Disclaimer: Does anyone actually read these disclaimers or is it just for some word count padding?
A/N: The conversation about the blood was supposed to be in one of the last two chapters and somehow didn't make it. Sorry 'bout dat.
Chapter 22
In the hallway at four in the morning the only ones who were still awake were Bill and Arthur Weasley, Amanda O'Connell and Beth Granger. Everyone else had found a position in their chair that while maybe not comfortable at least let them fall asleep.
Beth saw Sirius and Catherine come out of Harry's room looking like they had been up a week longer than they had been.
She stood and went to the table with the tea and poured two cups to hand them. Molly Weasley had explained the permanent warming charm that she had put on the pots to keep them warm all night.
Once the two of them were seated she took the tea to them.
Sirius gave her a small smile "Thanks."
"It's no problem. How are they?"
Sirius sighed "They're finally asleep; both still holding his hands so tight I don't think even magic could separate them." He took a sip of tea before continuing "The healer that's in there now ran a scan on Harry. She said that he's getting a little better and that the blood replenisher is starting to speed things up some."
Beth looked at him for a moment "What's that mean, we would have just given him blood to help I don't understand why they wouldn't."
He looked at Cath who answered "Witches and Wizards have a magical core that is what gives us our magic but it flows in our bodies through the blood. With the restoratives our bodies produce the blood itself. It keeps the blood familiar with the magic or something like that because everyone's magic is different."
Beth nodded "Like with an organ transplant, there'd be a chance of the magic rejecting it like a body can reject a new kidney or heart."
"That sounds right. I went through something similar with the blood loss that Harry is except that my wounds weren't ones that could reopen on their own and the spells used on me weren't fighting it, my body was. I had to have the maximum dosage when I was brought in and for some reason my body wouldn't let it work. The healers apparently thought it was because of the trauma to my magic. A couple of the spells used on me were ones that affect the core in different ways."
She felt the now familiar squeeze on her hand and got a small smile "I'm ok Siri."
Seeing the confusion on Beth's face she explained "I haven't really talked about what happened to my brother and me. It still starts to make me withdraw a bit so I've been going over it slowly with Siri. I never would have thought it would help to relive something like that."
"Why would they do something like that, I mean I know it would hurt you, but how if you don't mind me asking?" Beth asked.
"I don't mind. From what my parents said there were two used on me. One makes the core harder to reach and use, it constricts on it slowly until eventually it just chokes it out. It's kind of a variation of the spell that parents use on their children if they have really violent episodes of accidental magic except that it's stronger and can really hurt when it's removed."
She took a couple of deep breathes "The other one made the magic flow easier so that you don't have to concentrate as much to get a spell to work. Sounds like something that everyone would want but it's erratic and you can't tell when the magic will work easier so you end up putting too much power behind them or not enough.
"The two spells were working against each other and putting a lot of strain on my core. It made my body feel like it was on fire the whole time. The healers took three days to remove them. My Dad said that they were afraid to take one or the other first because once the counter balance was removed the other one would be overpowered.
"They were feeding off each other and getting stronger by using my magic. If they had removed the block first my core might have exploded. If they had removed the other one first the block could have crushed my core. So I had to wait three days until they were able to remove them together."
She was staring at the far wall blankly until she felt that squeeze, she looked a Sirius with a small smile "Thanks" She turned back to Beth.
"Until a few days ago I would sometimes wish that they had let it kill me. Now I'm glad they didn't. Seeing Harry makes those years worth it." She snorted "Seeing Siri act like an adult almost makes it worth it even if he is trying to corrupt Harry."
Sirius smiled "I can't even get him to skiv off class properly. He actually asked for more homework to make up for the days he would miss. I gave him a good way to get out of work and he volunteers for more. All of my years of perfecting being lazy are going to waste."
Cath laughed "It seems that he's corrupting you more than you are him. Even when we're just sitting around talking part of you is thinking about that shop and how to make it a success."
He looked at the sleeping twins "Those two kids have their entire lives staked on it. I just can't let it fail because they've put too much into it for that to happen. They're even going to be the major source of funding for that scholarship and believe it or not that's what's driving them right now. They want to send at least three kids to Hogwarts by the start of next years first term with just their funds and are hoping for at least two more with other donations."
