The Longbottoms had been moved out of the Janus Thickey Ward into private rooms on another floor. Alice was sleeping behind a curtain when Aria and Harry arrived with Sirius, Remus, and Barty, but Frank was sitting by the window with Neville, looking through a photo album with him. Florian was there too but sitting by his sister's side.
"Aria! Harry!" Neville cried, jumping to his feet. Frank caught the album before it crashed to the floor and set it on a nearby table. Barty stepped to the side to let Aria and Harry rush to Neville.
"It's so good to see you," Aria cried. They hadn't seen Neville since the cookout at the Weasleys. Neville grinned, turning to his dad.
"Dad," he said, "these are two of my closest friends. Aria Bourne and Harry Potter. Guys, this is my dad, Frank Longbottom."
"It's nice to meet you, Lord Longbottom," Harry said. Frank stared at him for a moment before shaking his head.
"No need to 'lord' me," he said, reaching out and carefully touching Harry's shoulder. "I was always going to be Uncle Frank to you. Merlin . . . you look just like James. But with Lily's eyes." He gently lifted Harry's fringe, staring at the lightning bolt on Harry's forehead.
"I'm so sorry they're gone," he said. "Alice and I . . . we were meant to be there for you."
"It's all right, Lord—Uncle Frank," Harry said. "I've . . . turned out all right."
Frank turned to Aria.
"You're the girl who was in my head," he said.
"I would apologize, but I think this was a happy accident," Aria answered. Frank laughed.
"A very happy accident," Frank agreed. "Thank you, for rescuing me from my own mind. I still can't . . . It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that thirteen years have gone by."
There was a sadness over Frank Longbottom, Aria thought. She watched him pull Neville back to his side, holding his son tightly around the waist, as if afraid that what he saw was a dream.
"I assume you have been filled in on what has happened in the years between?" Sirius questioned. Frank's gaze fell on Sirius and Remus and his eyes widened.
"Sirius, Remus," he breathed. "I mean . . . yes." He looked at Barty, tears pricking at his eyes. "There's so much . . . if I had been around . . . I feel so terrible. To me it's like a massive jump from one moment to the next, but you all had to live through the pain and suffering."
"We are . . ." Sirius trailed off, thinking about what he wanted to say. "We're safe now." He ran a hand through Harry's hair.
"Florian was telling me how you managed to get all of us to a place in Switzerland," Frank said to Sirius. "I can't thank you enough for all the help you've given to Barty and Neville."
"Barty was important to you," Sirius answered seriously. "And he was important to Reggie." He took a deep breath. "When I found out he was actually alive, and I was in a position to help . . . there was no other choice."
Barty smiled at Sirius, looking more his age for once compared to the tired, haunted man he usually looked like.
"You just focus on getting better," Remus said. "We'll continue to help anyway we can."
"Neville told me Mum's reaction to finding out that you're a werewolf," Frank said. "I'm sorry she acted that way."
"It's hardly the worse reaction I've ever gotten," Remus quipped. Aria crossed her arms, scowling at Remus who ignored her.
"Aria's going to find a cure for lycanthropy," Neville stated. Frank raised his brows.
"Well," he said, "if she can accidentally break through thirteen years of mind problems like she did for me, I expect she'll have a cure in no time."
Aria blushed. Harry patted her on the back.
Sirius looked at his pocket watch.
"Is Aria good to stay here for a bit?" he asked. "I've got an appointment for Harry with a private healer."
"It's fine," Frank said, gesturing to a seat. "I'd love to hear more about Hogwarts from one of Neville's friends."
"We'll be back in no less than two hours, then we'll go for lunch," Remus told Aria. She waved them off as Frank began asking her about her potions research.
Harry groaned and dragged his feet as he followed Sirius and Remus out of the private room back towards the lifts. A small part of him knew that this was necessary, but another part of him, a larger part, was terrified about what the exam would show. So much of his childhood was spent hiding what happened at the Dursleys because he would be in bigger trouble if he didn't. And the same thing repeated once he arrived at Hogwarts.
