The next chapter is up. I know it took me a lot of time to update, but it was a little hard to complete this chapter. Can't promise that the next will take less time, but I'll try. Enjoy!
Thanks for all the reviews…
Remember – Constructive Criticism!
Chapter 17: First steps to recovery – part 1
Draco woke up early in the morning, as soon as the influence of the Dreamless Sleep potion wore off. He looked around, Harry was still asleep. Apparently the potion was affecting him more due to his low weight. Draco turned to his back and stared at the white ceiling. 'I wish I was five years old,' he sighed. Yes, back then, everything was so simple. His parents saw him as a perfect son, perfect heir for the Malfoy line and he idolized them, especially his father. Even after his father had beaten him for the first time, he blamed himself. Everything changed when his mother had been harmed. From adoration it became hate. Draco's goal at that point had been to get closer to the same source of power as his father and then to take revenge on the man who hurt his mother. His beliefs changed once again when he had witnessed with his own eyes what his father was capable to do under the orders of the monster he served, the monster that Draco himself wished to serve a moment before the event. Draco was sure that till the day he dies the eyes of that girl will hunt him. That was the day that Draco Malfoy lost his innocence. His ideals were crushed. That day he also learned that his rival was right all along and that rival became his friend despite their differences in the past. Everything was so confusing and he wished to go back to the time when everything had been simple, when the only thing he had to worry about had been whether he'd be able to go outside and ride his new kids' size broom or he would have to stay at home because of the bad weather and play with his other toys. Draco sighed again.
"Hey, why are you awake?" he suddenly heard someone asks. Draco turned his head towards the voice and saw Sirius Black entering the room from the direction of the bathroom.
"The potion wore off," Draco answered, "I have a lot on my mind to sleep without it."
"Nightmares?" Sirius guessed.
"Yea," Draco admitted.
Sirius approached Draco's bed and sat on the chair in front of it, "Sirius Black," he introduced himself, extending his hand "I'm your mother's cousin and Harry's godfather."
"Yea, I know," answered Draco, shaking the offered hand, "It's really great to meet you."
"So, you are the one that made my godson's life difficult for four and a half years?" asked Sirius, Draco looked at him uncomfortably, but saw that Sirius was warmly smiling at him. "Don't worry; I wanted to thank you for what you did for him yesterday. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did."
"I don't know what I was thinking," Draco admitted, "If my father finds out about all of it, he would kill my mother and hunt me down. He has a reputation to keep after all… "
"Listen, I have to tell you the truth. I don't like your mother, but you care about her and probably she has another side in her that she never showed, so I can promise you that I will help to rescue her…" Draco was about to respond to Sirius' words when they heard a quit whimpering from Harry's direction. They noticed that Harry was still asleep, and probably having nightmare as the potion's effect wore off. Then they heard that Harry had begun to mutter something. Listening attentively they could distinguish words. Sirius' heart twitched as he realized that in the nightmare Harry was reliving the abuse. He could now clearly hear the words 'Please, stop, you're hurting me, sir, Uncle Morris… no more… please…" Sirius was lost. He had been instructed by Madam Pomfrey not to startle Harry in any way, but he was pained to watch his godson going through these nightmares.
"Maybe we should wake him," Draco interrupted Sirius' internal conflict.
"I don't know," voiced his thoughts Sirius, "I don't want to scare him, but I can't see him like that… Maybe if I'll be very careful…" Sirius was about to approach Harry when the noticed that the boy became silent. The whimpering had ceased and it seemed that Harry curled himself up in a fetal position under his blanket. Sirius moved to the other side of Harry's bed, so he would be able to see his godson's face. He noticed that Harry's emerald green eyes had been open, but the expression on his face was blank. The boy had been staring into space. His face was pale, but his eyes were puffed and red, Sirius still could see traces of tears on Harry's face.