The other three people awake had been listening, Arthur got a smile.
"When Bill told them why Harry didn't want that money they started putting more time into coming up with the scholarship than inventing. I think the only thing they've created since then are what they call a portable swamp; throw it on the ground and you get a large swamp. I have no idea who would buy anything like that but it really is something to see."
Bill was staring at him "They have a way to create a swamp? How long does it last?"
His father shrugged "The one they tested by the pond is still there so at least two weeks."
Bill grinned "I may have a buyer for it. Goblins lived in marshes before we forced them underground, they hate it down there claiming that we're trying to make them into dwarves. I'll have to get one from the twins to give them as a sample and see if they like it."
"I thought they always lived underground, that's why they're such good metal smiths." Sirius said.
"No, they used to buy their metal from the dwarves to make their weapons and jewelry, they didn't start mining it themselves until they had to live in caves to survive."
"Here" a voice said quietly from the side. When they all looked over to it they saw one of the twins starting to sit up and reach into his pocket. He pulled out a small disk and handed it to Bill.
"Don't drop it in a spot you don't want to have to clean up. If they like it we have about twenty more ready."
Bill smiled "How much are they?"
He looked at Sirius who asked "What do the materials cost and how long do they take to make?"
With a shrug he answered "Materials are about two galleons for each and I think we can get production down to ten every twenty minutes not counting curing time."
"Four galleons sounds about right. If you can get the production down a bit more we could go three a piece."
The twin just nodded as he yawned. "Ok." He curled back up in his chair to go back to sleep.
"I think we may have to talk about some more employees to help them with production or they'll never get any sleep at Hogwarts." Sirius said as he stared at the two of them.
Cath smiled and lay her head on his shoulder "Yep, Harry's definitely corrupting you."
He smiled "You're just tired and seeing things."
A very tired looking Madam Bones came walking in and it was Amanda who got up to get some tea this time.
After thanking her and taking a sip she spoke "We've caught one of the four and you can tell Rebecca and Tonks that a couple of CAA's were used. That guy won't be walking right for a very long time. It's sad to say but I'm glad he fought back."
Both Bill and Sirius cringed.
"It seems that they're all relatives of Death Eaters out for revenge. None of them were targeting Harry specifically it was just bad luck that they found him at all really."
She yawned "Sorry. Anyway they staked out several homes of ministry personnel to plan attacks on them. Nott had your house Arthur. He saw Ginny leaving at the same time everyday and decided to start following her. From what they said it took him a week to finally find where she was going. He spotted Harry at the café the day before yesterday and they put together their plan quickly. They wanted to kill a bunch of muggles with him to start their other attacks."
"Who's the leader?" Arthur asked.
"They don't really seem to have one; they're just a group with a common goal and kind of put things together as they go. I've got teams out looking for the last three now. I just gave the Aurors here their descriptions so they know who to watch for."
"Is Susan in any danger?" Bill asked.
She shook her head "I sent her to the Abbot's and have two Aurors watching over them. You're the last family I needed to notify because I knew none of you would be at home. I still have a couple watching your place just in case."
"Thank you." Arthur said as he let out a breath.
Amelia took another drink "Is there any change here?"
Sirius nodded "He seems to be getting better. The healer said that it looks like the restorative is starting to work."
"Do they have any idea how long it will be before he wakes up?"
"They don't know for sure but said that if it was before noon they were going to put him back to sleep to give his body more time to heal. They don't want him to move around at all until at least then." Sirius told her.
She chuckled "I wish them luck with that. It might be easier for them to just stun him."
Sirius shook his head "Tonks says that since the last time he's more careful, that last one seems to have scared him because he's got something to live for now. If his Mum tells him not to move or to take a potion he'll do it without question."
"That's actually good to hear…"
Several wands appeared in hands as they heard the sound of running feet coming towards them. An Auror came into the hall full tilt and made a straight line towards Madam Bones to whisper in her ear.
Her eyes narrowed "How many?"
"Three they're all in the infirmary now and they said they'll all survive."