They left St. Mungo's an Apparated to Diagon Alley where Sirius led them down one of the side streets that jutted off the alley. Here Harry spotted a whole of medical practices. Remus pointed out the different types of healers. There were optometrists which were eye doctors, and apparently Sirius had an appointment for Harry there for after his physical. That excited Harry. He had never been to an eye doctor before. Aunt Petunia had gotten his glasses from the charity bin. He had found a spell in the school library that had fixed his glasses up and kept them from breaking, but it would be nice to actually see the board.
They approached a white stone house with a sign hanging over the door that read: CRUTCHLEY FAMILY HEALERS, SINCE 922.
"The Crutchley family is well known amongst purebloods who wish for discreet medical care," Sirius said as they paused just outside the door. "While all healers take an oath of privacy, St. Mungo's has had the . . . odd slip of the tongue from less than scrupulous mediwitches and healers. The Crutchley family has never had such a problem."
Harry nodded, glad that Sirius was taking the time to tell him why he had chosen this particular set of healers. Sirius pushed open the door and they stepped into a neat and orderly reception area. St. Mungo's could take a lesson from this place, Harry thought as Sirius approached the reception desk. The witch as the desk wore a white cap that Harry associated with Muggle nurses back during the World Wars.
"We have an appointment for Harry Potter," Sirius said. The receptionist's eyes flittered over to Harry, her gray eyes widening briefly, before she gave a quick nod and checked Harry's name against a list she had.
"If you could fill out this information sheet, I'll let Healer Crutchley know you're here," she said. Sirius picked up an offered Never-Out Quill. Harry peered over Sirius' shoulder as the man filled in the information the sheet requested. Name of patient, date of birth, any allergies. It all seemed pretty standard, though Harry could only guess at what was or wasn't standard. Madam Pomfrey was the only medical professional he had ever seen.
Once filled, Sirius passed the parchment back to the receptionist. She double checked it and then waved them to the comfy seats while she disappeared through a door.
Sitting between Sirius and Remus, Harry could not help but jiggle his leg in nervous anticipation of what was to come. He could feel his stomach twist and clench painfully, making him feel nauseous. Sirius grabbed hold of his hand while Remus set a hand on his knee. Harry nearly jerked out of Remus' hold at that.
"Sorry, wasn't expecting that," Harry muttered.
"It's all right," Remus said, "you're quite nervous."
The door the reopened and a middle-aged man, perhaps in his late forties, stepped out into the waiting room. He wore a set of pale gray robes with the Crutchley Family Healers logo over his left breast. It was had a wand standing straight up with two snakes twirling about it. Harry recalled seeing a similar Muggle emblem once in a book. However, the snakes on the logo patch flicked their tongues and actually slithered around the wand every few seconds.
"Harry Potter?" the healer called. Harry stumbled to his feet and Sirius had to steady him. Both men put comforting hands on Harry's shoulders as they followed the healer through the door and down a short hallway to an exam room.
It was larger than Harry anticipated. It was airy, the large window letting in natural light though the curtains kept the room private. The exam table was set next to a set of seats.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter," the healer said. "You may call me Healer Boris, otherwise, you'll confuse me with all the other Crutchleys running about the place." He smiled kindly at Harry who relaxed marginally. Healer Boris turned to Sirius and shook his hand before shaking Remus'.
"It's lovely to see you, Lord Black," he said. "It has been a while."
"A long while," Sirius agreed. "Thank you for agreeing to see us. I was going to take Harry to St. Mungo's, but with the climate, I thought a more private practice was in order."
"You've come to the right place," Healer Boris agreed. "With the way the ministry is being run, it would not surprise me if some journalist or ministry worker attempted to access medical records. Now, your intake paperwork says you've never seen a healer, Mr. Potter?"
