Harry wasn't sure where they were, but the place had a lot of neat toys! He knew a little more about Quidditch, which was a sport played on broomstick. He forgot the positions, but he remembered the balls. They played with four different balls. Two of them were bludgers which knocked players off their broomsticks. One was a Quaffle which players used to score, and the last was a snitch. One of the players had to catch it. He knew all this from the books that the Weasley's had. They didn't have the real balls, though they wish they had.
This place he'd been brought to did though! The snitch was flying around the room, though it stopped once he caught it and then set it down. Molly told him that they were just toys, but he didn't care. He wished so much that the Weasley kids could be there too. For some reason, it was just him and Molly and Arthur. They were there for a meeting while he played, but soon he would have to go to the meeting too.
He was very nervous about today. He didn't know if he would be staying or not, but he knew that his aunt and uncle would be somewhere in that building too. He didn't know why they had to be there. From what almost everyone told him, he wouldn't have to go back there. So why were they there too? And why couldn't it just be decided that he could stay with the Weasley's now?
Molly and Arthur told him that today was a good thing. They told him it was a step in the right direction, and that the meetings were necessary, even with his aunt and uncle there. Apparently it was very important for them to be there though he didn't know why.
"You likely won't have to see them, but if you do, we'll protect you," Molly had said.
Harry believed her. So far, he knew he could trust her. So he tried not to worry about it too much. Instead, he looked through all the toys that were in the room. He let out a squeal of excitement when he found a toy broom. That meant that he could try and play Quidditch! Harry began jumping up and down while clapping his hands. He stopped momentarily when he saw his aunt and uncle standing in the doorway, watching him.
Harry stared back at them.
"You're acting like a bloody lunatic," Uncle Vernon told him before leaving.
"Act your age," Aunt Petunia added. "You are acting like a two-year-old."
She left as well. Harry stared after them, but they hadn't hurt him. There was a huge window facing a waiting area. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were now sitting in a couple of chairs. They were still looking at him. For a moment, he didn't move, but then he decided he wasn't going to let them bother him. He wanted to play Quidditch! He didn't care what they thought!
He hurried to look for the snitch he'd found. It was still sitting where he'd left it on one of the shelves. He picked it up and stared at it. How did he make it fly again? Maybe if he let it go like the broomstick? The moment he did this, the snitch began flying around the room again. Harry grabbed the broomstick, let it hover, and then climbed onto it. He chased after the snitch and caught it. He let it go, and then chased after it again.
Soon he forgot about his aunt and uncle. When he looked up after a while, it was to see they were gone. They hadn't hurt him! So Molly was right, and everything would be okay. He knew they wouldn't have liked the fact that he'd been flying around on a broom. There was nothing they could do about it though. After a while, he climbed off the broom to look through the children's books. Wizarding books were so cool. The pictures moved around on their own!
When he was halfway through one of the books, he suddenly felt very scared, and he didn't know why. He looked up and began to shake. Aunt Marge was in the room! She advanced on him very slowly.
Petunia was exhausted. It had almost been a month since Harry had left, and every day they'd had visits from the wizards. Every day it was something new. The people who had taken Harry in wanted them to be punished, but for some reason, the old man who'd left Harry with them didn't want that. Though she wanted nothing to do with any of them, she couldn't help but be grateful to him.
There were many meetings for them, but this one seemed to determine finally where Harry would end up. He was not being returned to their place, so she wasn't exactly sure why they had to be there for it. Why couldn't they just leave Harry with the ginger family and be done with it? Why did they have to sit for hours discussing this? They'd lost custody of him, so why did it matter anymore?
She couldn't help but notice how fast it was either. She'd never experienced a custody hearing but she was under the impression that it could take months, maybe even years. The wizards seemed to have everything wrapped up, and today was finally one of the last meetings.
"I still don't understand why we have to be here!" Vernon grumbled. "He is no longer in our care. Why do we have to be here? I don't care what happens to him now."
"We just need to finish up some paperwork Mr. Dursley, but we also wanted to talk about your punishment," the old man, Dumbledore said. "While Harry was in your care, he was abused for four years."
"He was abused for two years," Vernon contradicted. "We did not hit him until he was three."
