CHAPTER 5:

HEALING AND HURTING

The rest of that day went well enough. Harry spent a lot of time chatting with Hermione, catching up with her, as well as getting to know Luna. Despite her eccentricities and her rather dubious utterances, Harry found her rather likeable. By the end of the day, he was sure that, even if she wasn't a friend yet, she would probably become one in time.

Speaking with Hermione also helped. True, McGonagall did much to assuage his own guilt at not being there to help, but Hermione, one of his oldest and closest friends, did more. He was glad she was happy, and understanding, for all her scars from what happened while he was 'Tobias McGoohan'.

Harry also got to meet Zelretch, and the man was pleasant enough. He was a bit like Dumbledore with more sincerity, and certainly a tendency to tell the truth more often, even if he was blunt. He was also feared in Clock Tower, not just because of his power, but of what he tended to do to his apprentices. True, those he tended to break were those he stated would become the 'Pupil of a True Magician', but those accepted as a 'Pupil of a Magus' would come out of it wiser and with far less scars than other pupils. Though it said a lot about him that he became a patron of the Weasley Twins' store recently.

It was a few days after that that Remus sent word. Having been told by McGonagall of Morgan's salvation of Harry, and giving enough time to not only discuss it, but for Harry to come to terms with what happened, he asked for them to come around. Remus, along with the Tonks family, were desperate to see Harry.

Totorot and Ector were left behind to hold down the fort at Orkney. However, Harry, Morgan, and the other three Tam Lin had made the journey to the Tonks' new home in Kent. Originally, they lived in Wiltshire(1), but the need to avoid attention from Bellatrix Lestrange in particular (who wanted nothing more than to torture and kill her 'Blood-Traitor' sister and her family) led to them finding a new home in Kent. Specifically, not far from Whitstable.

They were met outside the gate by Remus, who, after some brief but heartfelt greetings, showed them a familiar piece of paper. And then, a house seemed to unfold out of the air. Harry remembered seeing this before with 12 Grimmauld Place, but the four Fae present were impressed. "So, this is the Fidelius Charm," she remarked. "Impressive. I could sense something being present, but it was otherwise almost completely hidden from my senses."

Although Hermione had been told Morgan's true name by Zelretch, McGonagall had refrained from telling anyone else the true identity of Harry's benefactor. For now, she was going by 'Vivian Rain'. All Remus knew was that Morgan was a Fae from another timeline.

The werewolf in question looked even more careworn than before, yet there was a happiness in his eyes that balanced out his sadness. According to McGonagall and Hermione, he'd eventually not only shacked up with Nymphadora Tonks, but the pair of them recently had a child, a boy, Teddy Lupin, named for Nymphadora's father.

"You must be powerful to do so if you're telling the truth," Remus said. "Anyway, welcome to our home…"

Morgan, with Barghest by her side, left with Remus, who wanted details. In addition, Morgan was curious about lycanthropy in this world, and wanted to examine him. However, Harry was able to catch up with Nymphadora, as well as meet her mother Andromeda, and her son, Teddy, the boy's namesake working at St Mungo's.

Harry had known the Metamorphmagus, even if only briefly, since that time in 12 Grimmauld Place. He was a little disturbed by how much Andromeda resembled her sister Bellatrix, whom he had seen briefly in Dumbledore's Pensieve, but she had warmth and rationality her sister didn't have in that memory. She was certainly better than her other sister Narcissa.

"Honestly, while it's not that popular an opinion amongst Joe Public of Magical Britain," Nymphadora said, even as she held Teddy, "I'm glad you didn't have to go through what we did. It's a wonder our family survived what happened, especially with Bellatrix gunning for us. I'm not happy Sirius is dead, but the old dog went out fighting, and against Bellatrix to boot."

"I saw her in Dumbledore's Pensieve once," Harry said, trying to take his mind off Sirius' death. It was debatably the one that hurt him most. "She seemed…well, psychotic seems to be too gentle a word for someone like her."

Andromeda nodded sagely. "Mental illness seems to run in the family. I'm not sure whether it is all the centuries of inbreeding catching up with us, or something else."

