Chapter Four: Tales and Explanations

Hogwarts – September 2nd, 1997

"Ah, yes about that." Harry shifted uncomfortably and tugged at his collar, trying to think of what he was going to say. He did his best to maintain eye contact with McGonagall, but after a moment he gave up and flicked his eyes around the room. He didn't have to turn and look to know that Padma was staring at him – likely open-mouthed and wide-eyed. "You've found out about that a lot faster than I'd thought. I didn't actually expect things to happen so soon. I knew Uncle Ted was good, but still…."

Harry's nervous rambling trailed off as Headmistress McGonagall's eyes narrowed further and he attempted not to flinch.

"I received the owl a few minutes ago. A change in custody is something that the school tends to need to know about." McGonagall said after a moment of silence.

As a few more beats of silence passed, Harry continued to scramble for something to say. He was about to open his mouth when McGonagall again spoke, voiced filled with impatience. "I am waiting for that explanation, Mr. Potter. I cannot have the Head Boy taking students from their homes and families."

"From their homes and families?!" Harry suddenly found himself swelling with indignation at the idea that he'd kidnapped some child from their loving family. He had no lack of things to say in the face of McGonagall's accusation. "I don't know what to call it, but the place Mackenzie was living was not a home and the man she was with was certainly not her family. He was about to hit her for Merlin's sake! That orphanage was crushing her. It was destroying her spirit and smothering her curiosity. She was afraid to even look at me when I found her. It's only been a single night and already I can see she's beginning to come out of her shell. She may not truly believe me yet when I tell her that she won't be going back, but even the hope that she'll have somewhere else to go at the end of the year is allowing her to breathe easier.

"Maybe she would have been fine anyway. Maybe she would have been put in Ravenclaw, made friends, and found herself a family if I hadn't stepped in. But then she would have gone back to that orphanage. She would have been sent back to the neglect and the hatred and the abuse and it would have devastated her. To be shoved back into whatever cupboard or closet they keep her in. To be cut off from her world, from her friends, from the people who are like her."

Harry closed his eyes and let out a great sigh. He was surprised to find that he'd stood and begun pacing at some point during his speech. He turned back towards McGonagall who was now watching him with a blank expression. Harry shook his head slowly, his voice quiet and calm in contrast to his impassioned outburst. "I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't not step in. I had to do something. To let her know that she wasn't alone. That someone cared for her and would take care of her. I couldn't let what I went through happen to someone else, not when I could do something about it."

The office settled into a heavy silence as Harry and McGonagall stared at each other. He refused to look away, to hide the sincerity and resolution in his eyes. He wished he could show her that he knew Mackenzie's pain and that he was completely incapable of not doing something to protect her from it.

After several moments McGonagall gave a slight nod, her mouth no less pursed. "I see."

And that's all that was said. Because even though Harry had never spoken of his time at the Dursley's with his friends or professors, it was generally known among some circles that he was not happy there and McGonagall was Gryffindor enough to understand that Harry simply had to act to prevent someone from living through what he had.

The headmistress quickly moved on to the many other topics she wanted to discuss with the Head Boy and Girl. Harry retook his seat and the three of them enjoyed a productive working lunch. The only other thing that was said about the guardianship business came from Padma as she and Harry were exiting the spiral staircase leading to the headmistress's office.

"See, I knew you missed the meeting for a good reason."

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"Ugh. I'm exhausted." Ron flopped himself into the seat next to where Harry was working at the Gryffindor table and immediately began filling a plate. "What you got there, Harry?"

"Hmmm? Oh, just a letter to the Tonkses." Harry didn't bother looking up from his parchment. After that morning's conversation about Mackenzie's change in guardianship with Headmistress McGonagall, Harry figured he should write to Andromeda before he forgot and had to talk his way out of another chewing out.

"Make sure you eat, Harry. You've put on some weight, but you can't afford to be missing meals." Hermione's comments were punctuated by a loud 'thunk' as she set her bookbag on the bench next to her across from the two boys.

Harry raised an amused eyebrow but didn't comment on the irony behind Hermione stressing breaks from work for eating. He did however roll up the letter and begin filling his own plate. "So, how were your other classes today?"

