Shortly after James and Harry came back to the room, Remus excused himself and went to the Dursley's to pick up Harry's things. Lily wanted nothing more than to go with him, desperate to chew out her sister, but she withheld herself from breaking out of St. Mungo's and going with him.

Harry was more important.

That didn't mean that she wouldn't go to see her dear sister the moment she could. She had some questions that she wanted to ask her.

At the moment, Harry was sitting on a chair nearby, hands folded in his lap and staring at them silently. James had stepped out for a moment with Healer Bell to talk about something that he hadn't even spoken to Lily about, and she was sitting in her bed, awkwardly trying to find something to talk to her son about.

She had always promised herself that she would have a good relationship with her son. Now, she had no relationship with him. That knowledge hurt.

The door opened before she could even ask Harry anything, and James and Healer Bell reentered.

Healer Bell looked a bit worried as she entered, helping James to his bed, before she turned to Harry, "Hello, Harry. I was wondering if you would be okay if I gave you a quick checkup?"

Harry looked up with wide, nervous green eyes. They flickered over to James and Lily, as if asking permission, and James gave him a slight nod.

"Okay."

Healer Bell gave a wide smile. She drew her wand, which caused Harry to tense, watching it warily.

"Can you stand up for a moment?" she asked him.

He obeyed, standing up and moving towards James a bit. Healer Bell waved her wand, causing the chair that he had been sitting in to turn into a child-sized bed. Harry jumped at the transformation, backing away from Healer Bell and sending James a startled look.

"It's just magic," James explained softly, "It won't hurt you."

"But- "Harry started before he clamped his mouth shut, unwilling to argue anymore.

Healer Bell sent Lily a worried look, but simply spoke up, "Can you lay down on the bed, Harry? I'm going to cast a simple diagnostic spell on you, okay?"

His green eyes shown bright with confusion, but he only nodded, warily climbing onto the bed and laying down, arching his head awkwardly to keep an eye on the Healer.

"Okay, you're going to feel a slight tingling sensation. That's just the spell checking for your height, weight, and any abnormalities that need to be healed or remedied."

Harry made a weird face at the word 'abnormalities', but he did as he was told. Lily could see the nervousness in his face, though, so she pushed herself out of bed and made her way next to him, leaning against the wall beside him and saying softly, "Don't worry. It won't hurt."

His eyes glanced towards and he nodded lightly. Lily smiled. He trusted her, at least a little bit.

Healer Bell waved her wand over his bed, muttering the spell softly under her breath. Harry jumped, eyes going to Lily and squirming lightly at the feeling from the spell. His eyes quickly darted to the parchment that suddenly appeared from thin air in front of Healer Bell, fear flashing in them at the sudden appearance.

Lily found herself unconsciously grabbing her hand to offer him comfort. He stiffened at first, but then relaxed, squeezing her hand back.

Once the spell was complete, Healer Bell pulled away and grabbed the parchment out of the air, letting her eyes trail over the words that had appeared. She nodded after a moment, a frown on her face, and then sat down in the chair. Lily noticed her eyes flicker up to Harry's scar before going back to the parchment, "Okay, Harry. I see that you have two bruised ribs and a bruise on your upper arm. I'm going to give you some bruise balm to heal those, but can you tell me how you got those?"

Harry stiffened. He licked his lips nervously and then said, "I-I was playing football at school and fell."

He was lying. Lily could tell. His eyes darted away from them as he spoke, and his hand wrapped around his torso protectively. Anger flared up in her, mind racing with scenarios that could have happened that led to her baby having those injuries. She squeezed his hand lightly and he glanced at her, before averting his eyes quickly.

Healer Bell hesitated but didn't push it with him. Lily was grateful. She knew that she was going to have to let Harry open up to them on his own terms. He didn't seem to want to and she didn't want to push him away.

Instead, Healer Bell just said, "Okay. I don't see any other current injuries, so that's good. I am going to prescribe you a nutrient potion, though," her eyes flickered over to James and Lily, "You weigh a little less than fifteen kilograms, which makes you rather underweight for your height and age."

Fifteen kilograms? That was even worse than she had been thinking. She sucked in a breath, eyes flickering over her child in concern.

Healer Bell glanced over the parchment for a few more moments before looking up, a light smile on her face, "It also looks like you've gained your father's eyesight."

James groaned at that, "Really? Merlin, I was hoping he would take after his mother in that regard."