"You seem all right," Baobhan Sith said.

"Probably luck of the draw, genetically," Melusine said. She was sitting next to Nymphadora and Teddy, looking at the baby with curiosity.

"Perhaps," Andromeda conceded. "I was in Slytherin, unlike Sirius, but unlike so many of my contemporaries, let alone my sisters or the rest of my family, I didn't care about so-called blood purity. I was the only one of us three to question such things, even if I couldn't do so openly at first. It was Ted who introduced me to Muggle science, especially medicine, and through that, the science of genetics. And it's not just the Blacks who are affected by it. Pureblood families are affected by it to greater or lesser degrees. One example were the Gaunts, inbred to the point of physical deformity. The irony is, You Know Who was actually the son of Merope Gaunt, from what I heard from Remus."

"And a Muggle, Tom Riddle," Harry added. "I knew who his father was."

Baobhan Sith wrinkled her nose. "In other words, he was a Halfblood hypocrite, if what Harry told me about your society's way of labelling bloodlines is right. I mean, he told us about Voldemort actually being some guy called Tom Marvolo Riddle, and a Halfblood, but still…most Fae back home would view all humans as having dirty blood."

"But a would-be Dark Lord presented himself as purer than pure, when in reality, he had blood as murky as the swamp I was born in," Melusine added, scoffing in contempt. "And murky through inbreeding, I meant."

"Purity and power through inbreeding is not a new concept," Andromeda said. "Deities in our myths were often siblings or relatives when they wed, and of course, there was what Muggle royalty like the Egyptian royals or the Habsburgs did. But let us change the subject."

"Yeah, let's," Nymphadora said, her hair turning green as she scowled in disgust. "So, what's it like being shacked up with Fae?"

"…Surprisingly normal," Harry said. "Given what I saw in Vivian's memories, as well as what was in The Tales of Tonelico, they're the exception rather than the rule, but…they've all treated me well. It's far better than at the Dursleys."

"Yeah…look, Harry, I'm sorry about that. I wanted nothing more than to go in there and hex them into submission. But Dumbledore's orders were to just keep tabs and see if any Death Eaters or suspicious figures ended up watching the place. I think Minerva was exaggerating when she said they were the worst kind of Muggles, as I've come across a few who were worse during my time as an Auror. But the lies they spread about you being in a borstal…I wouldn't have killed them, but I would've made sure the rest of their lives were unhappy. That Vivian woman, though…can you trust her?"

"…I'm still working that out," Harry said. "But I trust her more than quite a few people in Magical Britain, at least for now. That goes especially for the Ministry."

"Can't blame you there," Nymphadora said. "I have a lot of choice words to describe Percy Weasley, but I don't want Teddy to get any bad habits."

Harry chuckled at the sardonic remark. "I never really saw you as a parent, or Remus, for that matter. I thought his lycanthropy and self-loathing would stop him."

"Oh, he nearly ran out on me because he was afraid he was going to be a dud father," Nymphadora said. "Mum and Dad straightened him right out, though, made him take responsibility at wand-point. But we've been happy ever since."

"A shame we missed the wedding, then," Baobhan Sith said. "I'd be curious to see one, and I'm sure Totorot would have loved to make you a wedding dress. She got some bee in her bonnet about emulating another Fae from Standard History called Habetrot, it's a long story."

"Yes, Habetrot was a Fae noted for helping brides and making dresses for them, I believe," Andromeda said, before her eyes softened in concern. "Harry…how are you feeling?"

"…About all this?" Harry sighed. "I'm…still trying to come to terms with it all. I think I'm trying to block out what I feel for their deaths to cope, but…I know that's unhealthy. I think I'm still numb from the shock of finding that three years have passed me by, and so much has happened."

And then, Morgan entered, followed by Barghest and Remus. "Well, that was enlightening," Morgan said. "I cannot promise a cure, I am not omnipotent, but at the very least, I can offer a better treatment for your lycanthropy. Forcibly suppressing and weakening yourself during the transformation seems to be a brute force solution. I believe I can formulate a treatment that will allow you to remain lucid without weakening you."

