"Sorry to cause you so much trouble." Harry apologized.
"No trouble." Wilkins said, "We're quite glad you knocked off that dark one. Always wondered why they were leaving it all up to you."
"A prophecy." Harry shook his head, "I really hate divination."
"No doubt." Wilkins grinned, "Rest up, we'll let you know when this is cleared. Try not to find any more trouble while you're here."
"Sir I have never in my life looked for trouble." Harry chuckled, "It always finds me just fine on its own. Tom has always excelled in making trouble find me."
"Who's Tom?" Craft asked.
"Sorry, that's Voldemort." Harry said, "His name was Tom Riddle. But I guess the Dark Wizard Tom didn't incite the right kinds of feelings in people."
Wilkins and Craft both chuckled at Harry's sarcasm. Wilkins had one more question, "Are you sure you don't want anyone to know who you are?"
"Yes." He replied, "Healer Brent already knows and I think Elizabeth will know too. But I'm not sure if I'm known to the everyday wizard of America."
"Not so much." Wilkins admitted, "They've heard of Harry Potter for sure. But I don't think anyone will connect you to the slayer of the darkest wizard of the age. You just don't look the part."
"I guess I'm glad of that." Harry grinned, "Just curious but what did you think I'd look like?"
"Taller." Craft chuckled.
"I expected more of an aura about you." Wilkins admitted, "You know power and danger, that sort of thing. Kind of like some of the old investigators."
"I know what you mean." Harry said, "I know one old Auror we call Madeye Moody. He has that kind a aura. I tend to suppress it. Wanting to appear more normal than scary. I'm already different enough from the other kids my age."
"Would you mind letting go for a moment?" Wilkins asked, "I've got a gift for detecting power levels. I kind of have a passion for mapping people."
Harry agreed, he took a deep breath and relaxed his blocks. He felt his magic ruffle his hair a bit as he continued to relax. It took him several moments to relax the blocks completely, "When I was faced with Tom's group of death munchers the blocks fell much quicker. I have more practice keeping them up than dropping them."
"Just so you know you're really up there." Wilkins said as Harry put the blocks all back up in just a few seconds.
"At the risk of sounding conceited, I know." Harry shrugged, "At least higher than any other student at school. And since there were several kids of munchers there suppressing it also served the purpose of not letting my enemies know how powerful I am."
"And you are just sixteen?" Wilkins asked.
"I'll be seventeen in a few days." Harry said.
"Are you wanting to finish school?" he asked.
"Later." Harry said, "I'm not going back. I'll probably do some self study this year and then take my NEWTs in the spring."
"Good luck Harry." Wilkins said, "I hope things go better for you from now on."
"Me too." Harry shook their hands and they turned to leave.
"How are you doing?" Elizabeth asked with obvious concern when she followed Healer Brent into the room.
"As well as can be expected." he replied, "Good news is that your government doesn't seem to be too upset with me. They've promised to clear up my missing passport with minimal fuss and I'm not being charged with murder."
"I should hope not." Elizabeth stated hotly, "It was purely defense. I would have hexed them had they tried to arrest you. I could have lost my Em."
"Your what?" Harry asked confused.
"Em." Elizabeth grinned, "My daughter's name is Emily I call her Em for short."
"Is she doing ok?" Harry asked, "I know an ordeal like that can be horrible for such a little one."
"She's doing pretty well." Elizabeth answered, "She's very resilient as most five years olds are. You of all people should know how resilient kids can be."
"So Brent told you or did you already know?" Harry asked.
"I knew the second I reached Em after you saved her. Your scar was uncovered. I moved your hair back over it so no one would know." she said, "I know they kept saying you love the fame, but I never thought you acted like you did. You had so many opportunities to flaunt your fame that you didn't use."
"You're right. I hate it. Now more than ever." Harry commented.
"Why now?" Brent asked, "He's finally gone and you did it. Why not enjoy the fame?"
"My girlfriend and two best friends died the day I stopped him." Harry said, "He killed them right in front of me, I was to slow to stop him and save them. Then I lost control of my anger and took them all out. I'm not proud in the least of anything that happened. The only good thing is they can't hurt anyone. But I don't like my own actions. I keep thinking I could have done it without killing all of them."
"John…" Brent started.
"You can call me Harry now." he said, "They said I can tell who I want."
"Ok, Harry, I want you to see another healer." Brent said, "My sister is a muggle doctor called a psychologist, have you heard of them before?"
"Brent I'm not crazy." Harry sighed.
"I'm not saying you are." he replied, "She specializes in military soldiers. She helps them deal with fighting wars, being captured and killing people. You are a soldier, you were captured and tortured by the enemy and you had to kill them to get away. She can also help you deal with the loss of your friends."
"I don't want to forget their sacrifice." Harry stated emphatically.
