Upon entering the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Harry saw that Osborn looked strained. A simple look told him why. Umbridge was seating around the corner, her pink clipboard on her lap, smiling broadly. They all took their seats and waited for Osborn to start.
"We will continue our works with the Patronus Charm today. Remember, clear image of something happy. You need to really experience it. Mr Longbottom, you did well yesterday, keep it up. Go on, wands out, I will go around you to help." They all got up and started to practice. Harry decided to help Ron and Hermione. Osborn quickly went up to them, bumping slightly into Harry.
"Sorry Potter" She said, holding his hand. She was pressing something in it. She gave him a knowing look and asked Hermione about her memory. Harry quickly looked around to see if Umbridge was close but she was talking with Lavender Brown. He started at the note Osborn gave him.Help the others.Don't worry about Umbridge. Harry quickly shoved the note in his pocket and tried to capture Osborn's look. He then nodded. The class seemed to be going well, Umbridge was just asking questions to various students. At one point she cleared her throat loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"Good morning children" She said
"Good morning Professor Umbridge" the class replied, out of habit. Osborn looked disturbed by the sudden crowed movement.
"I have a few things I would like to ask of all of you. Kindly return to your seats and begin reading this book. I think you will find more appropriate informations in there." She held up a book: Defensive Magical Theory.
Nobody made a move, they were all staring at Osborn who was walking calmly to Umbridge. She took the book from her, opened it, chuckled and set it on the desk.
"Take no notice. Keep on working" She told the class before turning to Umbridge.
Harry, Ron and Hermione discreetly moved to work close to Osborn, in order to eavesdrop on the teachers.
"You are here simply as an observant Dolores. I do not allow anyone to disturb my class. It is my business, not yours." Osborn said.
Umbridge's false smile vanished from her face.
"What you are teaching these students is not Ministry approved. Can I ask what is the point of them learning the Patronus charm when the chance of them meeting a Dementor are so slim ?" She said through gritted teeth.
Osborn actually laughed. A low, dangerous laugh.
"Oh you want to know why. It's simple. When Voldemort comes back publicly, the Dementors will change allegiance, when this happens, I want the students to be able to defend themselves."
Umbridge began writing very fast on her clipboard.
"This is not the last you will here of this dear." Umbridge said. "You and Dumbledore have no idea what's coming to you. The Ministry will take control of this school, and when that happens, all of you will be sent to Azkaban. Don't think I don't know what you are planning. You are planning to take over the Ministry, I know that. And that is called treason. You will see."
Osborn did not look impressed by this. She simply smiled.
"Oh don't worry. I'll wait. Did you have anymore questions for me, Dolores ?" Osborn asked, clearly amused by the paranoia Umbridge was showing.
A very dark look came into Umbridge's eyes. She dropped her voice to a whisper. Harry had to lean slightly to hear.
"I have one more question. Aden Tascione. The Ministry would really like to hear about him. When you have the time of course."
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Osborn froze. The three teenagers looked at each other, Osborn's smile vanished.
"I think your inspection is over." She said simply. "Class dismissed" She told the class.
Umbridge left, a winning smile on her face. Osborn did not even bother to wait until everyone was out to lock herself in her office. The students left the classroom, disturbed by the sudden dismissal of the class. Harry, Ron and Hermione were the only ones to have heard and understood the reason of the abrupt end to the class. This meant they had a free period. Hermione decided she wanted to go look up Aden Tascione in the library, and the boys followed her. Hermione went to Mrs Pince to find the archives of the Daily Prophet. They were thousands of papers.
"We can't find anything in there. It would take years" Ron groaned when they arrived in front of the pile of paper.
"I agree" Hermione sighed. "We don't have a lot of informations. But" She picked up a huge pile of papers and set half of it in front of Ron and the rest in front of Harry. She took another pile and set it in front of herself. "We just need to screen them. We can do a word search. You know the spell. Point at the paper, say the word you want to find and if it's there, the page will glow. I don't think we need to look before 1981, she was too young before that."
