out of that place, I actually have a future now and I can't wait to do everything."
Harry thought of Rabastan and the family they were planning. His aspirations to change laws, to become the Minister for Magic. It was all very exciting to him and he couldn't wait to do it all. To put his plans into action.
"I think we will leave it here for today, Harry."
"For today?" Harry asked, his stomach sinking.
"I am going to recommend that you keep coming to see me, Harry. I feel that it will really benefit you."
Harry chewed on his lip, uncertain. What if he accidentally let it slip about Rabastan or the Lestranges? Or that he was remaining neutral in the coming war and had actually met Voldemort face-to-face in a calm, almost respectful manner.
"I can see your indecision clearly, Harry, but with everything that you've told me today, I really do recommend that we carry on speaking, so that I can help you. I cannot, by my magical contract, reveal any details you tell me to anyone else. This information will not end up in a gossip magazine or a newspaper."
"I've had enough of that in my life already." Harry murmured quietly.
Healer Vasey hummed. "I had noticed. But when I take you on as a patient, as I intend to, we will both sign a contract and I will not be able to reveal anything that you've said. Not even something terrible…or illegal."
Harry frowned. "Do you deal with many criminals?"
Healer Vasey chuckled. "More than you know. Even criminals need therapy, Harry, perhaps more so."
"Oh." Harry still chewed on his lip, but he knew that Lucius had wanted him to see a mind healer, so he'd find no support among his parents against continuing speaking to Healer Vasey. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt then."
Healer Vasey gave him a gentle smile that almost made Harry squirm.
"I am proud of you for making the decision to overcome your trauma, Harry."
Harry did squirm at hearing that and he felt his cheeks heating a little, but he smiled too. He didn't think he'd made any sort of massive leap and he wouldn't have said it as Healer Vasey had, but he was pleased too to be praised for a decision he'd made.
"Let us get you back to your father and we'll work around your schedule to find the best time for you to come back to see me."
"I've just stopped needing tutoring in Ancient Runes, so I have that time free." Harry said, a little begrudgingly as he'd been enjoying that small amount of time to juggle the rest of his schedule, but Lucius, and Narcissa too, would insist that this was more important.
"It will be worked out, I don't want you feeling more stressed over these talks, Harry, but I really do feel that you'd benefit from them in the long run."
Harry nodded and he stood when Healer Vasey did.
"Can I go home?" He asked softly, insecurely.
"I feel it would be the worst possible thing that could happen for you to be split from your adoptive parents. I will be insisting that you remain with them."
"Truly?" Harry asked, brightening up. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
"Yes, given what you have said I feel it would be more damaging to yourself to remove you from your adoptive parents and your home."
Harry swallowed heavily, but he felt lighter, happier, as he pulled open the door and Lucius immediately stood from a chair and came to him, even as the Law Enforcers rushed to surround them.
"Well?" Their leader, Graeme, demanded of Healer Vasey, rudely in Harry's opinion.
"You will have my full evaluation in a few days, but I am happy that Harry is safe and well cared for in his home and with his family. I am not recommending that Harry be removed from the care of the Malfoy family."
Graeme looked utterly defeated and Harry smothered the urge to smirk. He had to pull upon all of his training from the Wizengamot to become a lord to keep his lips from twitching.
"If that was all?" Harry asked, making his voice drawl like Draco did.
Graeme swallowed heavily enough that Harry watched his Adam's apple bob. He had no choice but to reluctantly nod his head in agreement.
"Your mother will be pleased, at least. We will be just in time for lunch." Lucius told him, laying a hand protectively on his shoulder.
Lucius escorted him from the mind healers' offices and all the way down to the ground floor, where the floo banks were located, and he sent Harry through first before following.
"Are you well?" Lucius asked, seeing Harry waiting for him, his face almost crumpled.
Harry nodded, but too quickly.
"Use your words, Harry." He was chastised.
"I just…I didn't think it would be like that."
"What upset you the most?" Lucius asked, even as he used another hand on his shoulder to get him moving towards the parlour where Narcissa was likely waiting anxiously.
"The physical exam, with everyone watching me and seeing my almost naked body."
Lucius sighed with regret. "I should have argued about them being in the room with my half-naked son. I'm sorry, Harry. I was anxious as well."
Harry shook his head. "It's over with now. I have to carry on going to see that mind healer, though."
"Oh, you allowed as such?" Lucius asked almost teasingly.
Harry gave him a cheeky grin. "I thought you'd be pleased."
"Oh, I am. I'm just also surprised that you actually agreed. I thought I was going to have to bribe and blackmail you into it."
"It…it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I felt better just talking a little and I really liked Healer Vasey. He was nice."
"I should hope so given how much he charges. He is considered to be the best mind healer in the country and I only want the best for you."
They reached the parlour and Narcissa was waiting stiffly. She leapt up and came to hug him tightly.
"Well? Don't keep me waiting, is everything okay? Are they going to try to take our son away from us?"
"No, Mother." Harry said softly. "They couldn't find any evidence of recent abuse, so I get to stay."
