Hi! Sorry for the long wait but I've had a bad case of writers block! I hope this chapter is okay and that you all enjoy it!
Remus and Sirius walked down the silent street on Privet Drive, the sky was still stained with an eerie darkness.
Neither made a sound as they continued down the road that seemed to be never ending. Sirius clung to his Godson's hand, silently praying that it wouldn't be too late to save him, paying no attention to Remus' concerned glances.
He mentally went through every last second when he last saw Harry at Hogwarts on that awful night in June. He had looked so pale and afraid, tortured by the events that he had witnessed. Sirius had never been more scared for him, after all how could a fourteen year old boy cope with the horrors that he had seen?
Sirius couldn't remember ever feeling so scared in his life, not even on that horrific Halloween night when he had ran to James' praying that he wouldn't find the scene that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Remus watched Sirius carefully, he was almost as pale as Harry, his eyes flicked back and forth as though he was mentally battling with himself. He looked almost as bad as when he had first escaped Azkaban.
Not that Remus could blame him, his mind was struggling to register what had occurred in the past hour or two. Remus knew once Harry hadn't replied to their letter that something would be wrong, but he never could have imagined that they would find Harry in such a state.
"We are here." Remus said in a strangled voice, before he attempted to clear his throat and retain his composure.
Sirius looked up only to find that they had finally arrived at the apparition point. It seemed to have taken an age to reach. Remus gestured to Sirius to grab a hold of the stretcher, as he held the other side.
"Ready?" Remus asked him with a grim smile as Sirius nodded, their hands joining as they apparated together, clinging to Harry as though their life depended on it.
Remus and Sirius landed with a THUD! Only just managing to keep a hold of the stretcher which Harry's body was lying on.
"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed in a panicked voice as he quickly picked himself up.
"He's okay." Remus assured him, looking down at the battered teenager, checking his pulse as he did so. "We need to get him looked at though, his pulse is still weak."
Sirius stared at Remus for a few moments, both of them trying to decide what to do now that they had got Harry at Grimmauld Place.
"Maybe we should tell Dumbledore." Remus cautiously suggested expecting his friend's frustration before it came.
"And what will he do, Remus!" Sirius exclaimed, noticing Harry wince in his sleep as he tried to calm himself. "He will send him right back to the Dursley's, and you know it! He can't be trusted! Not with this!"
Remus watched Sirius for a few moments before he looked down at Harry, his face scrunched up with pain even in his sleep. Sirius was right. There was no knowing what Dumbledore would do – he had already let things get this far. If they hadn't listened to Dumbledore and went for Harry as soon as summer started then he would have been safe.
"Okay. We don't tell Dumbledore…yet." Remus agreed "But we have got to do something…the more time we argue, the worse Harry will get. Let's just get him to bed, and then we'll figure it out."
Sirius nodded sharply, before he carefully picked Harry up, and carried him up the flight of staircase until they finally reached the room which they had spent all summer arranging. Remus pushed the door open as Sirius rushed inside, pulling back the red velvet covers of the bed and placing Harry onto the comfortable, clean sheets.
The entire room was perfectly fit for a Gryffindor, banners hung from the walls, the large double bed was covered in the signature colours of red and yellow. They had thought of every little detail in the hope that Harry would like it, but they never could have imagined that when Harry first saw it he would be lying in bed, bruised and battered, fighting for his own life.
Sirius quickly pulled back the covers and kneeled on the floor, stroking his Godson's blood-stained hair, not caring for the specs of blood that he got on his own hands. If it weren't for the faint shallow breathing, he would have thought that he had already lost him for good.
"We need to get a Healer." Remus told him, battling himself as he desperately resisted running over to Harry and crying over his form, begging him to wake up. He had to remain calm and in control …. Harry and Sirius were depending on him.
"Who?" Sirius asked, not once taking his eyes away from Harry's, wanting nothing more than to see those emerald eyes of his.
"I don't know." Remus admitted with a sigh. "We could take him to St Mungo's but…."
