Learning to Live again.

Chapter Two.

Over the past few weeks living at the Dursley's, Harry had mastered the art of waking all at once, without letting anyone in the room with him truly know that he was awake. This morning was really no different then the mornings before now, except for the fact that he couldn't figure out what woke him up. As he laid in bed and tried to pinpoint what precisely had woken him (because it sure as hell had not been the voice of his ~Loving Aunt~) he automatically started taking stock of his body and surroundings.

One of the first things he noticed, was for the first time this summer, he truly wasn't in pain, which since pain was part of his daily life, was highly unusual. Following that highly appreciated observation, he noticed that he found himself laying in a soft bed with even softer blankets, which like the lack of pain, was also unusual. What truly brought home where he was though, once his mind had come to the conclusion that he wasn't at his Aunt and Uncles, was the smell all around him. After all the time that he spent there over the last five years, he would recognize that particular combination of smells anywhere, lavender, disinfectant with a underlaying odor of a mirage of different potions. The hospital wing at Hogwarts.

That knowledge prompted him to remember the events, that brought him to the one place he had always thought of as his home, including his late night snack with Professor Snape. All of these thoughts circled around his mind until the rustle of feathers and a soft hoot, had him snapping his eyes open, and a slow smile forming on his lips. "Hey Hedwig, how are you feeling this morning girl? You sure do look much better then you did when I saw you last." he said to his snowy owl with a sad smile, before pulling himself up to sitting position, and scratching the feathers on her chest. Hedwig hooted again, before nibbling his fingers in affection, giving him all the answer that he needed. His beloved owl was feeling just as well as he was.

The sound of heels clicking against the floor brought Harry's attention up just as Madam Pomfrey walked around the privacy screen surrounding his bed. "I see that you are awake finally Mr. Potter. How are you feeling this morning?" She asked with a small smile and a touch of relief, that Harry picked up on.

"Good morning Madam Pomfrey. I feel much better this morning, except for a tingling in my knees when I pulled myself up." Harry said with an answering smile, not hiding anything from her, since she knew him better then anyone else.

"That's good to hear Child. I know that you have some questions for me, if you give me a few minutes to get something from my office, I'll be able to explain a few things to you, and that includes those questions I know you want answers to."

"Of course Madam. I'm not going anywhere." Harry said with a small ironic tilt of his eyebrow, letting her know that he knew that she was just putting off what she really didn't want to say.

Madam Pomfrey gave Harry another soft smile, and shook her head in amusement, before going into her office. 'Honestly that boy is too much at times. I dare say that he can pick up on the things, no one wanted to tell him.' She thought to herself. Returning a few minutes later with a small box that she placed on the end of Harry's bed, and taking a deep breath she started to explain what had happened to him, and what she had done to heal him. "Your Uncle did a lot of damage in the few weeks that you where in your relatives care, most of which with the help of Fawkes I was able to heal. If Fawkes had not healed your lungs, I'm honestly afraid that you would not have survived the night. Before you start to worry about it, the Headmaster has already taken the steps needed to deal with them, in a way that it won't make it into the papers." She told him.

Just like she knew him, Harry had learned how to read the Medi-Witches body language and tone of voice, after all he spent more time with her then he did any of the other adults around him. "You said you and Fawkes healed most of the damage. What still needs to be healed? And what are you afraid to tell me?"

Pomfrey took a deep breath, and cursed the fact that this child before her knew her so well. "At some point in the past few weeks, I'm sorry to say, both of your knee caps where broken. The right one is almost healed without any real problems, your left one though, is a totally different story. I was able to remove the worst of the damage, and replaced the worse part of the cap with new growth, but I'm afraid it will never be the same again." She finished waiting for the outburst she fully expected to come.

"Will I be able to walk again?" he asked, fear coloring his voice.

"Goodness yes Child!" She rushed to reassure the teen, and watched as he relaxed slightly, "and I'm sure you'll be glad to hear, that you will also be able to fly again, but before you can do that you will need to wear braces on both knees in order for them to heal properly. Unfortunately until you regain the muscle mass in both legs you will also need to use crutches." In a softer voice she continued, "Harry I know you will not like this, but you must promise me that you will do everything possible to heal, and won't push yourself to hard. This means no flying until I say so."

"I see." Was all Harry said as he sat with his head down staring at the bedsheets, as he tried to take in all of the information Madam Pomfrey had given him. "You're right, I don't like it. But I can understand that I can do more damage by not listening to you. I promise, to the best of my ability, that I will listen to what you say, and take what every precautions that you tell me. I also promise that if for any reason I have to do other wise, it will be for a very, very good reason." Harry told her with a determined look in his eye.

