Author's Note: None of this is mine, it is all Rowlings.

Healing; Outside and In

When she awoke she was alone. She was in a large room full of beds. She tried to get up but she was unable to lift her body. She ached from head to toe. She moved her index finger and her whole body recoiled in pain.

'Oh Holly you're awake!' cooed a middle aged woman

'Where am I?'

'Why you're in Hogwarts, in the hospital wing. In the state you're in I would rather move you to St Mungo's but I'm under strict instructions to keep you here.'

'What happened, how did I get here? Where's Gerald?' she babbled.

''These are all questions you will have to ask Dumbledore. Now I'm going to give you some medicine, it will help the pain. I cleaned you when you arrived last night and you've defiantly got some broken bones. But we will leave them till later as I'm sure you'll be wanting to talk to the headmaster first. You're not in a good way Holly, I'm afraid you're going to be in my wing for a few weeks'. She pushed a teaspoon of blue liquid towards Holly. Holly frowned and kept her mouth closed 'Oh come on dearie, you going to have to trust me'.

'But I don't even know who you are', said Holly rudely.

'I'm Madame Pomfrey, I'm the head nurse here at Hogwarts. Do you want the pain to go away or not?'

Holly gave in, it hurt even to open her mouth. As the liquid went down she flicked her tongue across her lips. They felt tattered.

The woman noticed, 'Yes your lips are a bit nasty, but I'll fix that later too, don't worry pet', and with that she sauntered back out of the room.

Holly closed her eyes, her brain hammered against her skull. Her eyes felt hot, suffocated by her eye lids. She snapped them open and jumped. An old man with a long white beard was standing over her.

'My apologise Miss King, I didn't mean to scare you, Madame Pomfrey said you were awake.'

'I was, I mean I am… I was just shutting my eyes'.

He smiled, 'Well Miss King it is with great sorrow that I introduce myself I am Albus Dumbledore headmaster of Hogwarts and supposed protector of it's students. I am deeply sorry that we didn't act sooner on your behalf'.

'How were you to know?'

'Well I could have checked up on you. But regrettably when this sort of action was suggested I was overruled by the ministry. I suppose in certain cases they are correct, muggle borns are under no obligation to take on their wizarding power but it is highly advisable.'

'I don't think I understood any of that.'

'Right well I guess I should try and fit together some sort of overview for you. You are a wizard, which means you look like a muggle (a non-magical person) but you have special powers with the the help of a wand' He pulled out of his pocket what to Holly looked like a shiny twig. 'With which you can do magic', and to demonstrate he turned her bedside lamp into a vase of flowers and back again. She gasped. 'However although magic lies within the wizard how to control it must be taught. It is a mixture of hand movements, incantations, mental agility, potion brewing and more. Some wizards are from pure blood families, others have only one parent who is magical and some such as you have neither. But this doesn't lessen your magical ability, it is a merely a case of either having it or not. When you turned eleven, two years ago you should have come here to be schooled, but alas this has not been the case. And carelessness here has led to the current state you find yourself in. I personally will do my best to bring you up to scratch over the next two months before term starts. No doubt you will still be behind but with extra tutoring throughout the year you should have made up the difference between you and your fellow students. Hogwarts is now your home.'

'What about my step father?'

'Eh? Your step father? Our records record him as your biological father'.

'Yes I believe he is recorded as that, but it isn't true. I don't know who my father is… do you think he was a...'

'-We will have to look in to that later.' Dumbledore interrupted,' At the moment Gerald Fedra is being held by the Danish Police. The guards have been confunded', Holly looked puzzled. 'Sorry, made magically confused by agents from the ministry of magic, until it is known what should be done with him. I arrived while he was attacking you. He was stunned and has been in an unconscious state ever since. Giving the new evidence that he is not your father, I believe there will be no complication concerning your attendance here'

'Will I have to testify against him', she shuddered.

The old man sighed, 'Most likely yes, I'm so sorry Holly. But we will cross that bridge when we come to it. However at the moment my only concern is your health. He has broken two of your ribs and your collar bone. These will be fixed tonight. It is much faster than muggle healing and has more permanent and less damaging results. Madame Pomfrey will heal your cuts and bruises and see to that lip. After this we will help you get your health back. You need to put on a lot of weight and exercise more; you have been confined for too long.'

'Thank you Professor'

'Don't thank me. I did very little. You have been the brave one. Now I think you should get some rest'.