"Harry?" Sirius gently called, but the only response he got was Harry pulling the blanket over his head and curling himself even more. "Harry, I know you are awake!" Sirius called again, louder, "please, Harry, look at me." Still no reaction. Sirius came nearer, he raised his hand and was about to lift the blanket, when he noticed that Harry was shivering. It wasn't cold in the hospital wing, so Sirius assumed that Harry was crying once again. Sighing, Sirius seated himself on the chair near Harry's bed. For a moment he glanced at Draco, who was now sitting on his bed with his knees drawn to his chest. The boy was staring at the opposite wall in front of him, deep in thoughts or just daydreaming. Sirius buried his face in his hands and sighed. It was his fault. If he hadn't convinced James to switch Secret Keepers, Harry could still have parents. If he hadn't gone after Peter that night, he could be Harry's guardian and Harry wouldn't ever have to go to those awful muggles.
A hand rested on Sirius' shoulder, awaking him from his thoughts, "Go catch some sleep. I know you had been awake watching Harry," he recognized the voice of Madam Pomfrey.
"I'm fine," he replied, "It's just killing me to watch him going through something like this… I know those things happen… but I never thought it could happen to Harry, James' son, my godson… and it was my fault! I should've noticed before that something wasn't right with him… When I first met him and offered him to stay with me, he immediately agreed… What a normal kid would trust an adult who he never knew before and would accept his offer to move with him… And this year…"
"Sirius, we all are guilty, but you are the last to blame" Madam Pomfrey interrupted Sirius' self-whipping; "I, as a nurse should've insisted on investigation when he fainted on the train and then came to me with that strange hand injury at the beginning of the year. I should've paid more attention to him being malnourished and too small for his age when he first stepped to this school. There is others to blame too, and the list is very long, but what Harry needs right now is our, and most of all, your support!"
"You are right," concluded Sirius, "Harry needs me. I'll do whatever is required to help him. And I promise that I won't repeat the mistakes I did that took me away from my godson."
"You are a free man now, I'm sure the Ministry will give you custody of Harry," Madam Pomfrey patted him on his shoulder.
"I don't want custody!" declared Sirius. They suddenly heard someone giving a whimper. Madam Pomfrey pointed her finger at Harry's bed, where the whimper came from. Sirius nodded, Harry heard every word that had been said.
"As I said, I don't want custody of Harry, I want to adopt him! Two days before their deaths, James made me swear that if something should happen to them, I'm to take care of Harry as if he was my own, even if I would have a family of my own. I told him, then, that I would've treated Harry as my own flesh and blood even without me swearing to him." Another whimper came.
Madam Pomfrey came near Harry's bed and lowered herself on the edge of it.
"Harry," she gently called, "I know you are not asleep, I need you to get up. We have a few things to discuss."
Harry made no movement. "I'm going to lift your blanket now," warned him Madam Pomfrey, and carefully pulled the blanked to reveal Harry's head. The boy hadn't struggled, at first, but then he saw Sirius, their eyes met and Harry snapped the blanket out of Madam Pomfrey's head and tried to cover himself again, he even made the attempt to turn to his other side. Sirius sent a questioning look at the nurse, who shrugged her shoulders and mouthed for Sirius to wait outside. Reluctantly, Sirius complied.
"Harry, please get up!" she sternly said as soon as she saw that Sirius left. Madam Pomfrey saw as Harry's body tensed under the blanket. "There is nobody here, except me and Mr. Malfoy; nobody is going to hurt you. Please get up!"
Slowly Harry sat up. Madam Pomfrey noticed that his eyes were still red and puffed; he was looking around, checking for any potential danger. For prophylaxis Madam Pomfrey brought Harry a mild calming draught and ordered him to drink it and then she asked Draco to join them.
"What's going to happen to us?" asked Draco, as soon as he was seated in front of Madam Pomfrey. The matron scanned the boys' faces, and then she noticed that Harry was supporting his left arm. She pulled her wand and a moment later Harry had his hand in a splint.
"I'm sorry I can't heal you right now," Madam Pomfrey apologized, "it is one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. To answer your question, Draco, we reported the abuse to the Child Welfare Department and to the St. Mungo, right now their representatives in the headmaster's office. They will be here in a short time, to speak with you. One of the things they are doing is taking record of your injuries. They probably will let me heal you, Draco, with magic…"
"What about Harry?" Draco interrupted; he sent a worried glance at his friend.
"It's hard to tell since there are muggles involved, and one of them doesn't know about our world…" the nurse replied.
