A/N: Do not own. I was hoping to get this posted sooner but after a second concussion in just six months, I've been juggling CT's, MRI's, doctor appointments, and working overtime (because something has to pay for the battery of expensive tests). While I still don't have answers, my eyes have finally stopped hurting and I can focus on writing. There may be a lot of errors in this. I tried to proofread it but I may have missed things. I do want to say thank you, for all the reviews from the last chapter. There was one anonymous review that pulled at my heartstrings, I think I read it six or seven times now, and I want you to know child, that where ever you may be, this person here is rooting for you. You got this. Enjoy folks and as always, use your words.

-x-

She knew that she was gaping, that she really needed to stop staring at the stacks of boxes and say something, anything. But it was very difficult for her to even register what the older woman had just said. "Mrs. Lance...you didn't have to...I don't...I don't know what to say." Alexis responded finally, drawing her eyes away from the boxes and back to the other woman. While Mia's mother had been sending her old magazines to the school, she never expected the woman to do this. Never. There were those in the magical community who knew about the children currently at Hogwarts, who had sent money or offered services to help. But no one had done this.

"Mia comes home three times a week with stories that are often heartbreaking. But she has made friends who don't leave her out because of her wheelchair, who don't tease her because of her hair and freckles. For the first time since her accident, she is actually happy. Truly happy. While we have decided to let her attend Hogwarts next month, I also decided to do what I can to help these new friends of hers. I don't have magic, I'm not a doctor, but I am a mother. I can't help but try and help when I know there are children who have needs that I can fill." She responded quietly, locking eyes with the younger woman. She could easily tell that she had overwhelmed her but that was why she had requested that she come back and talk to her after the headmistress had picked up Mia for her treatments. She had told the women at church, who had questioned why Mia wasn't at the day camp she usually sent her to, that she was receiving experimental treatment at a clinic. When she had asked if any of them had magazines they no longer wanted for the therapeutic program at the clinic, the ladies had started asking questions. Questions she had answered as carefully as possible, so she didn't give away any information about the magical world.

It wasn't often that she was speechless. There had to be at least twenty good-sized boxes of, well she wasn't actually sure what was in any of them. She didn't think they could all be magazines. "I- Thank you, Mrs. Lance. This...this means a lot." She responded, trying to keep her eyes on the red-headed woman and not on the stacks of boxes.

She smiled softly, even if the reaction was almost as heartbreaking as the stories her daughter told. Because it was very clear that the young headmistress had never experienced kindness like this, kindness from complete strangers, from people who didn't even know anything about those children. It made her wonder again if the woman who was so ferociously protective of those children, who treated her daughter like one of her own children, was that way because she hadn't had that as a child. "The cases are sorted and marked based on what's in them. When Mia told me that Emma had never had a dress before, that Lila received her very first doll at the school, that there was a boy who had never had a toothbrush...I had to do something to help. I started asking the ladies I knew about their old magazines and I told them that the clinic Mia was going to for treatment, had a summer retreat programme for abused children. When I mentioned how heartbreaking some of their stories were, that I just wanted to collect a few magazines and books to entertain them, the ladies started bringing in small things. One of them asked me about clothes and I told them the truth, that most of those children only had the clothes on their backs and the clothes the programme had given them, that many of them had never had new clothes before. After that, well the donations started pouring in. Now that the ladies believe there is enough here for fifty some children, I knew it was time to pass them to you. There are clothes in all sizes, since I know many of those children are small for their age, toys, games, books...you name it, they donated it. And Alexis, the women refused to buy anything even gently used. Everything is new and has the tags on it. If you need to exchange something, let me know and I'll do that for you." She wouldn't even mention that three of the cases had nothing but brand new shoes in them. The younger woman already looked like she was about to cry, she didn't want to overwhelm her any more than she had to. Besides, while she wouldn't get to see her expression when she started going through the boxes, she could easily guess what it would be.

She knew exactly what they were going to do tonight at the staff meeting. They would definitely be going through all of these boxes and sorting out everything they had. She had to take a couple of deep breaths to keep her composure. She wasn't used to this, she wasn't expecting this. But she did know what she needed to do and say. "Thank you again, Mrs. Lance. You didn't have to do this and we greatly appreciate it. Would it be alright if I shrink them down to take with me?" There wasn't much of an option, otherwise, but she didn't want to startle the woman by using magic without informing her first.

"You are welcome. Hopefully, it will help at least a little bit. And yes, please use whatever magic you need to make it easier to carry them. "She responded, nodding at the younger woman. Honestly, she was very interested in seeing magic. Her daughter's accidental magic was one thing, something that just seemed to happen when Mia was upset. She had wondered, when they had learned of Mia's magic, what a deliberate spell would look like.

