AUTHOR'S NOTES: I'm leaving out one of the darker sections of this story where Petunia, Sirius, and the others find out about Harry's habit of self injury. Re-reading the original, I didn't find it necessary to include that bit.

Chapter 5

Friday morning, Harry awoke early when he heard the portrait door swing open and was surprised to find Remus Lupin poking his head into Harry's bedroom. "Professor Lupin," Harry said as he sat up, putting his glasses on. "What are you doing here?"

"Petunia wants you in London as soon as possible, Harry," Remus explained as he entered the room, closing the door behind him. "Once you're ready we're taking a portkey to the courthouse."

Harry nodded and threw back the covers to get up not noticing that Remus was staring at what was left of Harry's leg. "Muggle clothes, I suppose?" Harry asked. Not hearing a reply, Harry turned to Remus and noticed the look on the werewolf's face. Glancing down, Harry looked up again with understanding.

"I… hadn't seen how bad… I didn't mean to stare, Harry," Remus apologized, looking away from the young man's leg. But looking at Harry's face, Remus suddenly noticed that Harry had almost no hair left and he turned away, looking about the room instead.

The suite was charmingly decorated, but the former professor noticed that Harry hadn't put up many personal decorations. Was it simple because Harry didn't have that many personal effects, or because he didn't want reminders of his old life and what he'd lost?

Harry waited until Remus turned to look at him again before giving DADA professor an understanding look. "It's okay, Professor," Harry assured Lupin as he touched his practically bald head. He knew that the hair loss made him look that much worse and wished that it could have been avoided. "I know it's all a bit of a shock," Harry added, not sure of what else to say. Seeing the prosthetic where he'd left it the night before, Harry asked, "Could you… hand me my leg, please?"

Remus stepped forward and picked up the prosthetic leg near the foot of the bed and handed it to Harry who had his wand in hand. With a quick flick, the artificial leg slid onto Harry's stump and the teenager stood to head over to the chair in the corner where he'd laid out his best jeans and school sweater for going to London.

Watching Harry limp over to the chair, Remus felt a stab of sympathy for the teenager. It must be hard enough to deal with such an obvious disability without also dealing with a life-threatening illness. Remus remembered his second year at Hogwarts very well and he remembered wondering if James was going to survive the cancer running rampant through his body or not. And now James' son was fighting the same battle.

As Harry sat down and pulled his jeans on as well as socks and shoes, he could still feel his old DADA teacher watching him. He was starting to get used to people staring at him, but he still felt a bit uncomfortable about it. "I'm getting used to being without my leg, sir," he said, pulling the sweater on and grabbing the cane that stood nearby. Noticing Lupin's questioning look, Harry said, "I've found that the cane makes it easier to walk. The new prosthetic helps, but…" With a dry smile, he added, "Besides, might help with the case against Vernon, right?"

Remus just nodded, not quite sure how he felt about that and held out an old soda can. "If you're ready…"

Harry started to reach for the can, but he stopped as he remembered the conversation he'd had the other day with Luna. "Sir, Luna Lovegood wanted to come with me. I didn't know when we were leaving so I didn't tell her when to meet me," Harry said, quickly.

"But I did," said the kind voice of Professor Dumbledore as he entered the suite followed by Luna who was wearing muggle clothes, though she had pulled on a hooded cape. "I met Miss Lovegood in the Entrance Hall this morning and when she informed me that she wished to accompany you, Mr. Potter, I brought her here straight away."

"Are we leaving, then?" Luna said looking at the Portkey in Remus's hand. "Portkey," she noted with a smile. "It's one of the best ways to travel, you know. Though not as fun as disapparation, my dad says."

Remus gave the girl a polite look, even though inside he was wondering who in their right mind would ever call disapparation fun.

"See you when you return," Dumbledore said just before the three touched the portkey and vanished from the room.

Petunia Evans paced the hall outside of the courtroom checking her watch every few moments. Harry was supposed to be here ten minutes ago but she hadn't seen him yet. What if he'd changed his mind? What if something worse had happened to Harry? Perhaps he was feeling too sick to come today. But after another ten minutes, Petunia saw Harry finally limping towards her through the crowds accompanied by a young teenage girl with blonde hair and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Harry," Petunia said, her fears assuaged. "I was worried you weren't coming."

Harry suddenly felt stricken as he realized that he wasn't quite sure how to introduce Luna. Should he call her a friend or a girlfriend? "My… my girlfriend wanted to come with me," he said finally, nodding to Luna. Making the introductions, he added, "Aunt Petunia, this is Luna Lovegood."