"Will I have to talk about the… er… what happened?" Harry asked in a small voice. He pulled his knees toward his chest and wrapped his hands protectively around them.
"Eventually, but we will be there for you, for both of you," Madam Pomfrey tried to put a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder, but the boy jerked away. "Don't!" he told the nurse.
"Draco, why don't you go and take a shower," Madam Pomfrey asked the blond, she summoned him a clean pajamas to wear. The boys were still dressed in their school uniform. Snape told Madam Pomfrey about Harry's episodes of memory loss, and how he was waking up in different clothes, without remembering how he got them, so it was decided, for Harry's sake, not to change his and Draco's clothes to hospital's pajamas.
Draco nodded, took the offered pajamas and headed to the bathroom. When he left Madam Pomfrey turned to Harry.
"Harry, dear, why don't you change your clothes too?" she asked, "I can call Sirius back to help you…"
"No," Harry quickly replied, "No, I don't want him here…"
"O.K., I'll just leave you the pajamas. Call me if you need anything. I'll be outside, talking with your godfather," Madam Pomfrey placed the clean pajama on Harry's bed, sent a last look on the boy, and left the infirmary.
-aaaaa-
Half an hour later Madam Pomfrey came back to check on the boys. The 'guests' from St. Mungo and the Ministry were waiting outside, together with Sirius and the Hogwarts staff that was involved. When she had entered, she noticed that Draco was sitting on the window sill, looking outside, at the school grounds. He was dressed in the light blue hospital pajamas and by the look of his still wet hair, he was after shower. Harry on the other hand was still in his school uniform; laying on his bed, curled up in a fetal position, the pajamas he had been given lying untouched at the foot of his bed.
"Boys," Madam Pomfrey called, Draco turned to look at her while Harry made no movement. Madam Pomfrey sighed, "The representatives, I told you about, had arrived. They're waiting outside to talk to you." Draco nodded and approached Harry's bed. He crouched beside him.
"Harry, come on, get up… It's time we start our own battle… you have your owl to save!" he called, "Get up, for Hedwig, at least!"
It seamed to work. Harry sat up; he had a determination written on his face, at least for now. He took a deep breath, "For Hedwig!" he whispered. Madam Pomfrey nodded with approval. She saw that Draco handed Harry his clean pajama and drew the curtain around his bed to let Harry some privacy, to change. When Harry was ready, Madam Pomfrey went to call the people waiting outside.
-aaaaa-
The first one to enter was Albus Dumbledore, who was followed closely by Sirius and Remus; there were also Snape and McGonagall. Behind them came four, other people, one man and three women. One of the women the boys recognized as Auror Tonks, the same pink haired Auror who nearly had arrested them a month ago. Madam Pomfrey led the group to where the boys have been sitting.
"Good morning, Harry, Draco," greeted them Dumbledore.
"Good morning, sir" the boys answered, their voice a little shaking. They both started to feel less and less confident with every moment passing.
Dumbledore seated himself on an empty bed, facing the boys, "The things you told Professor Snape last night couldn't pass untreated. I hope you understand that what had been done to you was very wrong and a serious low violation, and that without mentioning you being hurt." The boys nodded, not looking at the headmaster but at their bare feet.
"It is our duty, as elders and the school stuff to protect children from abusive adults and to report about any known cases of child abuse, as we did this morning," Dumbledore continued, "Those ladies and the gentleman will be working on your cases," he nodded to the 'guests' to approach. The boys lifted their heads to look at them.
"This is Mrs. Janet Noelle, who is working in the MCWD, Magical Child Welfare Department," the boys nodded to the woman in her sixties that was dressed in official ministry robes. She granted the boys with a warm smile.
"This is Miss Anne Cornwell, who is a pediatric healer from St. Mungo," Dumbledore introduced the second woman; she seemed to be around Sirius' age. Harry noticed that Sirius was sending glances to her direction from time to time. She had a dark brown hair that came to her waist and hazel eyes. She had a very elegant pare of glasses on her eyes.
