A/N: Don't own. Continues almost right after last chapter but there will be some minimal time skips.
Chapter 10
Reborn woke up on the couch. They had not actually made it back to the bed yesterday after the appearance of the phoenix. Harry had been dozing while resting mostly against him and Reborn had not felt like rousing him again at all, so he had rearranged them without any protest from his Sky. They had fallen asleep on the couch listening to the mythical bird trill soothingly in his sleep.
He decided they should do this more often as he realized that while he was lying down on the couch, his little Sky was curled up entirely on top of him, face tucked into Reborn's neck. Yeah, definitely something to repeat. Reborn grinned slightly while watching the sunlight draw patterns on the ceiling.
He was glad they had been able to relax after the disquieting revelations and confessions of the day. And the appearance of a magical creature. Speaking of which. Reborn slightly turned his head towards the coffee table and was met by a steady stare. Hm, there was a little magical fire bird staring at him. Always something new with his Sky. Harry had certainly been right when he said that boredom was not something Reborn would have to worry about in the near future.
Even though the phoenix was staring at him, Reborn didn't get the same weighted feeling as yesterday which had certainly felt like an appraisal. There was clear curiosity in that gaze and when the phoenix chirped at him Reborn actually couldn't help but smile slightly. He was feeling incredible contentment flowing through him at the entire situation he found himself in. The best part of the situation was actually starting to move on top of him, pressing his face further into Reborn's neck to block out the sun.
Just to make sure that his little Sky did not jump off as soon as he woke up, Reborn settled his arms loosely but surely around his waist, before greeting him. "Good morning, lovely."
His Sky twitched, clearly realizing that there was something off about their current position. He slowly untucked his head from its hiding place and seemed to be slowly glancing around. Reborn moved back a little so he could fully appreciate the wide green eyes meeting his own and the heavy blush spreading across Harry's face as he realized his position on top of Reborn.
Reborn confirmed to himself that he quite enjoyed his life at the moment.
His Sky cleared his throat softly before mumbling. "G' morning."
Dios mio, his Sky was the most adorable creature he had ever had the pleasure to see. And he was all Reborn's, he internally concluded with satisfaction.
"Sleep well?" Reborn asked slyly.
"Very." Harry mumbled into his shirt. A pause, and then the blush actually increased at the obviously not entirely thought out response.
At that Reborn amended gleefully, that he loved his life.
Despite having covered some of the heavier topics, to Harry's relief there was no awkwardness between them in the following days. Still, as they watched Fawkes mature into the breathtaking creature he normally was at an incredible rate they kept to lighter topics only occasionally interspersed with some heavier conversation.
At this point it seemed to Harry as though they had been here in the apartment forever, but thinking back it had barely been two weeks since he had woken up entirely lucid. Still, so much had changed for him in so little time, especially the bond with Reborn.
Not only the Flame bond, but rather the personal bond between them, nourished by their conversations. Harry knew that Reborn had left out a lot of the personal information, but Harry had barely given out any personal information at all either only ever talking about his world rather than his own life so he couldn't really point fingers. They had time, those topics could come later.
Harry felt that he was slowly getting to know a part of Reborn beyond them being instant-bonded. They had found in each other what they had looked for in other people for a long time. But Harry knew he wouldn't have been happy if their only connection had been the Flame bond. He wanted to know his bonded, trust him and be trusted by him.
It was something that also worried him when thinking about getting more Guardians. He was quite convinced that he didn't want anyone else other than Reborn, though the way Reborn had described it, looking for Elements would mainly be based on his instincts. But Harry was almost certain that he wouldn't be able to open up to someone else quite as fast or as completely as he had with Reborn.
It might be influenced by the entire situation of being locked in the apartment due to his inability to move anywhere. But Harry thought the main point why it was so very easy for him to open up to Reborn beyond his yearning for this kind of connection was the fact that Reborn had made it undoubtedly clear right from the beginning that Harry was and would always be the center of his world. Harry had easily and enthusiastically reciprocated the sentiment. It was so very, incredibly, unquestionably worth it.
Gaining the power of his Sky Flames was an entirely separate topic on top of everything. He had no clue whether having Flames and magic was something that happened frequently, how Flames and magic were supposed to interact, or even how the presence of both would affect his bond with Reborn.
It was reassuring to feel that his magic was now mostly calm again but the additional pulsing of his Flames made it hard to compare it to how his magic had felt before it had been thrown out of whack originally. He really needed to get in contact with the healers. Harry was convinced that if there was something really wrong, his instincts as well as his magic would warn him in some way. Based on that everything should be fine. But it would be better to have Madam Pomfrey check anyways, even if only so she would forgive him for vanishing from the hospital.