She tapped each box, shrinking it down and placing it into a bag she had conjured. The more she shrunk, the more she realized that her initial estimate was a bit off. There were just over thirty boxes, she was definitely sure they weren't all magazines now. For one, some were very heavy. And secondly, she couldn't imagine it just being magazines, not when the older woman said there were a few pieces of clothing and some toys in the mix. "I'll drop Mia off around five." She stated, waiting for the woman to nod before stepping into the floo.

-x-

Lucius frowned, eyes scanning the file once more. He was in his home office, he had been trying to prepare for the blind line up and the legal actions he was sure to follow. But he had decided to get this out of the way first. There had been another, official this time, contest of guardianship for Harry. Because of the reason for the contest, they had to officially investigate it. He already knew that the accusation was false, he still had to do his job fully, which meant he would need to talk to young Harry. What was confusing to him, was that Harry's birthday was off. If he had just been looking at his notes or his assistant's notes, he would have assumed one of them had made a mistake. But he was actually looking at a legal copy of the child's birth certificate. He flipped through the file once more, noting the two other places where the child's birthday was written were also wrong. He frozen suddenly, spotting a paragraph he hadn't seen before. What's more, it wasn't in his or his assistant's hand writing. He grabbed another file, opening it and scanning it quickly, before taking both files and heading toward the floo. "Hogwarts, Headmistress office!" He called, frowning at the brief flash of blue flames. She was out then. "Hogwarts, Deputy Office!" He stepped into the green flames, spinning for a brief moment, before stepping out into Severus' office.

"Lucius? Is everything okay?" Severus questioned, frowning slightly. He knew Alexis had went to pick Mia up for her treatments, so she wouldn't have had an appointment with Lucius. Anytime he came without owling first wasn't usually good.

He knew he was going to have to explain why he had been pulling information from Harry's file, since it was an official contest of guardianship this time. He just wasn't looking forward to it. "I discovered something interesting when I was pulling information from Harry's file. There has been a contest to yours and Remus' guardianship. While it has gone through the official, legal channels, so we have to investigate the claims fully, there isn't anything to worry about there. " He stated finally, sighing at the fire he could see in those black eyes. "And no, I cannot tell you who contested the guardianship. What I can tell you is that I will need to set up a time to interview both Harry and Karrie. But again, it will come to nothing." He knew for a fact that neither of the younger men would abuse their wards, so once he had talked to Harry and Karrie, it would be thrown out as a false accusation.

It honestly wasn't that surprising that there were people against them taking care of Harry. He also knew that if Lucius told him not to worry about it, he shouldn't worry about it. Even if he knew he would be lying awake tonight worrying about it. Harry was part of their little family of four, they were already creating family bonds with both preteens. He also knew that it would devastate Karrie to lose her soon-to-be brother. "What did you find?"

"When is Harry's birthday?"

He frowned, raising an eyebrow at the older man. Lucius knew what day Harry's birthday was, he had been at the party after all. "July 31st."

"And when is Karrie's?

"August 2nd. What's going on, Lucius?"

He flipped through both files, pulling out the two birth certificates before setting them side by side on Severus' desk. "Tell me what you see."

He picked up Harry's birth certificate, scanning it for a moment before his eyes zoomed in on the date. He suddenly had a feeling that he knew exactly where this was going. He picked up Karrie's birth certificate, finding the date quickly. Both of their birthdays were wrong. "How is this possible?"

"Honestly, I was hoping you might know. Unless they performed a very complex ritual, it shouldn't be possible. When I realized Harry's birthday was wrong, I started looking through his file to see if it was consistent." He took a breath, trying to figure out how to word what he was going to say next. "At the back, there is a family status report, as there is in all of these children's files. It lists you and Remus as guardians, of course. But what caught my attention was this little line. Twin sister, Karrie Vona, born August 1st. Karrie's file says the same. Twin brother, Harry Potter, born August 1st."

How the hell was that possible? When did this happen? How did it happen? He would have to see if Eric or Tim had time to look at his children's magic, to see if it had changed. "This isn't... It shouldn't be possible."

"A wise young woman once told me anything was possible with magic if you just believed in it. It has to be some type of magic, I'm just not sure what." He answered finally, shaking his head. If he knew what caused it, it would make this so much easier to explain. Both children had the same social worker and he knew that she would notice it and have questions eventually.

"I'll talk to Eric and Tim and see if they have ever heard of it happening." He responded finally, shaking his head. Honestly, nothing the two did should surprise him anymore but he was surprised by them every day.
He nodded, standing stiffly and stretching out his back. "Let me know what you find." He did have a case to prepare for, after all.

