Chapter Thirty-Five

Transitions

Harry arrived at the hospital an hour before his appointment. It took him a little while to find Luna's ward. All he knew was she'd been placed in a long term ward for those with psychiatric problems and the hospital didn't like telling non-family members where those. About twenty minutes after arriving, Harry finally got a nurse to show him into the five person ward.

It wasn't at all what Harry was expecting. Four of the five other inmates simply lay on their beds and stared at the walls. Luna however, sat in the middle of the floor with the little kitten he'd sent her playing with her hands. She wore a simple white hospital gown and seemed more than a little washed out by the overwhelming white-ness that was the hospital. "'lo Harry. Thanks for Caesar."

Harry sat down next to her. "Is that what you called him?"

"Her," Luna corrected. She ran her nimble fingers over the little cat's fur. It purred, but twisted away from her and cautiously approached Harry.

"My cellmates don't like her," Luna said, frowning. "None of them will talk with me."

"Don't you get visitors to talk with?" Harry asked. The kitten purred against his hand.

"Just my dad," Luna said. "And sometimes he forgets. I remind him, normally. But he doesn't do so good without me." She mournfully clicked her tongue a few times.

Harry winced. "How are they treating you?"

Luna shrugged and didn't respond. They stayed silent for a few moments as Caesar bounced between them and soaked up all the attention that they gave him. After a few moments, Luna sighed. "I almost miss Hogwarts. At least there, it wasn't so lonely. Well, it was, it was just a different sort of lonely. Have you ever been lonely, Harry Potter?"

"Yes," he said.

Her eyes narrowed. "Honestly?"

"Yes. In my primary school, none of the other kids wanted to be around me because my cousin scared them all."

"Why would he do that?"

Harry winced again. "I don't know, Luna. Because he was mean?"

"Melissa was mean," Luna shrugged, somewhat mournfully.

The door to the ward opened and a doctor-ish person stepped through. Harry vaguely recognized him from the impromptu class he'd attended, but couldn't place the name. "Hello Luna," said the healer. "Are you enjoying Mr. Potter's visit?"

Luna nodded and held up Caesar. "He's the one who gave me my kitten."

"Oh?" said the healer, with an amused smile on his face. "You love Caesar, don't you?"

She clicked her tongue a few times.

"Luna."

"Oh yes!" Luna said. She glanced at Harry, set Caesar on the ground, and grinned half-heartedly. "I'm sorry. I'm not supposed to chirp."

Before Harry could say anything, the healer said "That's right, Luna. Good girl. We're trying to get her ready to reenter Hogwarts next year. Although, we will suggest to the Headmaster that she get resorted, won't we Luna?"

"I'd like to be a Hufflepuff," Luna said. She fixed her full attention on Caesar. "Grace was kind."

Harry knew the names of everyone in Hogwarts, if not them themselves… Grace Finch-Fletchley was a first year Hufflepuff, and she and her brother were the younger twins of his yearmate. He remembered Justin mentioning how hard it had been to convince his parents that they should be allowed to attend Hogwarts. Maybe he should have paid closer attention… "That would be fun," Harry said, for lack of a better response. He got an affirmative, rather covert nod from the healer. "Hufflepuff is a good house. They have a pool."

Luna's pale eyes fixated on him. She blinked twice. "Cool!" She turned to the healer, who was now checking on the other patients. "I want to go to Hogwarts next year!"

He turned, a more sincere grin on his face. "That's great, Luna. If you stay motivated, we'll get you there."

Harry gave Caesar another pat and stood. "I need to get to my appointment. Do you want me to come by during spring break?" Luna nodded eagerly. "See you then." She waved as he left. She even grabbed Caesar's paw and forced him to wave too. The little kitten didn't look too happy about that, but he didn't really complain either.

He got lost in the St. Mungo's hallway, but he made it to Vince Kingston's office just barely on time. Healer Mena was there too. Harry hid a wince. He liked Vince well enough, but hadn't really managed to get the hang of liking Mena. She was too abrupt. Too straight forward. And knowing that she could, if she wanted to, read his mind, like Dumbledore and whatnot… yeah. At least he trusted that Vince wouldn't try and violate him, whatsoever. "So what are we doing today?" Harry asked as Vince gestured for him to sit down.

