Chapter Twenty Six: Salem Residential Treatment Facility

The day Harry was supposed to be discharged, Remus and Lupin took him to the eating disorder treatment facility by floo, so that he could be admitted to their service before he was discharged.

Harry was still feeling dizzy and getting winded if he stood too long, but he was able to walk without help now at least. He begged the nurses to take the NG tube out before he went. His nurse that day, Sabrina, had sighed and given him a look of pity. "I'm sorry, the doctors want you to get tube feeds for a bit longer."

At least they had paused the tube feeding, that's a plus, he thought to himself as he dressed in the clothes that Sirius had brought for him. He sighed as he pulled his belt as tight as he could, trying to keep his pants up and pushing the thought out of his mind that these were the pants Remus had bought him this summer, and that they had fit then.

Remus and Sirius were waiting outside with a wheelchair. Harry rolled his eyes "I don't need that, I'm not an invalid!" He whined.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and gestured to the chair "you can hardly make it to the bathroom by yourself kid, and the floo is two floors away. Just sit down."

Harry wanted to fight, to argue, but he knew that he was going to have to pick his battles today, so he plopped down, crossing his arms over his chest and bit his lip, keeping his eyes on his lap as Sirius started pushing him down the hall.

Soon enough they had arrived at the floo point. Harry cringed as they wheeled him into a large, open room full of fireplaces and people rushing about. Oh God I hope no one recognizes me… People were certainly staring, but thankfully people had the sense not to come up to them.

Once they got to an open fire, Harry stood, and they strode into the fire. Remus would floo with Harry since the doctors said that he wasn't strong enough to floo by himself.

Harry always hated Using the floo, it made him dizzy under normal circumstances. Today, he managed to propel himself out of the fire and face first onto the carpet of the room they entered.

I'm going to vomit, oh my gosh I'm going to puke everywhere. I hope they don't give me extra feed tonight to make up for this.

Remus was at his side just in time to witness him emptying his stomach contents onto the lush carpet beneath them. "It's okay Harry, it will pass." He murmured quietly.

And after a moment, it did. Harry picked himself up, so that he was at least kneeling, instead of prostrate. As he did he realized that they were in some type of office, and they were not alone.

A plump middle age woman wearing jeans and a grey sweater was standing a few feet away, surveying him. As he wiped the vomit off his face, Remus stood. The woman waved her wand quickly, wordlessly vanishing the vomit from her carpet.

Remus blushed and ran a hand through his hair. "Hi there Mrs. Peters, please excuse our entrance…" he reached down to help Harry up. "Harry, this is Mrs. Peters. She runs the treatment center here at Merlin retreat center."

The woman smiled and extended her hand to Harry. "It's nice to meet you finally," she said kindly. "And don't worry, it doesn't even touch the top ten entrances here at the center." She gave Harry a mischievous smile.

Now Sirius was behind them, asking what had happened. Mrs. Peters waved him off, and invited them all to sit down at the plush seats on the opposite side of her large wooden desk.

Harry's eyes wandered around the room as the adults exchanged pleasantries. He had never been to the States before. He was surprised to see out the window a blanket of snow covering a large lawn surrounded by woods of mostly evergreen trees. Nothing was terribly different, but it didn't look like England either.

Harry was drawn back to the conversation when Mrs. Peter's said his name.

"Harry, today is mostly going to be about going over the program with you. How are you feeling about going home?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know, happy I guess."

She offered a reassuring smile, "often going home can bring up feelings of anxiety, which is very normal. It's important that you communicate with Remus and Sirius so that they can help you. And we are sending you home with some muggle drugs that work similarly to calming draughts, so utilize them."

Harry gave a half nod, yeah right.

If Mrs. Peter guessed what Harry was thinking, she didn't let on. Instead she started running through the program that they would be implementing once he was back home at Grimmauld Place.

It sounded awful, Harry just prayed that Remus and Sirius were mostly just playing along to get him home. They look pretty sincere, he thought nervously.

He would eat three meals and three snacks a day, all prepared by Remus or Sirius. He wouldn't get a say in what he ate, but he was allowed to make a list of ten "challenge foods" that he really didn't want to eat, and then he had to pick one of them a week that he had to have.

He had one hour to eat each meal, and 30 minutes for the snacks. If he finished less than half of the meal he had to drink two supplement shakes, more than half but less than all and he had to drink one. If he didn't finish a snack he had to drink a shake. If he refused to finish a shake, they would bring him here to the center and he would be fed through a tube for that meal. If that happened frequently they might re-evaluate placement. Definitely want to avoid that.

When Mrs. Peters finished going over the program, they all turned to Harry. He gulped, unsure what they wanted him to say. After a moment Mrs. Peters rescued him, "how does all of that sound dear? Do you have any questions?"

Harry shrugged "I don't know… not really I guess" he mumbled.

The adults seemed to accept this, and moved on to talking about the different therapy and support groups Harry would participate in. Harry tuned them out again, he didn't really care what they made him do anymore. Panic was simmering in him, I need a plan for when we go home…. He thought to himself. Because if they really follow this…. I'm screwed. Eventually he calmed himself into believing that Remus and Sirius surely wouldn't follow the plan as strictly as Mrs. Peters had laid it out. Sure, I'll need to make an effort to eat… but I can do that. I'm sure if I eat at least half my meals, they won't make a fuss… lots of people don't finish their plates!

After what seemed like forever, Harry had completely tuned the adults out at this point, telling himself that it didn't matter because Sirius and Remus weren't going to actually make him do all this crap, Mrs. Peters stood, and everyone else followed suit.

"It was very nice to meet you Harry," she said warmly. "I know these early days can be overwhelming, but it does get better, I can promise you that. I'll see you back here for a group in a few days, okay?"

Harry nodded dumbly, hoping that whatever he had missed he would be able to talk himself out of without too much of a plan. I probably should have paid attention. "Erm, thank you…" he managed awkwardly.

Remus was already leading him back to the fireplace though. "Let's go Harry," he said kindly "I'm sure you're tuckered out."

The trip back to Saint Mungo's hadn't gone much better than before. At least Harry's stomach was empty now. As soon as they got back to his room a nurse came. It was Sabrina that day, one of the nurses Harry liked.

"Alright kid" She said as she set some supplies down on the counter the nurses and medi witches used. "I've got two options for you; either I can hook you back up to the formula bag for lunch, or you can try to eat a meal. The only thing between you and sleeping at home tonight is eating a full meal, with all the rules and stuff that you just went over at the center, but if you're too tired we can wait until dinner to try."

Harry bit his lip, he was exhausted, and he definitely didn't want to eat right now. I'm guessing there isn't a 'neither' option, he thought. "But if you give me the formula right now, I'll be too full for dinner…" He complained.

Sabrina smirked, obviously having seen this coming. "We're working with some pretty smart dieticians here Harry, they know what they're doing. If you want to do the tube for lunch, I'll turn it off at 3pm. Then we will start dinner at 5pm, that will give your body plenty of time to move things along."

The young wizard bit his lip and glanced at his guardians. Remus smiled back encouragingly, but Sirius looked more realistic. "You can do this Pup, I know you can. But I think maybe starting out on the right foot would be the best plan. Let's all get some rest and tackle the meal thing at dinner."

Harry nodded, thankful for once that someone else had made the decision. Sabrina quietly hooked up the feeding tube, and then gave him a small dose of calming daft to help him get some rest. Dinner will be here soon enough he thought miserably as he stared at the clock, feeling his eyelids getting heavy.