"She won't make you forget them or what they did." He replied, "She just helps you deal with it. I know Detective Craft saw her a few years ago when his partner was killed in the line of duty. He was blaming himself instead of the person who killed him. She helped him deal with the guilt and anger. He was very thankful of her help. Talk to him about it if you wish."
"She helped me with my grief over my husband." Elizabeth said, "And that was more than a year after it happened."
"I don't know." Harry hesitated.
"Let her come meet with you once." Brent said, "If you don't want to continue I won't make you. But I do highly recommend that you get help somewhere."
"Fine." Harry agreed thinking I won't have to tell her anything. She won't know the difference.
The next day just after lunch Healer Brent entered Harry's room followed by a woman with similar features. Harry grimaced as he thought, they don't wait long around here.
"Harry this is my sister Dr. Abby Cornwall." Brent said, "She's here to talk for a while and that's all."
"Fine." Harry said folding his arms across his chest.
"You know that's the classic stance for declaring your aggravation at the matter at hand." Dr. Abby stated.
"I'm not crazy." Harry said defiantly.
"No your pissed off." she said, "Let me start by telling you about myself and what I do."
"Ok."
"I'm Abby Cornwall. I'm a squib, the only one in a magical family of ten." she smiled when Harry dropped his arms unconsciously, "I went to muggle schools and universities and got my license as a Doctor of Psychology. I specialize in military soldiers but I do try to help anyone who needs it."
"I don't need any more of my life fed to the media." Harry said, "I don't think I have anything to say."
"I adhere strictly to the patient/doctor privilege. No one will find out what was said in our meetings unless you tell them." Abby said, "I even have Brent come and magically protect my office."
"I don't know." Harry was starting to give in.
"Harry I don't know much about your life but I can tell already that you have trust issues." She said, "I can't promise to take away all your problems but I'll do my best to help you. And I promise to not tell anyone anything you say to me without your permission. I'd give you an unbreakable vow if I could."
"Ok." Harry decided to chance it, "What do you want to know."
"We'll start slow." she said, "We'll have half hour meetings once a week in my office. We can either follow the path you set out or we can just talk about what things you want to discuss on that day."
"Like start with my birth and move forward until the present?" Harry asked.
"How about we start with the first bad thing rather than your birth." Abby grinned thinking they would jump years after his birth.
"Ok before I was born a prophecy was given stating a boy born at the end of July would defeat the dark wizard that was waging war in England." Harry said, "Two were born at the end of that month and he decided it was me."
"Ok." Abby was clearly shocked, "How do you feel about that?"
"The prophecy itself wasn't bad." Harry shrugged, "It was the affects it had on the world that bugged me. Tom, the dark wizard, killed my parents to get to me. But when it came to me the spell backfired."
"What spells did he use?" Abby asked.
"His favorite." Harry frowned, "The killing curse."
"I thought that was just a myth." Abby whispered, "Do you know why you didn't die?"
"My mother's sacrifice. He gave her the chance to step aside and live. She refused." Harry sighed, "Her sacrificial death covered me in a way most wizards don't even understand. He couldn't kill me. Anyone else could, but not him."
"How do you feel about that?" she asked.
"Horrible. How do you expect me to feel about it?" Harry got a little angry at her.
"More words to describe your feelings please." Abby pushed.
"Angry, sad, mad, pissed off, grateful , then guilty, horrible, disgusted, lonely and abandoned." Harry had started loud and got softer as he went ending in a whisper.
"All valid feelings." she said, "Do you know why it's such a mess for you?"
"I'm angry with Tom for choosing me and killing them. I'm grateful for their sacrifice and then guilty because I'm grateful. I'm not glad they're dead but I'm glad they loved me enough to die for me. Then I'm also angry that they left me." Harry shuddered, "Does that even made since?"
"Perfectly." she smiled at him.
"I probably wouldn't feel so abandoned if I could have gone anywhere but my Aunt's house." Harry said, "She hates me."
"Do you know why?" Abby asked.
"She's afraid of magic I suppose." Harry guessed, "My mum was a witch but she wasn't. No one else in the family was magical."
"Do you think maybe some jealousy is laced in there anywhere?" she asked.
"I don't know. I mean she really hates magic. We weren't allowed to even say the word." Harry said, "I was punished for bouts of accidental magic. I think they were trying to squish it out of me. In fact it wasn't until I got my letter from Hogwarts that I found out that I was a wizard. They even tried to run from the letters but Dumbledore sent Hagrid after them."
"Who are Dumbledore and Hagrid?" she continued to prod at his defenses.
"Hagrid is my first friend." Harry grinned, "I didn't have any in primary because Dudley would beat up anyone who tried to be my friend. Hagrid was the keeper of the keys and things at Hogwarts until he got promoted to Care of Magical Creatures professor. He's half giant and the nicest person you'll ever meet."
"Is Dudley a bully from school?"
