Heal Thy Blood - Prologue

This was it, one final word from his lips and the spell would be complete. His wand was trained downwards so that tip pointed straight down towards the center of the glyph covered circle, his right hand firmly gripped the handle, whilst his left hand pressed down and splayed out over the butt of the wand's handle to steady it. His heart beat could be felt thumping rapidly in his ears as he steadied himself for the final word. His mind calming and the fog clearing there, his purpose never clearer than right in this moment.

Whatever deities or grand designs may exist. Please, do not let me fail now. Let me save someone, as some form of payment for all those I could not. Please.

"Expurgo" he whispered.

Daily Prophet Daily Bulletin.

Harry Potter, otherwise known as the man-who-conquered, has sent shockwaves around wizarding Britain yesterday morning, after his name was missing from the leaked auror applicant list. The ministry has informed the prophet that they are investigating the leak and have confirmed that Mr Potter is NOT entering into the auror corps as many had expected him to do so.

Has our hero lost his nerve? We have reached out to various individuals close to Mr Potter but have yet to receive comment.

Miss Granger apparently has left the country for reasons undisclosed, Mr Ronald Wesley was unreachable but it is suspected he left the country with Miss Granger.

The Daily Prophet will update our readers as soon as we obtain further information. Please see page three for the new minister of magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt's statement on the state of the country's economy since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was defeated.

"I must say Mr Potter, you certainly have a knack for causing a stir whatever you do, or in this case even when you don't do something" Healer James Watson chuckled as he casually tossed the newspaper on his desk whilst his house-elf, Dipple poured out two cups of tea.

Watsons office was clean and clinical, folders were neatly lined on the large wall spanning bookshelf behind the healer, along with many books which very few seemed fresh given the creases in their spines. The large oak desk between them was neatly cluttered, with quills, ink pots, parchments and various other knick-knacks. The walls were a bright cream that contrasted beautifully with the darker brown plush carpet, two evenly spaced windows to Harry's left allowed sunlight to spill into the room. He had not expected the offices within Saint Mungo's to be so beautiful, but that was perhaps because his time spent in NHS hospitals in his youth had coloured his view of what hospitals looked like.

"It would seem that way, people tend to have preconceptions of what I should or should not do, and rarely do they agree with my choice" he responded and nodded his thanks to Dipple when she carefully passed him his cup and saucer, following it with a warm smile which the house-elf beamed back to him.

"I have seen that over the last eight years, and for what it's worth I am sorry for how our population has treated you at times" Healer Waston was an older man, late fifties if Harry had to guess. His light gray hair was neatly combed to the side and his thick mustache neatly trimmed, the years had been kind to his skin with very few wrinkles other than either side of his eyes and mouth.

Harry waved the older man off. "You aren't to blame for the general population"

The older man nodded before leaning back into his leather chair, the faint squeak of the leather implied the chair was new. "We should move on to discuss why you are here today? May I call you Harry for the remainder of our conversation?"

"That would be wonderful" Harry finished his sip of tea before gently placing the cup and saucer onto the large oak desk between the two men.

"Why healing? A man such as yourself … forgive me for referencing the paper before me. Would be invaluable to the auror's, you are an exceptionally gifted duelist Harry, defeating the dark lord shows that" Healer Waston asked as he leant back slightly, crossing one leg over the other and interlaced his fingers casually over his knee.

The answer was simple for Harry.

"I am seventeen. I have directly killed four people, all of whom were trying to kill me in turn. And yet I felt repulsed after each one, including Voldermort"

To the healer's credit he showed no emotion at the mention of the name.

"In fairness the auror department rarely kills people, mostly arrests and paperwork from what I hear. The war, or should I saw wars have of course drawn memories away from that however"

"I have also lost people, classmates, friends and family. I want to save lives, Healer Watson, not end them or see them slip through my fingers." His voice was calm, but his throat felt tight. The older man in front of him nodded, his gray eyes softened for a moment.

"A noble endeavor Harry, and I understand your reasoning. No person your age should have gone through what you did" he paused for a moment, his gaze seemed to drift for a moment before focusing back. "If you pursue this path though Harry, do you understand that you will still lose people? Patients sometimes are too far gone to save, or in some cases it is simply their time. Not everyone can be saved, and it is a long and painful path to follow if you cannot come to terms with that"

"I understand that, but at least I know I will have done everything I can, if that's not enough I can cope of that"

Watson nodded.

"Even with the reduced thresholds for healer recruitment there is still a two year training programme you must complete, now it will be on the job training given how short staffed we are but it is mandatory"

"I expected no less" Harry replied evenly, trying to contain his nervous energy at how well this had gone.

"Good, when can you start?"

I have not abandoned my other stories, just since having my daughter I have struggled with that plot but it will come back to me I assure you.

Enjoy this story in the meantime, I have no update schedule but I am using my writing time as some "Me" time so I look forward to updating.

Let me know your thoughts on the prologue.