Young and Helpless
Chapter Seven
The two sat in Remus' Dining room, nibbling on their slices of Pizza. The entire time, Remus had kept a watchful eye on Harry, wanting to find out more of Harry's condition. He frowned when he noticed Harry had hardly eaten anything; only about a slice and a half, and a cup of water.
"Are you okay Harry?" The boy glanced up at Remus, abandoning his pizza, instead gazing neutrally at his mentor.
Finally, he shook his head no.
Remus sighed. How could they have done this? If Dumbledore knew…Remus' eyes widened. DUMBLEDORE! He mentally kicked himself, feeling guilty that he hadn't told anyone that he had supposedly kidnapped Harry from his home.
The wards must have fallen. Remus contemplated.
He kept his steady gaze on Harry, watching his small hand grasp the half empty glass of water, and sipping at it cautiously. He et the cup down again, and began to peel off the pepperonis from his pizza, placing them on is napkin.
"Harry? When you're done can you do me a favor?" Remus asked gently, keeping a smile on his face to reassure him.
Harry looked up again, placing the last pepperoni on his napkin. Although his face was blank, Remus could still see slight panic in Harry's eyes.
He nodded slowly and gingerly placed his pizza down.
"I'm done." He whispered. Remus sighed again, getting up and crouching down beside Harry.
"Can you keep a secret?" Remus asked with a sudden idea.
Harry nodded once more, curiosity engulfing the tiny traces of panic in those emerald eyes.
Remus got up, and pulled out his wand.
"Magic is real. Watch. Wingardium Leviosa." Remus said this very quietly. He flicked his wand, and his chair began to float.
At first, Harry's eyes widened in shock, and then a flash of discomfort and fear ran through his eyes, before a small smile began to play at his lips. His eyes wandered over to Remus, who was gazing down at him questioningly, before giving a curt nod of reassurance. Harry's smile grew, and he got off his chair, walked over to the hovering piece of furniture, and began to feel around, as if expecting to feel a clear string, holding it up.
"How did you do that?" He asked slowly, as he looked up at Remus, with questioning eyes.
Remus crouched down beside Harry.
"You see, there are two worlds. A magical world, and a muggle world, 'muggles' being people who can't do magic, like your aunt and uncle. You can do magic. When you turn eleven, you'll get one of these. This is a wand, what we use to do make. With different swishes, we can make spells, like the one I did. In five years you'll be learning how to do this too." Remus explained.
Harry gazed curiously at Remus wand.
"C-can it hurt you?" He asked softly.
Remus smiled sadly.
"Some magic is used to hurt you, but I will never hurt you with my wand, I promise. Okay?" Remus assured Harry.
Harry smiled again.
"Okay." He answered.
"Now, about this favor… Can you go upstairs and wait for me while I clean up?" Remus asked softly.
Harry nodded slowly, and exited the Kitchen, climbing up the stairs, and entering his room. He sat on his bed, and began to twirl his thumbs patiently, waiting for Remus to come up.
Finally, the sound of footsteps could be heard, as Remus came up the stares. The footsteps stopped at the door, and slowly, it creaked open. Remus walked in.
He walked over to Harry, crouching beside him, so they were at least some what eye leveled. He placed a comforting hand on Harry own, which was now gripping lightly at the bed.
"Harry. You can trust me, right?" Remus asked.
Harry nodded, but then, as an after thought, he shrugged.
"It's hard. I get scared. I'm sorry." He said, staring down at his hands once more.
"It's okay." Remus whispered gently.
Harry nodded again, keeping his gaze on his hand.
"Harry," Remus began again, grabbing the small wrist of the figure in front of him. "I need to see your injuries." He finished.
Harry's arm immediately drew back and he shut his eyes tightly.
"Harry." Remus cooed softly.
Harry drew a shuddering breath, and slowly extended his hand once more, nodding his head, showing Remus his approval.
"I'm not going to hurt you okay? We're past that. You can forget about all that now." Remus said softly.
Harry nodded again, but Remus noted that his eyes were still shut with hesitation.
Remus carefully tugged at the end of Harry's shirt, closing his eyes, and bracing himself. Carefully, with blinded vision, Remus guided the shirt off of Harry's head, and opened his eyes.
He gasped.
Harry's body was covered in bruises, big and small, some beginning to sprout, some already a deep purple, others a sickly green, and some beginning to fade, but what caught Remus' eyes was the gash on Harry's stomach.
"Harry?" Remus asked in a shaky voice.
Harry's eyes snapped open, as he began to chew on his lower lip.
"What happened here?" Remus asked, pointing at the cut on Harry's stomach.
"Belt." Harry answered softly. Remus closed his eyes against a slight wave of nausea.