"Yes but he's also my cousin. I lived with him and his parents." Harry scratched his head.
"Ok now who is Dumbledore?"she pushed.
"Was. He's dead now. But he was the Headmaster of school. He's the one who sent me to the Dursley's." Harry said, "He was a great man, professor and Headmaster."
"But…" she prompted.
"He kept sending me back to the Dursley's even though he knew what they had done to me." Harry frowned, "I know it was for my protection and reestablishing the blood wards. But I still felt like he was throwing me into a torture chamber every summer."
They continued talking for more than an hour. When they were finally finished Harry breathed a sigh of relief thinking he was done with the doctor. However she wasn't that easy to get rid of.
"Ok, you'll be out of here in a few days. When you are then we'll set up a schedule for two or three nights a week." Abby stated.
"But I thought we were done?" Harry was confused.
"Only for today." Abby laughed, "We'll go back over it and go into depth about everything. We'll be discussing everything that happened in as much detail as you can remember, then we'll work through the feelings you had at the time and the feelings you have now. We'll discuss any changes and why you think they have changed."
"And this is going to help me?" Harry questioned.
"Yes."
A few days later Harry was being released, "What are you going to do now, Harry?"
"I don't know." he replied, "I guess I need to find an apartment and a way to get back and forth to Dr. Abby's office. She told me to find a non-violent job since I refuse to return to school."
"You will not be finding an apartment." Elizabeth chimed from the door, "Em and I refuse to let you. You're staying with us."
"That's right." Emily said, "We have a room picked out for you and everything. You can eat dinner with us and help me with my homework. We can play with my toys, I share well."
"Sounds like a wonderful arrangement." Harry agreed with Emily but turned to Elizabeth, "I don't want to cause you any trouble or discomfort."
"You won't." Elizabeth patted his arm.
"I can pay rent and help around the house then." Harry decided.
"Harry there is no need for rent." Elizabeth countered, "The house is paid for. You'll need your money for other things."
"Liz, I have money. You do know who my parents were." Harry pointed out.
"I knew they were well off Harry. I didn't know by how much and I don't need to know now." she replied, "And where did Liz come from?"
"I like it Mommy." Emily said, "You call me Em, he can call you Liz."
"Fine." she said caving to her daughter's logic, "Liz it is." After Emily was distracted she added, "Just don't call me Lizy. That's what my husband used to call me."
"Deal." Harry grinned.
"We need to come up with a nickname for Harry." Emily said, "Har doesn't sound like a good one so I'll have to think on it a while. Mommy can we stop for ice cream on the way home?"
"Wow she can change subjects fast." Harry commented.
"Just wait till she gets started." Liz rolled her eyes.
The entire ride back to Liz and Em's house was filled with the ramblings of a five year old. Everything from explaining why she had to sit in a car seat to what they were having for dinner was open for discussion by Emily. It was amazing that she could say so much in just the ten minute drive from the hospital.
Once they pulled into the drive Emily switched gears again, "Mommy, Ella and Josh are playing outside, can I go play too?"
"Sure baby." Liz answered, "Just let me check with their Mum first."
When play time was secured Liz left to show Harry the house and the room he would be staying in, "I'm giving you the master suite because I've never used it. I always wanted to be able to hear Em so I took this room right from the beginning."
"Your house is beautiful." Harry complemented taking in the large airy rooms filled with life. This house felt more like a home to Harry than the Dursley's house ever had. Liz had placed plants around the house and there were two cats sleeping in separate windows in the living room. Harry pointed at the gray tabby, "That looks like Professor McGonagall's animagus form."
"I know." Liz giggled, "She's my first cat. I found her roaming the neighborhood. When no one claimed her I just took her home. It's like having a little piece of England here. She was one of my favorite professors. The cat's name is Minnie"
Harry let off a great bout of laughter that lasted several minutes. When he had calmed down he asked. "What house were you in?"
"Would you hate me if I said Slytherin." Liz asked.
"No I wouldn't but I also wouldn't believe you." Harry grinned.
"You're right I was in Hufflepuff." she replied, "Professor Sprout was always so disappointed in my herbology scores. I do better in transfiguration. Emily's father was in Slytherin though. I think that's why they killed him. He refused to join them."
"I'm sorry." Harry said saddened for his new friend. He decided to change subjects back to school, "I've always done ok in herbology. I just do better with muggle plants."
"I'm terrible with them." Liz said happy for the change of subject, "If I didn't have my friend Mary coming over to save them every week I'd just have brown sticks instead of plants."
"I don't think I've met Mary yet." Harry commented.
"No probably not." Liz stated, "She works in the clothing shop in the wizarding shopping section. Which reminds me we need to get you there and get some clothes and all your basics."
"Is there a Gringotts branch here?" Harry asked.
"Yes there is." Liz looked at the clock, "We have two hours until they close. I'll see if Gabby can keep Em for a while longer."