The two healers looked at each other. Mena cleared her throat. "We'd like to analyze your curse scar. Given that you were secreted away so soon after receiving it, we really have no information about whether or not it could be affecting your magic."

Harry stared at his hands. "H… how are you planning on doing this?"

Vince half-smiled. "It would be most efficient for the healers if we gave you a sedative and performed some minimally invasive tests. If you do not wish to be knocked out, we can try to work around that, it just won't be as effective."

"What are the risks involved?"

Mena scowled. "Are there any risks when it comes to knowledge?"

Harry outright laughed. "Of course there are."

o.o.o.o.o.o

When the spells started wearing off, Harry woke to raised voices and fuzzy shapes. And no memory of what had happened since Vince had put him under the anesthesia spells.

"This must be reported."

"This can't be reported."

"This must be reported!"

"The DMLE is in turmoil. They don't have a leader, which pretty much means bowing to Fudge. They've got Black on the loose. Bones and Trpcic are locked in a power battle. They can't handle this problem. And you want to turn Harry over to Fudge?"

"The government needs to be informed."

Harry recognized Healer Mena's shrill voice and pinched diction.

"Calm down, the both of you." Daniel Jainsberg's? "Alyssa, Vince is right. This should not be reported."

Mena snarled. "Then what do you propose to do about it?"

The door opened. Harry couldn't see who it was or what was going on. Something pink? Not really. No. His head hurt.

"What's wrong?" The new person. He recognized the voice. But… Ow. "You only call me here for Harry… They've made me, like, his personal bodyguard. And let me tell you, the constant hours are not fun."

That was something important.

Right?

All Harry could focus on was the big, brightly colored bunny bobbing through his eyesight. It was eating a pumpkin. And hopping.

"You won't tell the government but you'll tell her?" Mena said, her voice coated with frost.

"Harry?" Oh, of course. It was Tonks. The bunny was pink now, and hovering over his bed.

"He's still under anesthetics." Voice. Right. Um. Vale. No. Vale was the wrong name. Wrong brother. Vince. Of course. Why was the bunny's name Vince? "He can't hear you, Tonks."

"What's going on?"

The bunny was having arguments with itself.

Wasn't that some sort of mental disorder?

Hrwm…

"We were analyzing his scar," Vince-bunny said. "To some interesting results."

Tonks-bunny quivered. It glanced around at the other fuzzy shapes in the room. "Is this going to be something I'm going to want to report to my boss?"

"Which boss?" Came concurrently with two "Yes"es.

Harry couldn't focus. He couldn't control the fuzz. He fell back down the rabbit hole.

o.o.o.o.o.o

It was Thursday morning before Harry woke again. The hospital room was empty and overwhelming white. Harry tried to clear the fuzz out of his head and succeeded for the most part. He felt… light headed. There were a few family shapes surrounding his bed. He could just make out Hedwig, perched on the end of his bed. They'd let Hedwig into his hospital room?

"Harry?" That sounded like Luna. "He's awake!" Definitely Luna. Why Luna?

Harry pushed himself up on his elbows and blinked at the gathered people. Luna, Aurora, Professor McGonagall, and the Healers Jainesburg, Mena, and Kensington all gathered around his bed. "Miss Lovegood," Jainsburg said, "please alert the Aurors that he's awake."

Luna nodded, skipped a little, a disappeared from the room.

"Sit up, Harry," Kensington said. Aurora reached behind Harry's head and helped him rearrange the pillows so that he could sit properly and still see everyone. McGonagall and Mena took seats at the foot of his bed. Jainesburg and Kensington stood beside the bed. By the time Harry was situated properly, Luna had returned with three aurors: Richard Spinnet, and then a man and a woman that he didn't recognize, but Harry figured that the woman was Tonks, because she seemed to have been elected his personal liaison. And… yup, there was the twinkle in her eyes and an off-beat smile of recognition. "We want you to listen to us, and ask questions later on."