"You already know Auror Tonks, from DMLE, Department of Magical Low Enforcement," The witch with a heart shaped face and a pink spiky hair waived to the boys, "And the last, but not the least, is Mr. Ariel Levin, who is a Mind Consultant or if you prefer, Mind Healer, from St. Mungo." The last person, Harry noticed looked about Bill Weasley's age. He had a shoulders length black hair, pulled into a lose ponytail and had a dark green eyes. While the three women wore their work robes, Ariel wore muggle clothing, jeans and a jumper.
"I'll let Mrs. Noelle to explain you the procedure. We will be right in Madam Pomfrey's office, in case you need us. Harry, if you want, Sirius may stay with you…"
"NO!" Harry interrupted, "I don't want him here," he whispered.
"Harry?" Sirius couldn't understand his godson's reaction.
"Go away!" Harry almost shouted, "and you too, Professor," he pointed at Remus. Everybody noticed that the presence of the two Marauders was upsetting Harry, to the point he began to hyperventilate.
Ariel decided to take the matters to his hands. He turned to the adults and asked them to leave the infirmary. The only one who was allowed to stay was Madam Pomfrey. Draco was asked to return to his bed.
Ariel seated himself cross-legged on the floor, in front of Harry's bed, so he was facing the boy. He observed him for a few seconds. Harry pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his hands around them, his head buried into his knees. Ariel noticed that Harry was slightly shivering, although it was pretty warm in the Hospital Wing.
"Harry," he called after a moment, "They left, could you look at me?" Harry looked around without lifting his head, when he was sure that Sirius and Remus had left, he hesitantly looked at Ariel.
"Are you angry with them?" Ariel asked. Harry shook his head. "Did they upset you in some way?" once again a shake of the head. "Had they hurt you?" another shook for 'No'.
"So, could you tell me why had you asked them to leave?" Harry mumbled something under his breath, but when Ariel asked him to repeat, Harry refused and answered with 'I don't want to talk about it!'
"O.K., Harry, for now you don't have to talk about it. But the thing is, Sirius was appointed as your temporary guardian in place of your relatives, till the investigation is over, so his presence is required in here. If it upsets you, you may ask for somebody else to be here and if Sirius agrees to it, this person will stay with you," explained Ariel.
"Snape!" Harry said, sending a glance at Draco, "he already knows!"
"So, you prefer my cousin over your godfather?" Ariel chuckled. It brought Harry's and Draco's attention.
"Your cousin?" Harry asked, "Snape is your cousin?"
"Second cousin, actually. My mother is his mother's cousin. Imagine going to school and being taught by a not so nice Professor and then, at your graduation, to discover that you are actually related to him…" Draco snored, "He isn't that bad, you know…"
"I know it now!" replied Ariel, "but tell that to two second years that were trying for their first time to sneak into the kitchens…" Ariel noticed that he had succeeded to bring a small smile into Harry's face, but then it changed into a sudden fit of coughs. Harry was still shivering and his face was flushed. Ariel conjured a glass of water and handed it to Harry. "O.K. boys, take a deep breath," he finally said, "I'm going to call Mrs. Noelle."
-aaaaa-
When Ariel stepped out of the infirmary he met with the others, who were waiting outside. He explained them the situation about Harry's refusal to see Sirius and Remus and Harry's request for Snape instead of his godfather. Ariel told them that he had had an idea why it had been happening, but refused to share it till he confirmed his suspicions with Harry. Reluctantly Sirius agreed, but after he threatened to curse Snape into oblivion if he hurt his ward. Snape just rolled his eyes at him. It was decided that Snape, being Draco's godfather, would take the role of the boy's temporary guardian, till Narcissa's part in the abuse would be investigated and till his aunt, Andromeda, Tonks' mother, would be alerted.
Ariel was about to lead Mrs. Noelle and Snape back to the infirmary, when the door to the waiting room burst open and two teenagers ran in, trying to catch their breath.
"Where is Harry?" demanded Ron, as he stopped in front of his head of the house.
"Now, Mr. Weasley, as I told you yesterday, Mr. Potter was hurt and in need of a medical attention…"
"Excuse me, Professor," interrupted Hermione, "how was he hurt? Was he attacked when he went to the tutoring with Prof. Snape? Because he was fine before that, and…"
"Miss Granger, it is not the time not the place to discuss what happened to your friend…"
She was interrupted by Ariel, "Excuse me, Professor, as I understand they are Harry's and Draco's friends?"
