Can you be two things at once?
Poppy Pomfrey ran up the steps of Hogwarts Castle two at a time with a frown on her normally somewhat impassive face. To say the owl that she had just received had set her back a step in surprise was the biggest understatement since well, since, that old fool Fudge had called Voldemort's return 'unlikely'! How were they going to manage? Were they even obliged to manage?! Wasn't this an issue for St Mungo's?! Her head swam with it all as she reached the stone griffin, said:
"Shortbread Fan"
& hung on for the dizzying glide up to the Headmistress' Study.
20 Years Earlier
It had been 3 summers after the Dursley's had left Privet Drive that things had really started to change for Dudley. His gang had disintegrated when Piers failed his Smeltings final exam. Dudley then left Smeltings with 3 A Levels (to his own utter astonishment) & had gotten a job working for a software firm. His years at Smeltings & what had happened with Harry had left him with a sad, but growing distaste for his parents in a way. All that hiding things, keeping up appearances at ALL costs, all that using him, Dudley, as a front to hide behind just as much as they'd used Harry as an emotional punch-bag; it had all been for.. well, for WHAT, exactly? He'd realised that although he'd loved his mother & father, he didn't actually like them very much.
In the first few weeks after leaving Privet Drive, they'd gone into hiding with new identities, but Dudley had had so much going on inside him that somehow it 'broke' the memory charm & he knew who he really was again. He'd tried to keep the break hidden for a while (he was a Dursley after all) but in the end he just gave up. His mother's nerves were gone anyway, (she went into hospital within weeks & died 6 months later of a heart attack) & his father just 'was'. He didn't do anything, he didn't see anyone, he just 'was'. In fact Vernon Dursley's only reaction when Dudley had told him he was going was:
"I knew you would son, I'm sorry; plant some Petunia's wherever you end up, ok?"
That had been goodbye forever & they both knew it.
Dudley hadn't really known what he wanted to do for a while (except keep his job, he liked that), & the not knowing had been scary but also strangely liberating. He didn't have anyone watching over his shoulder, calculating his every move for their own ends anymore. One of the first things he'd done was go to his mother's grave to say 'goodbye' to her to.
As he stood there, he'd thought:
"Well Mum, I wish you had actually loved me the way you honestly thought you did, but I see now you were just trying not to drown in your own bitterness. I hoped I helped even a little bit, but even if I didn't, it's not my responsibility to 'fix' who you were. I have to 'fix' me now."
Then he'd planted the petunias & walked away.
The next couple of months had been a mix of painful blur & cold nothingness. He watched, as if from outside himself as he'd rented a room in Greater Hartford, clear on the other side of the county & moved in.
When the members of that Order had realised that their spells had broken & there was no point imposing them again, they had tried to be kind but years of fear wouldn't let him trust them & he'd got out of there as fast as he dared.
He wondered if he should go to his Aunt Marg for help, but newly awoken instincts had told him that she was just as poisonous as his parents. He'd considered going for therapy, but who, in the 'Muggle' world would believe his story? Even though the magical world was no longer SUCH a secret (and the Minister of Magic had a seat at the 'normal' Cabinet table) Dudley was a LONG way from being able to accept that world.
20 Years Later
"But Minerva, can we cope? We've never had…"
"It's not a case of 'can we' Poppy, we're OBLIDGED to, the child is clearly a witch. I haven't seen a P.R.O.O.F (Pre-Revelation Ordinary Organisation Form) like this since Hermione Granger's, & Miss Dursley's had a head start thanks to St. Mungo's. We must make this work!"
Poppy sighed dramatically.
"I know, I know; but where do we start? Why didn't St Mungo's do their job properly & CURE her?!"
Minerva looked TRULY shocked:
"Poppy Olive Pomfrey! I thought I knew you! CURE her?! Of what? Being herself? That's like 'curing' me of being Scottish! As long as Heather is happy, pain-free & safe, what is there to 'cure'? She doesn't walk, so what? St Mungo's TRAINED you & they will have done all they can for the child! Do you REALLY just want Mungo's healers to make YOUR job easier?! Where's the girl I shared a dorm with who stayed up 3 nights in a row to comfort Honey Malkin when her Grandma died?!"
Poppy slumped into a chair, tears rolling down her cheeks: "I'm sorry Minerva; I know you're right; I'm just scared. Facing something I can't help with is terrifying for me."
Minerva patted her old friend's arm:
"But we CAN help her, Poppy! We can show her how to live in the magical world. And Merlin knows she'll NEED it, haven't you seen her surname?!"
Madam Pomfrey took the form from the desk: "Dursley, Dursley… sounds familiar…"
"She's Harry Potter's niece."
Poppy went pale again: "Merlin's Beard!"
