where we left off in the last chapter
" Poppy? What's wrong, is something wrong with harry?" Sirius asked in a tight voice. Giving away that he might lose his control at any moment.
She met their eyes with a stony expression. " I do believe that I have some horrible news to tell you… but before I tell you anything, you're going to have to see this for yourselves."
She turned and began to rush out of the room and back into the one that held the young boy-who-lived both remus and sirius following in her wake.
-start of chapter-
It happened t be a very short walk from the Weasleys kitchen to their living room but for sirius it seemed to take hours. He dreaded what state he might see his godson in this time and judging by poppy's expression he knew that it wouldn't be good.
"This way gentlemen, and hurry up I gave him some potions to keep him asleep but he won't stay out for long." the med-witch commented.
She stopped just outside of the entrance to the other room, the one which currently held the chosen one.
" I should warn you not to over react, it may be shocking."
Poppy stood to the side and motioned with one hand for sirius and remus to enter before her. Sirius Black was the first one to step past madam Promfrey with a nervous Remus Lupin following closely behind him. Neither knew what they should expect on the other side just yet.
It was getting closer to night so with only one small table light on the room was only dimly lit. But that didn't mean that the two men couldn't see their godson laying with out a shirt on the couch.
At the first site of the boy-who-lived remus felt to many emotions at once to count. The first of course was sadness and a sudden pang of hurt in his chest. He couldn't believe in a million years what he was seeing could be real. The second was worry he knew that sirius usually didn't react to things that involved this much emotion well. The werewolf was just waiting for the moment that his friend shot up and began to scream about all the horrible things that he was going to do to those muggles that raised harry.
But as it would seem sirius decided that moment to change his ways and took remus by complete surprise when instead of freaking out gently crouched down by harry's side and began to stroke his face and hair. And even though they both knew very well that harry was sleeping they both heard all the quiet promises of safety and "I'm sorrys" that sirius whispered ever so lightly to his godson.
You see the boy-who-lived was covered in bruises and cuts all over his body. There were so many that you could barley see past them to see skin. It was an array of black and blue, with some scars open and turning red or white.
As remus bent down beside his godson too he could tell that some of these scars were very old and hadn't healed correctly, therefore making a permanent mark on harry's body. After all he knew about old non healing scars, having a werewolf's transformation once a month would always lead to some sort of cut. Whether it be from the transformation itself or from something that happened when he was in his werewolf state.
It made him angry to think that the abuse had been going on for a long amount of time.
After giving the two men their space and time to process the situation poppy stepped back in to the room.
" I know that you're both not going to want to hear this but there are more on his back, which seemed to have been caused by a belt and slightly healed cuts and bruises on his arms and all down his legs." Her tone was grave as she stood on one side of the couch looking down on her patient.
A small and almost unheard sniff was heard from sirius as he kept his head down and his hand in harry's. But because remus's werewolf enhanced sense of hearing it didn't go by unnoticed.
" It'll be ok sirius." Remus assured with a gentle tone. He slowly put a hand on his best friends back to give him some form of support.
The still hung down head of sirius black shock slightly with a quiet "no" being muttered.
" Of course it will, yes things will be hard to get back to normal but things for harry will turn out ok."
The ex-convict looked up and made eye contact with a sad but angry look on his face. "How on earth can you say that!" he partially yelled but he knew that for harry he had to keep his voice at least almost at a whisper. " In case you haven't noticed moony my godson is unconscious covered in wounds on a couch. So how in the world are things going to get better for harry? Please give me an explanation."
Remus looked down and gave a sigh before he looked up and made straight eye contact with sirius.
"Because he has you and me in his life now and I known that you'll do anything in your power to make sure harry gets the care that he needs."
" Which is exactly what he needs now," Poppy added in from her spot.
Sirius looked up at her and was about to say something before the nurse stopped him with a wave of her hand, signaling that she wasn't finished speaking just yet.
" The crucio curse has put a lot of strain and stress on his body in his already worn out state therefore making him more likely to get sick, and with further examination I discovered that most of these wounds are very infected."