Sighing with a combination of relief and frustration Madam Pomfrey nodded her head. "Well, that's more then I expected, but less then I hoped for. I accept your promise Harry. But understand that I will determine if your reasons where worth it. If they are not, you will spend your time under my direct supervision until you are healed."

Poppy gave Harry a sad smile and patted his hand before continuing, not giving Harry time to respond. "Now in this box are both the braces and the crutches you will be using. They are of course, magical in nature, and will adjust to fit your needs. As your reliance on the crutches reduces, they will change to walking canes and if you can convince your magic to cooperate, you might be able to convince one of them to change to an ornamentally carved walking stick. I must stress though that even after you no longer have need of one or both of them, that you carry them with you at all times, just in case something happens."

Harry nodded his head in understanding. "How do I keep them with me?" He asked

"Easy enough. They will shrink down to fit into a specially designed wrist sheath that can double as a wand holster, and you won't need your wand as there is a triggering spell located under the handles to shrink them. As soon as you release them from the sheath they will resize on their own."

"And the braces? How do they work?"

"All you need to do is strap them on. They will conform to you like a second skin, and you will be able to wear them anywhere, including in the bath or shower if you so choose. If for some reason you are in a position where it would be dangerous for you to move your legs, a tap of your wand will stiffen the brace so you can't move which ever leg is hurt. If you are caught without your wand or you are unable to use it, pressing down on a certain spot under the brace, and holding down for five seconds will also freeze the brace."

"Do you have any idea how long I will have to wear them?" Harry finally asked after a few minutes of silence, hoping that his guess was wrong.

"To tell you the truth Harry, you may need to wear the one on your left knee for the rest of your life. The one on your right knee, I'm hoping, we will be able to remove by Christmas."

"Alright Madam. Can you show me how to put them on?" He asked, doing his best to hide his disappointment over her answer.

"Of course Child. And since it is early enough if you practice with the crutches, and can find someone to walk with you, I'll even allow you to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast."

"Is Remus here?"

"I do believe that he arrived this morning and is with Professor Snape at the moment."

"I'll send Hedwig down to him in a bit then." Harry said with a nod of his head and a small smile directed at his owl.

"Sounds good. So how about we get those braces on, and then you can take a shower. The Headmaster left you some clothing to wear until you can be brought down to Hogsmeads to do some shopping later." She said pulling the braces out of the box, and trying to hide her worry over how calm Harry was taken everything this morning. Making a mental note she decided to talk to Remus and Severus, if the Potions Master showed up also, before they took Harry down for breakfast.

Turning back to the teen on the bed, she flicked her wand and the bottom of the pajamas she had put him in, removed themselves, as soon as that was done she began to show him how everything worked. When she was convinced Harry knew everything needed about the braces, she pulled out a beautiful sheath of black leather, tooled with a silver phoenix, and helped to place it on his right wrist. Once done, she showed him how to use it with both the crutches and his wand.

"Madam Pomfrey, before I go for a shower, can you tell me how long I've been here? After all the times I've been injured in one way or another, I don't believe that it's only been a day since Professor Snape brought me here."

Madam Pomfrey sighed heavily before answering, she knew this question would come up. "To tell you the truth, after waking up the night you where brought in, it's hard to believe that you didn't wake up sooner. Your body shut done after you had that snack with Professor Snape, and to put it mildly, you scared a lot of different people. It's been two weeks since you where brought in."

"Two weeks!" Harry exclaimed in disbelief. "No wonder I feel really good."

"Yes Dear that's why you feel this way. I can tell you that you waking up is going to make a lot of people happy." she said with a smile.

"I take it as soon as I go off to the shower you're going to be making a few floo calls to let people know I'm awake?"

"I fear for my life if I don't." she said with a laugh.

"Alright Ma'am, I'll go take my shower, and you can go make sure no one kills you." Harry said with an answering laugh.

After Madam Pomfrey helped Harry to balance on the crutches and a few false starts, Harry was able to maneuver himself to the shower, and for the first time since he had left school he found himself luxuriating under hot pounding water. 45 minutes later, Harry lowered himself back on to his bed and fell back against his pillows, relaxing his arms from the strain of holding up most of his weight.

Lowering his eyes to the nightstand, he saw the letter that Snape had made him promise to read. Picking it up and breaking the seal, he started to read, never noticing when the tears started to fall.

~~hp~~

Remus and Severus where on their way up to the hospital wing to check on Harry, total silence between the two as both of them were anxious, in their own way on what was waiting for them there. But also extremely relieved that Harry was finally awake after the past few weeks.