Ron groaned loudly.
"What words are we searching for ?" Harry asked Hermione.
"Hum, Aden Tascione, child abuse, Jane Osborn." Hermione replied. Harry nodded and began searching for those words. When the bell rang, they had gone through January to November 1981. The paper from the 31stOctober 1981 hurt Harry. They were talking about him, about the death of his parents and of course, it was the introduction of the boy-who-lived. Harry could not focus during the rest of the day. He was thinking about his parents. If he had not been born, his parents would still be alive. He couldn't help but blaming himself for the death of his parents. Pretty soon it was almost time for his meeting with Osborn. After the events of this morning, Harry had thought about not going but he knew he needed to discuss his guardian situation. He decided to leave Ron and Hermione early, they were still searching for Aden in the newspapers. Before leaving the library, Harry slipped under the table and put on the invisibility cloak. He walked to Osborn's office and almost knocked when he heard voices coming from inside.
"She came for Aden, Severus. How can she know about this ?" Osborn's voice was steady but Harry could sense the calm anger in it.
"The Ministry heard about it. It's on your record. She just had to ask." Snape replied. Harry heard the ruffling of robes indicating someone was moving. Snape was probably about to leave. Harry waited for the door to open but it did not.
"Osborn. Listen to me. Aden's death was not your fault. Voldemort would have targeted the parents either way and he would have been placed into this family anyway. He is lucky you found him in the first place." Snape's voice was very quiet, but very soothing. Harry heard something fall onto the floor and break.
"I did not fight hard enough. It's my fault he had to go back there every year. Do you know how it feels to hold a dying child in your arms ? Do you ?" Osborn was almost yelling at Snape now. Harry heard her taking a deep breath and continue quietly. "When he died, the only thing he told me was "found at last". I keep hearing his voice at night. But I was too late. I will not let the same thing happen to Harry Potter."
"Osborn.." Snape started
"No! You can say all you want. I don't care. I will protect Harry Potter if it's the last thing I do. It's is time somebody does something about it. Now leave Severus, he's going to arrive at any moment now. I don't want you troubling him."
Snape said nothing more and the door opened. Snape was almost out when he turned to face her once more.
"Tell me what I have to do." And he was gone, closing the door behind him. Harry was shaken by what he had heard. Snape had agreed to help Osborn keeping him safe. Granted, Snape had saved his life before, but he never expected more of him. And Osborn, Osborn reminded Harry of Mrs Weasley, an odd mix between her and Snape. Harry could not process what he had just heard. He had never needed anyone. He had always been alone to deal with everything. The fact that someone was ready to fight for him was an unusual sensation to him. The only person who had fought for him was his mother. She had died, to save his life. And Osborn was ready to do it too. Hermione was right, he needed to be careful. If Osborn cared for him, it meant danger for her. Harry did not want anyone to die for him anymore. The image of his mother formed into his head. There had been a picture of her in the Daily Prophet from the day they died. It was a picture of her, holding baby Harry in her arms. She had been laughing. "Lily Potter loved her son more than anything in the world. She died attempting to protect him. I hope Harry remembers that." It was the quote below the picture. The article did not say who had said it but Harry thought it must have been either Sirius or Remus. The only too people still alive that could testify to Harry's mother love for him. Harry had never missed her more than he did at this moment. Silent tears began making their way down Harry's face. He quickly brushed them off, regained composure and knocked at Osborn's door. She opened it and Harry came in, still wearing the cloak. He took it off and waited for Osborn to take a seat in front of him. She had obviously been crying, her eyes were red but when she spoke, it was in a steady voice.
"I'm glad you came to see me tonight Potter. Before you say anything you need not worrying about Umbridge and me." Harry was ready to reply but Osborn silenced him.
"I saw you eavesdropping on our little chat. Don't worry, I won't give up on teaching defense. Not at this time. I won't say anything more about that woman. Now, I want to discuss with you the situation of your relatives. I've already discussed this with the Headmaster, he needed to be informed as I'm sure you understand. You cannot be allowed to return to their home during the summer. Do you understand ?"