"Thank Merlin!" She exclaimed, pulling back to cup his cheeks and then kissing his forehead. "Come now, lunch will be ready soon, you need to eat after the stresses of today."
Lunch was a thick, warming soup of spiced root vegetables and fresh bread and Harry ate ravenously, though he retained his manners as he did so, he just didn't contribute much to the conversation.
"Will it be safe to go over to Lestrange manor to see Rabastan?" Harry asked softly once he was done.
"They raided the house and failed to find anything, so it should be safe enough, just watch out for Rhadamanthus."
"With some luck, he's at work." Harry grumbled.
Harry kissed Narcissa's cheek and then he went back to the receiving room, leaving them to talk through what had happened themselves. He didn't want to disclose the sorts of things he'd spoken of to Healer Vasey anyway.
He went through the floo to Lestrange manor and he felt comfortable enough to go to the parlour on his own. He met Xerxes on the way, who had clearly been coming to see who had arrived uninvited.
"Harry, are you okay? I thought perhaps your father had come to explain, not you."
Harry shook his head and he smiled a little shyly. "I wanted to see Rabastan."
Xerxes chuckled. "This way."
"Who was it, Grandfather?" Rodolphus asked curiously as Xerxes walked back into the parlour too quickly to have made it to the receiving room.
"It is me!" Harry said with a cheeky grin. "Your most favourite of brothers."
Rodolphus rolled dark brown eyes and sighed heavily, but Rabastan was smiling widely as he leapt up to come and embrace him.
"I take it that everything went smoothly and the raid was a failure?"
Harry bobbed his head, even as he was led back to the settee and settled beside Rabastan, being held tightly in strong arms. Rodolphus even reached over to ruffle a huge hand through his hair, skewing it all over the place.
Xerxes settled back into his favourite armchair and then he looked at him expectantly.
Harry shrugged. "Obviously they found nothing or I wouldn't have been allowed back."
"But what did you have to do to prove it? They would never have just taken your word for it."
"I was questioned, then they demanded that I see a team of healers while they stood and stared at me…"
"They saw you naked?" Rabastan demanded, enraged.
"I was left in my boxers, but they saw everything. It was so humiliating. They were pointing and whispering at parts of my body and I hated it. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. They were pointing at the scars on me from…from what they did and trying to say that the Malfoys had done it and I didn't want to explain in front of all of those people." Harry swallowed and Rabastan held him tighter, laying a soft kiss to his head.
"After that, when they still didn't believe me, even though the healers told them that they were old scars, I was taken to a mind healer for a psychological evaluation. They literally wouldn't give up until they'd exhausted every avenue of humiliating me."
"How was the mind healer? Did the Law Enforcers bully their way into witnessing that?"
Harry shook his head. "No. Healer Vasey was really nice, actually, and he refused to allow them to stay. I was initially upset as he wouldn't allow Lucius to stay, even though I said I wanted him to, but he said that I'd be more honest without him there and yeah, that was probably true."
"Lucius escorted you?" Xerxes questioned.
Harry grinned savagely. "Oh yes. I demanded to know why they were raiding the manor when they arrived and they insisted that they were there for child abuse allegations and their leader slipped and insisted that I was the child in question, so I immediately invoked my minor rights for parental representation."
The Lestranges laughed at his cunning, and how easily he had made the Law Enforcers slip their words and then forced them to abide by the laws.
"They really weren't happy, but I happily exploited their mistake. I refused to leave Narcissa's side during the interrogation and then I insisted that Lucius escorted me to the hospital. They had no choice but to comply, but Healer Vasey wouldn't allow any of them to stay during his evaluation."
"How did that go?" Rabastan asked him gently, carefully.
Harry shrugged. "He allowed me to stay with Lucius and Narcissa, so he obviously agreed that I was safe and well cared for, but…but he wants to keep seeing me. He said that I could really benefit from talking to him more and…and given that I did feel better afterwards, I actually agree with that."
"So, you're going to try to squeeze in talking therapy as well as everything else you have to do?" Rodolphus asked pointedly.
"Marcus and I have decided that I no longer need tutoring in Ancient Runes, so we had our last session a week ago. I was thinking of using the time I'm saving there to fit in therapy sessions."
"You're no longer having sessions with Marcus?" Rabastan asked, and he sounded just a touch too happy. Harry turned and gave him a look.
"No, I'm not." Harry said, a bite to his tone.
"Calm yourself, my love." Rabastan chuckled. "I am pleased that you have reached a level where you no longer need guidance, not that you won't be spending time with Flint."
Harry considered his fiancé for a moment, then smiled and kissed his cheek. "I'm glad I no longer need it too. Marcus told me that he had me doing graduate-level work in the end and that I passed all the mock NEWTs he gave me with Os, so he's not worried."
"You are very intelligent and you have come a very long way since you joined proper society." Xerxes said, sounding very pleased.
Harry rolled his eyes, exasperated, but he was learning to pick his battles and for Xerxes that had almost been polite.
"What are your plans now for the rest of the day?" Rabastan asked.