"I'm NOT Malfoy's friend!" cut him Ron.
"O.K., sorry for that, then just Harry's friends," Ron and Hermione nodded, "Right now we can't tell you what happened, but at some point during the day, we will be talking to you about Harry's condition. Right now, as I remember right, it's almost time for breakfast… And don't worry; there is no danger to your friend's life."
Ron and Hermione reluctantly left, after they lost the argument about seeing Harry and were threatened to receive a detention by Prof. McGonagall.
-aaaaa-
The clock struck seven when finally Ariel was able to lead Mrs. Noelle in to explain the procedure to the boys. When they entered they noticed that Madam Pomfrey was trying to give Harry a glass of water, while the boy had another fit of cough.
"I think he is developing something," she explained to the people who came in.
"I'm not surprised," commented Snape, "after spending so much time in that basement…"
Mrs. Noelle placed herself in front of the boys and cast a Privacy Spell around the three of them, Ariel, Snape and Madam Pomfrey.
"O.K. boys," she began, "as you already know, I'm Janet Noelle and I represent the Magical Child Welfare Department, MCWD for short. The department is responsible for the welfare of Wizarding children, till they reach the age of 17. Any case of reported child abuse is treated there. We also responsible for finding suitable guardians for children who were orphaned off their parents or their parents were found unsuitable. Do you have any questions so far?" Draco shook his head; Harry looked as if he wanted to ask something but apparently changed his mind and shook his head too.
"Your headmaster contacted me as soon as the matter of abuse was discovered. As a precaution your parents, Mr. Malfoy, and your relatives, Mr. Potter, were released as your legal guardians for the time of the investigation and they are going to be taken into custody and questioned. We contacted the USA authorities about Mr. Morris Dursley. What's going to happen now is I'm going to collect your testimony, in a presence of the Auror. That is why Miss Tonks is here. After that, Miss Anne Cornwell, together with Madam Pomfrey will check you up and document your injuries. With the collected information we are going to the Wizagamount to the hearing in Mr. Malfoy's case. In Mr. Potter's case it's still to be decided where the hearing will take place since there are muggles involved…"
"Good luck with finding my father," commented Draco darkly.
"Why are you saying that, Mr. Malfoy?" inquired Mrs. Noelle.
"He is the right hand of You-Know-Who, that why!" said Draco.
"Mr. Malfoy, it's a serious accusation, besides, it's just speculations that He-Who-Mustn't-Be-Name has indeed returned," scowled him Mrs. Noelle.
"Then I must had dreamed the whole DE meeting last month, especially the Cruciatus that had been placed on me!" snapped Draco.
Mrs. Noelle paled, "I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, the Minister said…"
"Fudge is a moron!" interrupted Harry, "He would deny the truth even if it hit him on the face!" His statement was led by another fit of violent coughs.
"This is not the time to discuss it!" interrupted Ariel, "We are here to take the boys' statements about the abuse." He turned toward Mrs. Noelle.
"You are right, Mr. Levin," she replied. Draco went first. He was led to Madam Pomfrey's office, escorted by Snape. He came back a three quarters of an hour later, pale and slightly shaken, Snape was supporting him. As soon as he was back to his bed, Madam Pomfrey administered him another dose of a mild Calming Drought.
As soon as it was Harry's turn to go, he immediately regretted his decision to cooperate with the MCWD. His mind was focused on the fact that he would have to tell once again about the abuse and he wasn't ready. His thoughts drifted to Hedwig. Suddenly a wave of panic washed him. Mrs. Noelle said that his uncle is going to be arrested, but what if he would manage to hurt Hedwig first? Ariel apparently noticed Harry's distress, kipping himself at a safe distance, he called the teenager. Nonetheless, Harry flinched at a sudden call of his name.
"I can see that something bothers you," Ariel said.
"They can't arrest him… he is going to hurt Hedwig because I told…" Harry whispered, "And I don't want to talk to her… I'm not ready…" he pointed toward Mrs. Noelle. He suddenly felt very alone. Harry realized that what he needed right now was a mother to hug him and to reassure him that everything is going to be O.K. He felt ashamed of that thought.