"Harry," Harry insisted. "And I've seen the mediwitch at Hogwarts. But no healers or Muggle doctors."
"Not even for your glasses?"
"No."
"I've got an appointment lined up for that," Sirius said. "We suspect that his former Muggle relatives were of the . . . wrong sort."
Healer Boris nodded, looking very grave. He had Harry stand in the center of the exam room.
"I'm going to take your height and weight," he explained, drawing his wand. "You may feel a tingle." Harry held his breath as the man ran his wand up and down his front. There was as soft tingle, warm, that spread from Harry's head to his toes. A parchment appeared floating beside Harry, and he could see writing appear. Healer Boris glanced at the parchment.
"You're coming in at 144 cm," the healer said. "57 inches. A bit on the shorter side for your age, but if the Muggles were neglectful, that is to be expected."
"Can it be fixed?" Harry asked.
"Usually," Healer Boris said. "I'll have to take a further look at you to determine how much can be made up. Your weight is at 94 pounds, which is good to see, it means you're at a healthier weight which can help you when trying to get that growth spurt."
"Harry's definitely filled out since coming into our care," Remus said.
"Is he eating a balanced diet?" Healer Boris asked. Sirius and Remus nodded. Healer Boris motioned for Harry to hop up onto the exam table and lay down.
"I'm going to do a full body scan," Healer Boris said. "It'll take a few minutes to finish as it will give us a detailed report on your overall health from birth to now. It's not usually used, as most people have medical records, but we're starting from scratch. Ready?"
Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly. With a nod he closed his eyes and felt another tingle run down his body. Opening his eyes he spotted the parchment that had his weight and height on it begin to grow longer and longer. A quick glance at Sirius and Remus had him almost wishing he had not opened his eyes. Sirius' face had paled and his jaw had tightened. Remus was not holding onto the other man's wrist, as if keeping him from exploding. Healer Boris was staring at the growing parchment, already reading some of the results. His mouth turned down into a deep frown that had Harry very nervous. What did the parchment say? Were there injuries that had not healed properly?
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the parchment stopped growing and Healer Boris plucked it from the air. He took a deep breath before turning to Sirius and Remus.
"It's not good," the healer admitted. "But there's very little here that cannot be treated and fixed."
"What does it say?" Remus asked, once it became clear that Sirius could not speak, his jaw was clenched so tightly.
"Well, it shows great neglect," Healer Boris said. "It's clear that, until Hogwarts, Harry was not adequately fed."
Harry nodded, remembering the nights in the cupboard when his stomach felt like it was eating itself, how he would sneak out whenever possible and rifle through the trash for scraps.
"It also shows past injuries consistent with beatings with some kind of object," Healer Boris continued. "I'd say a belt is the most likely culprit."
"Uncle Vernon had a favorite belt," Harry whispered, staring at the ceiling. "He never wore it. It was just . . . it was just the belt he beat me with."
"Oh, pup," Sirius murmured. Harry slowly sat up, scooting closer to Sirius while staying on the exam table. Sirius reached over and held Harry's hand. Harry felt a blush grow on his face. He was fourteen, nearly fifteen, he shouldn't need to have his guardian hold his hand in the doctor's office!
"The scan also indicates that there is something wrong with the scar on his forehead," Healer Boris continued. "It's not giving off readings that I've seen before, so with your permission, I would like to send the findings surrounding the scar to my colleagues who specialize in curses on people."
"Of course," Sirius said. "We . . . I don't think anyone's ever taken a close look at the scar." Healer Boris made a note on the parchment.
"Whatever is the matter with Harry's scar doesn't seem to be affecting him at the moment," he said, "but I'll push it through with my colleagues. I know you wanted privacy, but if it would help speed up the process, could I share Harry's name with them?"
Harry tensed. What if this other healer decided to go to the press?
"Only if they take a Wizard's Oath on top of their usual vows," Sirius answered. "Minister Fudge would be only too happy to discover something is wrong with Harry's scar. I can just picture the field day the press would have."