"If allowed…" Here Harry gave a shy look to Xerxes. "…I will spend the rest of the day with you and then head home only to sleep. I have to be up early tomorrow. I need to be back at Hogwarts in time for lessons and I still need to pack my book bag and all my homework assignments, though I will be eating breakfast at home."
"Of course you can stay, Harry. We'll even feed you." Xerxes chuckled at his own little joke.
Harry flinched and Rabastan's head snapped down to look at him.
"That…that hit a little too close given the therapy." He admitted softly.
Xerxes' dark eyes widened as he realised what he'd done.
"I apologise unreservedly, Harry." He said seriously. "I should have never made a joke out of such a thing."
"It's alright, I'm just a little raw from the raid and the therapy. Usually, I'm not so sensitive about it and I can differentiate between a joke and a malicious comment, it's just…those people didn't feed me, they kept me locked in a cupboard and that led to the hypocalcaemia which could have killed me or, if left just a little longer, could have ruined my plans for the future."
"Never again, my love." Rabastan told him. "You will never be treated that poorly ever again. I will not allow for it."
Harry gave him a soft smile and turned his head to rest his forehead against Rabastan's chest.
"You should seek justice for yourself." Rodolphus told him sternly. "Your self-esteem won't reach its height until you realise that you're worth more than they are. They deserve to suffer for what they did to you as a mere child."
Harry thought more seriously about that than he ever had before. He couldn't just forget what had happened to him, talking to Healer Vasey had proven that, so would seeking legal justice help any more than doing nothing?
"Maybe…maybe I should look into that."
"You are growing by the day." Xerxes said proudly, looking at him with the pride from his voice gleaming clear in his eyes.
"We will all help you through whatever you decide to do." Rabastan assured him quickly, his arms holding him tighter, reassuring him verbally and physically. "We are your family, Harry and we care for you. If you chose to seek justice for yourself, we will help you in any way that you need."
"I will think about it. It might be that Healer Vasey says the same thing, but I'm finding that it's almost impossible to forget what they did to me. Little things do get to me, some things niggle, like the being fed comment. Normal people wouldn't react to it, the fact that I do just proves that underneath, something is wrong."
"I think you are showing how very mature you are to admit to it, Harry." Xerxes told him. "We have been patient, we understand that this is your business, that it is your decision to make in the end, but we just want what is best for you and I do believe, wholeheartedly, that seeking justice is what will be best for you in the end."
"I will think about it." Harry repeated, starting to feel a little uncomfortable. He sought to change the subject, quickly. "What have you been up to while I was dealing with the entitled Law Enforcers?" He asked Rabastan.
"I was worried for you, I couldn't sleep after you woke us and saw us home, so I am a little tired."
"That is unbearably sweet of you." Harry teased. "Even I managed to get a few more hours of sleep after."
Rabastan actually blushed and Harry grinned at him, before giving him a tight hug he couldn't get free of and kissing him.
"You two are unbearable, stop this sickening display." Rodolphus demanded.
"Nope. You'll have to put up with it, Dolphus." Harry teased, shifting himself to lay himself more over Rabastan's lap.
"Harry, behave yourself. Your mother and father will have my head." Xerxes told him.
Harry just laughed and held onto Rabastan, who cuddled him closer, settling him more comfortably on his lap.
It was a nice afternoon, peaceful, and Harry felt more settled and happier as the conversation moved away from what had happened earlier that day and towards lighter topics that had Harry settling again and feeling better.
Dinner was a traditional Sunday roast, heavy on steamed vegetables for Rabastan and Rodolphus, with a plump, crispy chicken as the centrepiece. Harry felt no hesitation in serving himself, nor helping himself to more. He truly felt that he was a part of this family, as well as the Malfoys. Something in his chest bloomed and he smiled. This was where he was meant to be. These were the people he was meant to be around and he loved them. He did, truly, owe them so much. Everything really.
He would never have become this version of himself without them. This healthy, motivated, ambitious version that was doing good in the world and was going places. He liked the person he was now, the person he had become under caring hands.
No one had cared before. No one had taken the time to make sure that he was safe, or happy. In fact, there had been those who had known, who had seen the signs, those few who he had told, and they hadn't done a damn thing to help him. Why shouldn't he have seized the Malfoys' adoption and support with both hands? Why shouldn't he bask in their love and care for him? Why shouldn't he take all of their advice and guidance? He deserved it and he was finally coming to realise that this is what a family was meant to be like. This is what he should have had all along. He would not now, or ever, willingly give this up. Never.
A/N: Happy Halloween, lovelies! I have been on a binge for Lord Potter-Black for the last few weeks and I've managed to get some chapters completed, so I will be posting for the next few weeks until they run out, but I have two more chapters, hopefully a third, but I want to stay with this fic for a little while.
The best news is that the group of chapters I have includes Theo's revenge, so that will be coming in chapter 38 and I'm very excited to share it, I've been waiting for it for what seems like an eternity, trying to drop hints, but still trying to keep it as a surprise. I love it.
StarLight Massacre. X