"Not bad. I didn't actually have anything other than defense and herbology." Ron commented around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Ron. And weren't you just complaining about how exhausted you were?" Hermione's voice was equally exasperated and amused. Ron simply shrugged before taking another bite, causing Hermione to roll her eyes. "Well, I had a wonderful day. NEWT level runes is just so fascinating and we've started looking at South American alphabets already and hopefully we'll cover popular runic clusters next week."

Hermione was cut-off from continuing about her day by a loud belch from Ron. It was Harry's turn to roll his eyes as she immediately began castigating him for his poor manners. He let them bicker it out and continued eating until another body dropped onto the bench next to him.

"Hello, Harry. Have a good day today?" Ginny asked as she began filling her own plate.

"Hey, Ginny. I did, actually. It was a little busy, but not bad. How about yours?"

Harry wasn't certain how he felt about Ginny anymore. They'd barely seen each other over the summer - actually, he'd hardly had the opportunity to see any of his friends with how busy he'd been. They also hadn't really talked since Dumbledore's funeral when he'd broken up with her. He knew that she'd promised to wait for him to finish off Voldemort and now that things were about as safe as they'd ever been for him, he was sure that she expected that they would get back together, but Harry just wasn't sure how he felt about that. Yes the threat was gone, but Harry couldn't really say that he wanted to get back together with Ginny. It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed their time together or that he didn't care for her anymore, it just felt like there was something missing. The desire – the spark - he'd felt the previous year was gone and he couldn't help but feel that even at the funeral, the danger and threat of attack had only been an excuse to break up with her. Had he known even then that it wasn't really working between them?

"What do you think, Harry?"

Harry blinked several times and blushed furiously as he realized he'd not only missed Ginny's response, but also had no idea what she was asking him about. Ginny clearly knew he hadn't been paying attention and if her coy smile was any indication, was under the impression that he'd been lost in thought about her. Harry couldn't help but think she wouldn't be smiling if she knew what had really been going through his head.

Before Harry could say anything however, he felt a gentle tug on his robe.

"Um, Harry, can I talk to you?"

Harry turned around, already smiling in response to the barely-audible voice. "Of course you can, Mackenzie. You can talk to me about anything, anytime you want."

The small girl looked around nervously and glanced at Ginny before looking back at Harry. "Maybe, um, maybe in the hall?"

"Alright." Harry said with a nod. "I'll be right back, Ginny."

Harry stood and led Mackenzie out of the Great Hall with a gentle hand on her shoulder. Both of them missed seeing Ginny's narrowed eyes.

Once they were around the corner and out of sight from everyone eating dinner, Harry stopped and crouched down in front of his ward.

"How's this? Better?" Mackenzie took another look around the empty hallway before giving a shy nod. "Good then, now what did you want to talk about?"

Mackenzie chewed on her lip for a moment and Harry waited patiently for her to speak. After a moment Mackenzie looked up from the floor and into his eyes. "I only have one jar of ink, and I think I'm going to run out. I can't write with the feathers very well and it uses up a lot of ink."

Harry knew from experience how much courage it took for Mackenzie to come to him for help and he also knew that in a way he was being tested. She was seeing if he could be trusted to follow through on what he promised - to actually take care of her.

"That's perfectly understandable. It took me a long time to learn how to write using quills properly and I know I went through a lot of ink. We'll make sure to pick up several inkwells for you when we go shopping this weekend, but for now you can use mine. How about after dinner you do your work with me in the Great Hall where we can share and then tonight I'll send you an inkwell or two with Dobby? Does that sound alright to you?"

Harry knew as Mackenzie's shoulders relaxed and her face formed a shy smile that he'd passed this test. Now all he had to do was get permission from McGonagall to take Mackenzie to Hogsmeade that upcoming Saturday. For the sake of his and Mackenzie's developing relationship, he hoped McGonagall would agree.

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"Harry, can you help me write a paragraph on why we use wands?"

"What safety precautions are we supposed to use for potions, Harry?"

"What does statute mean, Harry?"

"Harry, can we have a snack?"

