Chapter 49 – A Doctor's Advice

Now that she was friends with Lupin again she seemed to be sleeping a bit better. The potion had worked wonders, although she did still dream occasionally but it was only the really bad ones. She knew that she couldn't take forever sooner or later she had to face her nightmares again. She just had to get through this year first then she would stop. She had also been thinking of ways to make up for her behavior over the last few weeks to her friends. She had an idea but she needed some time to plan it. As her check up appointment came closer she was getting more and more nervous. The stab wound in her stomach hadn't healed at all and every time she dreamed about that particular incident it would start bleeding freely.

As Saturday came around she woke up early and got her things together. On her way out of the common room she met up with the rest of the Quidditch Team who were going out to practice. She had forgotten they would be up as well.

"Where do you think your going?" Remus accused. She hadn't told anyone where she was going yet.

"I have to be somewhere," she replied her eyes narrowed. She didn't like Quidditch captain Remus very much.

"You've got Quidditch practice. What is more important than Quidditch?" He asked his eyes equally as narrow. "And don't lie I want a good excuse."

"Fine," Anna had had enough of lying she was going to tell the truth from now on. If lying got her where she was now how much worse could the truth be. "I have to go to St. Mungo's for a check up. Since I was kidnapped by Voldemort I have injuries that need to be taken care of. Good enough excuse?"

There was a stunned silence. No one spoke. Nicky, Sirius, James, Kayle, and Lupin stood opened mouth at Anna. Only Lupin had really ever heard her talk that way before and even he was shocked. Remus' hair fell in front of his face and he looked down, clearly embarrassed.

"Sorry, good ahead."

"Thanks, I'll see you for practice tomorrow then."

With that Anna walked out the common room shaking slightly from speaking that way to one of her friends. By the time she had made it to Dumbledores office, where she would be flooing from, she had calmed down. He was waiting for her outside the office; silently she followed him up the stairs and into his office.

"Here you go Anna," Dumbledore said handing her the powder. He looked at her with his piercing blue eyes and she looked right back with her green eyes.

"Thank you… sir?"

"Anna?" He said sounding genuinely curious.

"Nothing."

"Go ahead then, you'll be late." Anna took the powder and stepped into the fireplace. As she looked back at Dumbledore she wondered why he hadn't tried to ask her how everything was going, and have him tell her he was there if she needed to talk. She found it oddly comforting.

After the familiar spinning and hard landing in the hospital floo area, Anna dusted herself off and walked to Healer Daggles office.

"Good morning Anna," he said smiling at her as she opened the door and went in. He was exactly as she remembered him, tall, fit, black hair streaked with grey, and brown eyes always looking concerned.

"Morning Kevin," she replied colloquially.

"Have a seat, and tell me, honestly, how you have been?"

Anna didn't know why but she felt she could tell Healer Kevin anything. He had been the first person she saw when she had woken up in the hospital in August. He had been the one who had comforted her when she had had nightmares. He, it seemed, never left the office, he had always been there for her. He was like a second father to her when hers couldn't be there. She trusted him and knew she could talk to him about anything. She took a deep breath and began.

"Well ever since I have been back at school…" she found herself telling him everything, the dreams, Lupin, school, everything. He just sat back and listened as she talked. She talked for a good half hour and by the time she was finished her mouth was dry and she had tears in her eyes. Healer Daggles, she knew, actually listened to her.

"Well it seems your not having a very good time at school then does it?"

"Nope," she said laughing, wiping away the tears and letting out a breath.

"What concerns me most though is this dream, I can think of no reason it should make your old wound open up again. I am going to have to look into that. Now second I don't think it's a good idea you use the dreamless sleep potion anymore, you could become addicted to it. I'll write to your matron and tell her to stop giving it to you. Thirdly you shouldn't be doing those other girl's homework, give it back to them, tell them to sod off, they are just using the fact that Malfoy is a Death Eater. I doubt they know anything. Fourthly, Lupin, this I can't help you with you are going to have to deal with it on your own. When you feel its right, everything will fall into place. Now let's have a look at this cut."

"Harry! Harry! Wake up!" Ron's voice yelled through Harry's house. Harry walked quickly down the stairs tying his dressing gown on the way.

"I'm coming! Ron, its 5 in the morning, what?" Ron, whose head was in the flames of Harry and Ginny's fireplace, had a pained look on his face.

"And you say I am no good at mornings; some of us have been up all night trying to figure out when this attack on your daughter will take place."

Harry's eyes widened and suddenly he was wide awake. He got down on his knees in front of the fire.

"Well?"

"Halloween, just like we thought."

"So what are we going to do about it?"

"I've got Mike and Shell working on that while I am here telling you. I am going back to help in a second. We just figured it out literally two minutes ago mate."

"You've been up all night?"

"Of course I have it's my bloody job, beside Hermione would kill me if I didn't figure it out and something happened to our kids… and yours."

"I want to help,"

"I thought you might, you had better come into the office then."

"When?"

"When the bloody hell do you think? Now mate!"

With that Ron's head disappeared, and the flames died. Harry ran up the stairs and got changed, kissing Ginny on the forehead as he left.

"Where you going Harry?" Ginny mumbled into the pillow.

"Just have to go to the office for a bit I'll be back later, go back to sleep."

He flooed to the Ministry of Magic and ran to Ron's office. Throwing the door open he went in and sat down.

"So where do we start?" Harry asked.

"Here's what we know so far," Ron said and explained everything they had accumulated on the matter in the last 5 hours. "Obviously the source is reliable, even if he hates us." Ron said when he was finished.

"So what are we going to do about it?"