With a side long look at his companion, Remus was the first to break the silence. "Relax Severus, I know Harry better then you do, and he will at the very least hear you out. I'm positive that Lily and James explained everything to him in his letter." He said while giving Severus a look of reassurance.

"I'm sure Harry will listen, that's not what's bothering me." Severus replied with a grimace, "I'm more worried over the fact that he may never forgive me for my treatment of him in the past." he finished with a small sigh.

"You'll find out when you see him. Just remember that he has a lot to take in at the moment, and may not be in the best of moods, especially if Poppy has told him about his knees."

"I know Remus, I know."

Before Remus could say anything else, a snowy white owl glided down to land on Severus's shoulder, and held out her leg to Remus. Removing the note he quickly scanned it before breaking down in laughter.

"I don't think you need to worry to much Severus. I do believe that Harry's letter unlocked some of his own memories." he managed to gasp out while holding the note so Severus could take it and read.

~Messieurs Shadow and Moony,

Messier Prongslet Jr. humbly request that you help him escape the clutches of the Firecat of the Hospital Wing, in order to join you for breakfast in the Great Hall, and general mischief making.

Yours respectively, ( or not )

H. J. Potter.

P.S. She says I can leave as long as someone walks with me. Hurry please. ~

Reading the note Severus had to agree with Remus, but he was still unsure of what Harry was feeling. The note gave no clue other then the need to get away from Poppy. Suppressing a smile, he looked over to Remus "So shall we go help him escape, or do we leave him there Moony?" He asked

"Well Shadow, if he causes to many problems we can always find an excuse to return him to the tender mercies of the Fire... I mean Poppy."

"True, very true. Well then, after you Messier Moony." Severus said with a short bow.

"Why thank you Messier Shadow." Remus returned with a matching bow.

The two of them once more fell into step as they continued on the way up to get Harry, their hearts lighter then they had been since the day the letters first arrived for them.

~~hp~~

Harry sat in silence as he waited for Remus and Professor Snape to arrive, still contemplating everything he had learned that day. Not only from Madam Pomfrey, but also from the letter from his mother. And now thanks to that same letter, he was highly unsure about what to say or think anymore. So many things in his life had changed in a very short period of time.

To make matters worse, it seemed that somehow his mother's written words had brought out some deeply suppressed memories from when his parents where still alive and the love they had for him. At the same time, he remembered the love, a darker man also had for him. And it was going to be really, really hard to reconcile his memories of that man, with his memories of the vile man he knew as his Potions Professor. But like his mother asked him too, he was willing to try to get to know the man beneath the mask. Especially since Professor Snape had already taken the first step the night he first arrived at the school.

The sound of footsteps echoing through the corridors broke his concentration and made him look up to the infirmary doors, and therefore also at the two men striding through them side by side. A small smile lit up trouble eyes as Harry watched the two men walking in perfect time with each other. "Morning Remus, morning Professor." He said quietly as they came close to his bedside.

"Good morning Cub. How are you feeling this morning?" Remus replied pulling the teen into a tight hug. He was grateful when the hug was returned, if only for a few seconds.

Before Harry could answer the question, he found himself on the receiving end of a Snape Glare. "An honest answer if you please. As I have already been informed, the answer 'I'm fine' means different things to you then it means for us." Severus told him.

Harry sighed and nodding his head in understanding of his professor's words, he leaned back against his pillow. "Honestly then? Confused, overwhelmed, hurt, and scared. I'm not really sure what to think anymore. I have a million questions I need answers for, yet I haven't had enough time to let everything sink in, and form the questions that I really want answers to. After what happened last spring, the Dursleys, and now this, I think I'm going to need a lot more time." Harry told them in a soft voice.

Severus watched the play of emotions running through Harry's eyes and understood exactly what was going through the teens mind. "I do understand what you are going through in a way. You are not the only one who just found out about this, our letters arrived the day Fawkes was sent to help you, so we are also trying to sort through everything, even with the extra time we had while you slept. Just remember that if you need someone to talk to we are here to help."

"That goes for any of the other professors also Cub, if you feel you cannot come to one of us. A week ago at dinner, the Headmaster asked everyone still in the castle to keep their doors open to you, when you finally woke up, without of course telling them what exactly was going on. The only one who knows outside of us and Poppy, is Minerva. It's your choice if you care to tell anyone else the truth, as long as you keep in mind that Severus is still a spy."

Harry nodded his head, and carefully pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "I do have three questions that can be answered right now," he told the two wizards.

"And those would be?" Severus asked with an arched eyebrow.

Harry finally meet his Professor's ... No his Father's eyes. "Am I allowed to use magic while I'm here?" he asked first.