Healer Bell laughed lightly and shook her head, "Nope. I recommend taking him in and getting some glasses once you get out of here. He is pretty badly near-sighted."

"Just like me," James said, shaking his head, but he had a small smile on his lips.

Harry pushed himself into a sitting position and frowned lightly, but he didn't ask any questions. Lily wished he would. She could tell that he was confused.

Healer Bell stood up with a nod, "Okay, well I am going to go fetch those potions for you. James, Lily, can you come into the hallway with me?"

Lily sent Harry a concerned look but squeezed his hand once more and stood up, "We'll be back in a minute, Harry."

The boy nodded, pulling his legs to his chest and wrapping his skinny arms around them. He chewed on his fingernails and looked away.

Her eyes flickered over to James, who was staring at Harry sadly, before she followed Healer Bell out of the door, catching herself on the doorframe when she stumbled. Healer Bell glanced back at her in alarm, before nodding, "Those potions should have your muscles fully redeveloped by tomorrow morning."

"Good," James said, clapping his hands as they closed the door to the room, leaving Harry alone, "I can't wait to play Quidditch again."

Healer Bell settled him with a look, arching an eyebrow, "That doesn't mean you can be reckless. You'll need to take it easy for a few weeks."

He scoffed and smirked, "Come on. We all know that I am the most graceful person there is on a broomstick. I could fly with a broken leg."

"Oh shush," Lily admonished him, "You're going to tempt the fates if you keep talking like that."

He chuckled but held up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay. I'll be careful."

Healer Bell nodded firmly, "Good. Now, I wanted to talk to you two about something that I noticed on the parchment. I didn't want to bring it up where Harry could hear," she glanced around them and then threw up a quick silencing spell so that no one passing by could eavesdrop. Nodding in approval, she continued, "Have you noticed his scar, yet?"

Lily shook her head, "Dumbledore mentioned it, but his hair covers it. I haven't even seen it yet."

"Well, it's definitely there, and there is dark magic residue surrounding it. I'm not exactly sure what it is. It may just be from the killing curse, but I can't be certain. I'd like to perform a more thorough exam on him at a later date, but I don't want to put too many spells on him right now with how malnourished he is."

James' eyes lost their mischief and his eyebrows furrowed, "What do you think it is?"

"I can't be certain," She continued, "In fact, I honestly have no idea what it could be, but I don't like it. I want to be sure that whatever it is isn't affecting him negatively. If you notice anything strange, like if he complains of headaches or anything, please inform me straight away. Once he is up to a healthy weight, I want to examine it closely and make sure that it isn't going to be dangerous to him."

Lily nodded quickly, eyes flickering to the hospital room worriedly. Voldemort was still affecting them from beyond the grave. She had hoped, after learning of his demise, that they would not have to worry about him anymore, "Of course. Merlin, I thought that he couldn't hurt us anymore. I thought that was all in the past."

James put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed it lightly, "It'll be okay, Lils. Whatever it is, Healer Bell can fix it."

Healer Bell gave a smile, but it looked uncertain. She sighed lightly and shook her head, "We don't need to worry about it now. He's lived seven years without it hurting him, it seems. Just keep an eye out for any signs and bring him in for weekly checkups so I can keep an eye on his weight. He is severely malnourished and is going to need to gain weight if he wants to catch up with his peers."

"Of course," Lily replied with a sigh, "Merlin, how did this happen?"

James shrugged lightly, sighing, "It's going to be okay, Lils. We're going to fix this. Harry is going to be okay now," he assured her, "Thank you, Healer Bell. We owe you a lot."

She shook her head, "It's my job. Even if it wasn't, I want to help. I've got a little girl close to Harry's age. I'd hate if she was in his shoes. He's going to need a lot of love."

They both nodded in agreement. Lily bit her lip hard and closed her eyes lightly, "He'll get it."

Healer Bell nodded, "Okay, you two go back in there with your boy. I'm going to go get the bruise balm and nutrient potion. I'll be back in a few minutes."

As the Healer set off down the hallway, Lily sighed and turned to her husband. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder. James wrapped his arms around her as well, holding her close. She mumbled into his shirt, "How could things have gone so wrong for our baby?"

"I don't know," he said with a sigh, "But it is going to be better. We're going to make sure he is safe and happy from now on."

She nodded, pulling away slowly and giving him a watery smile, "You're right," she said, "We should let him know that."

James smiled, "Of course I'm right," he smirked, but his usual arrogance wasn't in it. Instead, he reached for the door, "We should."