Harry wasn't sure exactly how it had happened, but somehow him telling Mackenzie that they could work together after dinner had evolved into him leading some sort of study session for most, if not all, of the first year students. Even the kids from Slytherin had shown up!

His best guess was that Mackenzie had told her friends where she'd be after dinner and that they had then invited themselves and their classmates along. He certainly wasn't going to complain, however, as helping the younger students with their work was beginning to fill his chest with an odd warmth – and only most of that was from the beaming smile Mackenzie was sporting next to him.

"Alright everyone, settle down. Let's go through each of your assignments one at a time. If you know how to do something, make sure to help out your friends. I can help if you're all stuck, but I need to do some work, too. And if you want, I can ask the house elves to bring a snack before curfew."

With a little order established and the first years' general enthusiasm properly directed, Harry didn't think that this would turn out to be so bad. If helping Mackenzie's friends made both of them happy, then who was he to not do so?

Of course, things would be a lot better if his own friends weren't sitting nearby with open mouths and bemused faces.

In the end, Harry was able to finish his letter to his Aunt Andi and Uncle Ted, but not much else. It turned out that Mackenzie wasn't the only first year student to have trouble with a quill, which led to him and Hermione going around helping each of them. As he'd promised, Harry called for Dobby and had him and a couple of the Hogwarts elves bring some cheese and crackers as an evening snack for everyone.

By the time the first years had all finished their work and eaten their snacks more than one head was drooping from the exhausting first day of school. A Gryffindor by the name of Mike was actually asleep at the table with his head resting on his crossed arms and Mackenzie was nestled against Harry's side, trying her best not to nod off as well.

"All right everyone, it's just about curfew for you lot, so it's time to pack up." A few people groaned at Harry's proclamation, but everyone began collecting their things. Harry packed all of his and Mackenzie's things with a few lazy flicks of his wand. Tonks had been right when she told him before his fifth year that her mother was good with household charms – an expertise which allowed her to teach several of them to Harry over the summer.

"Hermione, can you make sure that your Gryffindor makes it back to the tower?" Harry pointed towards Mike who was standing but looked ready to fall back asleep on his feet. "I'll walk this one back to the Ravenclaw tower. Can the rest of you find your way to your dorms?"

"We can take them back, Harry. We were about to start our rounds."

Harry looked at the unexpected voice to find Ernie and Hannah standing in the Great Hall doorway. "That'd be perfect, thank you."

With little more fanfare, the first years said their goodnights to each other and were soon on their way to their respective dormitories. Harry could tell that Mackenzie was all but asleep on her feet as she leaned more and more against him on their way back. The group had only made it halfway to the Ravenclaw tower before he simply picked her up and carried her the rest of the way, to many giggles from her housemates. Harry couldn't help but notice how light she was and quickly reminded himself to get her in to see Madam Pomfrey as soon as he got a chance.

Harry let one of the first-year boys answer the riddle to the common room before following Katie, Samantha, and Karen up to their dorm room. Having fallen asleep not long after he picked her up, Mackenzie woke again as he was getting her settled for the night. He was a bit relieved as this allowed her to get herself ready for bed.

"You lot have a good night, and don't oversleep tomorrow. I'll see you all in the morning." Harry turned to leave and was almost at the door when Samantha's soft voice was heard.

"Wait! Will you… will you tell us a story?"

Harry turned back around to look at the girl, his eyebrows raised up towards his hairline. "You want me to tell you a story? Like a bedtime story?"

Samantha's face blossomed into a full blush as she ducked her head in embarrassment. "You don't have to, but sometimes my daddy tells me a story and it helps me sleep."

Harry simply stared at the girl, completely incredulous. She wanted him to tell them a bedtime story? He'd never even heard a bedtime story. Harry almost snorted aloud at the thought of his aunt or uncle telling him a story through his cupboard door. He chose to ignore the longing he'd always felt laying on his cot every night knowing that Dudley was in fact being tucked in with a story and all.