"Its too late to try to stop it, Halloween is in 2 days, we will have to let You-Know-Who think it will work but we will be there at Hogwarts to stop him. I'm thinking maybe 30-40 Aurors maybe more, they'll be stationed around the school. We will need to lure You-know-who into a false sense of security. I want to put everyone on this from what the source has said this will be big. Although I need to get Chris' permission first, he shouldn't be too bad, Williams' will be tough though. Chris will have to help me with him I think." Chris, Harry remembered meeting a few times. He was the head Auror, Harry liked him, he had helped Ron persuade Williams to make Harry an active Auror while he was training.

"He underestimated Anna the first time, he won't make the same mistake twice." Ron finished.

"Do I tell Anna?"

"I think you had better, but make sure she doesn't tell anyone. Dumbledore will make sure no one gets harmed. Anna's the main target she will have to be away from everyone."

"Ok I will tell her this afternoon, I am meeting her for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. She had her check up this morning."

"Good, ok Harry I need you to contact every available Auror and let them know they will be on duty for Halloween. I'll put a team together to figure out the best possible plan of action."

Harry smiled he knew Ron's way of planning was the exactly the same way he played chess, Ron always won at chess, he would win at this. Harry finally understood why McGonagall had made Ron Quidditch captain in their 6th year and not him.

"Dad," Harry turned to the source of the voice, his daughter's voice from behind. She looked tired, like she had been crying, he felt a twinge in his heart and wished they had the relationship they used to have. He wished she would trust him again, but wishing, Harry knew from experience, never got you anywhere. You had to work at things to make them happen.

"Hi Anna. How did it go?"

"It was… I'll be fine," she said. Harry knew at once she was not telling him something but he didn't want to press her, not after what he was planning on telling her today. He needed her in a good mood.

"So what do you want to eat?"

"Oh, I dunno something nice and greasy, I think." Considering she had spent the whole morning in the hospital she seemed remarkably cheerful.

"Do you have to go back this afternoon?"

"Yeah but just to pick up some stuff, then I can go back to Hogwarts."

"I was thinking you might want to spend the weekend with me and Ginny. We haven't seen you in ages."

"… yeah sure," Anna said after a while.

"You don't seem so sure about that?"

"Well it's just I have loads of homework to do and stuff. Also I missed Quidditch practice this morning and Remus would probably hang, draw and quarter me if I didn't show up for tomorrow."

"You can do your homework here. And how about I take you out to practice tomorrow? He can't get too mad at you practicing against me right? Come on it will be fun, we can help you with it and you can have a break from Hogwarts."

"Alright, but if I get in trouble with the "Obsessive One" I'm blaming you," Anna said smiling.

"Good, ok so food?" Harry said, he decided to tell Anna at home now, that way she couldn't make that big a scene. She could go to her room instead of storming off to Diagon Alley, alone. They ate, talking about little things of no importance, laughing occasionally, joking of the memories they shared. It reminded Harry of the days when it was just him and Anna, and for the first time in a very long time just for a minute or two he realized why they were fighting this fight; to have days like these just being Harry, not the boy who lived, just Harry.

That evening Anna sat in the living room of her dad's house finishing off this weeks homework. As she finished the Defense Against the Dark Arts for Professor Black, her dad sat down opposite her. She could tell by the look on his face this wasn't going to be a conversation like they had at lunch. She had had fun at lunch, it was simple but just what she needed, a chat with her dad.

"Anna we need to talk," he said, Anna had seen him this serious on very rare occasions.

"What?"

"You know the attack on Hogwarts I told you about?"

"How could I forget…"

"It's going to be on Halloween," Harry explained. He told her everything he knew and about what they were planning in return, "we are going to have to get you away from every other student."

She stood up and walked around to the back of the chair. Her head was down as she began talking. "Of course I can't be around everyone else, precious little Anna Potter has to be sectioned off from everyone else. Can't do bloody anything these days not even enjoy Halloween!" She seethed. Her green eyes were blazing. Harry's eyes stared back at her, glad he didn't tell her in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron. Suddenly her face fell from its stony expression and she buried her head in her hands.

"Sorry—I'm so sorry. That was so selfish, and stupid. Oh Merlin I am so selfish," she said, sitting down again and sobbing into her elbow.

"You're not selfish," Harry said coming to sit next to her. Stroking her hair, she looked up at him.

"But I am, all this time I have been worrying about what other people think about me. Keeping them away to protect myself. I have to keep everyone away to protect them. What I just said, how can you get anymore selfish than that?"

"That was just a reaction based on emotions you didn't mean it. I know you didn't you the least most selfish person I know. We have it under control there is nothing you need to do. Now come on let's go challenge Ginny to Exploding Snap."

"She can play that pregnant?"

"No that's how I wind her up," Harry said grinning.

"You will do no such thing Mr. Potter," came Ginny's stern voice from the stair way.

"Oh dear I am in trouble now," Harry said quietly to Anna.

"I have had enough of you winding me up," Ginny said now coming into the living room. Anna was astonished at Ginny's sudden change; she then realized it wasn't that sudden. Anna hadn't seen her since September it was now almost the end of October. She didn't have a huge tummy but it was noticeable.

"You love it really," Harry said winking. Anna wondered if Harry had married Ginny before he had met her mother she would have existed at all.

A/N: Just to answer a few questions. I don't know how many chapters there will be, I am putting it into chapters as I go along. I am thinking maybe 100 or so. But that is an estimate. That's another reason I don't post too often I have to sort it out into chapter and then figure out titles for each chapter, and since I am back at uni now I will have more internet access and time to do that. Thanks so much for all the reviews! You have no idea how much I appreciate them! Love you guys!

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