Harry nodded. He knew that at some point, Dumbledore was going to be informed.
"However" Osborn went on. "Dumbledore does not have the power he used to at the Ministry. Filing for a change in guardianship would be suspicious and we can't afford this right now. We are trying to come up with a plan, I will inform you of the plan when we'll be ready." She looked straight into Harry's eyes and added. "I won't let you down. Believe me. I'll do everything I can to protect you."
Harry felt the urge to hug her. She looked so fierce and determined. At this moment, he was sure he could trust her.
"Thank you Professor" Harry said. He felt like it wasn't enough but he did not know what else to say.
"Are you doing well in class ?" Osborn asked, trying to diffuse the tension.
"I think so." Harry replied. "I think I'm making progress in Potions. Which is necessary for me if I want to become an Auror."
Osborn chuckled.
"Of course you would want to be an Auror."
"Well, as the boy-who-lived, I don't really have a choice." Harry said, shrugging.
"You always have a choice" Osborn told him quietly. Her eyes suddenly sad. But she quickly recovered and added playfully. "So you were having troubles with Potions ?"
"Yeah. Snape hates me. Although I'm not so sure anymore. He really helped me when I was in detention with Umbridge, so I guess he can be decent." Harry replied. "He seems to trust you. He wouldn't have brought me to see you."
"Severus doesn't hate you Potter." Osborn told him, rolling her eyes. She paused to think and continued. "He knew you needed my help and he brought you to me. He wouldn't have done that if he hated you."
"How long have you known him ?" Harry asked, the question leaving his lips before he could stop himself.
Osborn raised an eyebrow at him but answered.
"I was in my last year in Hogwarts when he started teaching. I wanted to become a Healer so I had to take advance Potions classes. I used to be terrified of him."
Harry smiled at that statement. Osborn clearly trusted Snape. As Dumbledore trusted Snape. This made Harry believe he could trust the man one day.
They both stared at each other in 's stare was piercing. She suddenly got up and went to open a cabinet behind her. She retrieved something from it and set it on the table. Harry recognized it as being a Pensive, an object that allowed people to view memories.
"I need to show you something. It will not be pleasant, but I need you to see it. I know you heard Umbridge talking about Aden. And I also know that you and your friends went to the library to look it up. I can't let you continue. And I know that if I don't explain it to you, you won't stop to look for it. You can share what you see with Miss Granger and Mr Weasley but that's it. Am I clear ?"
Harry gaped at her.
"How.." He started.
"I simply put two and two together. Why else would three students be reading every edition of the Daily Prophet since 1981 just after hearing about a mysterious name in one of their teachers past ?" She was smiling slightly. Obviously amused by the look on Harry's face. She took out her wand and retrieved silver threads of memories from her temple. She threw them in the Pensive and her saddened.
"It's going to be hard to watch Potter. I hope you are ready."
Harry nodded and threw his face into the strange liquid.
They were standing in the entrance hall of St Mungo's. A young witch wearing a badge that said "trainee" on her uniform came in running. She was carrying a child in her arms, he must have been around eleven. A few Healers came to retrieve the child from her arms. A stern looking medi-Witch with a clipboard came to talk to the young witch.
"Osborn. What is this ? What happened ?"
The young Osborn looked panicked.
"I was in King's Cross, ready to take the train to Hogwarts when I saw this boy. He was trying to carry his trunk all alone. I asked him if he needed any help and he collapsed. I didn't know what to do. I brought him here. I think he's been abused matron."
The matron scribbled a few notes and nodded.
"Good. Use the Floo to go to Hogwarts. I will transfer the child to the hospital wing there when he's stable. Just warn the matron."
Young-Osborn looked at her matron strangely.
"Should I inform the Headmaster of the situation ?"
"What situation dear ?" the matron asked.
"The boy is being abused ma'am." Osborn replied.
"You have absolutely no proof of this. Go to Hogwarts now."