Fawkes' appearance had finally given Harry a way to contact the healers in the Wizarding World. He had already asked Fawkes whether he would be willing to take a message to Madam Pomfrey whenever he recovered from his Burning Day. That was actually far better than any other solution he had been able to come up with before Fawkes' appearance.
Harry had also noticed that Fawkes' presence was truly calming to him and even to Reborn to a certain degree. Harry had explained phoenixes to Reborn, that their death triggered their burning which in turn triggered their rebirth. There needed to be death for rebirth to occur, but phoenixes never truly died as they were instantly reborn. It was one of the best described magical paradoxes. And even having seen it before, Harry still felt utter wonder at witnessing the cycle again.
Though Reborn still swore that his bullet hadn't actually connected with the phoenix but that he had already been burning when the shot reached him. Harry wasn't entirely certain what had happened as Fawkes couldn't possibly have reached his next burning day already.
Despite some initial suspicious glances between Reborn and Fawkes, they had clearly come to terms with each other's presence and were now starting to gang up on Harry in order to get him to eat more and to rest longer. Though Harry suspected that there might be a slight difference of motivation for the latter as Reborn not only insisted on Harry resting more but he also tended to arrange Harry to lean against Reborn as well.
Harry also spent a lot of his time in the afternoon with Fawkes perched on his lap, petting his developing plumage, sometimes talking but mostly in silence. Fawkes seemed to be truly enjoying this time as well as he by now appeared after their lunch expectantly hovering by an armchair for Harry to settle down.
And though it had him relaxing to finally have a way to contact the healers - and just how telling was it that he was so very certain that Madam Pomfrey would be the one to worry about him the most - it also made him nervous that he would be returning to the Wizarding World soon. Because he wasn't naïve enough to think that he would be able to avoid the masses. Especially after having been gone for about a month now.
"Brooding?" Reborn drew him out of his thoughts.
Harry looked up at Reborn from where he had been staring at the book in his hands. Reborn was sitting at one end of the couch while Harry was laid across it with his head on the other end of the couch and his legs in Reborn's lap.
"Well, I am just considering the different scenarios of what will be waiting for us in the Wizarding World." Harry paused as he realized they hadn't really discussed this at all. "Are we even going to the Wizarding World?"
Reborn lazily looked up from his notebook. "Of course. You need to go to a hospital for a check-up and the healers you trust are in the British Wizarding World."
Harry hid his smile behind his book at Reborn's easy concession. When he looked back up he felt a blush creep across his face at the fond look in his Sun's eyes.
"When do you think Fawkes will be ready to fly again?" Reborn asked.
"Well, he already looks pretty good now, though maybe still a little small. He will let us know as soon as he feels up to it." Harry looked over at Fawkes where he was perching on the back of one of the kitchen chairs with his head tucked under his wing. Harry felt a pang at the familiar picture reminding him of his lovely Hedwig.
Reborn had clearly felt the negative turn of his emotions. Harry had to suppress a slight shiver at feeling the large warm hand easily wrap around the bare skin of his ankle. Even without looking at his Sun he knew that his entire focus was on Harry, so he explained.
"Until recently, I had a snowy owl. She was a real beauty, my wonderful Hedwig. She was my first real birthday present and my most loyal companion. She was the only friend who never left my side, the only one who unquestionably stood by me and kept me company when no one else could or would." Harry stated absently, remembering his friend. He missed his Hedwig, her pecking at him to take better care of himself, her always knowing if there was a letter to pick up for him, always knowing when he needed her with him and even understanding when he asked her to stay away for her safety during the summers.
Reborn kept silent as he let Harry grieve his companion. He would not even begin to consider that his Sky's 'first real birthday present' was an owl, something that was clearly from the Wizarding World, which Harry didn't know about until he turned eleven. He just noted it down on his ever growing list of reasons why he would have no problems tearing specific people in Britain apart.
Harry's honest grief at the loss of his companion was almost palpable to Reborn. He could not even imagine what it would mean if he ever lost Leon, who had been his truest companion to date. He glanced over to the plants on the window sill in the kitchen where Leon had taken up residence pretty much immediately after they arrived at the apartment. Leon spent his days there lounging in the sun, only ever moving away when the sun had already set. He was clearly enjoying the down time.
Harry meeting Leon had been quite entertaining. Reborn had been taking a shower and his Sky had already settled into bed. But Harry had decided to get a glass of water from the kitchen, coming across Leon in the process where the chameleon had been moving towards the food Reborn had laid out. When Reborn had come from the shower and went looking for Harry, he had found his Sky at the sink in a staring contest with Leon on the kitchen counter, both seemingly quite at a loss. After having a good laugh - internally of course, Reborn didn't do laughter unless it was the evilly maniacal kind - he had introduced them and Leon had pretty much instantly fallen in love with Harry.