A history lesson followed. One of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The night that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had fallen. Obscure magic. And Harry's scar. His scar. His scar had… had… played host to a piece of Voldemort's soul? But no… no…! When the Healers finished, Harry looked from Aurora to McGonagall to Luna to Tonks to Vince… surely they couldn't be telling the truth? Surely—

"How did you determine this?"

Mena gestured to an ordinary, empty glass jar on the countertop. "Old magiks, Harry. Strange magiks. Strange like the blood and tears that runs through your veins."

Richard Spinnet cleared his throat. "Mr. Potter, given your status in our world, given your propensity for trouble, and the fact that your guardian and teachers have refused to consider removing you from a school environment, the DMLE has, at the request of St. Mungo's, assigned a permanent bodyguard to your person. For the foreseeable future, Auror Tonks will be shadowing you. She will attend your class, your activities, and your life, Mr. Potter. In three weeks' time, we will evaluate this placement, but for the moment, you have been formally requested to live with it."

Harry wanted to protest. He really did. He didn't want to live watched and guarded for his entire life. But then he saw Angelina freeze. He saw Paradise throwing a knife and hitting a friend, not an enemy. He saw the looming cloak of a dementor. He saw a basilisk rising rising rising, jaw open, fangs dripping. He saw basilisk and phoenix locked in combat, attacking each other with brutal force until both shifted and convalesced into bleeding masses of black and orange blood. He saw the sickly green light and the quiet voice, just a whisper. He saw the dead unicorn and the silver blood of life seeping from jaw marks on its flank. He saw his right hand, and the burns that still hadn't gone away. He saw Snape. Dumbledore. And he couldn't deny the logic of a bodyguard. Harry closed his eyes. "What… what will be the logistics of this?"

Tonks grinned. "I'm planning on morphing myself into a kid and following you around all day. It'll be fun!"

He wondered what she'd think of the invisibility cloak. He decided not to mention it in front of all these people. Maybe he shouldn't tell her at all… "And is this an immediate effect?" His scar started hurting.

Or maybe he just started noticing the hurt.

Tonks nodded. "We'll swing over for your party this afternoon, and then we'll be returning to Hogwarts for the rest of Christmas vacation."

"Fine."

That conversation closed, McGonagall cleared her throat. "In addition, the teachers at Hogwarts will be assessing, Mr. Potter, whether or not you should be allowed to continue on the workload you have set for yourself."

Harry snorted. "It's not like I'm just going to stop learning. Not now that I've begun."

McGonagall started to challenge him, but Luna chirped from behind the aurors. They'd let her stay? "Learning. I want to learn."

Jainsburg said something to Mena, but Harry didn't catch what it was.

"Is there anything else?" Harry asked. No one said anything. He looked at Aurora. "Then can we go home?"

They went.

o.o.o.o.o.o

Ursa-Upon-Heavens had been transformed. Two huge tents had been set up on her lawn. The garden had been expanded, weeded, and decorated with Christmas lights. Six Quidditch hoops had been raised about half-a-mile from the house. When they arrived, just before lunch, Neville was in the gardens, directing Carter and two elves that Harry didn't recognize but who wore the mark of Longbottom on their shoulders in the gardens. Jessie and Sal were working in the kitchen, churning out dish after dish after dish. Paradise directed Taygete in putting up lights on the edges of the tents.

Hermione was rushing about, making sure everything was running ever so perfectly. Lils, unnoticed by the bushy-haired girl, followed her about and alternated between watching and learning and doing a perfect imitation. Dan and Emma Granger watched, half in awe, as things about them whizzed and whirled and danced. Mr. and Mrs. Vane, who'd offered some magical chaperones, were setting up tables under the tent and laying out a flat surface for dancing. Romilda helped Neville in the garden, and Able did whatever Hermione told him to. The chaos was amazing.