-x-

He knew he shouldn't be snooping, but he wasn't really snooping. Not really. It wasn't his fault that Alexis had left some of her work on the coffee table. He was just trying to be aware of everything that could possibly happen. Bain kept saying that his curiosity was going to get him in trouble. But he rarely got caught and was really careful. Teddy picked up a book she had left out, frowning at the title. He wasn't sure what Neuron-regeneration was, it looked like a mundane medical book. He flipped it open, scowling suddenly. The title was in English but the inside of the book wasn't. He was almost certain it was in German. He had picked up a few German words from listening to her talk to Eric or Tim, not that any of the adults had known he was there, but he definitely couldn't read it. He sat the book back down, glancing at the small stack of papers on the table. He glanced at the door before looking at the clock. She shouldn't be back anytime soon and he had a little bit of time before anyone wondered where he was, since he was suppose to be in a session. Charlie would assume he was with Tim and Tim would assume he was with his group, so he had maybe thirty more minutes before they started looking for him. If he was careful, she wouldn't even notice he had gone through it. He lifted the first piece of paper, scanning what looked like a shopping list for school supplies, before putting it face down on the table. He lifted the next page, sighing when he realized that it wasn't in English, before placing it with the next.

Elijah stood in the door way of the kitchen, watching the preteen in the living room for several minutes before finally stepping into the room. The younger boy seemed to mostly be scanning the sheets of paper, but every now and then he was stopping to read one. There were also several that he picked up before setting back down. He knew he should scold his little brother for snooping, but that was more of Bain's job. He was with Teddy in that the more you knew, the less likely you were to get beaten. "Find anything good?" He wasn't a good snoop, himself, because he could never seem to leave things exactly as they were. But Teddy seemed to know exactly what he was doing and was stacking the papers upside down in reverse order.

He jumped, barely managing to not knock over the stack of papers. "Eliiijaah, don't do that." He complained, scowling at the older boy. He knew Elijah wouldn't stop him or tell on him, so he kept going. "Not really. Everything is either boring or in German. There is a letter from the Magical Institute for the Deaf about a tutor and translator. But that's it." It would be easier if one of them could read German.

He didn't have the heart to tell his brother that even the most exciting jobs had lots of mostly boring paperwork involved. "Translator's most likely for Lila, unless there's a first year whose deaf."

Teddy nodded, frowning at the next piece of paper he picked up. He recognized the handwriting and the seal as Mr. Malfoy's, but the letter was in German. He didn't know Mr. Malfoy could speak German. He knew the Malfoy's all spoke French, but not German. "Do you know a translation spell?"

He hesitated before finally nodded. He took the paper when his brother offered it to him, tapping it with his wand. He frowned when nothing happened. He muttered the spell again, waving his wand and..nothing. It wouldn't take for some reason. "It won't hold a spell." Elijah shrugged, handing it back to the younger boy. Either it had an anti-translating spell on it or it had an active translation spell currently on it. But why would Alexis read in German if it was originally in English? Unless she was trying to keep them from snooping, which was very effective.

Teddy sighed, setting the paper with the others before flipping the whole stack over and returning it to its original position. Everything was in order and back in place, so that no one could tell that he had been snooping, not that it had amounted to anything. He glanced at his brother once more before heading toward the door to the stairs. He might as well go find Harry and Karrie, if there was no new information to learn today.

-x-

He had removed the cast so that he could scan Karrie's leg, to see if it had healed enough to leave the cast off. Lucas hadn't expected the young girl's leg to be worse than it had been the last time he checked it. What was more, he couldn't find any of the magic they had used to bind the bones and heal the breaks. The only magic he could sense was from the cast itself, the spells to keep it clean and dry. While it appeared the break had started trying to heal, it also seemed to have spread further. The child was still a bit malnourished, so her breaks might heal slower, that was to be expected. It was not expected for the healing to completely reverse. "Have you fallen recently, Karrie?"

She groaned, shaking her head. The last time he had asked her that, she had to spend another week on crutches, which she did use most of the time. She hadn't fallen this time, really. "No, sir."

"You haven't tripped, slipped, tumbled? Anything at all?" He inquired again, raising an eyebrow. As long as he had been working with children, he could tell that she was being mostly honest, but he had to ask all the same.

"I did trip, over a rock, but Charlie caught me before I could actually fall. I didn't fall this time, I swear. Do I still have to keep the cast?" She answered finally, flinching at the feel of magic on her skin. She hadn't transferred any magic to Rose in a few days and it was becoming overwhelming. She wouldn't transfer it, she couldn't. Not after she had learned that the transfers were causing Rose to have nightmares. Not that the older girl knew she knew that, she had just been telling her that she was okay, that the magic wasn't overwhelming.