St Mungo's dissolved and Harry found himself standing in the hospital wing. Young-Osborn was seated next to the young boy. He seemed in better shape than he was in St Mungo's. He was talking excitedly about the upcoming year. Osborn began asking him questions about his life at home. He did not answer.
The memory dissolved again and Harry saw the young boy running to Osborn.
"Jane! I'm in Ravenclaw. Just like you. Professor Dumbledore just Sorted me ! I want to be a Healer like you when I graduate!"
This made Osborn laugh and the boy left. Harry saw the stern matron looking disapprovingly at Osborn.
"You should not get attached Osborn. It's not your place. You heal the injuries, that's all."
Young-Osborn looked hurt at that statement but nodded.
A few memories appeared after that. Aden and Osborn apparently bonded. Aden came to see her almost every night, they talked. Harry witnessed as Osborn almost yelled at Dumbledore to bring the matter to the Ministry, how she had tried every person in the Child services department at the Ministry to remove Aden from his family. Osborn had fought for two years to get someone and nobody answered. Her matron told her repeatedly to drop the matter, but Osborn would not listen. In one of the memories, the matron told Osborn she was to be sent back to St Mungo's to continue her training and to separate her from Aden. Harry watched, as the boy cried when Osborn told him she was leaving. He saw the heartbreak in his teacher's eyes.
Harry suddenly found himself in a small apartment. He could see Osborn her nose firmly in her book. An owl tapped at the window, Osborn did not hear it right away, she was apparently too focused on her book. The owl continued to tap and eventually Osborn looked up from her book. She let the small owl enter and took the piece of parchment the owl was carrying. It was a note. To Harry's horror, he realized that the note had been written in blood. "Help me. A.". Young-Osborn gasped and disappeared instantly bringing Harry with her. Harry knew what was coming next.
They were in what appeared to be a shed of some kind. It was filthy. Osborn lit up the tip of her wand and what Harry saw made him sick. There, lying on the cold, filthy, stone floor, was Aden. He must have been thirteen years old. He was very white, his face was covered in blood and bruises. His breathing was shallow and rapid. Osborn knelt and took him in her arms.
"Aden ? Can you wake up for me ? Aden ?" Her voice was full of panic, but her hands, quite still. She waved her wand and began muttering. Tears were streaming out of her eyes. She held onto him and disappeared again.
They were in St Mungo's again. Osborn ran to a room where Healers gathered around the boy. Harry knew Aden was not going to make it, but he couldn't help but hoping one of the Healers was going to save him. After a while, the Healers surrounding Aden stopped working. Harry heard one of them saying "We can't save him. We could only make him comfortable."
Harry watched Osborn take the boy in her arms. She was crying. She rocked him back and forth, humming slightly. Harry suddenly saw the boy's eyes open.
"Jane ?" Aden whispered
Osborn held him even closer to herself.
"I'm here" She replied, still rocking him.
Aden seemed to relax a little.
"Is it over ?" He asked, his voice now barely a whisper.
"Yes sweetheart. You're safe. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore." Jane said, Kissing him on the top of his hair. Tears were strolling from her eyes.
Harry saw Aden's eyes close once more as he buried his face in Osborn's neck.
"Found at last" He whispered in Osborn's neck.
Aden's breathing was becoming fainter and fainter. Osborn was still humming, still rocking him. Harry saw the life leaving the boy's body. The sound of his last breath echoing in the small hospital room. He heard the desperate cry of Osborn when she realized Aden was no more. It was an unbearable sound. Like a wounded animal. Harry suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and felt his body being dragged out of the Pensive.
He was back in Osborn's office. She was crying silently. And Harry gave in. He began sobbing. He was crying for Aden, the poor boy who could not have been saved, he was crying for Osborn who had tried everything, he was crying for his mother who had given her life for him. He had lost a mother, Osborn had lost a child. Harry felt Osborn gentle arms wrapping around him as she embraced him tightly and they both mourned their loved ones who had died for no reason. At this moment, and without them noticing, a golden light embraced them both.
A/N: I have to admit, it was difficult to write. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Read and Review.
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