Aurora disappearing into the kitchen to help the two house-elves and Tonks pranced up to Mrs. Matilda Vane and started to help set up the dance floor. Harry joined Able under Hermione's thumb. Hedwig hadn't flooed back with them, so she'd be a few hours in returning. Harry and Able whizzed about, laying out party favors and making sure Paradise had gotten Taygete to hang the lights just so. Harry let himself get caught in the flow of things, and before he knew it, people had started arriving.

The Spinnet girls arrived first, accompanied by Katie Bell and Eliza Kirke. The Weasley twins arrived, pulling Ginny along behind them. Percy had been invented but declined, and Ron had decided to go to some event with his father instead. Yet the twins had brought along their two oldest brothers – Charlie and Bill. Cedric Diggory arrived with them. After that, Harry lost track of who was arriving. He was vaguely aware of a short, freckled, laughing girl with cherry-red hair and oddly green eyes pop-up by his shoulder and stay there for most of the time. He was vaguely aware of Charlie recruited enough people for a huge, twenty-on-twenty, four beater, three keeper, two seeker, eleven chaser Quidditch brawl.

William and Emma showed up, with Natalie in tow, but Harry didn't see Mary and none of the Grants had been allowed to come. Neville had assured Harry that it was perfectly acceptable for him to express indignation that Persephone and Selene hadn't come to his party. In fact, Neville spent most of the party at Harry's elbow, directing him towards the homeschooled students and random nobility kids that he needed to know. Harry tried to file the information, but he lost most of the names and faces once each individual conversation ended.

The house-elves kept food abundant and fresh. The magical performers that Harry had hired kept people entertained. The Robbins sisters and Leann Hooch kept the dance floor in use as they cycled through a series of dances and celebrations. Quidditch was watched. Conversations were had. Food was eaten. It was chaos, but delightful chaos.

At just before six, Neville hissed in Harry's ear that he'd done his host-duties, so Harry bounded off to the Quidditch field and joined in a seeker challenge that Oliver Wood seemed especially eager to have. Harry was challenging Charlie, Cedric Diggory, Cho Chang, Tonks, Natalie McDonald, and two homeschoolers. Oh, but was that fun! Hedwig arrived home while he was in the air, so she hovered above the pitch and joined in a few of Harry's crazier dives as he spun through the competition and came up with the second most snitches. Charlie had destroyed him when it came to actual collection of snitches.

Harry started to collapse shortly after that. Well, not really, but he definitely felt drained. Hermione, Neville and Tonks escorted him away from everyone and up into his attic. There, Tonks and Neville got everything packed before Neville and Hermione returned to the party and Tonks flooed Harry straight to the Gryffindor common room. There, in the empty red-gold room, Harry collapsed and fell asleep, with little thought to the lush carpet he landed on.

o.o.o.o.o.o

The castle seemed particularly empty this year.

Harry woke in his regular bed at seven am. He blinked. No nightmares this time. No nothing. He dressed in a selection of drapes from his Shaped Clay Co. wardrobe. It was Christmas break and he was allowed to wear a hat. Which felt wonderful. The common room was empty. Harry wandered down to the Great Hall. There was a notice stuck to the closed doors that meals had been moved into a large first floor lecture hall a few hallways over. Harry trotted over and entered the much smaller room. Two tables had been set up in the room, and they were already laden with breakfast foods. Professors Babbling and Lupin where the only ones in the room, and they were discussing some ancient Latin tome.

Harry filled his plate and sat down across from them. They included him in their conversation, but he couldn't participate to the extent that they did. He simply soaked in the Latin they discussed and filed it away in his brain for further use. Several minutes later, a few older students entered and formed a small cluster at the other table. Professor Babbling left and Harry started discussing this-that-and-random things with Professor Lupin. The food was good. It was good conversation.

Tonks, this time in full-grown, hair bright pink, burst into the room and plopped down next to Harry. "Thanks for that," she mumbled and stuffed a roll in her mouth. "I just spent twenty minutes looking for you. Why on earth are you awake this early?"

"This is late," Harry retorted.