"My shoulder was the belt too." Harry added quietly, while gazing at his new mentor.
"Oh Harry. If I had known. Really, if I had known, I would have taken you away. When I get my hands on Dumbledore, I'll…" Remus trailed off.
"Moony? Am I going to die?" Harry asked suddenly.
Remus shot his head up painfully, his eyes snapping wide open.
"Of course not, Harry! Everything's only going to get better now, I promise, okay?" Remus cooed softly again.
Harry nodded.
The silence after that was deafening. Remus studied all of Harry's wounds carefully, trying to avoid hurting the boy. Finally, he spoke up.
"Harry. I want to help you. But you're going to have to be a strong kid, okay?" Remus said
"Strong?" Harry murmured, as he crossed his legs on the floor where the two sat.
"In order to fix these, I'm going to have to put some stuff on them, but it'll hurt." Remus answered.
Harry cringed.
"It'll be really quick, and then, if you be good, I'll show you some more magic, alright?" Remus assured him.
Harry nodded slowly, and Remus got up, exiting the room.
After a minute, Remus came back holding a few bandages, alcohol, and some other muggle aiding equipment. He was afraid to use magic on Harry, in case something were to back fire, and so decided to use the muggle methods instead.
"I never got to say sorry the other day. I didn't mean to hurt your shoulder." Remus spoke up, crawling up to Harry, and unscrewing the cap of the alcohol bottle.
"It's okay, Moony." Harry said with a smile.
Remus pressed the alcohol soaked cotton pad on Harry's stomach.
Harry flinched instantly, backing away from Remus, as tears began to form in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I told you, it's going to hurt, but it's for the best. Uncle Moony will never hurt you." Remus said softly.
Harry closed his eyes, nodding slowly, as his hands turned into fists. He scurried back to his spot, and took a deep breath.
"Hurry." He said, and curled his hands into fists again.
It hurt Remus very much to watch Harry flinch, as he tended to Harry's wounds. When it came to Harry's shoulder (which he had left for last) he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the damage.
Finally, he pressed the alcohol pad, on the swollen bump on Harry's shoulder, which was crusting with blood.
He watched Harry flinch, as tears began to roll down his cheeks, even though his eyes were closed fiercely tight. His hands curled into fists, his knuckles becoming white, but never once did he make a sound.
Finally, Remus wrapped the bandage around Harry's shoulder, and sighed with relief, placing everything down, and tapping Harry gently on the shoulder.
"It's over." Remus said gently.
Harry wrapped his arms immediately around Moony's waist, and began to sob quietly.
"It hurt so much. But I think I trust you now." Harry murmured quietly
"It's all right" Remus cooed softly, as he smiled when he heard Harry say he trusted him.
Finally after a moment in which Harry rested his head against Remus' chest, one of them spoke up.
"Harry you're going to live with me now, aren't you?" Remus asked softly.
"If you let me." Harry murmured softly.
"Of course. I always wanted a child around the house." Remus said with a small smile.
"Anyways, about that," Remus began. "I'll need to speak to a friend. His name is Dumbledore, and only he can give me permission to do so."
"Why?" Harry asked weakly.
"Well…" Remus began nervously. "Do you remember the night your parents died?" he asked.
"All I remember is a large green flash. I dream about it even now. My aunt and uncle told me that my parents died in a car crash and I was…I w-was the only o-one t-to..." Harry said as large tears began to stream down his cheeks.
"Shhh." Remus said quietly, as he patted Harry's, head ruffling his hair in the process.
Remus shook his head trying to clear his mind. I'll have to speak Dumbledore about this but maybe later. Right now, the boy's been through too much.
"What do you say we go downstairs and I'll show you some more magic." Remus spoke suddenly.
Harry looked up with bright shining emerald eyes. With one small hand, he wiped his face.
"OK." Harry said as a small smile sprouted against his lips.
"Sure thing, kiddo." Remus laughed as he got up, picking the boy in his arms and ruffling his hair once more.
With that said, the two left Harry's room with wide silly grins on their faces.
A/N: This is probably been my longest chapter ever. I have Microsoft Word 2003 on my computer and discovered last night a program called 'speech' so now instead of typing, I'm happily talking to my microphone and the computer is typing for me. It's so cool.
Anyways on one of things you are so much for all of your reviews. But I think the story's coming to close. Another five chapters or so and it'll be over. I still have to do the parts where Remus goes talk to Dumbledore, not to mention Remus gaining custody over Harry and Remus sues the Dursleys but I think it's pretty much coming to a close.
About Sirius making an appearance in the story; I'm not very sure if I'm going to do so, maybe, maybe not. I honestly don't have very much for his role if I do put him in the story, but nonetheless I think his appearance will be very much wanted. I think that's all I want to say.
(Edited Version)