A/N: I'm not making any money from this. This is J.K.'s world, I'm just playing in it.
Now that Charlie and Sienna were fully on board with the Potter-Black Alliance and had even sworn their loyalty, Alexandra pulled a few strings to get Harry a last minute appointment at St Mungo's for a check-up for the next morning. He had been reluctant to go, but after learning that it was a quick appointment and would take no longer than 30 minutes, he was more than happy to get it over with, and they made it to the hospital with no fuss.
"Good morning, I'm here for a full check-up for Harry Potter?" she asked as they stood at the front desk, smiling at the wizard behind it, who wore a perfect poker face and spoke only in a monotone. She and Harry had dressed rather low-key today- him in his usual black jeans and a shirt and her in a loose red romper and sandals.
"Okay. If you would both present your wands, I can confirm your magical signature. Then you will need to sign these statements and you may see Healer Morgan on the sixth floor."
After filing the necessary paperwork, she and Harry made their way up to the ward and Alexandra reached out her hand when she saw Healer Morgan, identifiable by her name tag. She was an older woman in her late forties with blonde hair and laughter lines, and she noticed Harry brightening when confronted with a friendly looking Healer.
"Good morning, Healer Morgan. This is Harry, my cousin. Pleasure to meet you." She stated, and the two witches shook hands firmly, before the Healer turned to Harry.
"Mr Potter. An honour." She said, winking at Harry and making him blush a little bit as he returned the handshake. The trio began walking down the corridor, passing a few closed doors before Healer Morgan opened one with a tap of her wand and gestured for them to go in.
Inside was a tall bed not dissimilar to the ones used in Muggle hospitals, a blue chair for Alexandra and a desk and chair that displayed files and notes of various patients- all of which she could tell were locked with complex confidentiality charms.
"Now, Harry, if you would take a seat on the bed, we can begin the check-up. I'm just going to cast a few diagnostic charms and then we can really get started!" she explained cheerily, drawing her wand and holding it a few inches from his skin, and she then proceeded to run the wand along his body, muttering under her breath as she did so. The tip of her wand glowed Alexandra could see a quill writing information on a piece of blank parchment on the desk and she gave Harry's hand a comforting squeeze.
Looking back up, she tensed when she saw Morgan frown as she read over the notes on the parchment, and she sat up straighter.
"Could I have a quick word with you outside, my Lady?"
Alexandra's eyes widened but she managed to hold onto her pureblood poker face with no small amount of will power. "Of course. We'll just be a moment, Harry." She said, looking at the younger boy. His skin was paler and he looked at her with such fear in his eyes that she was compelled to cross the room and embrace him.
"Whatever it is, we'll be fine. I'm not leaving you, so you have nothing to worry about. I'll be right back, I promise." she muttered into his hair, carding the black locks through her fingers absentmindedly. It was a testament to how frightened the boy was that he only tightened his grip around her waist and nodded emphatically into her stomach. Pulling back slightly, she kissed his forehead before following Healer Morgan out of the room and into the thankfully deserted ward.
"My Lady, I will get straight to the point. Diagnostics have revealed that Harry's growth has been stunted by physical abuse during childhood. Some of his bones were broken and have not set properly- these will need re-growing. Also, the detector sensed a strong magical suppressor on his core- one of up to 50%. If I release the suppressor, he will need a few days to recover from it magic-free, and while it will not be painful, I suggest as little movement as possible."
Alexandra did not hear the second part of what the Healer said. Her vision had begun turning red the second the word 'abuse' had been spoken, and she could feel her magic filling her up, fuelled by her rage. As her magic began to bubble beneath the surface, objects began to move and vibrate- windows, doors, plants- nothing remained unmoving, save the building itself.
She shut her eyes and tried to take deep breaths, dropping her wand and counting to ten again and again and again until she felt calm enough to speak without screaming. A few tears had slipped past her tightly shut eyelids as she worked, and, opening her eyes again she quickly wiped all evidence of them away.
"I'm sorry about that. Would you give me a moment with Harry, and then we can talk about the lock on his magic?" she said, clenching her fists and resisting the urge to blow something up. I swear, if Dumbledore ever goes near my Harry again, I'll rip him apart with my bare hands.
Healer Morgan nodded and Alexandra re-entered the room, to find Harry on the bed with his head in his hands. Approaching cautiously, she slid onto the edge of the bed and reached out a hand to hold his.
"Harry?"
He made no answer, but she could see the way his shoulders moved as he sobbed, and she moved to gather him up in her arms, and surprisingly he didn't tense when she did.
"Kiddo, I know what happened to you, I'm so sorry, you're never going back there and I'll never let anyone hurt you again, I'm so sorry darling." She whispered, leaning her forehead against the back of his head and allowing a few tears to escape in the privacy of the room.