"I'll take your word for it, but I want Andy to check this treatment over first," Remus said.

Andromeda nodded. "I'll do just that. Lycanthropy is notoriously difficult to treat, and…" But then, she blinked. "Oh. Someone has tripped the wards."

Harry and the Fae were instantly on alert. Nymphadora said, "Calm down, they wouldn't be tripped unless the new arrivals were read into where this place is. Though I dunno whether they're ones you want to meet, Harry. Some of the old guard of the Order have issues with you, not to mention some of your acquaintances from Hogwarts."

"Oh, joy," Harry muttered.

And when the person in question staggered in, Harry tensed. He shouldn't have, the lanky form was clearly that of Ron, yet he was getting a bad feeling about this. "Ron, are you drunk again?" Remus asked.

"I was just goin' on a pub crawl with Seamus and the boys. Mum was naggin' me, so I needed somewhere to crash," Ron said, slurring a little, before looking up, and staring at Harry. Recognition dawned in his eyes. "…Harry? Is that you?"

Harry nodded. Ron's tone wasn't too bad, and he hoped it wouldn't get worse. "Hey, Ron. It's been too long."

And then, when Ron's eyes narrowed, his gaze hardening, Harry's bad feeling got worse. "Too long? Yeah, mate, it's been too long."

"Ron, cool it," Nymphadora said. "You're not the only one who lost someone to that mess."

This was the wrong thing to say, though Harry wasn't sure there was a right thing to say. "Did you lose a sister, or a brother, Nymphadora?!" Ron snapped, enunciating the Metamorphmagus' hated first name clearly. "Did you lose a father because he was hidin'?!"

"I wasn't in hiding, Ron! Snape had cursed me!" Harry retorted.

"Then why didn't he kill you, huh? He killed Dumbledore! He could have killed you! So why didn't he?"

"Because he wanted me to suffer, Ron!" Harry snapped back. "If it weren't for Totorot removing that curse from me, I'd be either starving, or more likely, dead in a ditch! I got beaten to a pulp just because some villagers didn't like me!"

"Oh, what do you know, Potter?!" Ron sneered. "Ginny was rotting away thanks to a curse, praying that you'd come to help her, and you didn't come! Do you know what that's like? To see your sister suffering? No, you wouldn't know what it was really like to suffer."

At this, Harry felt all the rage he had been quietly keeping a lid on surge forth. Just as he stormed over, about to punch Ron in his gormless face, a hand fell on his shoulder, halting him with its suddenness. He turned to the owner, only to see Morgan looking at him. Not with any rebuke in her expression, but sadness and understanding.

Still furious, but able to do more than lash out physically now that his temper had cooled barely enough, Harry said in a cold tone, "I don't know what it's like to suffer? Did you forget the bars the Dursleys put on my bedroom window? And that was when I had a bedroom. Until I got my Hogwarts letter, my bedroom was a cupboard underneath the stairs. The one you got my broomstick and trunk and wand out of? That was my bedroom until I turned eleven."

"You're lying!" Ron retorted heatedly, and yet, there was a hint of uncertainty now, as if some part of him had realised he had crossed a line.

"Oh yes," Harry said sarcastically. "Just like you thought I was lying when I said I didn't enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I forgave you at the time, but I also remember you didn't actually apologise."

"I did so!"

Harry scoffed. "I don't know suffering, huh? I was orphaned, raised by relatives who treated me like the Malfoys treated Dobby, and all before Hogwarts. You had your family, parents who would do anything for you, brothers who could care for you…and it wasn't enough, was it?"

Before Ron could reply, Morgan spoke up. "No…it wasn't. I have to wonder, did you genuinely want to be Harry Potter's friend, or friend to the Boy Who Lived?"

"…What difference does it make?" Ron asked. "And who are you, anyway?"

"I am Vivian Rain, and Harry is living with me, for now," Morgan said. "And I have seen your type before, eager to bask in reflected glory, yet too slothful to claim your own. I know suffering, far more than Harry or you have, and while I am sorry for the loss of your family members and the pain it has caused you, that is not Harry's fault. Stop lashing out and inflicting Harry with your pain, he has enough of his own to deal with, and you'd know that if you bothered to think. All I am seeing is a child lashing out in pain, trying to inflict it on others."