"Harry, I know it is hard, but in order to help you, first of all and to your owl, Hedwig, you must testify. I won't lie to you, it won't be easy, but you must try. You won't be alone! You don't have to go into every detail with Mrs. Noelle, it may be required during the hearing, but we will work on that later… Do you want someone to be there with you?" Ariel asked.
Another fit of coughs, but during it Ariel noted that Harry slightly nodded and answered,
"I'll… cough… tell…cough… her…" he started to move forward to Madam Pomfrey's office.
"Do you want someone with you in there?" Ariel asked again. Harry shook his head. He took a deep breath and entered the office. He realized that he would better meet Voldemort than talk about his stay at the Dursleys. The hardest part was to talk about the Christmas Eve and what came next. His every word was documented and recorded. At the end Harry was escorted back to his bed, where he slipped under the covers and curled up into the fetal position. And in the office Snape conjured a glass of Fire Whisky for himself, but it was snatched from his hand by Tonks, who drained it with one gulp.
"Miss Tonks, please make sure that the muggle police had arrested those bustards!" said Mrs. Noelle.
"I don't think I'm the right person to confront those… those… things," replied Tonks.
"And why not?" Snape raised an eyebrow.
"Because I will be arrested myself for their murder!" the Auror replied and left the room.
-aaaaa-
The next step was documenting the boys' injuries. Healer Cornwell appeared to be the exact type of person to treat children. She was patient and gentle; she had a calm voice that seemed to drive all the worries and frights away. She explained that she is going to check them up with a diagnostic spell, the results will be written by a special quill on an official document. When Snape expressed his concerns how are they going to explain a parchment with the St. Mungo crest to the muggle authorities, Anne told him not to worry. She explained that she is going to document Harry's on a muggle paper as well. She then showed him an official looking blank with a GOSH logo on it.
"There are a few Healers in St. Mungo that work for muggle hospitals as well. I, myself work for the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, GOSH for short. We've seen a couple of cases there. It's usually brothers or sisters of a muggle-born wizard that being brought there by their parents and it's usually happens when the wizard is young and does an accidental magic… A friend of mine treated once a kid that somehow ended with a pig tail… But enough about that…" She drew the curtains closed around Draco's bed. Snape and Madam Pomfrey stepped behind them, while Ariel remained with Harry.
"I don't understand why David keeps supporting the Cannons… they lost once again, 40-250 to Padelmare United…" Harry, lifted the blanket and looked curiously at Ariel, who was sitting on the floor, his back leaned against the neighbor bed and reading a folded copy of the Daily Prophet's sport section.
"I've never seen someone so crazy about them… the dam kid had to actually paint entire wall in orange…" Ariel muttered, as if to himself.
"You should see Ron's room…" Ariel lifted his head at Harry's quit, hesitant voice.
"I bet it couldn't be any worth than my brother's room," he commented.
"At least it was only one wall… Ron painted his entire room orange," said Harry, lifting himself to the sitting position. Ariel smiled. From his talk with Sirius, earlier he learned that Quidditch was the way to get to Harry.
"And what team do you support?" Ariel asked.
"Besides the Gryffindor House Team, I think the Padlemare United sounds as a good team…" Harry said shyly, "I haven't seen any professional Quidditch to decide for sure, except the World Cup last year and what I read in the Quidditch Through the Ages..."
"Well, they do have a descent Seeker, Kevin Stone… I was two years behind him in Hogwarts, he joined the team in his third year and for four years in row Ravenclaw held the Quidditch Cup. In his seventh year and my fifth Charley Weasley joined our house team and the lead went to Gryffindor."
"You where in Gryffindor then?" asked Harry, "had you played?"
"I was a Chaser for three years, but I left the team in my seventh year and spent my free time in the infirmary, working with Madam Pomfrey, preparing myself for the Healer's training. Do you play, Harry?"
For a while they had a nice talk, all around Quidditch. It even got to the point where they were arguing about some moves. For now Ariel was keeping Harry from sinking into the still very fresh memories of the abuse. It was just a temporary solution; Harry will have to talk about the whole ordeal in order to recover fully, and not just about the facts but about his feelings and thoughts too. The next step would be to get Harry to accept the people who want to help him, his friends and especially his godfather, Sirius. Although Ariel hadn't told Harry yet that his friends had been asking about him, but he was sure that Harry would refuse to see them as well.