Amelia let out a breath "What happened to the suspects?"
The Auror looked around at the people sitting there.
"You can talk in front of them so answer the question."
"They're all dead. After they hit Smyth with that cutting curse we all started using lethal spells Ma'am."
Madam Bones nodded "Good, you did the right thing." She turned back to the others "That's the last three. I need to go see the Aurors in the infirmary."
"Thank you Amelia." Sirius said.
She just inclined her head towards him "I'll leave a couple of Aurors here just in case. We haven't been able to question Malfoy yet because of the potions he's on and I want to make sure there's no more out there before I pull them. Let me know if anything else changes. I'm going to take a nap after I visit the infirmary."
Sirius chuckled "Slacker"
Amelia smiled and gave him the finger as she walked away.
Cath lifted her head off his shoulder "What are CAA's?"
Bill and Sirius cringed.
XXXXXXXX
Ginny had woken about six that morning and found Gabrielle already awake, they talked for a moment then checked with Sirius about going into Harry's room for a bit. They found him talking with Fleur and Conner and had Catherine asleep with her head on his shoulder. He had said yes and to just keep it down so they didn't wake Rebecca and Tonks.
They had been in there about twenty minutes whispering about what sort of things they would be doing in France next summer when both Rebecca and Tonks sat straight up and each stared at the hand they were holding.
After another moment they looked at each other quickly before staring at Harry's face. Everyone held their breath as they watched him start to slowly try opening his eyes.
Ginny leaned over to Gabrielle and whispered "Tell the healer and I'll get Sirius." With a nod they separated.
When she got to Sirius he and Cath had changed positions and he was now asleep on her shoulder.
"Sirius?" Ginny said and got nothing from him. She gently shook his shoulder and repeated his name a little louder still getting nothing.
Cath got a grin and said in a lower voice "That will be three nights detention Mr. Black."
Sirius shot up "But I didn't do anything." Everyone awake started laughing as he blinked and looked around.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Ginny answered "It looks like Harry's waking up."
Cath was on her feet and towing a still blinking Sirius into the room as he said thank you to Ginny.
"Don't move around Honey, you need to stay as still as possible." Rebecca was saying.
Harry's lips moved a little but nothing came out.
Tonks grabbed a pitcher of water and filled a glass then put it to Harry's lips. He drank all of it quickly then gave her a weak smile "Thanks" he said in a hoarse whisper.
He looked at his Mum "How many were hurt?"
"How many what were hurt?"
"The people, they were going to kill all of them. How many did they kill?"
Rebecca smiled "None, except for the ones that did this, you were the only one hurt."
Harry's brow furrowed a little "How?"
"Ginny saw them go into the café so we were able to get there before they could do anything to anyone else."
His nod barely moved his head at all "How long have I been asleep?"
Rebecca looked at Sirius who answered "About sixteen hours, just a short kip."
Harry looked at his Mum as she said "I'm glad you finally woke up." She had tears starting to fall down her cheeks.
"I promised you I would Mum."
She leaned in and kissed his forehead "Yes you did, didn't you?"
Harry slowly looked at Tonks "Sorry I messed up your birthday."
Tonks gave a small smile while tears threatened to fall from her eyes too. "I'll just have to make you give me my day with you twice to make up for it."
Rebecca spoke "I had Sirius bring your box for her and complete the rest of the present. Would you like to give it to her?"
Harry's half smile appeared on his face "Yeah."
Sirius walked to the corner behind Rebecca and picked up the box brining it to Tonks who eagerly ripped the paper off of it. When she opened it she found two smaller boxes inside with 'open first' written on one of them.
When she did she started laughing as she found a bunch of granny panties with a note on top.
If you don't like the idea of modeling these there's always the second box.
She set it aside and opened the other one getting a confused look on her face when she saw that it only had a note and nothing else. A deep red blush colored her face when she read the note.
I'll model mine for you if you model this one for me.
Happy Birthday
Love Harry
Tonks leaned in and kissed his cheek "Who knows, if they're really good days you may get the show." And she winked at him.
Ginny had been reading over her shoulder and also blushed after a second that it took for her to understand. She looked at Sirius and Cath.
