The Boy

Chapter 8: The Boy And The Healer

"I know, Renee, but you decided to take Bella with you when you left. You can't blame her for being there and restricting you from doing what you want. You could've left her here with me, you know. I would've taken good care of her. Anyway, I don't mind taking her in now if you truly feel like you need some space from taking care of a child. And she won't be lonely here. Harry is will definitely like to have another child in the house."

"How are you so certain that he would, Charlie? After everything you told me about what Petunia and her family did to him…" Charlie heard the deep sigh coming from the other side of the line. "I'll think about it and get back to you. You know how Bella feels about cold wet things. Forks have plenty of that. But I'll ask her if it'll be alright if I send her to live with you for a while."

Charlie wanted to roll his eyes at that. Bella is a child and Renee is the adult. Why can't Renee just be the adult and make the right decisions for once? Yes, Bella's opinion counted and everything, but she's still a minor in this equation and that meant she shouldn't be the one to make the decisions.

Charlie sighed and said a quiet "Goodbye, Renee, call me when you and Bells come to a decision that suits both of you." Then he hung up the phone and turned to the little boy who sat in his highchair, eating breakfast. "Breakfast good, Kid?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, Unca. Bleakfast weally good."

Charlie smiled. "That's great, Harry. Sarah's coming to pick you up, okay? I have an early shift at work."

Harry didn't reply, just stuffed more food in his mouth. Sometimes Charlie wondered if he understands anything at all that he Charlie says. Not that Charlie thought that he is mentally retarded or something. He is quite intelligent for such a young child. It was just that he didn't reply to something that Charlie said sometimes and that frustrated Charlie because he really didn't know if Harry heard and understood or not.

"Harry, did you hear what I said, kid?"

Harry looked at him. "Aunty Sarah come to pick me up because you go to wolk ealy."

Charlie suppressed a huff. Of course Harry understood. He shouldn't have thought otherwise. "Right, just finish your breakfast." The boy's only answer was a hum in content as he shoved food into his mouth.

A few minutes later Sarah arrived in Billy's truck alone. Charlie left Harry with her and drove away to work. Sarah got Harry settled in the truck. He wouldn't be going to school today. After talking to a healer about getting him checked out and healed what should be healed, the healer had given the advice of bringing him in the morning because he might need hours of healing and considering there are only so many hours in a day….Needless to say, Sarah decided not to take Harry to school and just take him to a healer instead.

The healer's practice was situated in Port Angeles and so she had brought a car-seat with her since only Harry will be going with her. The girls and Jacob were left with Billy for the day with the addition of baby Seth because Sue's mother couldn't watch over the little bean today.

"Twees pwetty, Aunty," Harry said as they drove.

Sarah smiled. "Very much so, Harry."

"I go see twees?"

"Later, when we get back, Harry."

"Otay."

Sarah only smiled at him and focused on the road ahead. Now and then she'd look at him to make sure that he is still okay. He had Tom again today and the poor googly eyed toy didn't look so great anymore after all the swimming he had done in the washing machine. His faux fur didn't look smooth anymore. It looked a bit frizzy and she was sure that at some places it was coarse. She would have to see if she can get the toy back into pristine condition even if it meant soaking it in a potion to make sure it didn't capture dirt anymore as well as turning it back to looking brand new. That was if she wanted the toy to last. Otherwise she would just use a spell that would fade in a month or so.

Healer Alberty were an old stern man in his sixties. Sarah had known him for years and trusted him more than any other Healer she had met in her life. He was also the head healer of Saint Seraphine's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. His time was expensive, but for Sarah it isn't. She'd been his apprentice when she was younger. It was just such a waste of time, though, because Sarah didn't become a healer. Instead she stayed a medi-witch and worked as a nurse in a No-Maj hospital.

Oh, she could've looked over Harry herself, but she isn't a healer and he needs one more than a simple medi-witch.

Healer Alberty greeted her warmly, though it seemed so out of place with the expression on his face that practically oozed seriousness. "This the boy?" he asked unnecessarily.

"Yes."

"Good, let us see what problems he has that the No-Majs couldn't detect."

He set to work, doing an in-depth diagnostic spell. Then he took some blood of which Harry really didn't like. He started crying just like when Charlie took him to the doctors. Sarah felt quite sorry for the little boy as she held him while speaking to him soothingly.

"Oh my," the healer said, catching her attention.

"What is it?"

"I can't be sure, but this boy had his core half bound as well as_" Healer Alberty swallowed and handed her the results of both the blood test and the diagnostic test.

Sarah scanned both with her eyes feeling her heartbeat rise at the words written on both the parchments. "A souls-shard in his forehead?" she hissed. "Why that's…that's horrible. Not to mention_" She looked at the boy. His bound core had given a very rare magical disease that should've killed him by now. Parents only bound a child's core by a quarter, not half because the possibility of contracting the disease. "At the least, he didn't become an Obscurial. But still_" She sighed.

"It can be cured," Healer Alberty said. "But his core must be unbound and then strengthened. It is brittle now. You know that. It should've died which means that he should've died. Brittle Core Disease is rare, but his parents should've known better."

"Are you sure that it was his parents, Healer?"