"It's nice to meet you," Luna said, politely. "Though it would have been better if the situation wasn't so dramatic."

Petunia wasn't quite sure what to make of Luna, but decided to be polite for Harry's sake. "It's nice to meet you, Luna," she said with a smile/

"Ms. Evans?" an older woman with graying brown hair said as she came out of the nearest courtroom. "We're ready to begin. Is your nephew here yet?" Petunia nodded at Harry who held out a hand. The older woman shook it and opened the door wider to let Harry, Petunia, and Luna enter.

Harry limped over to where Dudley was sitting at a table and slowly sat down, doing his best to ignore the dull ache in what was left of his leg. Thankfully, however, he wasn't as tired as before the transfusions, even though he still felt a bit winded just from the walk from the parking lot.

"How's the… the leg?" Dudley asked, trying to be sociable. He couldn't think of how to ask about Harry's chemotherapy treatments.

"Missing," Harry said, succinctly. Glancing over at Dudley, Harry added, "Uncomfortable… a little painful. It's alright, Dud," he added, sparing his cousin from the small talk.

Petunia sat down and looked regretfully at Harry as she remembered the call she'd received earlier that morning. "I… I got a message from Dr. Rion, Harry. She'd like us to meet her at the outpatient center nearby for your treatments later today."

Harry couldn't believe that he'd forgotten that he had an additional transfusion treatment today but before he could say anything, he heard the courtroom doors open and turned to the front where a judge had just entered. In a brisk voice, the woman said, "We're here today to hear testimony against Vernon Dursley from a…" She consulted a file before looking at Harry. "Mr. Harry Potter. Please come up to the stand, son."

Harry stood and limped over to the chair that was set up near the Judge's desk. Sitting down, Harry started wishing was anywhere else other than here. At the judge's prompting, Harry described the years of abuse at Vernon's hand including a broken wrist and thumb the summer after 2nd year and a badly sprained ankle summer after 3rd year. Finally, the judge asked about the car accident.

Harry took a breath before he began talking. "Vernon had been drinking all day. He'd gotten some promotion and we were out celebrating. On the way home… he started weaving around. Then he ran a red light…" The images from that night started hitting Harry all at once and he tried to focus on anything to keep his mind grounded in the present… But all he could hear were the sounds of the crash, the sirens, and people shouting.

Seeing that he was overwhelmed by his memories, Luna kept her eyes fixed on Harry and after a moment, his eyes met hers and she gave him a reassuring smile. She could see the pain in Harry's eyes and wished she could do more to help him.

"A car hit my side first," Harry went on, his gaze never leaving Luna's. It was easier to talk when he focused oh her. "My right leg hurt so bad I screamed… then we slid over an embankment and rolled down a hill. I don't remember much of what happened after. When I came to I was in a hospital in the surgical recovery room. The doctors had amputated my leg mid-thigh due to multiple compound fractures. I was intubated because of a collapsed lung."

Judge Marilyn Weston looked at the file and then at Harry before asking, "According to your aunt, you're also currently receiving chemotherapy treatments for bone cancer? Was this a pre-existing condition prior to the accident?"

"Yes," Harry said, quietly. When asked to speak up, he repeated, "Yes, it was a pre-existing condition. Although until the accident, I didn't even know I was sick. The doctors ran tests after they noticed the tumor on the x-rays." The lie was something Remus had helped devise as he and Harry walked from the edge of the courthouse parking lot to the doors. And while Harry wasn't comfortable with lying to the judge, it beat being thrown into a nuthouse for being a lunatic.

Judge Weston dismissed Harry and he gratefully went back to his seat between Dudley and Luna. Luna took Harry's hand in hers and gave him a warm smile and a kiss on the cheek. Dudley, surprisingly enough, gave Harry a friendly pat on the back.

After a few moments, the judge withdrew to her chambers for deliberation, during which time Harry wondered what Vernon's fate would be.

After a while, Petunia suggested that they all go grab a bite to eat while they waited for the verdict. Harry didn't feel like eating, but seeing the looks from his aunt, cousin, and Luna, he acquiesced and at the café around the corner Harry just opted for a plain scone and an apple juice, hoping it would stay down.

