Chapter 2: Plans

Disclaimer: It belongs to JKR not me.

AN: I don't do well with hospitals and injuries I tend to feel faint and sick to the stomach so, I am going to leave the details to your imagination. I will have some scenes in the hospital but very, very little medical talk.

On with the story…..

The Dursleys were questioned under the influence of veritserum and confessed to all the neglect and abuse that they had done to Harry over the years. Dudley was placed into a muggle juvenile hall for all of his crimes he did with the gang he was in. The muggle authorities were given the confession and the names of the other gang members. The adult Dursleys were put in a holding cell ran by the CSS department until a closed to the public trial could take place. Harry had to recover first so he could testify.

St. Mungos…..

Harry had incurred broken bones and internal bleeding which took surgery to fix. He would be unconscious for two days and spend a week in the hospital.

Meanwhile the fate of Harry's future residence was being decided.

The Burrow…..

July 1st

The Weasleys had seen the aftermath of Harry's trauma as they were heading to their car. They had asked one of the CSS workers if Harry could be placed with them when he was released from the hospital. They were now discussing as a family what they would have to do to make that happen.

Arthur looked at his family all sitting around the kitchen table, even Bill and Charlie were there wanting to see Ginny after what had happened to her. Taking a deep breath he began every one was quite waiting for him to talk, "We have a very serous matter to discuss as a family as this will affect everyone, including you Bill and Charlie. We have to decide if we want to take Harry in as a foster child and if we do what we will have to do to make that happen. So first we will take a vote to see what the majority wants. We will do a privet vote with these," he said passing out pieces of parchment to everyone that had yes and no on them, "you will tare it in two and put either the yes or the no part in the hat as it is passes around put the other piece in your pocket for now." Everyone did so the hat making its way around the table back to him. "Okay I will read them all out, your mother and I did not vote in this round, but we both agreed that we wanted to take Harry in before we brought this up to all of you. So here we go, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, no, and yes. Okay the majority says yes so we will talk about what will have to be done and then when we are done and revote. I would like a unanimous vote but at least three yes' will have to be from the five of you still living here for Harry to stay." Arthur paused to make sure all of his kids agreed. He thought he knew who at least one of the no's was from but was unsure which of his youngest two the second no belonged to.

"Okay I talked to CSS to find out what would be required. I was given a list that I will now read to you. Please wait until I am done to ask questions and stay quite while I am talking. Now this is a general list for children who have been taken from abusive homes not just for Harry." The list read as follows:

Housing requirements for abused children

The child must be given their own space, preferably their own room of at least 10x10ft. The room must be equipped with a bed, wardrobe, desk & chair.

Appropriate clothing, amount and condition.

At least three square meals a day following the nutritional plan according to the child's health needs set by his/her healer.

House rules and chores in written format.

Discipline for misbehavior in written format.

Additional requirements may be added for a child based on their individual case.

"That is the list. I was told that the first five are mandatory and that Harry's additional needs would be dependent on what the healers and his case worker think that he will need. But that can't be determined until Harry has been interviewed by his case worker and his healer determines if there will be any long term effects from his accident and the Dursleys treatment of Harry. Now I will answer questions raise your hand first."

Bill was the first with a question, "Have you decided what room he will be in yet?"

"Yes, he will get your and Charlie's room. You two don't visit very often and when you do we could add a bed in there and Ron's room."

Charlie had the next question, and would be the only one who would dare ask it, "Will you be given a stipen? Because if the requirement for clothes and other essentials is the same as in Romania you wont be able to afford it without a stipen. What you provide Ron with will not pass their standards."

"Yes a stipen will be provided. How do you know the Romanian requirements and what do you mean what we provide Ron would not meet their standards?" Molly asked.

"One of my co-workers was trying to adopt a kid and he was telling me about what he had to do to meet the standards. As for Ron, well, his clothes are all hand-me-downs from us and from second hand stores, that wont pass for a foster child; you bought Percy a new owl instead of getting Ron his own wand even after it broke, you made him go a whole school year with a broken wand, basically causing his bad grades, that will not sit well with the social worker; and Ron's room is quite small, he would have more space sharing with Percy, not to mention he could have been given our room after we moved out. You basically neglect Ron however unintentional it is you still do it. If you do that to your own child how can you be given a foster child?"

That left everyone in shock. Ron agreed with everything Charlie had said. Molly was in denial that she had treated one of her babies that way. Arthur was sad it had taken his second oldest to point out what he had let happen to his youngest son. Charlie and Bill were glade that they had voted no making this discussion happen. They knew that their parents had meant well but if they couldn't take care of their own then they should not be given another child.