Now, Leon often joined Fawkes whenever Harry settled down for their 'cuddle sessions'. Though the one time Reborn actually called it a 'cuddle session' out loud, all three of them had given him the evil eye - which translated into kitten glowers at most - so he refrained from that specific designation. How he - one of the most feared members of the Mafia World - had managed to acquire what amounted to a small petting zoo and a Sky so adorable he fit right in with them… he had no idea but he was so damn glad he did.
It had taken another two days before Fawkes was recovered entirely. Harry had somehow just known that Fawkes was ready and by the time he had written a brief but carefully worded letter to Madam Pomfrey Fawkes had already be expectantly settled on the arm rest next to him. When Harry had sealed the letter Fawkes had just leant in, taken it with his beak and vanished in a colorful blaze of red and gold.
Reborn had watched interestedly as all this occurred while he prepared some coffee - yet again - for himself. Harry had warned him of various ways this could turn out. From Fawkes reappearing without a response to bringing a horde of healers with him. Reborn certainly hoped for a sensible compromise but wanted there to be at least one doctor to do a check-up on Harry in the immediate future.
His Sky seemed to anxiously be watching the sky outside of the window though, which didn't make much sense until Reborn remembered owl post being the most common form of wizarding communication. Watching the sky for a response on reflex made some sense then. Still, Reborn stepped in close to his Sky's armchair in case of something unexpected happening. Harry was nervously fiddling with the pen still in his hand while they waited in silence.
It was approaching almost half an hour since Fawkes had left when he returned in a fiery blaze with two passengers in tow.
Harry immediately jumped from his seat when he felt Fawkes return before the phoenix fire was even visible in the room. He felt a wave of relief wash through him at seeing that Fawkes had not only brought Madam Pomfrey but also Mediwizard Biran with him. Both healers looked quite ruffled which was to be expected considering that Fawkes had probably picked up Madam Pomfrey before getting Mediwizard Biran and both of them having gathered everything they needed within half an hour, as it was unlikely that they had been coincidentally in the same room when Fawkes appeared.
Madam Pomfrey gave him a brief once-over before greeting him pointedly."Mr. Potter."
"Madam Pomfrey, Mediwizard Biran. It is very good to see you again." Harry replied, feeling like a scolded first year. Harry was amazed by how Madam Pomfrey had always been able to put an entire scolding into just saying his name in a weighted tone.
At Harry's greeting Madam Pomfrey visibly softened, though still looking quite stern. "Indeed, Mr. Potter. Though it wasn't the first time that you had vanished from your bed against my orders, I was quite concerned at the knowledge that you would have been entirely incapable of getting up and fleeing our care unaided."
At Madam Pomfrey's stern glower, Harry was just glad that he could not be held responsible at all for leaving his bed this time.
Reborn carefully observed both of the newcomers and his Sky's reaction to them. Harry clearly trusted both of them so he let himself relax slightly as he moved forwards. The woman looked harried probably due to being unexpectedly contacted by Harry but still well put together. The man looked slightly at a loss at the entire situation and he still seemed to be having difficulties to look away from the phoenix at all. Neither of them seemed to have the best situational awareness as neither of them seemed to have really registered Reborn's presence at all. Huh. So, Harry was slightly different in that regard.
Harry then remembered his manners and turned to introduce Reborn. "Reborn, these are Madam Pomfrey and Mediwizard Biran, my main healers. Madam Pomfrey is the nurse of Hogwarts' hospital wing and she has been treating me since my first year at Hogwarts. Mediwizard Biran is a specialist in the field of maladies of the developing magical core. Healers, this is Reborn. He is the one who retrieved me from the situation I found myself in after having been removed from your care and he has given me a place to recuperate afterwards."
Reborn gave a lazy nod towards both healers still not moving too far away from his Sky. He inclined his head slightly towards the sofa and Harry immediately reacted, offering the healers a seat and some of the already prepared tea. This got him a reproachful look from Madam Pomfrey until he assured her that he had not used his magic to prepare the tea at all.
When everyone was settled around the coffee table with a warm drink in hand - Reborn thankfully still had some coffee from earlier - Madam Pomfrey asked primly. "Have you been in contact with the Wizarding World at all since your treatment?" At Harry's denial, she continued. "After you disappeared from your hospital room in the middle of the night, we started a frenzied search for your whereabouts. It wasn't until later that we were made aware that others had deemed themselves entitled to make uninformed decisions about your care."
Harry definitely did not envy whoever had borne the brunt of her anger, he really didn't. No matter how well deserved it might be. To this day Madam Pomfrey remained one of the people he respected most in the entire Wizarding World for her uncompromising stance on the care of everyone she considered to be in need of it.
Hogwarts' nurse continued. "By the time we found out about your new placement and promptly came to retrieve you, you had already been moved to another location." There was a minimal pause as she primly took a sip from her tea. "Anyone involved in your displacement from our care has been advised of the imprudence of their decision. Though I have to wonder, why you haven't thought to contact us before now." The no-nonsense woman asked pointedly.