"No!" Sirius snapped before Remus could even finish his question "We're not taking him to St Mungo's. It'll be too easy for someone to get to him, anyone could get in there, Death Eaters, Voldemort…never mind Dumbledore."
Sirius was right, if they sent Harry to St Mungos there would be no guarantee that he would have protection against anyone who tried to get to him. The daily prophet would be over it, sickingly using it to their advantage to make the Boy-Who-Lived seem crazy and deranged.
"Or Snape…." Remus suggested, not in the least bit surprised when Sirius shot him a look of disgust.
"Are you mad? Why don't we just hand him over to Voldemort and get it over with!" Sirius snapped, there was no way he was letting Snivellus near Harry.
"Well what do you suggest?" Remus snapped before he let out a sigh, running his hand through his quickly greying hair.
They both remained silent as Remus continued to watch Godfather and Godson.
"Madame Pomfrey." Sirius said quietly as Remus looked at him with a frown.
"What?"
"Poppy." Sirius said more clearly as he turned away from Harry. "She won't tell, Dumbledore. We can trust her. She knows about me and she never told anybody. She has the most experience with treating Harry, we need someone around him who he can trust."
Remus contemplated the option for a few moments, trying to decide whether or not Poppy Pomfrey was a suitable option. He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts as Harry started to cry out in pain, twisting in his sleep, his face scrunched up in agony.
"Remus, do something!" Sirius shouted at him as he panicked, desperately trying to hold Harry still to stop him from doing any more damage to himself. Remus ran out of the room as quick as he could leaving Sirius to deal with his Godson.
"Harry, Harry…." Sirius called out to him as he pinned his hands down to the bed with one hand, while he stroked his hair with the other. "It's okay, Harry, you're safe. Just relax. It's okay, you're okay."
It felt like an eternity to Sirius as he stroked His hair, and whispered nonsense comforting words to him, until eventually he fell back into his somewhat peaceful sleep. At that very second Madame Pomfrey rushed into the room, stopping short at the sight of Harry.
"Oh My…." She gasped, a hand coming up to her mouth to stop the gasp from escaping. "Let me see him." She ordered as she pushed Sirius out of the way, only having eyes for her patient.
"It will be better if you two leave." She told Sirius and Remus as she pulled several items out of her bag and lined them up on the desk. "You aren't doing anyone any good hovering around."
"But…" Sirius started to protest, but was cut off as Remus placed his hand on his shoulder, and guided him out of the room, firmly but gently.
"Come on, Sirius. Leave her to work."
Sirius could barely even protest as he was guided out of his room, having one last view of his Godson's broken and beated body, as the Hogwarts nurse desperately tried to save him.
It seemed to feel as though an age had gone by as Sirius and Remus waited anxiously in the Kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, their mind on one thing and one thing only.
Remus tapped his hands nervously as he sat in the hard wooden chair while Sirius paced back and forth, his hands gripping his hair.
"Would you sit down, Padfoot?" Remus snapped having reached the end of his tether. Sirius stared at him with a frown on his haunted face. "Sorry." Remus sighed.
Sirius opened his mouth to say something but one look at his worn friend quickly quited him. He looked almost as bad as he did after a particularly rough full moon night.
"What's taking her so long?" Sirius asked, not expecting an answer.
"You saw Harry…" Remus started quietly. "She could be hours, and that's if…"
"Don't!" Sirius exclaimed as he threw his hands in the air. "Harry will be fine. He's strong."
Remus knew that of course. He knew that Harry was strong and brave, but even the strongest of people have a point when they would break. Harry had been through so much in his years at Hogwarts alone, but Hogwarts was different…they knew that there was danger…how had no one seen that his own family were abusing him?
Remus was pulled from his thoughts as Madame Pomfrey walked through the door, her face slightly paled and grim.
"How is he?" Sirius asked immediately as he raced towards her.
"Mr Potter has been through a lot this summer and it has had lasting damage." She stated grimly as they both watched her with their full attention. "His injuries are quite extensive, but I've done the best that I can for him."