Harry looked up when they entered. He was in the same position as when they left the room, knees pulled up to his chest on the bed. Lily found her eyes glancing up to his forehead, but his long, unmanaged hair covered it.

She made her way over to his bed, finding her legs stronger than before, and sat on the edge. James followed, taking a seat on the chair nearby. Harry gave them both a wary look.

"Harry," James said softly as he took a seat, "How would you like to come live with us?"

His eyebrows perked up in surprise. Hope entered those green eyes, "Leave the Dursleys?" Before either of them could respond, Harry gasped, both hands coming up to cover his mouth suddenly, "I'm sorry!" he exclaimed quickly, "Yes, I would."

Lily's eyebrows furrowed in worry, "Why are you apologizing, Harry?"

"Good boys don't ask questions," he said, as if speaking from a script, as if it was obvious, as if it was true.

She closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to keep herself calm. When she opened them, Harry looked nervous, squirming on his bed and looking down at his hands, "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I want to be good. I don't want to be bad."

"You are not bad," she said sternly, shaking her head, "You're good, and good boys ask questions. You can ask any questions that you want, Harry. They were wrong to tell you that. They lied, and you never have to see them again, okay?"

He looked up at her, confused, but a touch of a smile etched onto his lips, "Okay."

Remus Lupin was not one to get angry easily.

Because of his lycanthropy, he had spent years making sure that he controlled his temper, wanting to make sure he gave no one a reason to think any less of him, or to prove their prejudice against werewolves right. He'd learned to stay calm and reasonable. He could only remember getting furious a handful of times in the past.

Now, however, he felt like he could rip the Dursley's limb from limb.

He stood in front of the door and knocked on it loudly, swallowing down his anger as he waited for someone to answer.

It took a moment for the door opened, but then Petunia was standing in front of him, a frown on her horse-like face.

"Where's the boy?"

"He won't be returning," Remus said, squeezing his hand into a fist and taking several deep breaths, "I'm here to collect his things."

Her face grew pale and her eyes glared at him, "What do you mean he won't be returning?"

"I mean exactly what I said," he told her darkly, glaring right back, "We know that you've mistreated him. Now, if you will let me retrieve his things, then I might decide not to curse you into the next century."

If possible, she grew even paler. She looked like a ghost. Nodding sharply, she opened the door so that he could enter, "It wasn't our fault," she choked out, "He's dangerous. He was always doing freaky things. We had to control him."

He entered, fingers itching towards his wand, and leveled his eyes onto her, "He is a child, and he is a wizard. He can't control his accidental magic. You did not need to control him. You needed to love him, and you failed."

"You don't understand," she said desperately, "We never asked for him. He was left on our doorstep. We weren't given a choice and he wouldn't stop crying when he got here, and he kept doing freaky things. We had to keep him obedient so that he wouldn't destroy everything! He was an evil little-"

Remus drew his wand, training it on her throat. She clamped her mouth shut, fear flashing through her eyes as she backed away.

"He was a little boy, who had been hurt and ripped away from his parents," he hissed in anger, "There is no excuse that could ever make what you did seem right. What you did was despicable. He was your nephew."

"We didn't want him!" she shrieked, "It wasn't our fault!"

"Calvario!"

The spell left his mouth before he could even think about what he was doing, fury raging through his veins. Petunia shrieked as the spell slammed into her chest, and then Remus watched in satisfaction as she brought her hands to her head and grabbed her hair, pulling clumps of hair away as it began to fall out. She screamed again, "What did you do?"

"I could do a lot worse," Remus threatened, "Where are Harry's belongings?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she continued to pull away her hair and shriek, collapsing into the wall and desperately pushing her hands against her head as if she could make her hair stop falling out, as if she could reattach it.

"Where is his room?" he demanded, wand pointed directly at her again.

She crumpled on the ground as if he had slapped her and pointed shakily at the cupboard under the stairs.

"I asked where his room was," he said, annoyed.

She kept pointing at the cupboard, "T-that's his r-r-room."

Dread pooled down in his stomach. His eyes flickered to the cupboard and then, slowly, he approached it.

No. Surely not.

He unlocked it with shaking hands and opened the door to the cupboard.

Inside the cupboard, there was a small cot with a blue, baby blanket that Remus remembered Harry having as a baby. A few broken toys lay near the cot, but that was it. There was nothing else.