Lucas frowned, removing his hands from her leg for a moment. He had barely touched her, with just a small bit of magic so he could examine the breaks again. It shouldn't have caused her any pain, since he hadn't actually done anything to the break and he hadn't put any pressure on her leg. While he knew her leg had to hurt, as he could see the visual swelling and bruising, he also knew that something was wrong here. It wasn't just a break that kept getting worse, there was something else going on here. "Karrie, I need you to be very honest with me now, okay? Is someone here hurting you? " He asked finally, meeting green eyes when they flew to his.

"What? No!" If he believed Remus or Severus was hurting them, which they weren't, they could take them away and that was that last thing she wanted. She felt safe with the two men, she even felt loved. She didn't want to lose that!

"Karrie, child, take a deep breath. It's alright, I believe you. " And he did. Those two words had more emotion in them than he had seen from that child all summer. But that added more questions to answers. If she hadn't fallen and no one had hurt her, how had her break worsen? More importantly, where had the spells gone? The healing spells that had been on her tibia had been advanced, not something another child could have removed. If an adult with healing knowledge had not removed them, they shouldn't have just vanished. "I want to scan your leg one more time, alright?" He waited for her to nod before very gently resting his hand on her leg. He watched her body language, not running any magic into it just yet. Even when he gently shifted his hand over the largest bruise, nothing. Not even a flinch. He slowly sent a drop of magic into her skin, raising an eyebrow at the brief flash of pain in those green eyes. He quickly ran the scan, shaking his head. He hadn't doubted his findings the first time, but he had wanted to be certain before he consulted with Eric. He had been a healer for nineteen years and he had never seen a healing spell vanish like Karrie's apparently had. "The break in your tibia had gotten worse, not better Karrie. I will be right back, I have a few books I want to check and I want to get a second opinion before we go any further with trying to heal your leg, okay?"

She nodded, taking a deep breath when he finally left the room. As much as she wanted to disappear before he got back, she knew she couldn't. For one, without the cast on she knew her leg would hurt a lot worse to walk on and two, she couldn't get off this table by herself. While she wasn't a healer, she had a feeling her magic was making her leg worse, not better. Or rather, the overflow of magic that danced and buzzed around her was making things worse. She just hated that she was probably going to have to keep the cast and the crutches for another week.

He flipped through the pages of the book he had grabbed, finally finding the very small section he had been looking for. He read it quickly, placing his finger under the paragraph to mark it before shoving the book toward Eric.

"You are not an apprentice, Lucas. Words, use them." His office door had been open, so he hadn't expected him to knock. But he should have at least spoke to him before grabbing a book off one of his shelves. He took the book, glancing at the title before raising an eyebrow. He read the paragraph, shaking his head. "This pertains to what?"

"Karrie. Her leg has gotten worse. What's more concerning, however, is that the spells to bind and heal the bones are gone. There isn't even a trace of them left. This was the only thing that came to mind that fits." He tapped the page, meeting the older man's eyes. It wasn't a complete fit and if it was accurate, that left them with more questions than answers.

He frowned, glancing at the paragraph again before standing and heading to one of the book cases. "If she is magic-resistant, her body would have fought the spells from the beginning. She has been in the wizarding world for three years and while we have used intensive healing spells on her this summer, it wouldn't be enough to make her magic-resistant." He said, finally finding the book he was looking for. He quickly located the chapter he was looking for, scanning the pages until he found the section he was looking for. "Try this." He had been wondering about this since her encounter with the Nightmare creature, perhaps now was the time to examine it closer.

He took the book, glancing at the section before shaking his head. "Will it hold a translation spell?" Eric tended to forget that not everyone could read as many languages as he could. He certainly couldn't read Italian.

He traced his wand over the passage, as he didn't need to translate the whole book. " Englische übersetzen." He gave the younger man the book back, chuckling at his expression.

He translated half the page! He had not heard of the spell the dark-skinned man had used before. "Did you invent that charm?"

"I did not. Our young headmistress did, when she was fifteen. Now, read the passage and tell me if that fits better."

He dropped his eyes back to the page, reading slowly. Magic sensitive patients are more likely to show pain indicators during routine exams when overwhelmed with magic. Magic sensitive adults tend to be less likely to stay in magic-heavy areas, like hospitals, for extended periods of time which makes treatment and research more difficult. There is no known cause for magic-sensitivity; it is not thought to be genetic nor environmental. Further research is necessary to determine the cause and treatment of magic-sensitivity in adults. Magic-sensitivity in children has not been studied nor tested. It is not known if children are magic sensitive or if this magical disorder is developed in adulthood. That fit a lot better than magic-resistance. But if it hadn't been studied in children, then they would be figuring this out with very little to go on. "It does fit better. I checked her leg twice, but I would like for you to look at it as well." He answered finally. While it didn't explain how those spells disappeared, it would hopefully point them in the right direction.