Healer Boris nodded, making another note.
"The scans also indicate that you're sexually active," the man said, turning to Harry. "While it's not uncommon for boys your age to be experimenting, the scan does indicate that the activity began when you were thirteen."
"That's . . . young," Remus commented carefully.
"The scan is not full proof," Healer Boris said. "It only indicates when intercourse began. Unless a significant injury was a direct result, it wouldn't show things such as oral sex, touching, or exposure."
"Harry," Sirius murmured, rising to his feet. "Can you—,"
"The Dursleys didn't touch me," Harry hurried to say. Sirius took a deep breath.
"That's good to hear," he finally said. "But that was not what I was going to ask."
"We were just fooling around," Harry insisted, feeling bad for lying. His heart pounded against his chest. Sirius was already so stressed with everything going on with the Wizengamot and Dumbledore and Minister Fudge, there was no way he could just heap more problems into his lap. Even though Sirius insisted that there was nothing Harry could do that would make him send Harry away, Harry knew that everyone had their limits, and with everything else going on, he was not going to risk reaching Sirius' limit. Or Remus'.
Sirius stared hard at Harry, like he was trying to decide whether to call Harry out for his bluff or not.
"Does Harry carry any sexually transmitted diseases?" Remus asked.
"No," Healer Boris answered. Sirius relaxed a bit.
"Sexually transmitted diseases?" Harry cried. He could get diseases from having sex?
"I'll send a pamphlet home for you to discuss with him," Healer Boris said to Sirius. "It'll cover safe sex and contraception."
"I'm not having sex with girls," Harry blurted. He clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes widening. Great. Now his guardians would think he was into blokes, and he wasn't.
"You'll be thankful for the talk if you decide to branch out later," Healer Boris assured him, handing over the pamphlets to Remus who looked them over.
"Do we need to have a talk about you and Aria?" Sirius asked. Harry made a face.
"Ew, Sirius, no! She's like a sister to me. I wouldn't ever . . . gross!" He shook his head. Frankly, he could not imagine having sex with anyone anytime soon. It hurt and was uncomfortable and he would not want to put anyone else through that sort of situation.
The appointment wrapped up quickly after that. Healer Boris prescribed several heavy duty nutrition potions that Remus was certain Aria and Snape would want to brew themselves, and they left for the optometrist's. That appointment went by much better than the one with Healer Boris. The Eye Healer (as was the official name in the wizarding world) had Harry's prescription determined within ten minutes and Harry was allowed to pick out new frames.
"When you're older and have come into your magical maturity, you'll be eligible for a corrective potion," the witch said as Harry tried out various frames. "But you need full magical power in order to handle it, so it would not be recommended until after you've turned seventeen at the earliest. Many wait a few years for their magic to settle."
"James was going to do that," Remus recalled. "The war got in the way."
Harry settled on a set of square frames that didn't magnify his eyes behind the lenses. The frames were thin so the glasses didn't overwhelm his face. In fact, the frames seemed to compliment his face shape. He chose the frames in a dark gray. The lenses were spelled to adjust the prescription strength for two years and came with anti-scratch and water repellant charms on them.
By the time Sirius had paid for the glasses, Harry was ready for food. Sirius wrapped an arm around Harry as Remus Apparated to pick up Aria from St. Mungo's. Sirius led Harry through Diagon to another street lined with restaurants.
"You did good today," Sirius praised as they claimed an outdoor table at a little bistro. The menus came floating over to them. "I'm proud of you."
Harry ducked his head, focusing on the menu.
"We are going to have to talk about your sex life," Sirius said.
"No!" Harry whined.
"I don't want you getting a girl accidentally pregnant," Sirius stated. "Abortion isn't done in the wizarding world, it's quite frowned upon. On top of that, we have excellent contraception spells so as long as you're safe and use common sense, you shouldn't have to worry about being a teenage father."
Harry groaned.