Reborn decided, he definitely liked the woman.
Harry hurried to reply. "Ah, well, you see. The initial move from St. Mungo's to the Muggle World was immediately followed by a move across Europe. I was incoherent for most of it and by the time I came back to myself I found myself in another country, thus making it impossible to simply walk into Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade as that would have required even more travel. I asked Fawkes to find you as soon as he recovered from his Burning Day."
Here, Mediwizard Biran decided to get involved in the conversation for the first time. "Then you were very right to refrain from trying to contact us, Mr. Potter. Traveling a larger distances at that point, or putting any sort of additional strain on your core could have been truly detrimental to your health and your magic. Just from your general demeanor it is obvious that you are doing much better than I would have expected. It seems that your magic is settling down nicely. While we are sitting here comfortably let me just do a quick check-up on your magic."
Harry saw Reborn tense slightly as Biran pulled out his wand. Almost automatically he moved to press the side of his leg against Reborn's - though he wasn't even certain whether it was more to reassure Reborn or to calm himself.
Though Reborn only knew about wands from his Sky's explanations he was also very aware that it was the key to a wizard's offense. He did not like to have it pointed in the general direction of his Sky. At his side, Harry remained entirely calm though, so Reborn refrained from lunging across the coffee table and taking the stick from the man, breaking the wand and all the man's fingers in the process. A swish and a weird twirly flick later and suddenly there was a dull glass-like sphere about as large as both of his fists together, floating between them. Reborn was just going to ignore things appearing from thin air for now.
Still, the healer had clearly picked up on Reborn's less than trusting thoughts and instead of having Harry reach for the sphere he reached for it himself. To the side the woman made an impatient noise clearly not in the mood to humor Reborn's paranoia but a lazy flick of his eyes in her direction showed something like approval in her eyes. She clearly cared for Harry deeply and generally approved of Reborn's caution.
When the healer touched the sphere it was immediately filled with a soft green light, seemingly pulsing and shimmering with various shades of green and even a few yellow-green flecks from time to time.
Harry knew this part already. The orb was a way to view the general state of someone's magical core. They had used this before to assess his core's state in order to avoid having to apply any diagnostic spells directly to Harry which might have negatively affected his magic. When touched, the orb would mirror the current state of the wizard's magical core. These spheres could only be used once as they immediately adjusted to the magic of whoever touched it but any diagnostic spells could then be applied to the orb instead of the wizard making it the optimal tool in Harry's case.
When Biran conjured a second sphere and had it float over to him Harry calmly reached for it. He wasn't even sure what he was expecting, the tumultuous surging of his golden magic - he had gotten a good laugh out of that when he realized that calling him the Golden Boy had been far more accurate than most suspected - or the stillness that had become the state of his magic at some point during the treatment after the first few rituals.
Instead, when he touched the sphere, his bright golden magic seemed to flow smoothly in the sphere. There were still some occasional surges here and there and looking closer at the edges of the orb he could see some clear streaks of orange shimmering and coiling with his magic. Harry suspected the orange streaks to not be his magic at all but rather to be his Flames that were mixing with his magic at the edges of his core. Harry really hoped the healers wouldn't read too much in the slight change of coloring.
Reborn watched interestedly as the glow of his Sky's magic permeated the room. Though the light - magic - seemed to be different from the one filling the orb the healer had touched even beyond the completely different coloring. Harry's magic seemed more viscous somehow, denser, more substantial. Except for the orange streaks at the edges - and Reborn thought just based on the color those might represent the Sky Flames - which seemed to be more flexible, lighter somehow, quickly flickering in and out of sight, not quite as leisurely coiling as the rest.
Reborn was captivated by the entwining magic and Flames as well as by the wonder on his Sky's face.
Far too soon the healer cleared his throat as he leaned forward to focus on the sphere better. "That is surprising. Your magic seems to be settling down very well, despite the setback due to your displacement. There are still some surges so it hasn't yet resettled entirely but it is far smoother than I had feared given your unexpected removal from a stabilizing environment."
Both healers were focused intensely on the sphere and seemed quite surprised at what they were seeing.
"Would you please briefly pull at your magic?" Biran asked absently as he waved his wand at the sphere in a complicated pattern and Harry did as he was told, watching as the magic in the sphere reacted accordingly. For the next twenty minutes both healers performed various tests to assess the health of his magic.
To his relief neither healer seemed to be give too much attention to the additional color scheme in his magic. Though how were they to know that there was a specific reason for the orange streaks and that those hadn't been a part of Harry's magic originally, before the developing of his condition.
Harry would have liked to tell them about the Flames if only to have them include their presence into their considerations for his treatment. But even though the healers were under unbreakable oaths not to reveal anything they learned about Harry, they clearly fell under Omerta.