Remus turned his gaze from madam Promfrey to the sick boy on the couch before him. " Which means?" the werewolf asked in a grave tone of voice.
Poppy closed her eyes and slowly took a deep breath before delivering the bad news to the guardians of the boy-who-lived. " It means Mr. Lupin that this boy is very ill. I'm going to wrap him up in some medical gauze now I just wanted you to see the damage before I did."
" Isn't there something we can do, a spell of some kinds?" Sirius asked finally processing what was begin said to him.
" Unfortunately some of the wounds are so old that magic can't heal them on it's own, yes harry's magic will help the healing process along and make them heal quicker but most of the healing will have to be done by us. They will have to be cleaned regularly most likely every day for the next few weeks."
"And how are we supposed to do that?"
She leaned down and pointed out one of the wounds to the men she was teaching. " You'll have to clean each wound separately. First you must wash your hands very thoroughly and I request that you use gloves, I will send some antibacterial solution over and you will use that to clean the area around and near the wound off. Once that is over carefully wash out any foreign matter or pus that is in the area and when that it all accomplished you'll put some antibiotic ointment and cover it back up with the gauze. Yes I'll have to send that over to along with some extra gauze and pain potions just in case it stings to much." The last part of her rant was more directed at herself than to the other men.
"Are you sure that I'm the right person to do this?" Sirius asked with a sudden worry in his tone. Truth be told he was expecting to screw this up some how, after all that's what he was always doing. He really did want to help harry but he didn't want to cause him more pain because of a stupid mistake.
" Oh of course you are sirius, you're going to have to learn sometime since I can't always be here. But I'm sure that remus would be more than happy to help and I can stop by every now and then till school starts."
Remus nodded at the ex-convict to show him that it was true. He himself was also more than a little worried about treating harry's scars but he knew that it had to be done so he was more than willing to help.
" When will this have to start." Sirius asked finally gaining a little bit more confidence in himself.
" I will finish it this time but since I'm need at tomorrow so you'll have to clean them then."
A slight sniff up and twist from harry caused everyone's attention to turn to him. " Well it would seem that he's finally waking up, I'll let the both of you have a minute with him before I have to come back in and fix him up."
-HPHPHPHPHPHPHP-
Harry could barely make out what the voices over him were saying but he knew that they were there. He tried to open his mouth and ask what the voices were discussing but at the moment he couldn't get any words out.
He tried to get up but for the life of him his body was just so stiff. The boy-who-lived only succeeded in moving an inch before he felt a jolt of pain throughout his body.
He finally remembered what was happening before he was knocked out by the crucio curse. The deatheater! Was he still in the forest and more importantly was harry himself still on the forest floor? Speaking of that where in the world was he now? Suddenly feeling very worried that he might still be hopelessly lost in the forest or somewhere with Voldemort near he jolted up with panting breathes.
" Whoa whoa slow down there kiddo, everything's ok, you're safe."
The distant voice sounded strangely comforting and familiar but in his current state he couldn't figure out who was trying to calm him down.
The longer that he was awake the more things were coming onto focus around him. Immediately he realized that the voices soothing him were from his godfathers remus and sirius. Feeling safe the second that he knew who was around him he allowed himself to listen to them and gingery lay back down.
Though he still couldn't force out words no matter how hard he tried, he throat was just to dry. A pair of hands handed harry his glasses so he was able to see. Once that was over harry looked over at his godfathers and put his hand around his throat as if to somehow signal that he needed a drink. At the moment a butter bear sounded very nice and refreshing.
Remus however was prepared as always and had a glass of water right in his hands once he understood what harry meant.
" I knew that you might need this so I had dobby bring it out for when you woke up, just in case."
Harry raised an eyebrow at remus at the mention of the house elfs name. He didn't think that he could be in the same vicinity as dobby without his friend watching his every move.
" Yes dobby's in the kitchen at the moment once Dumbledore heard of your state he sent him over. Thought we might need some extra help I suppose."