He nodded, putting the book on his desk, he was going to read through it later to see if there was anything else that might help, before heading out into the medical wing.

She sighed, looking up from the book she had been reading, her leg still stretched across the table. Thankfully, she had started carrying the small satchel Remus had bought her, so she had something to read. She just hoped that Eric would say she would be fine without the crutches, at least. "Come in." She called when they knocked, shaking her head. She would never understand why healers knocked before entering an exam room.

"Nancy Drew, huh? She's the little detective, right?" Eric inquired, smiling when the preteen rolled her eyes. He was very familiar with Nancy Drew, actually, at least the original series. It had been one of the series they used to read aloud to Alexis, to get her used to English.

"She's not little. She's a teenager." She shrugged, marking her place and closing the book. "You want to check my leg?"

"I do. Lucas was telling me his findings were funny. He can't seem to find the spell he cast last week, so I want to see if maybe he misplaced it." He explained quietly, gently placing his hands on either side of her leg. He slowly started to check her leg, frowning at the flinch, before sinking deeper into her leg. He examined it for several minutes, even sending his magic carefully throughout her body to check for any other damage or signs of magic. He withdrew his magic slowly, shaking his head. "Well, he didn't misplace it. The binding spells on your tibia are gone, so even though you had a cast on and used your crutches, your break worsen. "

"I have to keep the stupid crutches, don't I?" She groaned, shaking her head. She just wanted to get off the crutches, to get the cast off before school started.

"You do. I was, however, wondering if you had noticed anything different with your magic lately?" He could see magic, so he was well aware that the only active magic currently on the child was a tracking charm on the necklace she wore. No healing spells, no other charms, nothing.

Of course she had. Active magic bothered her a lot more now, especially when there was a lot of it. Inactive magic tended to be fine, most days. She even enjoyed playing with it. But since she could no longer get rid of the excess magic that gather around and in her, it hurt a lot more. She couldn't tell them that though, for she knew they wouldn't believe her. "No."

"You sure?"

She hesitated, biting her lip for a moment. She didn't like hiding this from them, but if she told them, they would tell Severus and Remus. Then the two men might not want her anymore. She fought down a sudden grimace at a flash of pain. The magic around her knew she was upset and wanted to help, and sometimes it did help. But when there was so much of it, when she couldn't let some of it go, it hurt. She didn't want to tell them, she didn't think they had anything that could help this type of pain, but maybe they knew of another way of bleeding off some of the magic. Maybe Eric could make it easier, if they believed her. "It hurts." She said finally, shaking her head.

He let his eyes unfocus for a moment, studying that magic that seemed to curl around the child. He had tried looking at her magic before and he knew actively searching it had hurt her. So perhaps inactive magic wouldn't. There was a lot more magic around her and crawling over her skin than there had been before. He knew Rose had done magic transfers with the preteen to relieve her of some of the magic, although the teenager had only ever been able to tell him that the magic hurt her. He had to wonder if Rose was the reason he had never noticed the inactive magic that danced around the child. That was a lot of magic on one little girl. That made him wonder if her magic, in trying to protect her, had destroyed the spells on her leg. "How in the world do you keep control of all this magic, child? That would be a lot for a grown-up." He asked finally, summoning two stools. He sat down on one, tilting his head at the child.

He believed her! "You can see it, sir?"

"We both can." Lucas commented softly. He had noticed what Eric was doing, after all. He was a healer, he was trained to see both active and inactive magic, but he had to look for it. He didn't have the natural ability to see it. He wanted the black-haired child to realize that there were two people who believed her, two people firmly in her corner. He hoped that knowing that they believed her would help her immensely in healing and in being honest with them. "It must hurt a lot, to have all of that magic around you." To him the magic looked like buzzing bees, just swarming around her.

She hesitated, biting her lip for a long moment. "It hurts more now. I had a way of letting some of it go but I can't anymore. I don't...it's not my magic, sir. I don't control what's around me, only whats in me." He was a healer, he should already know that.