"And that makes it better?" An elderly woman by the name of Rilla asked.
"Look, what needs to be done?" Petunia demanded. "You said we're going to find out our punishment. So what is going to happen?"
"You'll have many community service hours," Dumbledore told her. "We haven't decided on the final number yet, but it will be a lot. We'll also be observing you with Dudley. Once a month, Rilla will visit to make sure your son is okay. The Ministry would also like to charge you, though I am trying to make sure it isn't too much money."
"Though I disagree," Rilla said.
"So do I!" Vernon said. "Bloody community service hours? And you lot will be observing us with Dudders? We would never hurt Dudders!"
"Would you rather jail time?" Rilla asked. "In my opinion, that's what you should get, but that's not my job to decide. My job is to decide on whether or not Dudley should stay with you. Yes, even if we're magical, we can still decide that. You hurt one of our own, and by rights, you should have your son taken away! I'm not exactly sure how it works with muggle law, but I'm sure it would be similar. Albus here is doing everything in his power to protect you for Dudley's sake. I disagree. You starved and beat Harry, and you were very cruel to him. Do you not realize who exactly your nephew is!?"
Petunia, however, didn't argue. She didn't want any of it, but she'd been terrified that they were going to lose Dudley. She would take this over going to jail or losing Dudley.
"Vernon," Petunia said and she shook her head at him as he opened his mouth.
"Fine, but normal people like us shouldn't get punished by freaks like you," Vernon snarled.
"Freaks like us get involved when you hurt one of our own," Rilla told him. "Now go on back into the waiting room. We're just waiting on Molly and Arthur. We'll have the paperwork for you soon."
Vernon began muttering under his breath, but they left the room they'd been taken into. Petunia wasn't even sure where they were. They'd gone to the slums of London, and into a beat up old building, and yet this place looked fancy inside and there were many different workers. Apparently, it was some orphanage for wizard kids though she hadn't seen any other kids around but Harry. She wondered if Harry was still playing.
She didn't want to admit it, but she'd been amazed at the transformation of the little boy. He'd always been unhappy in their home, though there was an obvious reason for that. Harry had changed a lot in the past month. He was so happy, and for some reason, it bothered her that it wasn't because of her. She didn't know why it bothered her so much. She'd never wanted him; it was why they'd ignored him so much. Yet, seeing him laugh and act younger than his age had made her sad. He'd never been that way with them. It didn't make sense why she felt the way she did.
When she looked into the playroom though, it was to find Harry gone. Perhaps he was having a meeting now as well. She knew he was supposed to talk to people that day. Just as she began wondering this, she heard agonized screaming. It sounded an awful like Harry. She remembered how often he would cry and scream when Vernon spanked him hard.
"Do you hear that?" Petunia asked Vernon.
"What the ruddy hell is that?" Vernon asked as they heard another scream. This one sounded worse than the others. It was a lot louder.
"It sounds like Harry," Petunia said.
"It sounds like he is being tortured. Damn kid is always causing problems. He is probably trying to get attention. Just ignore it," Vernon told her.
It was hard to though. It sounded awful, and the screams kept coming, and they were getting louder. Another cry came that put chills down her back, and then it was finally silent. As it fell silent, Molly and Arthur entered the room with Rilla and Dumbledore.
"Where is Harry?" Molly asked as she glanced into the window of the playroom. "He isn't having his meeting yet is he?"
"No," Rilla responded. "We decided it's not necessary. You filled out the last of the paperwork. Once it's processed, he is yours."
"So where is he?" Arthur asked.
"Perhaps the bathroom?" Dumbledore suggested.
Petunia was about to bring up the screaming when they heard loud sobbing. They all turned to the source only to see Harry walking very stiffly and slowly into the waiting room.
"Molly," he wailed pitifully. "I got spanked!"
And then he began crying really hard. Molly rushed over to him as he began making his way over to her slowly. Why was he moving so stiffly, and what did he mean he got spanked Petunia wondered?
"What do you mean you got spanked?" Molly asked as she pulled Harry into her arms. As she did this, Harry let out a horrible scream. "Where does it hurt sweetheart?"
"Everywhere! I got spanked everywhere!"