It would also have been very convenient to have the help of the healers in trying to organize a cover of Reborn's Flames.
After concluding the tests, Mediwizard Biran summarized. "This looks very promising, Mr. Potter. I would recommend to still refrain from magic use at this point. It should not do any immediate harm to your magic but it will delay your complete recovery. By my estimation, and that could be significantly off to be honest when considering your recovery up to this point, it should take another two maybe three weeks until you are entirely recovered. But to be clear, this is actually a crucial phase of your recovery as the development now can go two ways: towards further smoothing out the random surges or towards increasingly strong surges which can become truly dangerous to you and your surroundings."
Harry assimilated this, not entirely certain what to make of the information.
"Mr. Potter, will you be returning to Britain so a regular check-up could be performed?" Madam Pomfrey asked pointedly.
"Would it be safe to travel that far at this point?" Harry was surprised.
Biran picked up at this point. "Ah, well no, not usually, but travel with a phoenix would be fine. The problem with normal magical travel for you is the crossing of Ley Lines. Are you familiar with the term?"
Harry had heard of Ley Lines of course - it was a well known fact that Hogwarts itself was built on one of the major Ley Centers or Ley Line Crossings in the northern hemisphere - but he had no clue as to why they would affect his ability to travel. He shook his head, waiting expectantly for Biran's explanation.
It was something he really liked about the mediwizard. After their initial meeting Biran had quickly realized that Harry 'The-Savior' Potter actually lacked a lot of what was considered common knowledge in the Wizarding World. So, the mediwizard had taken off his rose-colored glasses, put aside his reverence towards The-Man-Who-Conquered and done his best to explain anything Harry did not know or understand with as much background as he felt was useful. When the other healers had picked up on the reasons for the frequent impromptu lessons they had joined in as well. Harry had gained a lot of his background knowledge on wizarding magic from his healers' explanations.
"Ley Lines are paths of magic that support a clearly defined flow of natural magic all over the world. They differ in their individual strength and flow of magic. Using portkeys or apparition a wizard can travel a large distance within moments, but they will still be traversing the entire distance, just really quickly. Thus with magical travel or muggle travel you would cross numerous Ley Lines of various strengths at random intervals which would be highly disruptive to your still sensitive magic. In contrast, phoenix travel is truly instantaneous without requiring traversing of space but rather an disappearance and instantaneous reappearance in a different location. Additionally, any strain on your magic will be further decreased due to your bond."
Harry had listened interestedly to the explanation of magical travel, but he startled at the mention of the bond. He had been so certain the healers had not realized that he had a soul bond with Reborn. He felt his Guardian tensing next to him as Harry fixed a surprised but pointed stare on the mediwizard. "Bond?"
There was confusion and some hesitance on the face of both healers. Madam Pomfrey was the one who replied. "We had assumed that Fawkes had bonded to you as he seems to be staying with you and is clearly doing your bidding. Especially with the mention of his recent Burning Day, which is required for a phoenix to bond to a wizard."
Okay, Harry had not expected that. Fawkes had bonded to him? Though that would explain how Harry seemed to be aware of where the phoenix was at all times. Like right now, where he knew that Fawkes was perched on the backrest of the chair by the dresser in the bedroom, even though he had not even consciously seen Fawkes retreat that way.
Huh. Some warning would have been nice though. Thinking back, Harry assumed the pulse of magic he had felt when he had first touched Fawkes after his Burning had something to do with this as well. It was actually pretty obvious now that he thought about it. He just really had not expected anything of the sort.
Well, it was definitely a nice surprise. Harry felt warmth flow through him at the thought of Fawkes staying with him and Ren from now on.
Harry shook himself internally and picked up the conversation where they had left off. "So, travel with Fawkes' help will not be too disrupting for my magic, no matter the distance?"
"Ah, I am not actually certain whether a longer distance might have a more adverse effect." Biran responded, though he still looked slightly confused by the sudden intensity that had suddenly permeated the room and then vanished just as abruptly. The mediwizard was entirely unaware that it had been only Reborn's instant focus on him at identifying a possible threat due to his previous comment.
Harry easily distracted the healers with some questions. "What about re-entering a magical environment? I have been staying in the Muggle World for weeks now, pretty much since the treatment was concluded."
"Hm, yes, it might be preferable for you to remain mostly in a non-magical environment until you have completely recovered. Though some brief visits to a magical surrounding might help your acclimatization to a magically saturated environment at this point and won't delay your recovery. It would still be better to avoid a prolonged stay in a magically saturated environment until your magical core has settled entirely."
"That will be not be a problem. I have a goblin warded apartment in Muggle London." Harry replied.
Reborn noted this down as he had not been aware that his Sky owned any properties much less in the non-magical world.
"Ah, that would work perfectly." Biran paused briefly before continuing. "I assume the apartment is warded against apparition and portkeys?"