When she returned from her deliberations more than an hour later, Judge Weston looked at the group assembled before she said, "I've already spoken to Ms. Petunia Evans and Dudley Evans and I am ready to make my ruling. I will be sending Vernon Dursley to a maximum security prison for no less than 25 years. Mr. Potter… since you are still underage, your aunt, Ms. Petunia Evans, will be responsible for you until you reach the age of 18. That concludes this hearing."

Harry stood with the others and started to head out of the courtroom still holding hands with Luna. He was relieved that it was over but remembering he had a transfusion later, his upbeat mood faded more than a bit. Thankfully, Petunia went to fetch the car while Dudley waited with Harry and Luna at the curb.

xxxx

When the group arrived at the medical center, Harry was taken to a room on the first floor and while Petunia and Dudley went to run a few errands, Luna followed Harry and after he was settled in one of the chairs, a nurse attached an IV to Harry's central line before inserting another IV with red-cell packed blood into the crook of his left arm.

"Harry," Anna said as she came into the room and after checking Harry's IVs, she pulled a plastic chair over and sat down. "How are you doing?" she asked.

Harry just shrugged, glancing over at Luna who seemed to be engrossed in one of the muggle magazines stacked on the table near a row of plastic chairs placed against the wall. Looking at the two IVs, he asked Anna, "Shouldn't I be getting one at a time instead of both at once?"

Anna shook her head as she replied, "The drugs aren't part of your chemotherapy regimen, Harry. They're to help counteract the anemia as well as boost your immune system. Actually, with the particular cocktail we're giving you, they'll help enhance the effects from the transfusions." Glancing over at Luna, Anna gave Harry a smile and asked, "Is that your girlfriend?"

"A friend," Harry said, not sure how he'd classify Luna, honestly. "I mean, she's… I-I guess she's my girlfriend. I've been trying to figure that out myself, honestly," he admitted.

"Take it from me, Harry," Anna replied with a smile. "Sometimes the best part is figuring it out."

"I guess so," Harry muttered, feeling a headache start up. Rubbing his brow with one hand, he sighed, resting his head against the back of his chair as he closed his eyes.

Getting back to Grimmauld Place after Harry's treatment, Petunia watched her nephew make his way up to the bedroom he'd slept in over the summer, Luna following him. Harry as said that he needed a nap before dinner and Petunia hadn't argued. She hoped the additional rest would help and that later Harry might actually be able to keep some food down.

Down in the kitchen, Petunia started making dinner as she thought about Harry. He looked only slightly better in the sense that he no longer looked like he was going to pass out any second, but he still looked sick, and the lack of hair only made him look worse off that he really was.

"How are you doing, Petunia?" Remus asked as he joined Harry's aunt in the kitchen, setting the table and clearing away some of the debris from a meeting of the Order earlier in the day.

"Alright, I suppose," Petunia said with a shrug as she put two fat chickens in the oven and started chopping potatoes. After a moment, she sighed. "I know Harry must have told you about when he was younger. About living at Privet Drive. I've seen the way you and Sirius look at me. And I know I'm not really welcome here."

"I won't deny that there's some bad blood," Remus replied, calmly. "But whatever else you've done, you're still Harry's family and whether he wants to admit it or not, he needs you. Especially now."

Petunia stopped chopping, putting the cut potatoes in water to keep them from going brown, and turned to Remus. "How is Harry doing? Really?"

Remus sat down, looking thoughtful. "I don't know if Lily ever told you, but during the start of our 2nd year at Hogwarts James was diagnosed with lymphoma. He spent most of the year in St. Mungo's Hospital because of the chemotherapy treatments. Before James finally went into remission, he was really sick and Sirius and I weren't sure he was going to make it."

Petunia knew what Remus was saying and what he wasn't saying. She knew Harry was sick and more than once—as much as she hated to admit it-she'd had to remind herself that Harry dying was a very real possibility. But James Potter had beat the disease as a child and with the latest treatments, Harry stood an even better chance of surviving.

But as much as she wanted to pretend otherwise, Petunia still felt guilty that she was only trying to reconnect with Harry because of the accident and the boy's illness.

xxx

Upstairs, Luna sat on Harry's bed, watching him sleep. It wasn't just the cancer that made Harry look so sick, but also the side effects of the disease, the hair loss being the most obvious.

But there were other things, too.

The weight loss as a combined result of Harry's illness and his constant nausea.

The dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep.

As Harry started tossing around as his sleep turned restless, Luna gently stroked his cheek with one hand, wishing she knew what nightmares he was having.

The Dursleys were in high spirits coming back from a day of shopping followed by a movie and dinner at one of the most expensive restaurants in town..