"Why was he spanked?" Arthur demanded turning on Petunia and Vernon. They both took a step back. He was usually the calm one during all their meetings, so it was unsettling to see him this way. "What the hell did you two do? He is no longer in your custody! You had no right!"
"We didn't do anything!" Petunia said. "We've only been out here for a few moments."
"We heard him screaming and carrying on," Vernon added. "So one of your lot probably did it! Likely you did it to put more on us."
"No one here would hit him," Arthur yelled.
"You did some hocus pocus on us to make us tell the truth," Vernon said almost shouting now. "If you have to, do it again!"
Petunia stared at her husband with wide eyes. It said a lot about the situation if he was willing to be drugged. He'd been angry the first time it had happened.
"It wasn't Vernon or Petunia," they heard.
They all looked over to see Marge leaning against the wall. She had her arms folded and she was smirking.
"I just finally gave the boy what he deserved. Oh, don't look at me like that. It was just a willow switching. Vernon and I got it all the time as kids; we turned out fine. We agreed that we would do it so he couldn't sit down for at least a week. He shouldn't be able to for at least a month now. You're welcome," Marge said.
Petunia stared at her sister in law feeling horrified, and although it was very hypocritical of her, she felt angry as well. Harry had been so happy and playing, and then she'd whipped him! Vernon had always said that neither boy would ever be whipped like that. Yes, they'd been rough on Harry, but he'd never been whipped. Vernon had never forgiven his parents for doing that to them, and now Marge had done it to Harry.
"Marge, you had no right to do that," Vernon said which surprised Petunia even more. She would have thought he'd be happy, but he looked furious. "We told you to wait out in the car."
She knew how much he hated their nephew. He'd never wanted him, and he'd always been rough on him. She wondered if this for show, but she thought he looked horrified as well. The room was silent except for Harry's anguished sobs, and Molly's soothing voice.
"Dumbledore," Arthur said in an angry shaky voice.
"I'm sorry," Petunia said. "We didn't know she'd do that. She told us she wanted to come for moral support. We told her to wait outside. We had no idea…" she trailed off.
"I don't advocate willow switchings," Vernon added. "Look, I admit I was rough with the boy. I've been truthful about everything we did to him. I'm not just saying this to look good in front of you lot. I did not ask Marge to do that. We didn't know she was going to do that. I don't agree with it. I wouldn't have allowed it if I'd known."
"I don't understand what the problem is," Marge said. "He is lucky he didn't get worse."
"You don't understand what the problem is?" Molly asked as she let go of Harry. She stood up and began making her way over to Marge, but Arthur stopped her. "You just whipped an innocent little boy for no reason at all! You had no right to do that! He is our child now, and you just whipped our little boy! What the hell is wrong with you? He's made so much progress, and you whipped him!"
"Please believe us," Petunia spoke up though she knew they didn't have any real reason to. "We admit that we didn't treat him right when he lived with us. We hit him, but we've been truthful the entire time and we will take that truth stuff again if we have to. We had nothing to do with this."
Molly turned her to her, and Petunia expected to get yelled at as well. Already they'd been yelled at several times by these people.
"I believe you," she said instead, which surprised Petunia. "But I want to see some punishment," she turned away quickly to Rilla and Dumbledore. "That woman whipped my child, and I want something done about it!"
"For now, let's get Harry to the Healer wing. They have a wing here in case children get sick or hurt. We should be able to take care of the pain right away," Rilla said.
"I want his memory wiped," Molly said in a broken voice. "I want him healed, and I want his memory wiped. He doesn't need to remember this."
"Molly, I don't think-" Dumbledore began.
"I am his guardian and I want his memory wiped damn it! He's been through enough! He doesn't need this added to it! This is a happy day for him, and I will not let it be tainted."
Molly seemed almost as hysterical as Harry now. Tears were running down her cheeks.
"What is all this gibberish?" Marge asked. "What do you mean you're wiping his memory? This is a strange place. That boy was flying on a broom. How is that possible?"
"We'll discuss that later Ms. Dursley," Dumbledore told her. "For now we're going to take care of your nephew, and then we'll discuss the situation. You were very wrong to whip Harry. I would like you to sit down please."