At Harry's confirming nod, Biran continued. "Would it be possible to arrange the regular check-up with the help of your phoenix then? I am sorry to say that you were found at St. Mungo's last time due to a number of people discussing your regular appearance for your appointments. Be assured that while I was not able to hold any patients responsible for sharing that kind of information any hospital personnel involved in divulging any information about your presence has been punished severely."
Reborn decided he liked this healer as well. There seemed to be a lot of sanguinary people intent on his Sky's protection. If there were more people like this in the Wizarding World he might actually quite like it there, he concluded cheerily.
Harry responded. "I will have to ask Fawkes - " There was a trill from the bedroom, sending a warm pulse through everyone present, and Harry concluded happily. " - but it should not be a problem."
Though at this point Reborn felt it necessary to speak up for the first time. "Are you aware of who specifically was involved in removing Harry from your care?"
Reborn was aware of the clear accusation in his phrasing though it was far milder than it could have been since this screw-up was actually the reason he had found his Sky at all, so he couldn't be too resentful. Though in return for his leniency he was expecting a list of names so Reborn would have the chance to visit every single person involved in this personally and make his displeasure excruciatingly clear.
Both healers focused on him instantly and he could pretty much see them re-assessing him. Reborn was very good at masking his presence - it was essential in his line of occupation - and the healers had clearly dismissed him after his prolonged silence. Though they were both aware enough to recognize the folly of that now. He could practically feel the amusement and satisfaction that his Sky was exuding at their reaction.
It was Madam Pomfrey who responded in the end and mostly towards Harry as well. "I am sorry to say that it was mostly the Order and your friends who were involved, though not everyone of course. We initially assumed the worst, that you had been taken by Voldemort sympathizers. It wasn't until Elphias Doge decided to give a statement to the press that you were recovering from an illness at a safe location that we realized who exactly had been responsible."
There was a slight swooshing noise as Fawkes suddenly settled on the arm rest next to Harry.
After a brief pause the nurse continued. "Apparently, Mr. Doge used his influence in the Ministry to have you removed from St. Mungo's with the help of Aurors and transported you to a new location. After convincing them that it was in everyone's best interest to divulge your location we immediately sought to return you to St. Mungo's. They had even stationed guards at your relatives' residence. Foolishly, these 'guards' had not thought it necessary to give visiting muggles any form of attention and they could only retrospectively recall a larger group of muggles visiting at some point. You were assumed to have been removed from the residence at that point."
There was a prolonged moment of silence between them. Reborn liked how much information he was gleaning from this conversation, though he didn't much like what he was hearing specifically. Harry's friends and allies were responsible for his removal from the hospital, he was apparently enough of a person of interest that it had been noticed that he had been gone and that it had been deemed necessary to make a press statement in that regard, Harry had been brought to his relatives, who were then probably the ones responsible for his Sky ending up in the hands of the mafia. Most of this he had already put together from his Sky's statements before, but it was a definite confirmation of where to direct his wrath.
After some silence Harry asked softly. "Are they aware of my magical condition?" It was a multi-layered question. Not only whether the general public knew about his condition due to information leaked to the press, but also whether the Order had known about it when they had decided to remove him from St. Mungo's.
Madam Pomfrey's reaction was instant. "No. That information has been kept entirely confidential. When the public interest increased exponentially due to the mention of your illness and we had to fear a Ministry search, Mediwizard Biran and I decided to destroy any records. We can always write it down again… at some point. The other specialist have been under vow to not keep any records from the beginning. There is no way to discover any further information as our oaths as healers protect us even from veritaserum."
Harry released a relieved breath though he did not take his focus off Madam Pomfrey who was clearly hesitating to mention something. "While I was informed that they had been directly involved in your unauthorized transport, I have not been able to get in contact with Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger due to their trip to a different country."
Harry was not surprised at that, though it was disappointing to hear that they had not thought it necessary to inquire about his well-being from anyone remaining in Britain, because they would have heard about his disappearance then. And no matter how angry he was at them Harry was also convinced that they would have returned to help with the search if they had thought him to be in any real danger.
"I was informed though that they will be returning within the next few days to attend the eighth year at Hogwarts. You might even be recovered in time for the new term at Hogwarts." Madam Pomfrey concluded.
That gave Reborn pause. He had just assumed that Harry had already finished his education based on the information that Harry had given on magical education so far, though maybe that had been a bit hasty when including the war in the equation. Still, so far his Sky had not mentioned returning to school and going by his renewed silence on the subject Reborn concluded that this was something to be discussed.
Harry did not react to the mention of Hogwarts and going by silence around him that had not gone entirely unnoticed. He stubbornly kept silent though and returned to their previous topic. "How often would you prefer to do a check-up?"