"That's what you had us doing at her place? Making it so that she didn't have anything else to wear?"
Tonks eyes widened as Harry's smile broadened and the other three adults started laughing.
"You didn't?" Tonks breathed out.
"He did." Said Rebecca.
"I don't understand" said Gabrielle only to have Ginny whisper in her ear until her eyes widened and she blushed. After another second she started to giggle and was soon joined by Ginny.
The healer stepped in at this time. "All right, I have to ask all of you to leave now while I check him and see how he's doing."
His Mum and Tonks both gave his hand a squeeze as they went to the side of the room.
"We'll be right outside." Sirius said as he gave Harry's leg a pat before they left the room to be met by everyone standing looking at them.
Ginny and Gabrielle were at Hermione and Lisa's side almost before Sirius and Cath had cleared the door way.
Sirius spoke "He's awake and the healer is checking him out. He's really weak but is talking a little."
It sounded like a wind came through the hallway as everyone let out the breath they were holding.
Cath nudged him and nodded towards the four girls. He saw Hermione's and Lisa's eyes widen for a moment and then they started giggling with the other two.
"In a few minutes everyone will know what he got her." Sirius said.
Cath smiled "I have a feeling his power over the girls has just risen a bit."
"Brilliant" came from the twins.
"And his reputation among the guys has hit space." Sirius had a huge smile. He saw Molly was listening in on Hermione telling Ron and made his way over to her.
When her expression started to change Sirius interrupted her. "Molly, it's an ongoing joke between the two of them, that's all. We took her under things to her Mums so she still has them. She got Harry a bunch of pink underwear for his birthday and took all of the rest so he could only wear those. Her real present was supposed to be a day out with lunch and a movie with Harry and him cooking her a special dinner."
Molly blinked at him a couple of times before blushing a little as her eyes found her husband "Pink underwear you say."
Sirius laughed "And what Harry calls pink strings, I'll let Tonks know you're interested in them though you might want a color that won't clash with his hair."
Molly blushed deeper before slapping his arm "Oh, you. Go find out if that healer's going to be much longer and if we can go say hi to Harry."
"Yes Ma'am" he said as he and Cath turned back to Harry's room.
"I don't know what's happened in that house but I like the change in her." Sirius said to Catherine under his breath.
She smiled "I think her husbands about to like it more than you."
He paled a little "Maybe I should have Tonks make sure she knows the contraceptive spell, they definitely don't need more children."
"What do you mean? They only have five."
Sirius shook his head "You haven't met the other two and with their luck the next batch would be another set of twins."
Cath said "Oh. Uhm, if she's no good at the spell there's always potions."
When they got to the room they saw the healer leaning in close and Harry's lips moving. The healer straightened up after a moment.
"All right, ten minutes but if I see you move anything but your head I'm putting a stop to it and making them all leave. You'll be back asleep before the first one makes it to the door. Do you understand?" She asked.
Harry smiled his half smile "Yeah, thanks." He said with a hoarse whisper.
"I take it he can have visitors?" Sirius asked.
The healer glared at him. "Everyone at once for ten minutes only and I don't want anyone trying to make him excited or anything. He's not allowed to move anything but his head."
Sirius held up his free hand "I'll let them all know, I promise."
The two of them turned and went out the door only to reappear a couple of minutes later opening the door and holing it as everyone else came in.
When the four girls saw Tonks holding his hand again they started giggling. Tonks glared at Sirius but the twins cut off any comment.
"Brilliant. Our youngest partner, you have to teach us how to buy a girl nothing for her birthday and have her be happy about it." they said together.
Harry looked at Sirius.
"It wasn't me, I kept my mouth shut." He said.
Harry and Tonks both looked at Ginny and Gabrielle who blushed and looked at the floor causing Rebecca to laugh.
After everyone had said hi and they chatted until the healer called a halt to everything and told them all to leave. The girls and women all lined up and gave him a kiss on the cheek as they filed out.
Harry smiled as Cath was last in the line. After giving her kiss she said. "Siri has some news for you before we go."