"Exactly. Now, I have to make plans; can you go & get Rolanda Hooch for me? She's met the child."
"Yes, of course, Headmistress." Poppy got up a little unsteadily & left.
20 Years Earlier
Harry sat in his favourite armchair at the Burrow. He had been careful not to seem as though he were intruding when the Weasley's had asked him to move in. He had conjured his own chairs rather than use Fred's favourites, even though everyone had insisted many times that Fred had seen Harry as an extra kid brother. Still Harry was overly careful, treading on eggshells & leaving the Weasleys over-thinking every word they said. Until that was George had snapped at him one particularly morose afternoon:
"Oh, for magic's sake Harry, stop it! You DID NOT kill Fred any more than you killed Mum's brothers or your own family! All of this is down to Voldemort & the longer you go about 'owning' it, the more tempted I am as a beater to show you how we planned to use clubs on Unbridge if the fireworks got damp, GOT it?!"
With a small 'pop' Mrs Weasley had apparated next to her son. Her words were quiet but said with a steely determination:
"George is right Harry dear. You gave Voldemort the only just ending there could have been for him, true, but we as the Order, as a FAMILY, a WHOLE FAMILY,…we ALL chose justice, Fred included, & I WON'T let you take that from him."
"But Mrs Weasley…"
Another 'pop', this time on Molly's other side, stopped him short:
"Harry James Potter; you let this go, right here, right now & remember my brother, Sirius, Dumbledore, Snape, Cedric, Dobby, Tonks, Lupin & ALL the others, including your parents, the way they DESERVE, the way they damn well EARNED, or you apparate this instant & NEVER come back; do you understand me?!"
Ginny stood there, arms folded, eyes blazing, with to Harry's utter astonishment, her father, Ron, Percy, Bill & Charlie all behind her.
Percy spoke next:
"They helped me Harry, let them help you; it's time."
A small noise made Harry turn his head. By the door, almost as if to block any conventional escape, were Hermione, Fleur & Lunar. Hermione was holding the small bundle that had made the noise. Lunar cooed at it:
"That's it Teddy, you remind Uncle Harry that he still has an important job to do; good boy."
Harry turned to look at the gathering. Almost all the living people who loved him were here now; just as all the departed who loved him had been there in the forest. Harry James Potter sank to his knees & wept.
He could have cried for an hour, it could have been seconds, Harry would never know, but the next thing he was aware of was strong hands, under his arms, half lifting him to the sofa. A voice partially penetrated the fog that surrounded him more thickly than any dementors spell had ever done:
"It's alright Harry mate. If Fred blamed you I would know it in every particle of my being & I don't. I could no more lie about that than Voldemort could love. Fred DOESN'T blame you bro." George promised.
Another voice through the fog, a little louder this time:
"Harry, Teddy would be screaming this place down if he sensed you were to blame. We know Teddy's a wizard, you & I watched him turn Mr Tonks' dog blue with a touch of his hand & he cried buckets when you turned it back. Wizard's sense things, you KNOW that. How often have you sensed trouble or danger? Remember the Mirror of Erised? You told me you sensed your Mum's hand. You would SENSE if ANY of this was on you!"
There was Lunar's voice.
"Believe her Harry, PLEASE, she's right!" That was Hermione.
The newly focusing world went blurry again as someone took his glasses. He heard Percy cast the waterproof charm & fumbled slightly as he took them back & put them back on. He tried to say 'thanks' but the word couldn't get past the lump in his throat. Percy squeezed his shoulder in acknowledgement & said:
"I made the charm permanent; I know what a nuisance rain is."
Ron picked up Harry's wand: "Don't break another, Olivander will bar you for life."
Harry nodded, putting it away.
Ginny had been about to speak when two terrific 'CLANG'S! from the hallway made them all jump clean out of their skins & Teddy wailed in alarm. Ever the attentive Godmother, Lunar took the tiny boy as everyone else hurried into the tiny hallway. Charlie, being closest to that doorway saw the cause first:
"Bloody Hell Harry; that settles it then!"
Next came Arthur's:
"Merlin's beard Molly, look!"
Harry had reached the hallway now. He looked up to see the Weasley family 'clock' had altered. This clock showed the location or state of everyone in the Weasley family. It had magicked itself several new locations recently. Fred's name now had 'Ghost' beside it in brackets (a great heartache & comfort to his parents), & mostly went between The Burrow & 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes'. Fleur's name was also there as was 'Shell Cottage'. 'School' had been replaced by 'Quidditch Training' & was where Ginny's hand frequently pointed now as she looked for a professional team, & then there was today's change. There, beside Ginny's clock hand was an eleventh one pointing unmistakably to 'Harry'.