Song Recommendations: Hospital Beds by Palaye Royale
Dancing With Your Ghost by Sasha Sloan
AN: Well, that last chapter was something. I love when authors recommend music, it's how I've found some of my favorite bands. When I was about 12 or 13, I read a D. Gray Man fanfiction (let me know if you're a fan too!) and they included "background music"/ lyrics from songs in their work and that's how I found out about Breaking Benjamin and it remains one of my ( and because of me, my brother and sister's) favorite bands. (Yes, we know we're somewhat emo trash even to this day. Also Coheed and Cambria is a fanfiction started obsession too. That's the reason I'm recommending y'all songs. I'm also recommending stories I like/ have inspired me.
Albus was waiting for Minerva in his office. She was not surprised to see him surrounded by books and his usual collection of moving silver trinkets. What exactly he was doing mumbling and poking each trinket with his wand, she didn't know. Albus barely looked up at her when she walked in, obviously he could tell she had no concrete answers. Minerva took the bottle of firewhiskey from the corner of his desk and poured out a double. She conjured a second glass and poured one for herself as well. They were both going to need it.
"Albus, I have news." The ancient man stared up at her and Minerva strengthened her mental shields. While she may sometimes let him read her surface thoughts to expedite matters, she wanted the full weight of her information to hit him. She wouldn't have left baby Harry with those monsters if it hadn't been for the trust she placed on him.
"First, when was the last time you spoke to Arabella? I thought you'd said she was going to be settling there to keep an eye on Harry." Albus seemed to think back.
"A few months perhaps, I can't really say."
"Really, Albus. A few months, really? That's shocking considering Arabella Figg has been dead for over six years!" Albus startled so badly that he knocked several trinkets off his desk.
"Dead?! Dead?! She can't be dead! What of Harry? What of the boy?"
"The boy?! The boy?! YOU sent Arabella there and since no one answered her SHE tried to protect him! The monsters YOU threw Harry to KILLED her! They killed her and Harry almost DIED! The muggles don't think he'll function!"
"But where is he, Minerva?! Where is Harry Potter?!" Minerva stood there, chest heaving, hands fisted at her sides. She was breathing like a prize fighter and attempting to kill him with her eyes.
"I haven't found him. His records after his arrival and healing at the hospital are sealed. Nothing I did could get them unsealed. I came back to let you know and to check the scroll."
"I checked it. His name isn't there."
"Maybe this morning I would have believed you. Now…. I'm making sure of everything coming out of your mouth."
Minerva snatched the scroll from beneath several books and trinkets, knocking them to the floor. She didn't bother apologizing. She just walked out. Albus stood there, his heart thudding in his chest. The boy had to be found! He had to be!
Minerva had scanned that stupid scroll five times! Five times! Harry Potter, Harry Dursley, Harry James. None of those names appeared. In fact, there was no Harry among the next year's intake. Minerva did think there were a few surprising students. Agusta Longbottom, Dowager Lady Longbottom and ex-Gryffindor prefect when Minerva had been at school, would be glad to know her grandson did have enough magic to attend. And little Theodore Nott, the poor boy, would be coming this year as well. His mother had been found dead in 'mysterious' circumstances. Minerva had taught the shy Hufflepuff half-blood. hadn't been happy to marry her despite her father's large fortune.
One name stood out to her. One name made her eyes go wide. Hogwarts hadn't seen any of this particular family in many years. On the scroll, their name appeared in gold to set them aside from the black ink of the rest. How Albus Dumbledore had missed it, she didn't know. Even with the disgust, sadness, and boiling rage in her hadn't distracted her enough to miss the name Hawthorn Domini Lansing. His arrival would see the traditional families acting like an ant hill that's had poured water on it.
Minerva sighed heavily and glared at her fireplace. While she was perfectly capable of many things, perhaps she should consult with her colleagues about the Potter situation. Severus would be particularly difficult to speak to. His hatred for James Potter might see him declining to help. Then again, his childhood closeness to Lily Evans might see him doing the most for her little boy. It was a good idea, in general, to acquire the backing of the other House Heads.