"You are at school, are you not?" Severus asked sardonically.

"I'll take that as a yes." Harry said a touch of amusement sparkling in his eyes briefly before going serious once more, "How many of those still in the school know that you are a spy Sir?"

Severus gave Harry a long look before answering, "All of the professors are members of the order, and therefore know that I am a spy. You don't have to worry about that. It's only when you go and tell those outside of the Order that you must be careful."

Harry nodded his head in understanding before turning pleading eyes on the two men, "Can we go now?" he whined.

Remus broke down in laughter as Severus tried and failed to suppress his own grin,., even as he replied, "I need to talk to the Firecat, I mean Madam Pomfrey to make sure it's safe to move you first." he said with amusement.

Harry did his best to keep a straight face even as his eyes sparkled once again with laughter. " Yes Sir, thank you sir."

Shaking his head and muttering under his breath about Idiotic Gryffindors, Severus grabbed Remus' arm and dragged the still laughing werewolf into the Medi-Witches office, closing the door firmly behind them.

Poppy waited until Remus settled down and started breathing again before looking at Severus questionably. "Can I help you gentlemen?"

Severus gave the Medi-Witch a concerned look. "How is he doing Poppy? Really?" he asked "and have you figured out why he remained asleep for so long?"

Poppy heaved a concerned sigh, "Honestly I don't know Severus. I told him about his knees first thing this morning, even before he read that letter from Lily and James. He barely reacted to the news and only asked a few questions to understand what was going on, and that was it. There were some tears when he did read that letter, but it was just wetness on his cheeks, nothing more. 10 minutes later he sent Hedwig off, and then sat quietly until the two of you came in. I'm worried, truly I am. It seems that after he blew up in Albus' office, he stopped feeling strong emotions." she explained.

Remus stared at her in shock while Severus dropped his head and pinched his the bride of is nose. "I think," he murmured, "that it is more to the fact that he's afraid to express those emotions. If he has been abused for years, like we now expect, it could just be conditioning. Any type of emotion that he expressed while living with those Muggles, was more then likely meet with punishment of one sort or another." He told them, thinking about all the other abused children he had dealt with over the years of being Head of Slytherin.

Remus growled deep in his throat as he processed what Severus had just said. "He has, for the first time that he can remember, a parent, along with an God-Uncle, and like he said, he will need time to come to terms with that fact. It could very will be that he does not clearly know how to respond to those around him any more, including us. He knows that his new found father, has shown him nothing but hatred for the past five years, and he knows that the wolf is vicious when provoked. I think he will most likely wait and hold in his emotions until he either cannot any longer and explode, or until he feels safe enough with either of us to release them slowly."

Poppy nodded her agreement with both of them before adding her own comments. "From what I've learned about that boy over the years of my treating him, he does not like to admit when he's in pain of any kind. He doesn't think his own hurts are important enough to mention, and never has, and therefore we are going to need to show him that he can come to us with his problems, or when he's hurt and not just physically. He works himself much to hard to be healthy, so someone is also going to need to show him how to live and have fun again."

The two wizards nodded their understanding to the Medi-Witch before standing to exit her office. "How much help do we give him Poppy?" Remus asked.

"You can give him as much help as he's willing to accept, which I admit won't be much. Push him on little things but not really on the big things, praise him every step of the way, but tell him if he's doing anything wrong. Set him a few rules that cannot be broken, and give him a few more that can be bent, and tell him the consequences of breaking those rules. Whatever you do, don't hover and don't treat him differently, you'll only upset him, and maybe touch off his temper." sh admonished them.

"I do believe that we will sit down and discuss those sometime within the next few days. Have you figured out why he didn't wake up before now?"

"Hiss body needed to do a lot of healing, and his magic helped him with that. It's my guess that his magic has been actively healing him from the very beginning. Once he was out of danger and in a safe place, his whole body, magic included, just shut down to heal and recharge." She explained. "I cannot say for sure that that's the way it really happened, but it's the only thing I can think of."

"Thank you Poppy, we'll make sure to keep an eye on him, just to make sure that he doesn't have a relapse." Severus told her, as he walked out the door, to once more face his son, closely followed by Remus, who nodded his agreement.

"Are you ready to go down for breakfast?" Severus asked the teen, making sure to keep his voice soft enough so not to startle him.

Harry looked up with a touch of surprise, from the book he had been reading while waiting for the adults, when he heard his... Father.. and boy was that going to take a lot of getting use to... ask his question. Still unsure on how he was supposed to treat the man, Harry gave him a guarded smile and nod of the head. "Yes Sir, I can't wait. As much as I like Madam Pomfrey, I despise the hospital wing, I spend way to much time here."