Harry was about to tell Samantha that maybe he would tell them a story some other time when he glanced around and noticed the other three girls watching him as well – each looking as though they'd rather enjoy a story as well. What really squeezed his heart, however, was the wide-eyed hope-filled look a very much awake Mackenzie was now giving him. Harry gave a sigh as he felt his resistance crumbling.

Well, if a story now will help the girls get a full night's sleep tonight, who am I to say no?

"Alright, girls, but only a short one." Harry had to stop for a second in order to wait for the soft cheers to end. "Now, you four get to the bathroom and get ready for bed. Once you're all settled I'll tell you a story – but only a short one. And make sure to brush your teeth!"

Giving another round of cheers the girls scrambled for the bathroom carrying their nightclothes. Harry took the few moments he had alone to conjure a chair by the door and think about what he was going to tell them – a matter made all the more difficult seeing as he had no idea what would make a good story.

By the time the girls finished in the bathroom and climbed into their beds, Harry thought he had a fairly good idea of what to say. Once they were settled, he swallowed nervously a couple of times before beginning his tale.

"Let me tell you about how I got my Hogwarts letter and met my very first friend, Professor Hagrid…."

Twenty minutes later, an exhausted Harry Potter tucked four sleeping first-years into bed, pausing to give one a light kiss on the forehead, before sneaking out the door.

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Hogwarts – September 5th, 1997

The next few days went by without major incident. It was still just the first few days of classes, but Harry was rather pleased with himself that he was somehow managing to stay on top of his schoolwork, his Head Boy duties, as well as running a nightly work session for the first years in the Great Hall after dinner. The third session, having been held just the previous evening, not only saw nearly all of the first-years in attendance, but a few of the second-years as well. The good news was that several of the prefects had stayed around after they'd finished eating to help out those from their own houses, greatly lessoning Harry's stress and allowing him to actually get some of his own things done as well.

No matter who else showed up, however, Harry made sure to spend at least a little time with Mackenzie and the other Ravenclaw first-years. He also made sure to walk them back to their tower afterwards.

Another recent addition to his schedule was his "story time" with the Ravenclaw first-year girls. In yet another example of a situation escalating beyond Harry's control or understanding, these twenty- to thirty-minute sessions were becoming nightly events. At first, Harry had simply been asked to complete the tale of how Hagrid had picked him up from the Dursley's and taken him Diagon Alley. Then the next night they asked to hear more. And so, after getting back from their study session in the Great Hall, the girls would climb into bed and Harry would tell them a bit about his Quidditch matches, or his classroom experiences, or even some of the more tame experiences he, Ron, and Hermione had shared at Hogwarts. Not all of it made great bedtime telling, but he did the best he could and the girls seemed to enjoy it.

Mackenzie especially seemed to enjoy hearing more of his life and he felt them getting a little closer with each tale he told.

Which was fortuitous seeing as Harry was taking the opportunity presented by Mackenzie and him sharing a free period Friday afternoon to pull her away from her friends so he could take her in for her appointment to see Madam Pomfrey.

He'd told her ahead of time that he'd scheduled the appointment and he could tell as they walked quietly to the hospital wing that she was both nervous and embarrassed that a health-check was necessary. As much as he would like to spare her the additional discomfort, Harry was adamant that she be looked over.

When they reached the doors to the hospital wing, Harry stopped just shy of going through before turning and crouching down in front of Mackenzie. He took her small hands in his and looked her in the eye.

"I want you to know Mackenzie that you have nothing to be worried about. Madam Promfrey is going to swish her wand about a little and maybe draw some blood to test, but it won't hurt or anything. In fact, you'll hardly feel anything she does at all."

Harry could tell that his words helped a little, but Mackenzie was still stiff-shouldered and avoiding his eyes. Taking a deep breath, Harry began again.

"I also want you to know, that I had to do this exact thing when I was a first-year." Mackenzie's eyes immediately snapped to his. He'd told her a little about his childhood and had even shared some during his stories the last couple of nights, but she hadn't really thought about how similar they were. "I've told you that I didn't get much to eat as a kid and I was just this scrawny little waif when I arrived. A couple weeks into classes and one of the professors, I don't know who, arranged an appointment for me with Madam Pomfrey. Now, I went through the health-check by myself, but I really wished at the time that there had been someone with me. I'd like to go in and stay with you, but if you don't want me to, I'll wait out here until you're done."