"And you think you can tell me what to do?" Marge demanded. "I only did what my brother and sister-in-law should have done years ago. They've been too soft; I've always said. If they hadn't been, we wouldn't be in this mess. I went easy on him. I could have gone on longer."
Molly stepped forward but her husband grabbed her arm. Petunia had a feeling that she wanted to slap Marge. Arthur whispered something to her before sending a glare at Marge. The two turned away and walked back over to where Harry was still crying hysterically. Molly lifted Harry up, and it looked as if she were trying to do it as gently as possible.
"We'll see how bad it was. Maybe he doesn't have any welts," Rilla told Molly. "We should be able to prevent scarring. It will sting him at first unfortunately if there are any open wounds."
Dumbledore, Rilla, Molly, and Arthur left the room with Harry. His cries were still very loud. As soon as they were gone, Vernon rounded on his sister.
"How could you do that Marge? We asked you to stay in the car!" He roared.
"Look, they can't punish you anymore can they? Didn't you they say they already have the sentencing decided? I thought you said it was unlikely you're going to jail. They can't change anything after it's been decided just because I whipped him," Marge told him.
"You know how I feel about whipping," Vernon stated. "I told you a number of times that the boys will never be whipped like we were! It was not up to you to whip him!"
"Oh don't suddenly become self-righteous with me, little brother! The moment you took him in, you've been starving and beating him! You're going to act as if I've somehow crossed the line because I whipped him today? You did a lot worse, not that I'm complaining because he deserved every beating he got, but don't you dare act as if I'm worse. Both you and Petunia are hypocrites!" Marge yelled back.
Petunia kept quiet not only because she didn't want to fight with Marge, but because she knew that she was right. How were they any better? And for maybe the first time, she felt remorse for what they'd put him through. She felt even sadder about today. The boy had been so happy, and then he'd been whipped for no reason. She'd never wanted him, and she'd resented the fact that he'd been left on her doorstep, but for the first time, she could admit that they'd been wrong.
"And I regret it," Vernon said causing Petunia's mouth to drop open.
"Oh please," Marge said and she turned away. "I'm going back out to the car."
"They said to wait," Petunia told her.
"I'm not listening to those freaks! They can't do anything to me," Marge responded and continued on.
It was then that Petunia noticed the willow switch on one of the chairs. Marge picked it up on her way out. As she stared at it, she noticed that it was covered in blood. She felt chilled as she looked at it. No wonder Harry had been screaming and crying so much. She felt tears in her eyes as she stared at it, and she had to blink them back quickly.
"I can't believe she did that," Vernon said shaking his head.
"But she has a point, doesn't she?" Petunia asked. "We're no better than her. We starved and beat him. I left him to sit alone in London. We were lucky it was those Weasley's who found him. It could have been anyone who found him. The worst part is, we were angry with him because he was found. We weren't worried that they could have been kidnappers, we were worried about what would happen to us. I don't like being the person I've become. I've lost sight of it all during the last four years. It wasn't until today after seeing him get whipped that it hit me."
"I'm not any better," Vernon said walking over to her. He pulled her into his arms. "I was worse than you, and I still don't like the boy. I never wanted him, and I hated your sister's husband. Some of the time when I hit him, I was thinking of James. I never imagined I'd become a child abuser. It was seeing him flying around on that ruddy thing that made me realize it because he was having fun. Then he came out crying because he'd been whipped, and I found out it was my sister. She's right though; we are hypocrites. I hate him, and I am glad we no longer have custody, but I regret what we did."
She didn't want to admit her contradicting feelings to Vernon. She was feeling jealous that Harry was much happier with the Weasley's than he'd ever been with them. She knew why that was, so why did she feel this way? It didn't make sense. He seemed much more confident than he used to be. There was no way he would have kept playing a month ago. He'd just looked at them with a little fear, and then he'd continued on playing. She almost said all this to Vernon, but she stopped herself because it was silly. Why was she so jealous when it was their fault in the first place?
Molly was furious. All she wanted to do was go out and curse Marge and the other Dursley's. It didn't matter if they weren't involved, it was because of them that it had happened. They'd brought her along today. They were the ones who'd filled her head with awful stories. The woman was a monster, but she wouldn't have gotten it in her head to hurt Harry if it hadn't been for them.