He slid an arm around her waist and tucked his face into her neck, avoiding her gaze still, but she only tightened her arms and waited. They sat together in silence- holding and being held- for some time before Harry began talking.
"I-I only found out what my name was when I went to school. I thought it was Freak. That's what they called me. They made me do manual work when I could walk- gardening, cleaning- I was allowed to cook when I was six. If I did something wrong, or said something to them, Vernon would…h-he would beat me." Harry sniffed. "That's w-what I deserve. I'm a f-freak, I killed m-my parents, it was my f-fault, I shouldn't l-live with y-you or have nice things. I d-deserve to be b-beaten."
Alexandra's heart broke the longer he talked, and she pulled back, taking his face in her hands gently. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot from crying, his cheeks stained with his tears and she smiled softly.
"Harry, you are not a freak. You are anything but that. You are strong, brave, kind, clever, loving, and generous and I couldn't ask for a more perfect cousin. You deserve to live with me because I am your family and I love you and you deserve everything that I could give to you and more. Voldemort killed your parents, kiddo, not you. They loved you so much, you know. I met you when you were a baby- briefly- we were hiding out in France and we could only visit because of the protection on the house. But I've never seen anyone look at their child with such love, Harry. They died because they wanted you to live, and they wanted to give you a better world to live in. You're worth dying for Harry- I know I'd do exactly the same thing they did, and we've only known each other a week! That's the kind of person you are, and I don't want you to change a thing about you."
When she finished speaking, they were both crying, and Harry pulled her into another hug and smiled at her. "I love you too, Lexa."
Alexandra grinned brightly and kissed his forehead gently, before retrieving her wand and conjuring a wet cloth out of thin air. "What say we clean up a bit and get Healer Morgan back in here to fix you up?"
Quickly wiping away the tears, she passed the cloth to Harry who did the same while she opened the door and poked her head out. Morgan was waiting outside the door with a smile, and Alexandra opened the door further to allow the Healer in.
"So, Harry, Lady Potter-Black, I will be prescribing nutrient potions to boost your growth to what it should be and some Skele-Grow to take whenever you want, but you can only drink it while you're here so we can monitor the growth." she said with a stern voice, passing Alexandra the necessary potion. "The nutrient potion is to be taken with every meal, before you eat."
"Also, there is a magical suppressor on your core which has been placed by one Albus Dumbledore- it has his magical signature on it- and has blocked half of your power. We can remove it, but you will be on bed rest for three days, and you will not be able to use magic. After that, you will need some training to control your new power, but you will adapt quickly."
Harry's eyes narrowed and he turned to Alexandra. "What do you think, could we remove it now?"
She hummed in approval as she thought over their schedule for the next few days. "Sure- we can cancel lessons until you're better- I can set a project for Neville and Draco can finish his summer work. I'll ask Augusta to bring Neville over to keep you company and you can call the house elves to bring you books and things. I'll try to pop on whenever I can, but I have to go to Hogwarts today and I should hopefully be seeing the Grangers tomorrow, to see if Hermione can join us in training. Is that alright Healer Morgan?"
The blonde witch nodded, and moved towards the bed. "Harry, the removal will knock you out for around 24 hours, during which I will administer the Skele-Grow so you won't feel the regrowth, if that's okay with you?"
Harry nodded and stretched out an arm for Alexandra, who wrapped him in another hug. "I'll see you tomorrow kiddo, okay? Love you."
"Love you too, Lexa. See you on the flip side." Harry winked playfully and she marvelled at his ability to put their earlier conversation to one side and be cheerful. This kid is quite something. Healer Morgan raised her wand and began murmuring in Latin as Harry's chest began to glow. A deep blue sphere rose from his chest and as the Healer continued the spell, it cracked open: the blue exploding and allowing the golden core to expand to twice its original size. Harry fell back onto the bed, asleep and the core sank back into his chest.
Alexandra stepped forward and removed his shoes and transfigured his clothes to pyjamas. Morgan clutched a vial of the foul potion and poured it into his mouth, massaging his throat so that he would swallow and left the room with a nod to Alexandra.
She smiled as she looked on the sleeping boy, and kissed his forehead lovingly before leaving the room. In the hallway she drew her wand and began setting up a ward that would alert her if someone entered the room, and would tell her who it was.
After the ward was secure, she cast a quick Patronus and her familiar peregrine falcon appeared before her. "Augusta, I'm at Mungo's with Harry, they've had to remove a magical suppressor on his core, so he's unconscious until tomorrow, and I'll be at Hogwarts if you need me. Lessons with me are cancelled until Harry's recovered. "
The falcon shrieked and disappeared, so she made her way down to the lobby where there was a concealed apparition point near the front desk. It was time to deal with Albus Dumbledore.
A/N: If you're confused about Sirius and Remus or Alexandra's past read Chapter 1 again, I've updated it so it makes more sense, and also the previous chapter explains more about Alexandra. Thanks for reading.