Their talk was interfered when Anne appeared from behind Draco's curtain and announced that it was Harry's turn to being checked. Soon Snape and Madam Pomfrey joined her.
The first part of the check up was fine. All that Harry had to do, was to lie on the bed, on his back. Anne produced from the bag she brought with her a magic quill and the official paper which now were floating in the air, ready to document the findings. She handed to Madam Pomfrey another official looking paper and a muggle pen and instructed the Matron how to take notes for the muggle hospital. Then the Healer waved her wand and a 3-D image of what supposed to be Harry's body appeared above him. She kept pointing her wand at the image which kept turning every possible direction. Another wave and only Harry's skeleton was visible, after that she looked at every internal organ separately. Some places on the image glowed with different colors, from pale blue to dark red.
"The blue represents bruises on a different stage. The darkest ones are the most resent," explained Anne to the people around her, "The red color represent fractures on a different stage of healing. The pink represents old, healed fractures. The green – infection or inflammation of some sort and the yellow – other problems that require specific diagnostic spells, depends of the body part."
"There are a lot of colors," Harry whispered. He was watching carefully for every movement that Healer Cornwell did. His body was tense, one of his hands was clutching tightly to the bed sheets, so much that his knuckles turned white, while the other, the hurt one was lying on his chest.
The next wave of Anne's wand and the image disappeared. She stopped the quill from writing and glanced at the parchment.
"There are a lot of colors, indeed, Harry," she commented. She asked Madam Pomfrey to bring Harry's medical file to compare her findings with what was documented there.
"Harry has a lot of bruises, most of them caused apparently by a belt. Some of them poorly healed and infected bruises that are a few months old and some of them pretty new. There are few fractures, although most of them from the Quidditch that had been magically healed so there won't be any trace of them on the muggle X-ray, there was a comminuted fracture in his right hand. I understand, Poppy that you left it noticeable to the muggle devices for further investigation, if required. " Madam Pomfrey nodded while Anne compared her findings with Harry's file, "there is a new fracture in his left hand and four broken ribs. He has signs of pneumonia, but I will need to look closely at his lungs and to run another test to be sure. He has bruises in his rectum… from the rape," the last sentence she said quietly, only for the adults to hear.
"Poor child," whispered Madam Pomfrey, "As if he wasn't through enough…"
"Now I need you to sit up, Harry," said Anne, "I need to check your vital signs and eyesight." Harry sat up. The healer took out of her case a ball that looked like a Rememberall. "Please hold it in one of your hands," she gave the ball to Harry. As soon as his palm clasped around the ball, Anne taped it with her wand and everybody saw as the ball turned red, then yellow and finally green and it beeped.
"Now, give it back to me," Anne instructed him. Harry placed the ball onto her outstretched hand, avoiding any contact with her. Anne looked at the ball, where a small numbers appeared.
"Blood pressure: 98/60, pulse 135 and temperature… O, my… 40.6 C (105.08 F)… in a few moments you will be able to lie down and I'll give you the Fever Reducing Potion… Now I need you to look at me…" she waved her wand again, this time nothing happened, but the quill that scribbled something down on the parchment. Anne looked at it, "Your eyesight worsened, you need a new prescription for your glasses… I will take care of it later… and now for the last part, I need your blood sample and for that I need to prick your finger," She opened her bag again and took of a small box, inside were a lot of small needles in plastic caps, she took one of them and closed the box, then she pulled out of her bag another box and took from there a square of blue paper with a circle on it.
"I'm going to prick your finger and then you need to press it against this parchment, inside that circle." She maid an attempt to take Harry's finger, but the boy jerked away and pulled his hand against his chest, "Don't touch me!" he hissed.
"I'm sorry, Harry, but it needs to be done…" said Anne in her gentle voice.
"NO!" Harry backed away. The adults exchanged looks.
"Harry, please, it will hurt only for a moment…" Anne tried again, "You are a big boy, you sure don't afraid of a little needle…"
"Maybe he can do it by himself?" suggested Snape, and Harry looked at him with a gratitude written on his face.