A million thoughts were rushing through Sirius' head at once, extensive? Lasting Damage? He knew Harry was injured, it was painfully obvious, but he would be okay, wouldn't he?
"He has broken ribs, which I have managed to heal, although they will hurt for a while. Both arms and wrists are broken, as well as his legs. I've managed to heal his arms but his legs will have to heal on his own…there's no telling when they will heal properly…"
"Or if they will heal at all." Remus finished grimly as he pinched the bridge of his nose while Sirius looked frantically between the two of them.
"What! They will heal, won't they?" Sirius exclaimed. "Harry has been through enough…"
"I know that, Mr Black." Madame Pomfrey said sharply. "We are all aware of the situation, but no. In all likelihood they will heal, but there is no guarantee. We can only wait and hope."
Sirius sunk down into the kitchen chair as the news of just how hurt Harry was set into his mind.
"He is badly bruised, and he will have several scars which are unlikely to fade." The room was silent for a few moments, the atmosphere tense, before Madame Pomfrey broke it. "Some of the scars seem to age back years."
"What?" Remus growled, his eyes darkened with fury, the wolf inside him ready to rip the Dursley's from shred to shred. "You mean to say….this has happened before?"
"There's no knowing just how far back this abuse goes…only Harry knows that. The thing I am most worried about is the emotional damage. If this has been happening for years then there will most likely be emotional and mental damage that no one noticed. But this summer would certainly have mentally scarred him."
"What can we do?" Remus asked, anxiously glancing at Sirius who seemed to have withdrawn into his mind, completely unaware of his surroundings.
"Be there for him." She told them quietly. "There is little else that you can do, as I said we won't know how extensive the damage is until he wakes up…we'll take it from there. I'll leave you potions for the malnourishment and nutrition potions."
Madame Pomfrey set all of the potions on the table along with several dreamless sleep potions and pain relieving potions.
"I must be getting back to the school." She said as she cast Sirius a worried glance.
"You won't tell Dumbledore, will you?" Remus asked her as she shut her lips tightly, looking as though she was in two minds.
"I won't tell the headmaster…for now. But he will find out, Dumbledore always has his ways." Madame Pomfrey told him, and Remus knew he was right. Dumbledore had eyes and ears everywhere, he always seemed to know what was going on.
Madame Pomfrey hurried out of the room after nodding a farewell to Remus.
"Sirius?" Remus softly said, as he placed his hand on his shoulder. "Sirius? She's gone. We can go see Harry now."
This seemed to pull Sirius out of his thoughts as he turned to Remus, his eyes full of emotions….pain and hatred and sadness all reflecting from them.
"What are we going to do?" Sirius whispered, his heart feeling as though it had been split into two.
Remus pulled him into a tight hug, clinging to him, his hand resting in his long dark hair, trying to battle off his own emotions. He could deal with them later when he was alone, after he had sorted Harry and Sirius.
Harry Potter was lying on the luxurious bed in the biggest bedroom of Grimmauld Place. His eyes closed looking as though he was only sleeping after an exhausting day of playing qudditch, seeing his friends, and enjoying the sun. But appearances can be deceiving.
He certainly looked better than he did only a few hours before, though his face was still pale, the blood had been washed away, though his hair was still matted and unruly. Most of the bruising on his face had been faded by Madame Pomfrey. But there was still a thin scar running along from his cheek to his ear.
Sirius and Remus silently walked into the bedroom as they both looked at the boy who they had sworn long ago to protect … only to fail. Sirius walked to Harry's bed, sitting in the chair that Remus had conjured up for him, desperately searching Harry's face.
"Harry?" Sirius whispered, as he gently took his hand, the other lightly tracing the scar that ran along his cheek. "It's okay. I'm never leaving you again. I promise."
Remus watched Harry sadly, as he subconsciously traced his own scars on his worn face, while his other hand held Sirius' shoulder.
A soft moan filled the room as Sirius looked at Harry frantically wondering if he had finally lost it and started imagining things. Just as it dawned on him that he must have imagined it, there was another moan.
There was no doubt about it… Harry was waking up.
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Until Next Time…..