If she wasn't controlling it, it had to be drawn to her for some reason. Perhaps because she treated the magic around her like a friend. It left him with more questions than answer; questions he was well aware a thirteen year-old couldn't answer. He did know that they needed to draw some of that magic off of the child, if they were going to get a spell to stick. Otherwise, they would have to heal her leg the mundane way. He had a feeling potions and salves wouldn't hurt her as much as active magic, but he couldn't heal her tibia completely like that. He knew of one quick way to reduce her magically load, but he was wary of it since they were still trying to understand what Rose did and how she did it. "To heal your leg with magic, we are going to have to draw some of that overwhelming magic out of you. I know Rose has drawn magic from you in the past. We can-"

"No!"

"Okay. Is there a particular reason why?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow at her.

"It gives her nightmares. We all have enough nightmares as it is, she doesn't need any more." She responded, shrugging.

So someone had been eavesdropping, since that wasn't common knowledge. But that was also a very mature decision on the preteens part, not that he expected any less from this child. "I understand that, Karrie. We could try using a stone to hold the excess magic." He stated calmly, smiling at her when she met his eyes.

"Apatite?" Lucas frowned, running through the list of power stones in his head.

"I was actually thinking Onyx. A pure one that hasn't been touched by magic. It's grounding aspect is one of the most powerful. There's some in the supply room, in the gem cabinet. " The dark-skinned man answered, nodding when the younger man got up to go get it. "Try not to touch the stone itself!" He called after him before turning his attention back to the little girl. "Let's see if this will help, before we try to heal your leg again. If it works like I think it will, we will probably have to channel your magic into the stones every few days, to keep it from overwhelming you.

She groaned, shaking her head. She knew what that meant: a trip to the medical wing every few days. As if she didn't spend enough time here. If it worked, though, she would do it. If it kept her friend from having nightmares and it kept her magic from hurting her, she would do it. She might not like it, but she would at least try.

-x-

He blinked, glancing up when one of the girls dropped down to sit beside him. Most of the kids his age just left him alone, they knew he liked to hit when he was angry so they didn't ask him to play with them. He looked at the girl for a moment before giving the tiniest of smiles when she pointed at the book he was reading. "Lila."

She grunted, tapping the picture of an elephant before pointing at the Erumpent on the next page. She liked looking at the pictures of the different animals, mundane and magical. When Emma had read this book to her and Mia a couple of days ago, she had really liked it. So much so that she had made Jake read it to her four or five times now. She could read it to herself, but she liked listening to stories. While most of the other kids stayed away from Louis, she knew he wasn't as mean as they thought. He was always kind to her. "Lohhpm."

That was as close to his name as she could get. Maybe the library had a book of sign language, so he could talk to her in her language. He knew a few signs, there had been a kid at his school who was deaf. He had hurt a lot of people for teasing that boy, he had always felt protective of him, even if their 'friendship' had been pointing at pictures in books and sitting silently with each other. He was already starting to feel protective of Lila, but he had pushed that off as normal; everyone there was protective of Lila. But maybe they could be more than this, maybe they could actually be friends. "Do you want me to read it?"

She nodded, pointing at the elephant again. Her headphones where around her neck, so she could put them back if it got to loud. But if Louis read to her, she could focus just on his voice.

"From the beginning?"

"Nuhh." She made the sign for elephant, pointing at the picture again. She hated not being able to communicate. It made her feel alone. Because no one could understand her and that made her mad. She went to smack the book but stopped, staring at the dark-haired boy before grinning.

He copied her sign, pointing at the picture when he was done. "Elephants then." He replied, signing it again. "Elephants are the largest mundane land animals. There are three species of the mammal: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant, and the Asian Elephant. Elephants are a distant cousin of the magical mammal Erumpent, which is closely related to African Rhinos." He read quietly, smiling when she tapped the Erumpent and made a gesture he recognized. "I don't know the sign for that either, Lila. Maybe we can look it up."

Jake frowned, glancing at the older man before looking back at the two children. "Yes?" He had been going to check on the little girl as he wasn't sure why she was with Louis. Knowing Lila, she might had seen him sitting alone and wanted to keep him company. He had noticed her doing that, after all. It didn't matter how old they were, she would go sit beside another student who was alone and usually she just sat there, but the other students always ended up smiling.

"Leave them be. He won't hurt her." Henry replied quietly, watching the pair of children for a long moment. He had been keeping a serious eye on Louis lately, up until yesterday he had been concerned that the child might s harm himself. He had already talked to Alexis and they had been working out interventions for the child and ways his mindhealer might be able to reach him. But yesterday, something had changed. The child still needed their help, but he wasn't quite as worried that he would harm himself, or anyone else.

"You can't know that for certain." He didn't care if Henry was good at what he did, if Henry noticed behaviors he didn't. Louis might not be one of his, but he had seen enough of the child to know he had a nasty temper. And if Lila hit him, he wasn't sure how the angry child would react.