"Sure," said Anne, "Would you do it by yourself?" she turned to Harry. The teenager nodded in agreement.
"Clean your finger with this first…" she gave him a cotton wool ball socked with some potion. Harry did as she told him, then he took the needle and pricked his finger, wincing in a process. When a drop of blood appeared, he pressed his finger against the blue parchment. As soon as it happened the parchment turned pink and he saw letters started to appear.
"Now we wait," commented Anne, as she handed another cotton ball to Harry, to stop the bleeding.
Two minutes passed and the parchment turned back to blue. Anne made a copy of the parchment and transfigured it to a muggle looking paper. "It will go to the muggle hospital report," she explained. She scanned the results and shook her head in disapproval.
"Your hemoglobin is too low, 6.5, when it should be between 14 and 16 and your ferritin, the iron storages in your body, is low as well… You have Anemia, Harry… probably because of the malnourishment… Your leukocytes are a little high because of the infection of your bruises and the pneumonia… beside that no other problems… Now lets check your height and weight and we are through with the check up… Please stand up…" Harry got up on his feet, while shaking.
"Stand as straight as possible," Anne told him. She pointed her wand at Harry and muttered some incantation. Numbers appeared above his head.
"Height – 1.69 meters, weight - 45 kg…" she shook her head, "Not good… but luckily it repairable… You may sit down…" Harry returned to his bed, bringing his knees to his chest and hugging them.
"Well, the check up is over," said Anne, "now I need to take pictures of your bruises. For that I need you to take your pajama off and to stay in your boxers…"
"No," Harry backed away, a fearful look in his eyes, "please don't make me do it…" He started to hyperventilate and then he started to cough violently, gasping for air.
"Harry, relax, it's O.K., nobody making you to do anything you don't want to!" called Ariel, as he entered the behind the screen. He handed the boy a glass with pale green potion and Harry downed it. He felt an instant relief as a Calming Draught did it work.
"We need to take those pictures," said Ariel as he saw that Harry was calm, "they are the best prove to convict your uncle and his cousin. Think about something nice, like flying. When you are better, you'll be able to play Quidditch… Think about you catching the snitch…"
"O.K.," under the influence of the calming draught Harry complied. His mind was fixed on Ariel's calm voice, telling him about Quidditch. Slowly he took his short off and then his pajama bottoms, staying only in his boxers. Anne didn't wasted time and shot some pictures of Harry's back and front, his arms and legs. When she finished she did the same spell that made a copy of Harry's lab results, and she added the muggle pictures to the muggle hospital file. Meanwhile, Ariel told Harry to put his pajama back and to lie down. As soon as his head touched the pillow, Harry was asleep.
"What was it?" inquired Severus, pointing at the glass where the potion that Harry took was.
"It's a new modified version of the Calming Drought, we use it in St. Mungo," replied Ariel, "it calms the child and helps him to feel the intensions of the people around him. With that potion he knows who wants to help him and who wants to harm him. The problem is that the potion is too potent, it knocks the child out in ten minutes and can bring to an addiction, so we use it only when totally necessary and not more than once every three days on a duration of a month. Then we must make a pause for two weeks, before resuming the use of it."
"So, how long is he going to be asleep?" inquired Madam Pomfrey.
"In his case, for about an hour… I gave him a mild dose," replied Ariel.
Anne waved her wand and a faint yellow glow surrounded Harry's bed for a moment, before disappearing. "Monitoring charm," she explained, "Let's go outside to discuss his treatment. Meanwhile, he may be administered the Fever Reducing Potion." Madam Pomfrey brought the potion and purred it down Harry's throat, massaging his neck, to help the swallowing process and then she conjured a wet cloth and put it on Harry's forehead.
They emerged from behind the curtains. They saw Draco sitting on the window sill, reading some old copy of the Daily Prophet.
"How is he?" asked Draco as soon as he saw the adults.
"He has a high fever; he will be asleep for an hour, please keep an eye on him. We will be back soon. Call as if you or Harry needs anything." Draco nodded in agreement and the adults left the infirmary to discuss their findings and the boy's treatment with the rest that were waiting outside.
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I hope there aren't much mistakes….
The next chapter: "First steps to recovery – part 2"
Enjoy!!! R & R.