This was something Harry intended to discuss with his Sun alone and not as a general topic of conversation. He had some ideas of what to do instead of going to Hogwarts and he would like to discuss those with Reborn, especially since they had not yet discussed their plans beyond the immediate future of returning to the UK.
Both healers were easily distracted by the topic of his future medical treatment though. They had a brief discussion amongst themselves before concluding with, "Every two days might be the best initially, just to gauge how quickly your magic progresses from this point onward. We could arrange a meeting time to come see you."
Reborn got involved again in order to prevent too many people being aware of where exactly his Sky would be residing. "We can easily visit your office if we can agree on a specific time and date. It should be more convenient for you and it would mean less travel for Fawkes as well if he just had to take us to the hospital and return us afterwards."
At the last part his statement Sky immediately nodded along with his suggestion. Harry was far too kind, so very easily putting anyone else's comfort above his own. But in this instance it suited Reborn's paranoia.
"That would indeed be more convenient. Short distance phoenix travel will be no strain on your core at all. As soon as Hogwarts starts again we could also arrange the meeting at the hospital wing in Hogwarts. I could easily get there by Floo." Biran suggested.
Luckily it was Madam Pomfrey who argued against that suggestions. "Regrettably, I cannot guarantee that the hospital wing will be empty at any specific time, so that might not be advisable. Just one of the children seeing Harry arrive there will be enough to rekindle the media frenzy. So, it might still be best to continue the appointments at St. Mungo's even then."
Reborn could practically feel the anxiety emanating from his Sky at the repeated mention of Hogwarts and so he easily concluded the conversation. "That would work perfectly. The day after tomorrow in your office then? What time would suit you best?"
Another brief discussion between the two healers before they agreed on noon as the time for the appointment and also promised to include the other specialists that had apparently been involved in Harry's treatment.
Fawkes had clearly sensed Harry's anxiety as well because as soon as they had agreed on the time and date he shuffled towards the healers who only had a brief moment to conclude their goodbyes before they were transported away in a golden flash of fire.
They remained sitting in silence for a moment. With the healers gone Reborn felt comfortable moving away from his Sky for a bit and went to prepare some coffee and some fresh tea water, giving Harry some time to collect his thoughts. But instead of remaining in his spot as Reborn had expected, Harry got up as well and followed him to the kitchen taking a seat at the kitchen island instead. He remained silent while Reborn got some grapes and some cheese from the fridge as well. Reborn had taken to providing regular snacks in order to make sure his Sky got enough to eat. He was still far too skinny.
As soon as Reborn settled on the chair next to him - if he had stealthily maneuvered the chair much closer than was strictly necessary, his Sky certainly wasn't complaining - Harry began.
"I guess you have some questions."
If that wasn't the understatement of the day. Though Reborn was actually most interested in the reasons for Harry's strange reaction at the mention of his school, there were some far more pressing questions he wanted to ask, like his level of fame when considering the mention of press releases and Ministry ordered searches to find him. Possibly best to start out with something easier though.
Reborn leaned back in his chair so their arms were pressed together. "You have an apartment in the Muggle World." He mentioned carefully.
Harry was starting to adore how Reborn always stated - not asked - his questions if he wasn't entirely certain whether Harry would be willing to answer. Not having his willingness assumed actually made him want to answer a question more.
"When the war ended, I decided to get a place of my own. As I mentioned before, wizards rarely venture into the Muggle World purposely so I felt it was safer to buy an apartment where I wouldn't constantly be running into someone who would recognize me and thus revealing my location. I had the place warded against anything I could think of. Also, it is actually very close to the most prominent Magical District in London in case I ever need to reach the Wizarding World immediately."
His Sky sure wasn't stupid. But him getting an apartment immediately after the war meant that his Sky had not had anywhere else to stay. Those relatives that had been mentioned by the healer might just be Reborn's first stop in England. Also, spontaneously buying an apartment meant Harry had to have some money which fit well with his mention of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. So many clues were starting to fit into a complete picture.
Though he had to ask about Harry's schooling at some point, so better get that over with now, as it would affect any plans for the immediate future. Reborn was kind of split on the topic of Hogwarts. On the one hand, he felt that education was far too important to just leave it be. On the other hand, there was no way he was okay with his Sky going back to a boarding school - away from Reborn - for an entire year. So, he was hoping for a decent alternative.
His Sky clearly knew what was going through his head though and continued. "I do not intend to return to Hogwarts to finish my seventh year. Or eighths year as they call it because of the number of students who effectively missed an entire year of education due to the war."
There was a pause but Reborn kept silent. He would be hard pressed to just accept it if Harry's reasoning for this decision was simply because he did not feel like it. Still, even if he just wanted to take a year off or something similar to recuperate from the war- a war veteran at eighteen - Reborn refused to exert any pressure on Harry yet. Reborn would not be able to accept something like that indefinitely. But no matter what, after listening to Harry tell some of his life story Reborn would not join the queue of people who had forced his Sky to do something due to their own sensibilities or preconceived notions. So, he waited patiently for his Sky to continue.