Harry was crying so hard that her right shoulder was wet with his tears. They had him standing on a bed. It was much too painful for him to sit down, so he stood with his arms around her as he weeped into her shoulder.
"We have a potion we can give him," Rilla said. "It should take some of the pain away, but we'll need to see how bad the whipping was too. Do I have your permission to remove his clothes?"
"I'll do it," Molly said knowing that Harry wouldn't want a stranger to undress him. He'd been wary of her doing it at first, and he trusted her. "Harry, we're going to take off your clothes to see how bad it is."
"It hurts, Molly, it hurts so much!" Harry said. "Why did it have to happen? Why do I always have to be hurt? Why do they always want to hurt me? I don't like hurting all the time, and it didn't happen for a long time. Now I hurt again. Why?"
"I'm so sorry dear," Molly said as she began to tear up again as well. "It shouldn't have happened."
"She spanked me and then she used a stick!" Harry said. "It hurts Molly! I've never been spanked so bad! It hurts so much! I thought I would never get spanked again. I got spanked today! I don't wanna be spanked no more. Why am I always spanked? I hurt so much Molly. Please make it go away."
"Harry drink this," Rilla told him gently as she handed him a vial of potion. "Some of it should help with the pain. After that, we are going to undress you to heal you, okay?"
Harry nodded, though he still wept. He took the potion and made a face while drinking it, but he drank it all.
It was supposed to be one of the best days of his life. Rilla and Albus had managed to move things fast for him. Rilla believed after that first day of observation that he belonged with them. So she'd done everything in her power to make sure he could stay. Today they'd filled out the final paperwork. Once they left, Harry would be theirs forever. It was the weekend, so Dumbledore let the boys come home so that they could celebrate as a family. The children were all at home waiting to surprise Harry.
Instead, he'd been spanked and then whipped for no reason at all! He would now associate this day with a beating. They'd promised Harry that he would never get another spanking. Molly wanted to erase that memory, and Rilla agreed with her. She'd said it wouldn't harm him to remove the memory, and it was better than the damage that would be done to him emotionally.
However, Dumbledore disagreed. At the moment, he and Arthur were arguing in a corner of the room. Albus felt that Harry should confront it head-on. He was convinced it would make him a stronger person that way.
"He'll grow from the abuse, and become a stronger boy as he ages," Dumbledore had said.
"He has enough abuse to grow from!" Had been Molly's retort.
It wasn't up to him! They were officially his guardians, so it was up to them. They both wanted this incident erased forever. She wished all children who'd been abused could have it taken away, but they couldn't. They could help Harry, and he had enough to remember, though she wished he didn't.
"I'm sorry Albus, you know that we'll be forever grateful for what you've done, but you are wrong on this. Just as you were wrong to think that Harry was safer with the Dursley's!" Arthur was saying. "We want his memory of that incident erased!"
Albus finally nodded. "If that's as you wish, but you can't always protect him from the evil's of the world."
"We aren't talking about the evils of the world. We are talking about an unnecessary whipping!" Molly retorted before she turned to Harry to take his shirt off.
Once it was off, Rilla let out a loud gasp while she stared at his back. Albus and Arthur were also staring at his back with horror. Molly turned him so she could see, and she burst into tears. His back was covered in whip marks. It was no wonder he was in so much pain. Some crossed over each other as they went down his back. Through her tears, she continued to undress Harry until he stood unclothed on the bed. The whip marks went down his back, onto his bottom and down the back of his legs. His bottom was worse than anywhere.
"Oh my poor baby," Molly wept. "Look what she did Albus, and you want to protect these people."
"I'm going to have to get our Healer," Rilla said. "I only know some healing spells. She's with one of the children who is sick. She's the only one who can fix this properly. Do you mind if she comes in while he is unclothed?"
"We'll cover him up the best way we can," Molly said with a nod as she wiped a tear away.
Rilla nodded and then left the room quickly.
She was trying very hard not to weep in front of Harry, but it wasn't easy. She was the mother, but seeing one of her children beaten brutally was hard. This little boy had been through enough. He didn't need more added to it, especially today of all days! He'd been so happy and now he was hurt more than any child deserved.