He sighed, not releasing his hand from the younger counselor's arm. "Yesterday, I was following Louis. He didn't know I was there, but I saw him take off and I've been seeing signs that he might do serious harm to himself. Lila must had escaped from you, Kate, or Rani, because here she was running toward him. She tripped over her shoelaces and went tumbling down. I was hesitant to leave them be, just as you are, but I watched Louis help her up, something he has never done for any of the other children. He said something to her and then he bent down and tied her shoes. He stood there for a couple of minutes, trying to communicate with her before he took her hand and started walking with her." He said softly, watching how Lila leaned into Louis.

"And you followed them?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Of course I did. Apparently she had been going to the medical wing, as he walked with her up to the door. He let her go and waited until she was inside before finally leaving. I watched him yesterday, I've watched him today. Something changed when he ran into her yesterday. He didn't flinch when she sat beside him, even though he didn't see her. He smiled at her, a real honest smile, the first I've seen on that boy. He won't harm her. If anything, I'm willing to bet he becomes a very good friend to her. You may want to loan him your book on sign language, however."

Lila seemed to make friends with people who needed her as much as she needed them. Mia, who was alone, scared, and in pain the first time she met her; Emma, who had just woken up from her accident for the second time to be met with a little girl sitting beside her bed with a doll, the doll Lila gave to her. And now Louis, a boy who was so angry that the other children avoided him. Louis, who the older teenagers spoke to but the ones his age actively ignored. Louis who was currently making the sign of a rhino, reading aloud a book that he, himself, was getting very tired of reading. He was going to order another animal book. As well as one on animal signs for Louis. "Alright, I trust you enough that I will leave them be, until I see signs that either of them is getting agitated." He responded finally, raising an eyebrow when Lila shrieked. It wasn't an angry shriek and the giggling preteen boy pretending to howl like a wolf was all the answer he needed. She was happy and as long as she was safe, he was happy. He might have to talk to Phil and Charlie about using some new incentives for Louis, like spending time with Lila when he had her. Because Lila could use someone her age to play with when they were with his boys and he knew the several of the older boys had been keeping an eye on Louis. Maybe he could find a way of reaching the young boy, just as he had found a way to reach Lila. Or rather, she had found a way to reach him.

-x-

"Alright, so that's that." She fought back a grin, standing up. She held up a hand to keep all of the counselors and staff where they were, as she was ending the meeting early but they weren't actually done. "We do have one matter left to handle. I'm sure you noticed the boxes around the room, we were given a donation of items for the camp today from the ladies at Mrs. Lance, Mia's mom's, church. I'm not quite sure what is in all of these boxes, but I thought you lot might like to help me sort through them." She added, finally giving in and grinning. There were plenty of boxes for them all to go through and from the looks on their faces, this wasn't going to be a chore. They were just as interested as she was.

Tim vanished the long table, conjuring several smaller ones in different parts of the room. "Everyone grab a box, let's sort them by contents." He called, glancing at the younger woman. While he was just as curious as she was, he was going to take pictures. He had a feeling that Mrs. Lance would enjoy seeing the counselors expressions and they could take a few mundane ones to send to the church with a thank-you note. He, along with Filius and Eric, had actually read the labels on the boxes, so he knew there was a lot more here than the young headmistress was probably expecting.

At least it hadn't been a mad grab for the boxes, yet. There were more boxes than there were counselors and healers, so Charlie knew he might end of fighting over a box later, once they figured out what was in them. He glanced at the label before blinking. The box was heavy and large. If the label was right... "Phil! Come look at this!"

He raised an eyebrow, setting his own box down beside Charlie's. He had yet to open his or even look at the box. He had just grabbed one. He glanced into Charlie's box before blinking. "Are those?"

"Hell yes."

Everything okay, boys?" Jake asked, moving over to glance into the box. He reached in, picking up the shoe box and flipping the lid open. "Damn." And it wasn't just one pair, there were more under it. Four shoe boxes wide and gods only knew how many deep.

Henry frowned, glancing at the three younger men before wondering over to peer inside. " Hey Tim, you got a table for shoes?" He understood the awe on those three faces and he was going to get Tim to give him a copy of the picture he had just took. But he also knew if they kept staring at the top few shoe boxes, it would take forever to get all of these cases sorted.
"Left side, second table for boys, third table for girls." He called back, moving to catch a picture of Kate's face. She had just lifted a brand new dress out of the box her and Rani had been staring into. The young counselors all looked so shocked and overwhelmed, it would almost be adorable if he wasn't so aware of the reason for it.

"How about we sort them out onto those two tables, alright? There are still a lot of boxes to go through." Henry remarked quietly, catching Jake's eye. The way the younger man responded would influence how the two even younger counselors acted and he knew Jake was aware with that.