"Shut up!" Ron snapped. But this was a mistake.

Suddenly, it felt as if Harry was deep underwater. Oh, he was still able to breathe, but there was a sudden immense pressure in the air. And he knew where it was coming from, even before he looked. Morgan was at its source, her pale blue eyes glowing, her hair waving in a breeze stirring around her. And Ron was frozen by that glare.

"No, you be silent," she hissed quietly. "Be silent and heed my words, if you can, Ronald Weasley. You are a child, barely a man in body and not enough in mind and heart. You call yourself a friend, and yet, you are dangerously close to being as fickle as many Fae I have known to my misfortune. I am making allowances for you because you were his first friend his age, and that your behaviour is not out of malice, but folly and pain and youthful impulse. I am intervening to make sure neither of you say something that you will regret for the rest of your lives! More than you already have, that is. Say nothing more to Harry until you have thought properly about what you have done, and whether you truly want to be friends with him. And you will not speak to the Ministry or the gutter press of this incident. Otherwise, there will be consequences."

Then, Morgan released the pressure, before hurrying over to Nymphadora holding a crying Teddy. She began softly speaking soothing words in another language, and Teddy actually stopped crying, looking up at Morgan in awe. Andromeda, meanwhile, got off her chair, and took a shell-shocked Ron by the arm, none too gently. "Your mother would be ashamed of you, Ronald Weasley, and I will not be having this in…"

The rest of her sentence was cut off by the door slamming shut as Andromeda exited with Ron in tow. "…My apologies," Morgan said quietly. "I hadn't considered your son when I unleashed my power like that."

Remus was rubbing his forehead. "Just…try not to do that again." He hurried over to Harry. "…Are you all right, Harry?"

"…I don't know," Harry admitted. After all Ron said, all those hurtful words, he wasn't sure what to say or think. Had he just seen the end of his friendship with Ron, or had Morgan's words postponed that end? Or had she made things worse?

All he knew was, this confrontation was explosive…

CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:

Oh dear. Remus might have a potential cure from Morgan, but Ron and Harry have had a very unhappy reunion.

Now, I should emphasise that I wrote this in to have a touch of the darker elements of DZ2's original challenge prompt, 'Never Forget! Never Forgive!' However, this isn't truly heavy bashing of Ron's character. I am extrapolating from his character in canon to some degree, but Ron is far from beyond redemption. He's just a selfish prat who is hurting for justifiable reasons, but is lashing out for less justifiable ones.

While I can read Ron-bashing fics and even enjoy them, and I am not a fan of the character himself (he's basically a means of exposition about the culture of Magical Britain as a native: Hermione is debatably so from a book-learning POV, but she is also a better-written character, IMO), aside from the jealous snit he throws during Year 4 after Harry is conscripted into the TWT, a lot of Ron's faults are very understandably human. Even his fucking off from the Horcrux Hunt in Year 7 can be explained due to stress, worry about his family, and the influence of the Locket Horcrux.

Here, he is hurting, as well as having some toxic friends in Seamus Finnegan and Cormac MacLaggen and the like. So he's being self-centred and selfish, but he's not truly malicious. Not that it stops his verbal attacks from hurting, though.

Morgan recognises this, so while she steps in to help Harry to a degree, she also makes it clear she understands why Ron is lashing out. She is acting as a mediator of sorts. We'll see why she acted this way in particular, and not just due to her hatred of betrayal and fickle relationships.

I should point out that, originally, Sirius was still alive but comatose, and Morgan was at the Tonks/Lupin household to cure him. But I felt his reuniting with Harry was holding up the plot a lot. So, unfortunately, I had to put down Padfoot.

1. On the Harry Potter wiki, Wiltshire was listed as one of the potential locations for the Tonks household, based on comments made during Book 7. I chose Whitstable as the location for their new house partly because of the TV show Whitstable Pearl, as well as it being the residence of one of my all-time favourite British actors, the late, great Peter Cushing.