" I'll tell you one thing though pup that house elf of yours really seems to worship you, bit creepy really." Sirius added in with an odd look crossing his face.
The seeker couldn't help but to smile. Yes dobby was a bit odd and stakerish but over the years harry had grown rather fond of him.
All of a sudden there was a loud crash coming from the kitchen area, it sounded as if a pot had been dropped. Remus cracked up and called out.
" It's ok come have a quick look!"
The ex dada professor motioned for harry to turn around and when he did he was met with the sight of dobby peaking over into the living room.
The house elf had only it's head sticking out and was hiding it's body behind the wall that separated the two rooms, proving that he wouldn't enter fully. However there was a rather large grin spreading across his face and as soon as harry looked at him and smiled back he bowed lowly and then snapped and was off to who knows where.
Sirius gave a bark of a laugh and muttered something about dobby being obsessed with harry. Taking no notice of his friends comment remus finally handed the boy-who-lived his water, as harry had begun to cough slightly.
Once harry had taken a couple of sips he finally felt like he could talk again. " Thank you, I really needed that."
" Of course you did kid." Sirius replied as he reached over and ruffled the large mop of black hair located on harry's skull. He was very happy to see that his godson didn't flinch away form him this time. It gave him an odd sort of satisfactory in knowing that harry wasn't scared of him hurting him anymore.
" Do you feel ok?" Remus asked in a worried tone. He knew that after all harry had been through that he probably didn't feel very well but oh well there was no harm in asking.
Harry looked as if he was about to reassure the men that he was fine but with one glance over at Sirius's upset face he knew it wouldn't do him any good to lie.
" Alright I feel horrible, my body aches and I have the worst headache imaginable." He bowed his head as if he was ashamed to tell them that and something in Sirius's heart was suddenly filled with sadness.
" You happen to be very ill at the moment harry." Sirius explained.
A small smile graced harry's lips as he responded, " I had a feeling that I was, at the moment I feel as If I could topple over at any second."
" I figured as much but it's ok madam Promfrey is here and she'll get you fixed up as soon as possible." Remus explained.
" She's.. she's seen t them then?"
" Harry in case you haven't noticed you're shirtless," Remus said in a gentle tone. Knowing that harry had tired for so long to keep the bruises and cuts hidden from everyone. "But don't worry you don't have to hid anymore." he added hastily.
Harry looked between remus and sirius with a grateful look on his face. He knew that things weren't going to be better right away but having someone to help him along the way was always a good thing.
"Well gentlemen it's time for me to take care of harry's wounds I have to ask you to exit the room for the moment being." Madam Promfrey's voice rang out through the living room alerting everyone of her presence.
" Will you be alright if I leave pup?" Sirius asked. Not really wanting to get harry out of his sights again.
Harry nodded and hummed not really wanting to speak. But he was pretty sure that it was enough to reassure his godfather that he wouldn't take off on him again.
And it was right after he did remus and sirius got up and with one last glance at their ward went out of the room.
' probably to go tell the others how I'm doing.' Harry thought.
" Well then Mr. Potter we shall begin."
The med wizard then began to heal all she could with her magic and wrap up what she couldn't for the time being.
It took two hours for it to all be done, and harry was feeling rather sleepy after. He guessed that it had something to do with the one of the potions that madam Promfrey had given him when they had started.
" That's it for today Mr. Potter I must be back to Hogwarts, but I'll send them in to look after you before I leave."
Before she left she handed him a fresh shirt to put on. He reconized it as one that he had bought with remus a while back. It was funny how that seemed so long ago now when it had only just happened. Harry remembered being quite nervous to go clothes shopping with remus. He thought that the werewolf would have suspected something since harry constantly refused to try anything on. But to his reflief remus didn't say a thing.
Harry felt like laughing as he remembered. All of the work he put into hiding the abuse had all gone down the drain now.