'No really thank you, not just for rescuing me, but for not giving up. Thank you for sending all those letters…it was the arrival of those letters that kept me alive… the fact I knew I hadn't been forgotten.'

He smiled,'Rest, Miss King', and with that he left.

She had been at Hogwarts a week and she was just beginning to move around. Her bones were healed and her lip magically sewn together. She was practising walking around the ward. She went to the end of the hall and turned around to walk back when out of the corner of her eye she saw a girl. Tears welled up in her eyes; she hadn't seen her reflection in so long. Oh how she had changed. She looked awful! She was taller and far skinnier than she remembered. Her arms where like twigs her bones tight against her skin. Her skin was naturally pale, but now it had taken on an almost translucent glean. Her hair ridiculously long hung limply from her head like rats tails. Her roots showed a whitish blond but the rest of her tresses were tar black. She remembered how huge clumps of her hair had come out in her hands when she tried to wash it so she had stopped. Her face once pretty was gaunt and sallow. Her large features extruded from her emaciated face making her look twice her age and ghoulish. Her nose sat crooked from when her step father had broken it and refused to take her to the hospital or set it himself. He had wanted to make her look ugly, the beautiful were vain, and vanity was the devil's favourite sin. She ran her thin fingers down her body. Her chest was flat, her hips slight, there was not a curve in sight. Her body which should have been blooming into woman hood lay flat and rakish like a boy. She put her head in her hands and fell to the floor and sobbed, she cried for the first time since she had arrived at Hogwarts. All the pain came flooding out; her body shook with all her suppressed tears.

The weeks went by slowly; each small step was an effort. But she was happier then she had ever been. Her body was beginning to strengthen, but the process was slow. She was so used to not eating that forcing down the huge plates of roast dinners and sticky toffee pudding was often painful. Her favourite parts of the day were her lessons with Dumbledore, she didn't have her own wand yet but he had supplied her with a spare one. It made the lessons more difficult but it was better than none at all. He had promised that once she was stronger Hagrid the gamekeeper would take her to Diagon Alley to get her own. This morning they were practising transfiguration, where she was meant to be turning a flobberworm into a pencil.

'Oh well done Miss King!' Dumbledore applauded.

'It's still a bit squidgy', she said poking it.

'But I'm sure at this rate you'll have it perfect on the next try.'

He turned it back into a worm and she tried again.

'Perfect! That was super; I think that's enough for today. Why don't you take a walk of the grounds, they really are lovely this time of year' he suggested.

'I feel as though I haven't been outside in centuries', she laughed.

'Come on I'll walk you to the entrance hall'.

She had been exploring the grounds of Hogwarts for well over an hour when she collapsed under a tree by the side of the great lake. She decided this was by far her favourite spot; you got the most dazzling view of the castle reflected in the lake. She was in awe of Hogwarts; it was beautiful, so peaceful and so safe. She loved it how it was now. She tried to imagine what it would be like when it was flooded with students, how would they treat her? She wasn't accustomed to people her own age. Her mind clouded with worry.

She stared in awe as she wandered through Diagon alley her hand clasped tightly in Hagrid's much larger one. He had become rather protective over the little girl. She was so fragile, she had put on a lot of weight but she was still scrawny as hell, but at least she didn't look like she was on death's door any more. They had a lot to buy as Holly didn't own a thing; she needed clothes, school robes, books, a cauldron and most importantly a wand. All these things were easy enough to get hold of but they didn't come cheap. She had been worrying about this for some time and had finally plucked up the courage to tell Dumbledore she had no money of her own. This was no surprise to him, he told her of a grant system whereby money was supplied by the department of education for young wizards in her situation. Once she was eighteen, there were loans she could apply for just like in the muggle world. She would be fine. Her tension eased but it didn't disappear. She desperately wanted money of her own, to Holly money had begun to symbolise freedom and the means of escape. She was happy at Hogwarts but she still didn't feel free or independent.

Once they had finished shopping, Hagrid took Holly to the Leaky Cauldron for her first pint of Butterbeer.

'You look so much better Holly'

'Thanks, I feel better.'

'You excited about the new school year?' he asked sensing she wasn't.

'Is it that obvious?'

He smiled weakly.

'I'm just nervous. I'm not used to people, and they will all know each other'.

'You'll be fine and if it ever gets too much for you, well, you knows where my cabin is'.

'Thanks Hagrid'.

'Thought about what house you want to be in?'

'Well I don't get a choice do I, any will do. I'm just happy I finally made it here at last'.