She groaned. "Don't you ever, like, sleep in?"

"No."

Tonks bashed her head on the table. "Whee."

Conversation after that switched to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry soaked up the information from auror and professor. They argued about spell usage, dueling, and even on the topic of some magical animals before Harry noticed Remus purposefully spinning the conversation away from magical creatures. Just as Tonks was about to start a spiel on some sort of creature defense, Harry asked "Can you teach me how to duel?"

That switched the direction of flow and Tonks and Remus both agreed to help Harry develop at least rudimentary dueling skills over the next week or so.

And that's what they did.

They started that first day in Remus's quarters. He pulled out a chess set and proceeded to trounce Harry. And then again. And then again. Tonk perched on his desk, her legs swinging, her elbows resting on her knees as she watched the two of them play. Harry hated chess, he really did. After the fifth game, in which Harry managed not to lose in three turns, because he'd played with Ron enough to know that particular set of moves, Remus sat back and stared at Harry. "Now tell me why that was a pointless activity."

Harry stared down at the half empty chess board. "Because I can't play chess?"

Remus snorted. "No. Because it's chess." He leaned forward, tapped the board and said "melee." The chess board grew and changed, turning into a brightly colored forest studded with little figurines. "Control your troops, Harry." So their troops met in real time, fought at a conceivable variable strengths, and all to the chorus of Tonk's engaged, awe-inspiring commentary. Apparently, melee-chess wasn't all that common. Harry still got trounced. After Remus beat him twice, Tonks kicked off the desk and pushed Harry from his seat. So Harry took her seat on the desk and watched the two of them battle. It was a pretty epic match-up.

Tonks kept her strength amassed in the same place, except for a few key pieces that that Remus seemed to have missed. She moved those pieces with agonized slowness, whenever Remus was distracted with something else. And he seemed, at least, not to notice the four little pieces sneaking beside his flank. It was a pretty grand battle overall. After that battle, Remus stood and gestured for Harry to play Tonks. That was fun. He got trounced. For the rest of the morning, they switched out who played the games.

That afternoon, Harry led them up to the armory. Tonks cooed and started squealing about how much she'd have wanted this place while she was in school. But it was Remus that puzzled Harry. The man wandered through the armory, his steps slow and sad, his eyes darting around the room but as if he was seeing something else, something long forgotten. Occasionally, he would reach out and brush just the tips of his fingers over a wall or a sword… He wandered the length of the room and doubled back, all the while nostalgic about something.

When he reached Harry, the student said, "Did you come here often?"

"All the time," Remus said. "It's where your father learned to be an animagus."

Harry blinked. "Dad was an animagus?"

"They all were," Remus said.

Tonks whirled around from her examination of swords and statues. In just a few seconds she had crossed the hallway and stood in front of Remus. "They." She repeated, in a low voice. "They. The they?"

Remus nodded.

The metamorphmagus's hair cycled to a fiery red. Her shrill voice echoed through the armory. "Sirius Black is an animagus and you didn't think this important to tell me?! I'm responsible for Harry's wellbeing, Lupin, I need to know this! The aurors need to know this! What form does he take!"

Remus looked at his shoes. He seemed… lost. But his voice was cool and collected when he replied. "A large black dog. Grim-like."

Harry startled.

Bodyguard and professor looked at him.

"I… I saw a Grim, the night I ran away from my uncle's… It was right before I accidentally called the Knight Bus…"

"You saw Sirius?" Remus said, in tandem with Tonks' shrill "you've seen Black?!"

Harry flinched away from them. "I don't know! It was just this big black dog thing that, well, it looked like Trelawney's book's picture of the Grim, I just didn't know—"

"Stop stuttering, Harry," Tonks said.

Remus ran his hand through his hair and stumbled back a few steps, a shocked, exhausted expression on his face. "He really is going after you. He really is. I didn't want to believe it… I didn't want…"

Tonks frowned. "C'mon, Harry, let's see if we can get you to the point of surviving if Black ever should try and do what Malfoy and Flint tried."