There were no more questions but Arthur put the vote off until after dinner giving everyone more time to think more about their vote and to give Arthur time to talk to Molly about Ron. There were still enough votes to go forward but Arthur was having second thought especially after his talk with Molly.

The next day Miss. Miller, Harry's case worker interviewed all nine Weasleys individually and did not like what she was hearing. When she was done she told Arthur, who was last to be interviewed, that she would let them know in a week. When she got back to her office she went through her files of foster families hoping to find some where better that the Burrow. She did, the Tonks'.

July 5th

According to the CSS records the Tonks' were qualified for a child in Harry's situation and they did not currently have a child placed with them. Miss. Miller went to pay a visit to the Tonks' residence to see if they would take on Harry as a foster child, when she got there only Andromeda Tonks was home.

"Mrs. Tonks, my name is Angela Miller I am with CSS may I come in?"

"Yes of course, and please cal me Andy." Mrs. Tonks led her into the living room and offered her tea. They settled in for the long talk that was to come.

"Andy, I have a child in need of a foster home, you meet the requirements this child needs. He is being placed in foster care because his muggle relatives were very abusive, physically and mentally, they went as far to push him in front of a moving car to try to kill him. He is currently in St. Mungos recovering from his injuries and from the surgery that was needed. He is 12 and will turn 13 this summer and he has attended Hogwarts for the last two years. Are you interested in taking on this child?"

"Will this be a short term or long term placement for the child?"

"Hopefully long term, he needs stability in his life."

"Will I have complete control as his guardian in both the muggle and magical world?"

"Yes."

"Then I am interested in taking him in. I have had a few children in my care for short term before and I could not help them as much as I wanted because it was a short term only placement. I will want to meet the child first. If he does not like me then perhaps someone else would be better for him, he is old enough to have some say in what is to happen in his life. What I find interesting right now though is that you are avoiding his name."

"Yes I have avoided his name because I wanted to make sure you wanted to help the child because of his situation and not his name. Seeing as how you are then I will tell you his name now. His name is Harry Potter."

Andy sat there stunned for a few minutes that Harry Potter of all children would be subjected to child abuse. She also realized that she would have to reveal her connection to the child's godfather to him before they agreed to his placement with her.

"Well that was a shock I must say I understand your reluctance to say his name before I agreed to take him in just based on his situation. There is something you must know though and will have to be told to Harry before he agrees to be placed with me if he does that is. Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, is my cousin. I will inform Harry of this because I believe that he deserves to be told."

"I agree. Now do you have any questions for me?"

"Yes, what were Harry's first two years at Hogwarts like, and what do you know about his life before Hogwarts and last summer when he was at his relatives?"

Miss Miller spent the next hour detailing Harry's abuse and neglect at the Dursleys and of his time at Hogwarts including the Sorcerers Stone and Chamber of Secrets adventures. Andy was not thrilled to say the least. In the silence that followed Andy came up with a plan that would help Harry the most. It all started with pulling Harry out of Hogwarts.

"Is Harry required to continue attending Hogwarts?" asked Andy.

"He would not be required to go to Hogwarts, no, but he would be required to finish his magical education. Why would you consider pulling him out of Hogwarts and would you give him a choice?" asked Miss. Miller.

"Yes he would have a choice; of both going to a day school or Hogwarts and which of the three day schools in this area to go to, if that were his choice, as to why, well for several reasons. One, these escapades that he got into should not have happened in the first place. Two, he was not punished for them he was rewarded. Three, when he went to an adult for help it was not given, which is resulting in him not trusting in adults, which will only lead to him being in more danger in the future. And four, the quality of some of the teachers are not up to standard and nothing is being done to improve them. Now if he were to go to one of the day schools I would have more control over his actions and the consequences of those actions, now don't get me wrong I am not going to be a control freak and control his every move but if he were in my care before he would have been disciplined and not rewarded for his actions at school. He would come home each day after school and I would be in charge of his discipline if he were to misbehave. I would be able to enforce proper behavior year round, not just during the summer. From what you have told me he doesn't know proper behavior, at school he was rewarded when he should not have been, he gets away with things he shouldn't, at his home he was treated like a slave with sever punishment for things that he didn't even do. He needs to know what does and does not deserve punishment and what proper punishment is. He needs to know that his actions affect more than just him. He also needs to learn how to trust some adults to be there for him to help him when he needs it. None of that will happen if he goes to Hogwarts. Then there is his quality of education. The day schools in this area and all of England are of high quality if not higher than Hogwarts, they just don't have the same prestige. The three in this area have highly qualified teachers in ALL subjects that have to meet standards and if they don't they are given a specified time and the resource to meet them, if they don't they loose their job. I know that Harry plays quidditch. The day schools have leagues not only for quidditch but other sports also. If he made a team he would get a higher quality experience than at Hogwarts. There are two coaches for each team, one for offence and one for defense. There are also workshops throughout the season for each position and for the teams to work together. There are also more games in a season. Professional teams regularly scout from the leagues due to the higher quality players. There are also other after school activities besides sports. There are also more classes offered at the day schools resulting in more career options," said Andy.