"That's understandable Cub. If I remember correctly, James use to say the same thing." Remus said with a soft smile of remembrance.

Severus gave the werewolf a sly smirk. "He was not in here nearly as often as you though. Even without your monthly transformations, you managed to find a reason to stay in here. Rumor had it that you had a crush on a certain Medi-Witch" He teased, his smirk widened as he watched Remus blush. Tapping his chin in thought he glanced over at Harry. "Although I must admit that young Harry here has you beat though."

Harry gave his Professor a mock glare "Gee thanks so much. I appreciate your vote of confidence." He sneered.

Remus' eyes went wide in amusement as he looked between Severus and Harry. "I must say Cub, given a little more practice, you'll soon have the Snape glare and sneer down perfectly." He said trying to hold back even more laughter as both father and son turned and glared at him.

"If the two of you don't mind, I really am hungry, and I would love to to leave here before Madam Pomfrey finds another reason for me to stay." Harry said maintaining his glare.

"Of course Harry, if you're ready lets go" Severus replied with a slight bow, motioning for Harry to lead the way.

Harry moved to the edge of the bed, and swung his legs over the side, before twisting his wrist, in the motion he had been shown earlier that morning, releasing both crutches into the palm of his hand. Seconds later he had his crutches back to their normal size and placed both of them firmly on the floor on either side of him. Leaning forward so that he was barely supported by the bed he brought both crutches under his arms in order to take all of his weight. Adjusting the placement of the crutches and then his grip, he started to slowly make his way out the door and away from the hospital wing. Remus and Severus walking slowly along on either side of him.

The way to the Great Hall was made extremely slowly, with many rest stops among the way, greatly frustrating Harry. The stairs he found where the worst, if it had not been for both Severus and Remus reaching out and grabbing him, he would have pitched forward, head over heels down the first set of stairs. From then on, much to Harry's dismay and embarrassment one of the men walked in front of him down the stairs, and the other behind.

By the time the three of them reached the forth and last set of stairs leading to the Great Hall, Harry was sweating freely and all his limbs trembled with the strain of both moving forward and holding most of his weight. Looking down the last set of stairs with dread, all Harry really wanted to do was collapse into a heap and cry with exhaustion. Dropping his head down he moaned, "I can't do it. I can barely hold myself up any longer, I just can't do it." Some part of him was telling him not to be lazy and get a move on. Another part of him forced down that voice, that sounded an awful lot like his uncle, and instead told him to relax, the two men with him would help him, and not belittle him for whining.

Remus placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, ignoring the small flinch his action caused. "You did really well Cub. I am extremely proud of you." He said, the tone of his voice letting Harry know that the second voice was correct. At least in Remus' case anyway.

Severus reached into an inside pocked on his robes and pulled out a vile of energizing potion and watched as Harry drank it down without a question. "For your first time moving around the castle with those crutches you have done well. Just remember that it is not shameful to ask for help when you are beyond your own power." He told the teen before pulling his wand and casting both a cleaning and drying charm followed by a refreshing charm on his son. "Would you like some help down this last set of stairs?"

Harry studied the dark robed man beside him before nodding his head. "Yes please." was all he said, extremely glad that he his inner voice (or at least one of them) was correct about both men.

Moving behind Harry, Severus ignored the tensing of Harry's body, and instead made ready to help the boy. "Very well then, if you would be kind enough to hold your crutches in one hand ..." He trailed off softly.

Harry shifted his weight onto his right leg along with moving his crutches into his right hand, and tried to relax, knowing that it was just a reflex action from not being able to see Snape. Snape's next move had him yelping in surprise as Severus swept him into his arms.

Remus smiled again in amusement as he reached over and took the crutches away from Harry's loose grip and proceeded father and son down the stairs, and waited to see if Harry would be placed down on the floor again, when the two of the reached to bottom of the stairs. Although he found it highly unlikely that Severus would put him down before reaching the doors, if at all.

Severus, like Remus predicted, didn't stop once he reached the bottom, he just continued to the closed doors, that where hiding the view of the three of them from those already gathered in the Great Hall. Knowing that Harry would not want to be seen as weaker then he thought he already was, if Madam Pomfrey was correct, he stopped and placed Harry on the ground and still supporting most of his weight, waited until Harry was once more able to take his crutches and support himself on his own.

It took Harry a few minute longer then it should have to pull himself together, but finally he gave a small nod of his head telling the other two that he was ready to continue on to breakfast. Remus and Severus each pulled open a door allowing Harry to move forward into the Great Hall on his own and in plain view of all the professors that were still at Hogwarts.