"We'll give him a potion to help him sleep after we heal him," Albus said. "Once he's asleep, we'll erase that memory. He'll wake up and think he's just had a nap. I agree. He needs to forget this. Molly, Arthur, I didn't realize he'd been whipped that bad."
"And what about Marge Dursley?" Arthur asked.
"With your permission, I'd like to extract that memory from Harry before we erase it. We'll use it as evidence against her. I will not interfere this time. I'll leave it up to the Wizengamot this time, as I should have done with the Dursley's. We cannot punish them more for Marge's crime though. I know you'd like to see further punishment for Petunia and Vernon, but we've already-"
"I know," Molly interrupted. "I don't ever want Harry to see those people again. I don't understand why they had to be here today as well."
Rilla returned with a young blond woman wearing white. They were in a foster home for wizarding children. Molly wasn't too sure why they had to come here to get it all done, but she knew this could have been where Harry might have ended up if they weren't given custody. It was a nice place, but not one for Harry, though he would have been better off here than with his aunt and uncle in the first place.
"Oh Merlin," the young woman said as she took in Harry's appearance. "How could someone…" but she didn't finish what she was saying. Instead, she gave Harry something to drink from a vial, and then asked Molly to lay to help him lay on his stomach. Once this was all done, and Harry was asleep, she began working on the welts on Harry's back. As she healed one, she glanced up at them.
"He likely will still feel a little sore for a few hours, but then he will gradually start to feel better. It shouldn't be too uncomfortable, but if it is, we'll send home some pain potions with you," she said.
Harry opened his eyes. He didn't understand where he was. The last thing he remembered was looking through a book. Now he was laying in a bed in a strange room. Why was he in here? It looked like a hospital room.
"Harry, you're awake."
He looked around to see that it was Arthur who had spoken. Both he and Molly were sitting in a couple of chairs beside the bed he was laying in.
"How come I am in here?" Harry asked. "Where am I? It looks like a hospital room."
"You fell asleep in the playroom," Molly told him. "We brought you in here so that you could sleep. Now that you're awake, are you ready to go home?"
"Forever?" Harry asked.
"Forever," Molly and Arthur said simultaneously but they didn't sound happy.
Harry stared at them. Both appeared very sad. Maybe it wasn't forever after all.
"It is forever right," Harry asked sitting up.
"Of course it is dear, we just finished up everything," Molly said. "We're just waiting for you. We have a surprise waiting for you at home."
"How come you're sad then?"
He saw Molly and Arthur exchange glances before looking back at him. Something was wrong, he could tell.
"We're not sad sweetheart," Molly told him.
"You still want me, right?" Harry asked.
"Of course Harry," Arthur said quickly. "We're very happy that you're coming home with us forever. We're just worried about something. It has nothing to do with you or the kids. It's just adult stuff."
"Oh," Harry responded but he wasn't sure if he believed them. Molly looked like she'd been crying.
"Now come on Harry, we're going to go home," Molly said and she held her arms out to him.
Harry quickly stood up and she lifted him up. He felt a little sore, but he wasn't sure why that was. Had he fallen off the broom? Was that why he was in the hospital room?
"We're going to go through the floo network," Arthur told Harry.
Harry nodded unsurprised by this. They'd taken it to get there. So why would it be different this time? He just wanted to know why his new parents were acting so oddly, but he didn't question it anymore. Maybe it was just adult stuff.
He didn't have time to think about this because soon enough, they were going through the fire in one of the offices. He didn't like it too much, but it was quick and they'd be home very soon. Sure enough, the spinning stopped, and Molly stepped out of the fireplace. She set him down and then told him to turn around.
Harry did so, and his mouth dropped. Bill and Charlie were back home! A woman had come over to watch the other kids after they left, but she was now gone. It was just the Weasley kids, and above them was a banner. He could read some words, and he knew it said:
"Welcome Home Harry!"
"Welcome to the family, little brother," Bill said stepping forward.
"Thank you, big brother," Harry responded, loving the sound of that. He had a big brother! In fact, he had lots of big brothers!
He ran over to them just as they all began moving forward and the next thing he knew, he was he was in the middle of them all hugging him. He was finally home forever.