Sirius took a breath "There were four others who were part of the group that attacked you. All of them have been dealt with and Amelia wanted me to tell the ladies here that some CAA's were used to get one of them and he won't walk right for a very long time."
Harry cringed but both Rebecca and Tonks grinned in a very evil way "Good." They said at the same time.
Sirius looked at Harry "It was just an accident they found you; you weren't the target they were after."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked with his hoarse voice.
"Yeah Harry, we're sure. Their targets were all families of ministry personnel. One of them noticed Ginny's pattern of leaving at the same time everyday and followed her to the clinic. Like I said, it was just an accident they found you so you can forget leaving that job because of it. Ok?"
Harry gave him a small smile "Ok."
"Good. Now can we get you ladies anything before we run everyone off?"
After being told no he told his Godson to get some rest and he and Cath left still holding hands.
"Is there something going on between them that they haven't told me yet?" Harry asked.
"I don't think they even realize it yet." His Mum said with a smile.
The healer cleared her throat. "It's time to go back to sleep." She looked at Rebecca "It's dreamless like you asked for."
Rebecca nodded "Thank you. We'll be here when you wake up honey so just relax and get some rest." She leaned over and gave him another kiss.
Tonks also gave him another before whispering "When you wake up I'll probably be modeling for you." then leaned back with an evil grin "Let's see that dreamless sleep potion stop that dream."
Harry opened his mouth to answer and found a potion vial against his lips and had no choice but to swallow. He looked at the healer with a glare and saw her smile as he started to fade.
"The lady should always have the…" She said as he lost consciousness.
XXXXXXXX
It was three days later when Harry was being helped by his Mum with getting dressed so he could leave the hospital. He had two new scars that were an angry looking red color that ran from the right side of his stomach upwards to just below they scar he had received from the horntail on his left shoulder.
He was still having trouble with moving so his Mum had brought a button down shirt so he wouldn't have to try to raise his hands above his head. When they got it on him he sat back down on the bed to button it up and Rebecca looked at him for a moment before speaking.
"Harry can I ask you how you see Lisa?"
He looked up at her "She's become a pretty good friend, why?"
"Just wondering, how about Ginny and Gabrielle?"
He smiled "Those two are starting to act like the twins." He sighed as the smile left his face "I know Ginny doesn't see it the same way but I think of her as a sister and I'm starting to see Gabrielle the same way."
His Mum nodded like she had expected that answer "And what about Hermione?"
Harry stared at her for a second before answering "I wish we still had the same friendship we used to but she's still a really good friend. Uhm, can I ask why were talking about all the girls I know?"
She gave him a small smile "I was just wondering. How do you see Tonks?"
He blushed a little causing her to nod "I thought so. Can I ask if you plan to ask her out?"
His jaw dropped "She's…I couldn't…What?"
"I was wondering if you were going to ask her out on a date. A real one, not the day outings the two of you go on, but a proper date."
"She wouldn't want to go on a real date with me. She's an adult and I'm just a kid. I think she sees me as her little brother." He said while looking at his feet.
His Mum sat next to him on the bed and took his hand "But you'd like it if she was your girlfriend?"
He nodded slowly "Yeah, but there's no chance of that. She'd get into a lot of trouble if she went out with me and I don't want that. She could get any guy she wanted and wouldn't want to go out with a teenager."
She sighed "I can't believe I'm actually going to encourage this. Harry, she can use her abilities when you're out in public to look the same age as you so she won't attract unwanted attention."
She took a breath "I think you should ask her to be your girlfriend, I know she'll say yes but won't ask you first because of the age difference."
He sat there with his jaw resting in his lap unable to say anything.
Rebecca smiled "You two would make a good couple. I'm telling you now though that if I find out you two are having sex I'll welt both of your backsides so bad you won't be able to sit for a month. I might be willing to overlook the fact that you're a teen and she's an adult for dating but I haven't completely lost my sanity."
Harry got a small smile "Do you really think she'd go out with me?"
Her smile grew a little "Yeah, she'll go out with you. I think you should think up something special for when you ask her though. Any thoughts?"
Harry blushed a little and nodded.
"Good, let's talk about it when we get you home."