His hands came into the cupboard and pulled the blanket out. The blanket was torn lightly, fraying in several places, and extremely dirty. His eyes raked over it, seeing the small inscription of Harry's name in the corner.

He slowly turned back to Petunia, "Where are the rest of his things?"

"That's it," she answered, voice quiet and fearful.

"What do you mean that's it?" he asked darkly.

She shook her head, "That's all he has. We couldn't… We couldn't afford more."

He knew that was a lie. He had eyes. He could see the expensive vase on the table nearby, and the fancy china in the dining room. The Dursley's were not struggling for money.

His wand twitched in his hand. He swallowed thickly and gripped the blanket tightly, fighting down the urge to hex the woman into oblivion. He didn't want to get arrested. Not now, when he finally had his family back.

"You better count yourself lucky that you're still alive," he said darkly, "You will never see Harry again, but I can't promise the same for his parents. I'm sure you'll be seeing them soon enough."

He spun on his heel and left the Dursley's residence, hearing Petunia shriek in horror at his words. He didn't turn back. He knew that if he did, he would only get himself into trouble. He slammed the door shut and tucked the blanket into his robes.

He would go back to St. Mungo's. But first, he needed to do some shopping.

He didn't have to go back to the Dursley's.

That knowledge bounced around happily in his head. He liked his parents so far, even if he kept reminding himself what Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had said. His parents were drunks and bad, but they didn't seem bad. They seemed good, even if they were freakish, like him.

Not, not freakish. They were magical.

Magic was real.

After the diagnostic spell had been cast on him, there was no denying it. He tried to wrap his mind around it, and he bit his tongue to keep himself from not asking his parents questions. They had said that it was okay if he did, but he didn't want to annoy them. If they were going to take him in, then he needed to be on his bed behavior.

He found himself listening intently as his father told a story, one that Harry couldn't figure out if it was real or not, about a time when he and his friends went to a scary forest and were nearly killed by centaurs. He wanted to ask so many questions.

He was so enthralled in the story that he didn't even realize the door to the hospital room open, but James cut off the story right when he was talking about somebody named Sirius attempting to jump onto the back of one of the centaurs.

"Moony!" James said cheerfully, "Right on time. I was just telling Harry about the time we escaped the centaurs."

Mr. Remus Lupin was at the door and carrying several shopping bags. He arched an eyebrow at him, "Don't be giving him ideas, James. Lily will kill you if you he tries to explore the Forbidden Forest when he gets to Hogwarts."

Lily made an affirmative noise, as if she agreed with Mr. Remus Lupin, and then spoke up, "What do you have there, Remus?"

"Oh, I just went and got some things for Harry," Remus said with a smile, sending James and Lily a knowing look.

Harry looked up, surprised at the answer that he gave. His eyebrows furrowed. For him?

Remus walked over to Harry's bed and sat the bags by him. There were three bags and he peered at them curiously.

"I wasn't exactly sure about your size, but we can shrink or enlarge them as needed," Remus said as he grabbed one of the bags and pulled out two muggle t-shirts: one red and one blue. He also pulled out two pairs of pants, and a set of pajamas.

Harry blinked. They looked new. Harry never had new clothes before.

In the next bag, Remus pulled out a new toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb, and a pair of shoes. In the final one, he pulled out a coloring book, crayons, a stuffed lion, two books.

Harry stared at the assortment of things, unable to comprehend what he was saying. It was so much.

"Oh, Remus. Thank you!" Lily exclaimed happily, "That was so sweet. We'll pay you back, okay?"

Remus shook his head, "Oh, no, it's fine. I wanted to make sure Harry has the things that he needs."

"We're going to pay you back, mate," James said with a light smirk, giving him a knowing look.

Harry didn't realize it, though. Instead, he reached out a wary hand to the stuffed lion, as if it would bite him, and took it into his grasp. It was soft and warm. He'd never had a toy of his own before. At least not one that wasn't broken.

"Do you like it?" Remus asked nervously.

Harry nodded, looking up at him with a small smile, "I love it. Thank you, Mr. Remus Lupin."

James snickered lightly at the name, but Remus only beamed.

He liked Mr. Remus Lupin, too.

He hoped that he could keep them.

AN: Hope you guys enjoyed! Leave me a review and let me know what you think so far!

Next chapter will be posted next Sunday. James and Lily are released from St. Mungos and decide to stay at Potter Manor for the time being. Ainsworth sets out to confirm information that Sirius told her with James and Lily.