He nodded, gesturing toward the two tables Tim had indicated. "Charlie, why don't you go unload the shoes, Phil and I will grab our own boxes to start sorting." He suggested, setting the pair of Nike's back in the box.

Charlie blinked before moving toward the table. He started pulling shoes out of the case, trying to keep his mouth from dropping back open. Nike, New Balance, Nike, Sketchers, Nike, Reebox, New Balance...JORDANS! "There's a pair of Jordan's!" He met the currently purple-haired man's eyes before taking a deep breath and returning to unloading it. Somehow those church ladies managed to fit sixteen shoe boxes into the box without magic and all of them were brand new. And brands he, himself, only bought when he had saved extra money and found them on sale.

Phil finally decided to open his own box and was almost disappointed that it wasn't shoes until it clicked in what he was seeing. Backpacks. Brand new backpacks, the one thing they had yet to get for the camp kids, as Alexis was trying to owl-ordered the majority of their school supplies. He started digging through the box before running a hand through his hair. There had to be over twenty backpacks in all sizes in this box, perfect for both the little ones and the older years. They could even add spells to these, so they would last longer. Now he just had to figure out which table backpacks went to.

While she had made sure every child had clothes and a toy of their own, that they would all have the school supplies they needed, she had never even dreamed of being able to give them this. She hadn't even opened her own box, her eyes had been drifting from counselor to counselor as all of them exclaimed over their findings. She could see the tears running down Kate and Rani' faces as they pulled dress after dress out of a box, as they held each dress up to admire it. She could watch Jake so carefully sorting toys by age groups on to a longer table. She saw the look on Mary's face as she unpacked different stuffed animals. Even Paul looked awed, pulling trousers and jeans out of a box. Severus and Melody were unloading books on to a table, Remus was sorting through shirts...There was so much here. So much stuff. She couldn't...she couldn't breath.

Henry touched her arm, ignoring the flinch. "Let's take a break." He murmured quietly, indicating the closest door when she rapidly nodded. He met Tim's eyes for a brief moment before following her out. His job was to observe behavior and body language, after all, and he couldn't have ignored her body language, it had been screaming at him.

She stopped, leaning against the wall and trying to take deep breaths. She had moved down the hallway some, so that they were a bit away from the meeting room. She didn't need her counselors to see her so... overwhelmed.

He could tell from the rigidity of her body, the shallowness of her breathing, that she was trying very hard not to cry. "Take a deep breath and then talk to me, please."

"I...I wasn't...I can't..." She took another deep breath, shaking her head. "I never imagined this. I thought...I don't even know what I thought." She clenched her hands again, trying to force down emotions she really didn't want to deal with. It was just a gift, right? It shouldn't shake her this much. It wasn't even from people who knew these children! But strangers, people who could only imagine the horrors her kids had gone through; strangers who wouldn't even realize how much of an impact this would be on those children. She had heard the younger men, after all, and she had heard Rani exclaim. New, brand-name shoes. Expensive dresses. Dress clothes and play clothes. She had made sure every child had a new pair of shoes. Now, they would have more than one pair. None of the girls had gotten dresses; they had all chosen practical clothing that they could also use for school. Now they would have dresses. Emma, Jamie, Karrie, Lexie...they would all have dresses.

He wrapped an arm around her as her body started silently shaking. He hugged her tight, ignoring the wetness on his shoulder. He understood why she was crying, he really did. She was overwhelmed, not just by the gift from Mia's mother, but by the kindness of complete strangers. He was aware that she had never experienced that before, that most of the younger counselors hadn't experienced kindness from people who didn't have a reason for it. "I know it is overwhelming. Even if there was less to go through, fewer boxes, it would still be overwhelming. That type of kindness almost always is."

She took a deep breath, running a hand across her face. She could do this, she had to. Her job was already overwhelming sometimes, with all the work she still had left to do; this just...it was more than she ever expected. She never thought to ask for help clothing the children or supplying them with school supplies; none of that. Partly because part of her knew that while there was absolutely nothing wrong with second-hand clothing, teenagers could be mean. She would never had thought that someone would donate brand new clothing and shoes. She had just expected to have to do all of this with school funds, with just her and the staff. While she was sure she was still going to have to order school supplies, robes, and books for all of her children, she knew that now, she didn't have to worry about regular clothes for a while. "I think we should head back in. It might take a while to go through all of this." It would probably be a few days before they had it all sorted and ready for the children. Perhaps they could even set up a sort of shop, so the students could pick out what they wanted. She was curious though. "What are Jordans?"

"Gods help us, don't let the boys hear you say that."
-x-