"No, but who else would bind a child's core like this?" He paused, frowning thoughtfully. "Unless….No, it is quite ridiculous of me to assume something like that." He shook his head.

Sarah, thoroughly confused now, frowned. "What are you assuming, Healer?"

The healer pulled out a pipe from his robes and started stoppering it with tobacco of some kind that Sarah isn't familiar with it. "Well, based on him having lived with No-Maj relatives, I would say that his magical core was bound that way so that he won't expose us as well as be a danger to his family. Though, what I do not understand is, how did he survive for so long? There is traces of Infantile Core Deplete disease in him. Another rare disease that happened when he must've overexerted his bound core. That compared with Brittle Core…." The healer trailed off, his words causing Sarah's heart to clench painfully.

Just the thought of Harry dying was enough to make her feel off kilter. "What can be done?"

The healer lit his pipe and took a long drag from it. "A regiment of potions and of course core therapy. We will also have to get rid of the shard in his head. He is now a living breathing soul container. It also keeps his half bound core from fully recovering."

Sarah looked down at the little boy that had quieted down by now. "How expensive is the treatment?"

The healer took another drag from his pipe, blowing out smoke rings. "Very much expensive." He held up a hand when Sarah went to say something. "However, there is a Foundation for rare magical diseases. And I am sure this little boy will qualify for it. I'll contact the Foundation and see what we can do. In the meantime, I'll give him the potions needed to strengthen his core and set a date for a specialized Curse Breaker healer to come and get the soul piece from his scar. Do not worry, my dear. We'll get him back to full magical health."

Sarah wasn't sure if she should believe the healer even if he had been her master for a while. Brittle Core and Infantile Core Deplete had been deadly in some cases. She didn't want to lose Harry because she couldn't help him. Charlie will also be devastated. He loves this little boy to bits. As do many on the Rez.

"What about his eyesight?"

"Potion in his eyes every morning for three months will work. You can skip once or twice, but not more than that. I am saying this because I know how children hate their medicine. I also think, once the soul piece is gone, he'll be able to see far better than he does now."

Sarah thanked the healer and soon left for her house where she found chaos with the girls driving Billy up the walls. The kitchen was a mess because they had gotten it in their heads to bake cookies and Billy had left them alone for a few moments to lay down Seth and Jacob each for a nap. When he came back, the kitchen looked like a tornado had blown through.

Sarah handed Harry off to him and began cleaning up with a bit of help from her magic. The girls were sent to the twins' room for a timeout and Harry were set down on the couch beside Billy to watch some cartoons. He especially loved the Ninja Turtles.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Sarah began thinking of a way to get Charlie to give Harry the potions when she wasn't around to do it.

She spoke to Billy about it and they both decided that it is best to tell Charlie the truth about Harry considering the fact that Harry will be getting a letter when he is eleven to attend a magical school. Not to mention that he is Harry's guardian and has the right to know. With that decision made, the couple went on with their day as normal, waiting for Charlie to come pick up Harry that evening.

Harry was asleep when Charlie arrived just before eight in the evening with a six pack of beer and mixed selection of six cans of fizzy drinks. The Clearwater couple had already come to pick up their kids at six and had visited until seven. Charlie had called to tell Billy that he will be late because there had been a shootout on one of the small ranches outside of town.

"It was old Mrs. Oldham's sons that had a shootout with Saul Reginald and his ilk. Saul is dead and Archer Oldham is now in ICU in the hospital. The doctors don't know if he'll live," Charlie told the Black couple when they asked.

"That's terrible," Billy said as Charlie handed him a beer.

"True that. So….did my nephew give you any trouble today."

Sarah opened a can of soda. "No, he was a real sweetheart." She took a seat on the armrest of Billy's chair. "Listen, Charlie, there is something we need to talk about that's very important."

Charlie frown as he took a drink from his beer can. "That sounds like a weighty subject, Sarah. What is it? Should I be worried?"

She swallowed. "Well…"

Sarah went on to explain about the magical world and the little gem, in the form of a little boy, he had in his life and when it looked like he didn't believe her, she showed him a simple spell by turning his beer can into a glass. Sarah would never forget the shock on Charlie's face as long as she lived.

What's more is, he seemed to pretty much accept that his nephew is a wizard and that was all she wanted because if he hadn't accepted Harry for who and what he is, she would've been heartbroken.

It shouldn't have been a surprise, though. Charlie always accepted things easier than other people, even if he hadn't ever believed Billy about the wolf shifters of La Push whenever Billy spoke about them when they were younger. If Billy had been able to shift perhaps Charlie would've believed him.

"Magic isn't all moonshine and roses, though, Charlie," Sarah said as she tuned the glass back to a beer can. She told him about the disease that Harry had and the cause of it. She told him about the soul-shard in the little boy's forehead and what it meant. She told him how Harry was lucky to have survived so long. She told him that if Harry didn't get treatment there was a chance that he won't survive longer. She told him what Healer Alberty said; everything, even about the Foundation.

When she was finished Charlie's eyes were wet and he was staring at the sleeping little boy beside him. "We'll do all that is humanly and magically possible to save him, Charlie. And believe me, he will survive."

Charlie didn't know what to say to that, but he found it hard to believe Sarah. He just didn't tell her that.

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