Mackenzie's eyes widened a little and Harry felt her squeeze his hands as she shook her head. "No, please stay."

Harry was barely able to hear her, but he couldn't deny that warm feeling filling his chest. With a last silent squeeze of her hands and a nod of his head, Harry stood and led Mackenzie into the hospital wing.

If either one of them noticed that Harry still had Mackenzie's hand in his, neither felt the need to say anything.

Having been waiting for them to arrive, Poppy Pomfrey couldn't help the small smile that graced her lips as she watched one of her most frequent "customers" reassure the small first year Ravenclaw. As far as Poppy knew, she was the only one inside Hogwarts who'd been told about Mackenzie Williams' change in guardianship. Minerva had arrived in the Hospital Wing Tuesday afternoon looking rather out of sorts and Poppy knew immediately from the Headmistress' expression that Harry Potter was most likely to blame.

Seeing the two students enter the Hospital Wing proper, Poppy quickly schooled her expression before motioning towards Potter's normal bed. "Right on time, Ms. Williams. Why don't you hop up here and we can get started?"

Avoiding eye contact, Mackenzie gave a shy nod and scrambled onto the raised bed. Harry moved to stand beside her where he was out of the way but could still lend her his support if she needed it.

"It is my understanding, Ms. Williams, that your new guardian has some concerns about your health and would like a general health check-up. Is that correct?" Pomfrey flicked her eyes from Mackenzie to Harry and they both nodded to the kind matron. Receiving the confirmation, Pomfrey drew her wand and prepared to begin. "The first thing I'm going to do is cast a series of diagnostic charms. These will help me identify any old injuries or trouble spots. After that, I'm going to draw a little bit of your blood to test for any vitamin or nutrient deficiencies. Do you have any questions?"

Mackenzie started to shake her head before her eyes flicked up to Harry and then back towards the mediwitch. "Will it hurt?"

"Not at all, dear. You may feel a little pinch when I draw blood, but everything else will only tickle a little if you feel anything at all." Pomfrey waited another moment for Mackenzie to ask anything else. "Well then, let's begin."

The series of diagnostic charms took some time, but soon Madam Pomfrey was drawing a bit of blood into a vial at Mackenzie's elbow. Harry gave his ward's hand a gentle squeeze when she flinched from the pinching sensation, but the whole process was over before anything could be said.

Pomfrey mixed the blood into a series of half a dozen different potion vials while Harry rubbed Mackenzie's back with one hand and continued to hold her hand with the other. After a few moments, Pomfrey turned back to the two students. "These tests will take a bit longer, but I've got the general results now. If anything more specific is found, I can let you know later."

The healer paused a moment and took a deep breath, preparing to share her findings. She looked first at Mackenzie but then turned to Harry, speaking to him as the parent in this situation. "My findings are about what you expected, Mr. Potter. Ms. Williams shows signs of malnutrition and some neglect. I can already say that she will be taking a series of nutrient supplements, a growth potion or two, and maybe something to strengthen her bones."

Hearing this Harry was both upset and relieved. He was upset that Pomfrey was able to confirm his suspicions that Mackenzie was underweight and lacking several key nutrients. More importantly, however, he was relieved that it sounded like it was treatable. Really these findings weren't much of a surprise for him – he'd felt how thin and light she was and he figured that if his own case of malnutrition could be dealt with via a potion regimen, anyone's could.

Harry draped one arm around Mackenzie's shoulders and drew her into his side while rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. She was tense against him, but he hoped that they'd be able to talk about this later and that he'd convince her that this wasn't her fault.

After giving the students a couple of moments to digest the news, Pomfrey continued. "The good news is that there are no outstanding injuries or major health concerns. If Ms. Williams takes her potions regularly and on time, everything should be fully treatable. I believe, Mr. Potter, that you'll recognize the regimen as a lighter version of what you went through your first few years here. Ms. Williams will certainly not be on them for nearly as long as you were."