"Well, I must say that was quite persuasive. But how do you know so much when you and your family all went to Hogwarts?" asked Miss. Miller.

"The few foster kids I have had, have gone to the day schools," said Andy.

"I do believe that Harry will be placed with you. I will have to talk to both your husband and daughter first to have their approval also. If they agree, Harry will be released into your custody in three days. He is still recovering from the surgery and will have to take it easy when he gets here. The healer will have to give you the specifics of his care while he recovers fully. I would like to talk to both your husband and daughter either tonight or early tomorrow morning so that you can spend the next two days while he is in the hospital getting to know each other. That way it won't be as awkward when he gets here. He will also have the comfort of someone besides the healers caring about his well being, Auror Sampson, the auror assigned to Harry's protection, and I don't really count in that because it is our job," said Miss. Miller.

"There are a few more matters to discuss and attend to before I leave. The first is my inspection of the room where Harry will stay in here. The other is discussing the other family that is petitioning to not only foster Harry but adopt him. Before we get into that discussion I would like to get the inspection done."

Miss Miller was shown Harry's future bedroom. The room was 14 feet by 12 feet, quite large, and very white. Everything but the wood was white. She turned to Andy to ask about that.

"Why is everything so white?"

"It's a charm. If you think about what color you want something, say the walls for example, then place your hand on the wall and say, colouris the wall will turn that color. It's the same for everything you see in here that is white. This allows the child to customize the room with out me having to buy new paint and bedding all the time. The color can be changed over and over again. There is a stasis charm I can add when the child is satisfied with the colors. The stasis charm can be removed so the color can be changed again."

Miss. Miller was impressed with that explanation so she went on with her inspection. There was a double size four poster bed that was very soft to lie on and plenty of pillows. On both sides of the bed there were nightstands that had three drawers each. There was a very nice desk that had plenty of drawers and cubbies to organize all of Harry's school stuff. There were also book shelves on both sides of the desk, which was under the window. There was also a big wardrobe to fit plenty of both muggle and wizard clothes. There was also plenty of floor space left over where Harry could sit on the ground to play games with friends if he wanted.

Miss. Miller finished her inspection of Harry's room and the rest of the house, to update the records; a house inspection was required once a year to keep a foster care license. Once again the two women were back in the living room sipping a cup of tea to have their discussion of the Weasleys.

"I normally don't inform the chosen foster family about the other families that are trying to gain custody of a child but in this case I believe it is necessary, mostly because they are friends of Harry and you will have to interact with them in the future. The one family that I know of that is trying to gain Harry as a foster child and to hopefully adopt him is the Weasleys. I personally inspected their home and interviewed all nine of them. I do not believe that Harry should be placed with them for several reasons. I won't tell you all of them but there are a few that you need to be aware of. One is that their home did not meet the requirements; I even gave them changes that needed to be done if they didn't want me to take their own children away from them. The other is that they do not make enough money to support their own children let alone adding another to the mix. Granted they would receive money to help with Harry but based on interviews with their two oldest the money would not just be spent on Harry, it would be spent on what Mrs. Weasley felt it was needed for. After hearing a few examples from the two oldest about what she thinks is more important I can not in good conscience leave her in charge of money for a foster child. Then there is the jealousy that their youngest son is known to exude. He would cause Harry some mental problems if placed in that environment. I am really hoping that Harry agrees to stay with you because if he didn't he would go to the Weasleys until a different foster home could be arranged."

After making arrangements to return that evening to interview both Mr. Tonks and the Nymphadora and plans to visit Harry the following day Miss Miller left. Later that evening after her interviews Miss Miller was satisfied with her decision to place Harry with the Tonks' she just hoped that Harry would want to stay with them.