Vernon had made a big promotion at work and was eager to show off his new status and financial standing.

Petunia had bought just about everything Dudley had asked for, including a new video game system and a new computer. Even Harry got a new pair of sneakers and some new muggle clothes out of the day, even if they had been from the cheapest discount store at the shopping complex.

But as they started home that evening, Harry didn't share his family's good mood as stared out the window, his mind on the events of the Third Task of the TriWizard Tournament and Voldemort's return to power. He was even only dimly aware of Vernon weaving about on the road. Harry hated going to sleep these days because his dreams were filled with nightmares in which he saw the Dark Lord's rebirth… saw Cedric Diggory's lifeless body spread-eagled on the ground—

A squeal of tires and a car horn blaring brought Harry sharply out of his thoughts just as a car slammed into his side. The car was forced into the path of an 18-wheeler truck who had managed to turn somewhat to deflect the impact but instead of hitting the smaller car head on, Harry watched the car be pushed off the road and his stomach did flip-flops as the car slid over an embankment and rolled down, landing upside down.

Harry faded in and out of consciousness, coming to and then fading out again as he felt his head throbbing. His side burned with pain and he felt like someone was squeezing the breath out of him. A sharp pain was cutting into his right leg as well and he was starting to lose the feeling in his right foot.

After an indeterminable amount of time, Harry heard sirens—probably ambulances and police cars—and after what seemed like both an eternity and a split-second, the door was pulled away and Harry felt hands feeling his neck.

"Hey, kid. Kid, can you hear me?"

"My… leg…" Harry moaned, feeling his hold on the world slipping away. He couldn't focus on the voice talking to him and he just wanted the pain in his body to stop.

Something hard was put around his neck and as he was slid gently out of the car, Harry focused a bit more when he heard one of the paramedics say, "Decreased breath sounds on the right."

"What's…wrong?" Harry mumbled, feeling unconsciousness pull at him again as it got harder to breathe.

"Don't worry, son," another paramedic, a woman, replied calmly. "One of your lungs isn't working. You may have broken a rib which nicked it and…"

"I… can't breathe… " Harry said, his voice getting raspy.

"Let's load him up now!" the woman shouted and within seconds, Harry was in an ambulance which was soon speeding down the road. The woman medic looked down at Harry as she knelt behind his head. In a calm voice, she said, "Harry, we want to make sure you can breathe so I'm going to have to put a tube down your throat."

The experience was exceedingly uncomfortable, but once intubated he found he could breathe a little easier.

But the unconsciousness which had been kept at bay was back and Harry gave in, his eyes rolling back.

x

In the emergency room, Harry was jolted back into consciousness when he felt something being forced into his the side of his chest. Momentarily forgetting about the tube down his throat, Harry tried to cry out.

"Harry?" Harry saw a woman in a doctor's coat standing over him. "I'm Dr. Mallory Norton. We've put a tube in your chest to re-inflate your lung. I'm sending you up to x-ray so we can get a better look at how badly your leg was injured." Putting a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder, she added, "I want to warn you, it looks pretty bad. We'll try and repair the damage if possible, but there is a strong chance that you might end up losing your leg."

Harry heard it but the information wasn't really sinking in. They might have to chop his leg? But what about flying and Hogwarts?

He tried to stay conscious, but it was getting harder and harder, even though his brain was registering pain more and more.

x

A few hours later, Harry was once again unconscious and lying on a table in one of the operating rooms. The surgeons had been notified that it was no longer an issue of repair to the teenager's injured leg, but rather amputation of the limb.

Once they were sure Harry was stable, the doctors went to work, removing the teenager's leg.

x

Harry awoke to the sound of steady beeping and a strange pain in his right leg. It was if he could still feel the limb, but when he tried to move it, nothing happened.

A doctor was standing next to the monitors, checking his vitals. Once she realized Harry was awake, she said, "Mr. Potter… because of the injuries to your leg we were forced to amputate it mid thigh…"

Harry sat up sharply in bed, panting heavily. Looking around, he saw Luna and Sirius both looking at him, their faces full of concern.

"You're okay, Harry," Luna said, soothingly. "Just a bad dream."

Harry didn't say anything as he lay back, trying to bring his breathing back to normal. He still felt tired and closing his eyes again, he drifted back off to sleep.

Sirius silently tucked Harry in and paused for a moment as he watched his godson sleeping. When Harry had been born, Sirius had promised to protect Harry from anything. But how could he protect the teenager from this?