Five minutes later found her settling into one of Flitwick's office chairs and setting all her copied paperwork onto his desk. Pomona, her dear friend, was anxiously gazing out the window. Minerva knew she wanted to get back to her weeding of the greenhouses. Severus Snape, glared about the room. She had interrupted him while he brewed and he was mad. Filius was the only one she hadn't annoyed.
"Thank you for coming as soon as I asked. I know I interrupted several important tasks and I am sorry. However, a…. problem has arisen that I don't think I can handle on my own. I hate to say this but I cannot trust Albus to fix it. Indeed, he is part of the problem." Pomona's eyes were fixed on her face, wide in surprise. Filius had raised an eyebrow in question and Severus looked like he didn't care.
"Almost ten years ago, I learned Albus was entrusting a… treasure to certain people I didn't trust. I had heard less than complimentary things about them, you see. I thought that perhaps they had changed so I decided to watch them for a day, to alleviate my worry. I watched them all day and what I saw made my worry grow. Late that night, when Albus arrived, I was still there. I argued that they were not the right people for the task he wanted. I argued vehemently. You all know Albus. You know how he calmed our concerns about having the stone in the castle. To my greatest shame I let him convince me. I watched him leave Harry Potter on the doorstep of his aunt."
"Oh, spit it out Minerva! What has the Potter brat done now? You interrupted me for this?!"
"SILENCE! For once in your miserable life stop and listen!" The three Heads stared Minerva. She had never yelled at any of them, let alone insult them. She made no secret of her dislike for the Slytherin but she tended to be polite and respectful to the sour man.
"Those muggles," she almost spit the word, "abused the poor baby! Albus swore to me, multiple times, that Harry was alright. He said he'd sent Arabella Figg, the squib, to watch over him. Poor Arabella! I don't know why she didn't alert him or if he ignored her warnings! She tried to protect the wee lad and they killed her and would have killed HARRY if a neighbor hadn't called their Aurors."
Minerva buried her face in her hands and struggled not to sob for the hundredth time. Pomona had burst into tears and was clutching at her chest. Filius looked devastated and furious. But Severus, Severus looked even paler and his eyes were rapidly reddening. "What happened?" His voice was just a hoarse whisper.
"I made copies of everything but the pictures. I only saw one of those and… it was terrible. They beat and starved him from the first day, Severus. They beat him so badly the Muggle healers don't believe he can ever walk or speak or function at all. They believed he would die and recommended he be sedated until his death."
"...He's dead?!" Severus' broken whisper was almost thunderous in the suddenly silent office.
"No! No, he somehow survived. He was moved but I couldn't find out where. The latest news anyone could give me was that all the personnel that had helped him were given flowers and money was donated anonymously to update the children's intensive care unit of the hospital. That was three year ago."
A shift in the atmosphere of the office made them realize they had been holding their breaths and the walls seemed to have been radiating heat. Severus dropped heavily into an empty chair. He replicated the paper stack and handed one to Filius and another to Pomona. For a few minutes the only sound in the office was the rustling of paper and the steadily harsher breaths of the readers.
"That BASTARD! That conniving, miserable excuse for a human! I trusted him, I kneeled before him. He promised me that the boy would be safe! I spied for him! All so the boy would be safe! Oh, Lily….I'm so sorry." The Slytherin head violently flung the papers at the fireplace and crumpled back into his chair, face buried in his hands and shoulders shaking with the force of his sobbing. Minerva stared at him for a moment, shocked at the implication of his words. She knew Severus and Lily had been childhood friends as close as she had been with Fleamont Potter. Perhaps better than the other two, she understood his feelings
Pomona had hastily conjured a bucket and was retching into it. Her tears flowed freely. She loved all her little badgers as if they were her own and couldn't imagine hurting any of them to the extent she had just read about. Filius looked like a bomb of fury about to explode. The small man was very dangerous, very lethal when he wanted to be. Minerva didn't know at who he would direct his anger but she hoped it wouldn't be herself.
"I need your help finding him. I need you all to help me find Harry Potter. I also need you all to help me protect the children because I don't trust Albus to do it. Not after today."
AN: Still inspired/shamelessly copying Fixing Past Mistakes.
Recommended Reading: To Shape And Change by Blueowl