Harry had known that when madam Promfrey had mentioned "them" she was probably referring to everyone how lived in the house. After all no one was around at the moment all downstairs. Which was an odd thing since so many people lived here. They all couldn't have cleared out of their own house for the night just so that he could rest and be taken care of could they?
At the thought harry begin to feel extremely guilty. But it went unnoticed by poppy however who quickly gathered up here things and said her goodbyes.
A few moments after she left the magical house begin to fill up with it's inhibitions. That included all of the Weasleys and sirius and remus. Harry was glad that he had used his short time alone to quickly put on the shirt, no matter how much his bones ached to. He really didn't want everyone to see all the damage on his body.
The sudden rush of noise was overwhelming to the chosen one for some reason. And when everyone began to come near him and constantly ask how he was feeling harry had a sudden want to run upstairs and hid from all the chaos that was circling around him.
Noticing that harry was looking a little trapped and scared remus alerted sirius with a jap to his ribs by his elbow. Seeing at once what was the problem sirius came to the rescue with remus not far behind him.
He helped his godson up and told the crowd that had gathered around the boy-who-lived that harry was going to go rest up stairs till dinner time and the he and remus would accompany him to Ron's room.
The three ignored he all that volunteered to help and assured them that they would see him later.
Harry slowly walked up the stairs to his friends room, he was feeling very stiff after all. Sirius walked next to harry and put a hand on his back just in case he fell or had to stop suddenly. Remus took up the rear since there wasn't that much space on the staircase for them both to help harry up.
Once in Ron's room harry prominently collapsed on the extra bed that he been set next to Ron's for him. He couldn't understand where this sudden feeling of depression and fear of crowds had come from but then again he really didn't want to deal with it this second.
Sirius shared a worried look with Remus as harry rolled away from them and curled up into his self. Not even bothering to get under the freshly washed blankets or remove his glasses from his face.
Cautiously remus took a small step towards the bed.
" Are you alright harry? Need anything, anything at all?"
Harry hummed once to tell them he was aright and then shook his head to show that he wasn't in need of anything at the time.
Sirius looked at his godson's back with a concerned look on his face but remus stopped him from asking anything else by grabbing his arm and gently walking them out of the room. He thought that it would be best if harry just had some privacy for the time being. At dinner maybe they could try and get him to open up.
The werewolf made sure to dim down the lights in the room with his wand before he and sirius exited and shut the door softly behind them.
" What do you think that was about moony? He.. He looked so sad. Do you think something happened that we don't know about?" Sirius whispered as they stood outside the door. He didn't want harry to listen in on their conversation and feel worse.
" Nothing could have, at least not that I know of. He was only with poppy for a short time, then everyone came back in."
They carried on talking as they made their way slowly down the hall and to the stairs.
"Do you think it would be wise to ask him about it during or after dinner?" Sirius asked. The ex-convict wanted to help harry as soon as was possible for them.
" Maybe, Maybe not, we can try and if it doesn't work poppy will always be back tomorrow to clean his wounds maybe she'll know."
" Splendid! Then we can finally be on track to becoming a happy family." Sirius said cheerfully with a smile as they walked down the stairs.
Remus's eyebrows went up to his forehead as he had the thought that his old friend was quite suddenly turning into Ablus Dumbledore. Though he dismissed the thought and blamed Sirius's cheerfulness on the fact that he was finally able to take care of harry.
" So at dinner then?" Padfoot questioned breaking remus from his train of thought.
" Yes sure then, but in the mean time not a word to the Weasleys about what's going on with harry or what we saw. Something tells me that harry wouldn't be to happy if we told them."
Sirius nodded and in that moment they were back into the Weasley crowded living room.
-HPHPHPHPHPHPHP-
Hi everyone, just wanted to say that this isn't the end of the story even though it may look like it. But I still have plans so there will be more to read soon.
As an extra note I took the info on infected wound cleaning from a friend of mine that had to do it once. Though it was a while ago so it might have some flaws.
Thank you all for reviewing and I hope you go and see the new Harry Potter movie that just came into theaters :D.