A/n: Yeah, so I did promise to try for two chapters... Here you go! Enjoy!
*+ovo+*
Harry failed to bite back a scream as his bones broke under the expertly controlled spell. He was tired and in pain with at least six newly broken bones at this point and just wanted this to be over with.
"That's it, so very brave my son," Severus whispered into his ear as he knelt next to Harry and fed him a pain reliever potion.
"~I don't like this,~" Nagini hissed in agitation. Hedwig snapped her silver phoenix beak in agitation and agreement but did not attempt to interfere.
"~It must be done so that he is not always in pain and the mis-healed breaks do not later become a threat to his life,~" Voldemort explained again, just as unhappy as the two familiars. "~The mis-healed ribs alone risked slicing his lungs any time he breathed. Once this is done we can think about a ritual to reinforce his bones later.~"
"~You will do no such thing! He won't reach full maturity until his mid-twenties, as you bloody well know!~" Severus snapped at him, his hands still gentle with his panting son.
"~No rituals... yet,~" Harry hissed out, his words riding on a hiss of pain as he carefully shifted on the medical cot he was currently laying on.
"Three more bones - one in multiple places - then we can set everything and dose him with skele-grow," the healer informed them confidently.
"Its not as bad as when Uncle Vernon breaks my arm or Dudley and his gang hold me down and slam me repeatedly against the metal holding up the swings at the park. It might be close to when Aunt Petunia really swings the heavy cast iron skillet at my head when its still hot though..." Harry mumbled, trying to fight the pain. He didn't notice how the rest of the room froze at his commentary.
"Are you telling me that his own blood caused this issue?" the healer demanded in a low furious hiss.
"This is news to us as well and they will be handled," Voldemort snarled right back as treatment, ie. the re-breaking of bones, continued. Harry kept silent for an additional three hits of the spell only to nearly pass out on the last one. The next set of spells cast very carefully moved all of the bones back into the correct positions except for two sets of ribs which were deemed too dangerous to try re-breaking and instead vanished completely.
"You have been claimed under Goblin law and are now a part of the Nation," a nearby goblin guard corrected. "This is a matter of the Wild Hunt. Had you not already handled your own torturers and abusers they too would be sought by the Hunt."
"We didn't... not all of them," Severus admitted quietly as he tended to his son and helped feed him a strong dose of Skele-grow. Harry passed out properly after taking the potion much to almost everyone's relief. No one there was happy with causing him such pain
"Who?" the goblin guard demanded, his voice ice cold.
"Dumbledore," Voldemort ground out in realization. "Its the only way my previous attempts at entering the school without giving too much away would unfailingly send me towards a vulnerable Harry. Then too as soon as he brought me my Hogwarts letter he declared me evil and did his best to convince everyone of it, including forcing my return every summer to an abusive orphanage in the middle of a war zone. The Blitz was no place for a child!"
Severus hesitated before saying two names his sleeping son might hate him for. "Remus Lupin and Sirius Black... attempted murder of a fellow student in 5th year and... unstable actions towards my son since coming into contact with him. This includes Lupin transforming into his Werewolf form in the presence of my son and two of his fellow students. Additionally Black has made repeated allusions pressuring my son towards dangerous actions. Both have declared, on different occasions, that if he didn't do what was expected than Harry was wasting his parents' sacrifice and that he should not have survived them if he was going to dishonor them. As if acting to stay alive is a dishonor to such a sacrifice!"
The low growl from the various goblins and bank employees comforted both older wizards.
"~Tell them,~" Nagini hissed. "~Tell them of the warning brought by Harry-imp's reborn familiar. Tell them of the fact that Harry-imp will be taken from us if we can not protect him from these threats.~"
The heads of both Slytherins snapped around at Nagini's order as they stared at her in open dismay. Hedwig shifted form and gave them both a defiant glare.
"~If you can not protect my hatchling I will not leave him in your care,~" Hedwig hissed dangerously, little sparks forming in her baby dragon mouth as she glared at them. "~He will never return to the old nest with bad caretakers and both Black Dog-man as well as the Wolf in human skin will be dealt with. Burn the old nest for all I care as long as they are destroyed and no longer a risk to my hatchling!~"
"~That we have no issue with although it may grieve Harry-imp,~" Severus warned in his own softer hiss compared to that of the Dark Lord's speaking of the serpent tongue.
"~Once my forms have grown enough it will be little trouble to teach him his value for all that it may take some seasons to succeed in making him understand,~" Hedwig said stoutly. "~I do not yet have the strength to seek out the threat and destroy it. Then too I would also need a safe place to leave my hatchling and you have not yet proven to my satisfaction that you can be trusted to guard him while I hunt the threat.~"
"~Understood,~" Voldemort acknowledged carefully. This was not something they had considered. The level of hate Hedwig had to have for these people and potential threat level they represented went up significantly. If a person's familiar would not tolerate someone near their human then they were considered an active threat that needed to be eliminated.
"Hedwig has declared that unless Black, Lupin, and his relatives are dealt with she will take away Harry and deem us unfit to care for him," Severus translated hoarsely for those who could not speak the serpent tongue.
The room shifted in concern at this news. Familiars laying down dictates over their bonded's safety were never to be taken lightly.
"The Wild Hunt will place them on the list," the healer assured them softly. "It might just be a bit more difficult and time consuming for them since seeking them out in the first place is going to be difficult as proven by the Aurors' failures."
Severus didn't even try to mention Grimauld Place but he would point them at the Fideldus charm. Then too adding a random comment about London and the current Seat of House Black before they left was going to be a major hint. What he didn't know was that the goblins had no intention of letting them leave goblin lands, such as Gringotts, any time soon. The three wizards were claimed to their people and they needed to know what that meant as well as receive basic training to say nothing of the additional healing that Harry and Voldemort still needed.
"I want both of you in the beds to either side of him," the healer ordered firmly. The two Slytherins moved to protest until they saw the two Familiars being placed on Harry's bed.
"Why?" Severus asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion. He stayed sitting on the edge of Harry's bed, protecting his son.
"He needs you both close and neither of you are getting enough rest lately. I scanned both of you when I scanned the young warrior," the healer told them bluntly. "Now into bed, both of you."
The two Slytherins grumbled but obeyed. A moment later they looked at the healer in betrayal as sleeping potions were spelled into their stomachs. They were out like a light in under twenty minutes.
"I assume you plan to have them moved to their new quarters in the goblin section?" the healer inquired carefully.
"Yes, once its safe to do so. They will wake among their new people," the guard agreed with a toothy grin.
"Don't separate them and don't remove their familiars. Doing so could kill them," the healer ordered sharply. "They can't be safely moved until the young warrior mage is checked again after the potion has finished fixing his bones. My advice is to have them sent to sleep again afterwards if you insist on their move while unconscious or simply lead them to their new rooms and explain it plainly. Treat them as a unit or risk them acting as though they have been captured by enemies and acting accordingly."
"Noted," the guard acknowledged reluctantly. The healer nodded in satisfaction before turning back to her duties.