'You're right, Hogwarts is a special place. I remember how happy I was when I got in, never dreamed in all my life... I mean someone like me.'

She felt very close to Hagrid at that moment, he above anyone knew how it felt to be an outsider.

She was sitting in the centre of the Great Hall, it was full of boys and girls. The sorting hat was placed on her head. The room went deadly silent, the hats voice boomed loudly across the hall; 'There's nothing in here! I can't find a thing! She's retarded!' The Hall erupted with laughter. 'Get her out of here!' 'Get her out of Hogwarts!'

She sat up quickly; her sheets were damp with sweat. She took long deep breaths. The students were arriving tomorrow and she would be sorted. She was dreading it with every fibre of her being.

She awoke early and took a long hot shower. It almost burnt her skin but it felt good, purifying almost. She stood and looked at her naked body. She was defiantly looking better. Her skin looked healthier and her hips no longer jutted out so painfully. Her hair still looked like shit, she had been meaning to ask someone if she could get hold of some dye or a spell to change it back to blonde again. The light roots and darks ends made her look manic. Her face fuller than before was starting to regain its prettiness. Her large ice blue eyes were starting to sparkle again. Her nose however jutted out at an odd angle. Had it been a nice nose before, she couldn't remember… perhaps there was some magical spell for that too. She dressed in her new school robes. They weren't the most flattering of things, but she defiantly looked better than normal. She smiled. It looked weird. She stopped.

She met with Dumbledore before the other students were due to arrive.

'I think it would be best if you stayed with Professor McGonagall, while the older students come into the hall. She will go and greet the first years and you can go with her. You can then walk into the hall with them and be sorted. You will be sorted first and I will explain you are a new student in your third year.

'Thanks professor, I'm glad I won't be walking in alone'.

'That's what I thought, it will all be fine Miss King. I mean this is unusual, we hardly ever have students who join after first year but it is not unheard of. You are obviously as free as you please to tell any students as much or as little of your past as you like. It is nothing to be ashamed of. Your belongings will be moved from the hospital wing to your new dorm when the sorting hat decides on your house. They will be their when you return this evening'. He stopped, smiled and asked 'nervous?'

She nodded.

'Good, see you at the feast Miss King.'

Her knees were shaking.

When she entered the Great Hall at the head of a long line of first years she felt her jaw drop it was more fantastic then she ever could have imagined. The enchanted ceiling was filled with stars and hundreds of candles hovered above their heads. The students were chatting away merrily, hugging and greeting one another. The noise died down as the first years walked down past the tables. She looked behind her and was glad to see a long line of nervous students who looked just as scared as she did.

Dumbledore stood, 'Greetings new students and welcome back everyone else. It is lovely to see you all. Now, let's begin the sorting immediately. First we will be sorting Holly King, who will be joining the third year'.

There was a murmur of surprise but it died down quickly. She stepped forward and sat on the stool as the hat was placed on her head. She felt everyone's eyes on her, such close scrutiny made her feel uncomfortable.

The hat began to speak; she hoped no one else could hear it. 'You have great anger inside you. You crave revenge yet you don't dare admit it to yourself. You could have great power if you gave yourself up to it…… Slytherin could nurture your darker instincts'.

But I'm not evil. Gerald was wrong. He must be wrong!

'Ah, but you also have great strength of mind and a power spirit. We can all take control of our own future. We don't have to succumb to the evil lurking inside us. You will always struggle to contain it, but the important thing is you will try, I think it better be GRYFFINDOR!'

She didn't really know what this meant, but she saw a table decorated in red and all the students were cheering and waving at her. She strode towards them relief flooding her body. A pretty red headed girl who looked about her age moved up and beckoned her to come and sit by her. Holly sat and the sorting carried on until all the students had joined their new houses.

Finally Dumbledore stood again, 'Well now that's over I'm sure you are all very hungry and would like to tuck into our marvellous feast!'

There were murmurs of 'hear hear' and 'damn right!'

He continued, 'However I have the usual announcements to make, the forbidden forest is off limits to all students….'

Holly wasn't listening any more. She was looking up and down the table surveying her new housemates. Her eye caught that of a very handsome boy, he looked older than her but she couldn't be sure. He was chatting in a low voice to the boy next to him; they looked as though they were planning something. He turned around and he saw her staring at him. She looked down quickly, just as Dumbledore was finishing his speech. She gasped as the plates in front of her magically filled with food, the boy was quickly forgotten.

Author's Note: Please review and tell me if you're enjoying it!