Poppy could see Harry relax just the slightest amount with the "good news". After a few more moments of silence, Harry leaned down to press a kiss into the top of Mackenzie's head, and whispered into her ear. "It sounds like we're going to have to fatten you up. You know what that means? More snacks and hot chocolate!"

Both Harry and Poppy were heartened by the small smile that appeared on the first-year's face. The two students were quickly shooed off the bed and out of the wing. Poppy couldn't help but smile at the sight of Harry hugging his charge to his side and promising to show her where the kitchens were.

Oh James, Lily, you two would be so proud of your son – I know I am.

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It was nice, Harry thought, to be able to just sit and relax while doing a little work in the Gryffindor common room. It felt like it had been ages since he'd sat in his favorite chair by the fireplace. It was already Friday evening of the first week and this was the first chance he'd found the time to visit with his old housemates outside of class and meals.

Harry caught himself looking around the common room thinking that not much had changed. With a soft snort he shook his head, exasperated with himself.

It's not been that long since I've been in here.

"Harry!"

A smile appeared on Harry's face as he watched his two best friends climb in through the portrait hole.

"Just come back from your rounds, then?"

"Yeah, mate. Nothing much going on out there tonight." Ron flopped into the armchair across from Harry before putting his feet up on the table between them. "What are you doing here?"

"Honestly Ron, get your feet off the table." Hermione shoved his feet from the table and set her bookbag down in their place. "And Harry can come by any time he likes, just because he's been made a Head student, doesn't mean he isn't welcome in the common room."

Harry's smile faltered a little at Hermione's tone. It was clear that she was still rather upset at not being named Head Girl – it had been a dream of hers for some years now. Harry wasn't sure if she'd ever gotten around to asking Professor McGonagall why she hadn't been chosen, but Harry certainly wasn't going to tell her – not when he'd practically been told the reason was that Hermione could be too bossy and pushy. He glanced over at his other best friend to see if Ron had picked up on Hermione's disgruntlement and had to suppress another snort when he found Ron absently picking at something in his teeth. Well, it had been clear to Harryat least that Hermione was still upset.

"Ron does have a point, though, Harry. It does feel like ages since you've been here." Hermione settled herself and gave a bit of a sigh. "If hardly feels like we've spoken at all since the end of last year, with how busy you've been and me being gone for most of the summer."

"Yeah, well that was for a good cause. I'm glad that you were able to track down your parents and get their memories back. And we've all been busy since school started."

"Oh, I know! Can you believe this is our last year? And at least the professors are taking our NEWT studies seriously – I've got three essays due by Tuesday." Hermione's eyes almost glowed with excitement at the prospect of studying for their final exams. "And of course we've all been so busy with our prefect and head duties. I think it's really great, Harry, the study sessions after dinner. I'm sure it's a great help to the first year students."

Ron snorted and rolled his eyes. "Oh come off it, Hermione. We didn't do our homework every night as first years, and we did alright."

Hermione sniffed in response and looked down her nose at him. "Speak for yourself, Ronald. And perhaps if you had done homework nightly instead of always procrastinating to the last moment you would have done better on your OWLs."

Ron leaned back into his seat, his hands raised in surrender. "Alright, alright, I get it. It's good that Harry's been helping out the 'ickle firsties."

"Yes, it is." Hermione turned back to Harry who had been watching their exchange with resigned amusement. "It's wonderful that you're looking out for the first years, Harry. And I'm sure they really appreciate it. The Ravenclaws certainly seem to, what with the way they follow you about like little ducklings."

Hermione beamed at Harry who felt his face reddening. Hermione wasn't wrong, the Ravenclaw first years, especially the girls, generally gravitated toward him whenever he was around. He knew this was a perfect opening to tell them about Mackenzie, but he didn't want to talk about it in the common room where people might overhear.

Before he had a chance to say anything, however, Hermione suddenly gained a mischievous gleam in her eye and Harry couldn't help but feel rather apprehensive about what was coming next.

"So tell me, how does it feel to be an Earl? That's practically royalty."

The handful of students occupying the Gryffindor common room were treated to the sound of Harry Potter groaning as his two best friends laughed at his expense.

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