"There are several reasons actually, not the least of which is the fact that the Final Battle was fought at Hogwarts and I do not yet feel ready to permanently return there." Harry continued hesitantly clearly having expected some kind of response from Reborn.
Final Battle. That probably included Harry killing the Dark Lord. At Hogwarts, his school. What the fuck was wrong with the British Wizarding World? Reborn had to admit that was actually a pretty decent reason for his Sky's refusal right there. Though he had said several reasons, so Reborn continued to wait patiently.
"Also, as you have probably surmised at this point, I am famous in the Wizarding World. Not just well-known like a celebrity, but more like president famous, world-famous." Harry didn't feel comfortable talking about this, but he forged on. "It was already irritating when I was eleven and entered the Wizarding World, it got maddening when everyone acknowledged me as the prophesized savior in fifth year. After the war it became intolerable. I will not subject myself to that."
Harry refused. He would not return to Hogwarts, he already knew he would hate it and it would destroy the few good memories that remained of his only childhood home.
There was another long pause and Reborn forced himself to remain neutral on several counts. As the silence stretched he decided to ask a question. "What are your plans then?"
At that Harry seemed to light up a bit. "I want to self-study. The only requirement for taking your NEWTs is actually that you have to have passed your OWLs and have reached your majority. Also, I would really like to invest some time on the non-magical side of my education. I haven't been to a regular school since I was eleven and it is embarrassing how little I know about that side of the world."
Newts and owls? As in amphibians and birds? Just by the phrasing it was clear that Harry was talking about some form of exams but still, the Wizarding World sure had a strange sense of humor. At least Reborn hoped it was humor …
Though back to the topic at hand, with that explanation his Sky's reasoning definitely made sense. It also neatly solved the boarding school problem and would also keep them entirely independent, not chained to one specific location. Actually, Reborn really liked this option. He relaxed in his seat as the tension he had not even really noticed before released in his chest.
They had decided to leave for Britain as soon as possible instead of delaying another day, so the next morning they had packed what they needed. Harry just stuffed what little he had used back into his bag, while Reborn spent most of his time removing any and all traces of their presence - especially Harry's presence - from his apartment.
When they were done, Harry took another look around. He was actually kind of sad to leave. It had been a wonderful few days completely cut off from the world, lazing about, recovering, talking, spending time with Reborn. Even though Harry would like to continue on the same in London, he was not that naïve. As soon as it became known that he had returned to England he would be haunted by anyone and everyone. He suppressed a sigh. First order of business would actually be to get himself personal wards against owls and house-elves, so he would be as hard to find as possible. They would be swamped otherwise.
Harry felt Ren step in close and wrap an arm around his waist from behind. He automatically leaned back into his Sun's chest and took one more wistful look around.
As though called, Fawkes appeared in front of them. Within an instant they had vanished from their little apartment and from Italy altogether.
It wouldn't be until months later that they realized how much their departure would affect the future of the Mafia World. Not even Reborn would have been able to anticipate the chaos their disappearance would leave in its wake.
A/N: When so many people asked about Leon after the last chapter, I realized that I actually edited out a segment in Ch.7 that included Harry meeting Leon (because of course I didn't have the heart to get rid of Leon). Sorry if his appearance seems really sudden in this chapter because of that. On that note, I can't seem to find any information on where Leon and the other animals actually came from other than all the Arcobaleno having one… Help is very welcome :)
Chapter 9 review responses:
You guys are incredible! Honestly, the numerous reviews are a big part of keeping me as intensely invested in continuing this story. Thanks so much to everyone who takes the time to review!
To writer2000z & sunsetree: Thanks for your reviews! Harry is going to meet most of the KHR people at some point. Mpreg is possible in this verse (mostly because I see no reason why it would be the one thing magic fails at) but it will most likely not become relevant in this story. If it does it will be several years into the future of this story and definitely no unplanned, I-didn't-even-know-it-was-possible pregnancy.
To leBlanc: Thanks for reviewing again! I can only reply to the most relevant questions here though because your review was so wonderfully extensive :) Harry isn't getting any mail as owls, house-elves, etc. cannot find him currently due to his messed up magical core (see Ch.7). Training is in no way an option yet (Harry's magic is still recovering) though they will definitely get there.
To iReadWriteType: Thank you for your review! I don't intend to make Reborn the only Guardian, but I honestly can't tell you how long it will take until the next Guardian potentials show up as I don't even know myself yet. I post chapters as soon as I have written them, so I can only tell you that it will be at least a few chapters based on what I have planned out in my mind.
To blu star: Thanks for reviewing! Tsuna & Co will appear at some point but not for a while.