Divorce, disaster and denial

Ok, the votes so far stand at:

Lucius - 3

Draco - 0

George - 0

Andie - 1

Continue to vote, and I will make my decision by next chapter. Well, here is the answer to the cliffie I left you. What happened to James.

Please continue to review. I love them.

*****

Harry quickly summoned a house elf and ordered it to fetch Lucius, Draco and Andie as he crossed to his son. He had only just gathered James in his arms when Lucius burst through the door, closely followed by Draco and then Andie.

“What the hell?” Draco said as the three of them helped the distraught Harry get his son to the bed.

The blood on James’ face was darker in the light of the setting sun. His clothes were torn and covered in dust and dirt and soot.

“If I knew that then he would be fine wouldn’t he! I don’t know what happened, I walked in and he was lying like this by the fireplace,” Harry felt his tears prick his eyes. He looked up at Andie. “Help him. Please?”

She shook her head. “Harry, if I do that, if I try to heal him, try to use those powers I may end up killing him! Please don’t ask this of me.”

“Andie, he’ll die if we don’t do something,” Lucius said evenly, feeling the boys pulse. “You’re the only chance he has. If we take him to a Healer, it will take too long. We have to help him, now. Please do this.”

Andie sighed, her resolve fading. “Alright, but I’m not even sure if I know what I’m doing. My mother taught me this stuff when I was very young, I barely remember it.”

“It’s better than the alternative,” Harry said, standing and waiting with Lucius and Draco to help her.

“Alright, Draco, I want you to run a bath, lukewarm, just above body temperature. Father, stay with me. Harry, go to the greenhouse and get me the blue box of plant cuttings, and then a bowl of boiling water.” She clicked her fingers and a house elf appeared. “Onyx, go to my room and get the sealed green box in my closet.” Harry, Draco and Onyx left. “Father, help me get these clothes off, only the outer ones. I need to see what I’m doing and black robes don’t help.”

Harry and Onyx returned as Lucius and Andie struggled to get the clothes off the shaking boy. Andie sighed. She walked to Harry. “Help my father,” she said, taking the box and the bowl from him. She placed them on the bedside cabinet and retrieved the box from Onyx. She opened it and passed the little being six bottles of varying colour and size, and a pouch of herbs. “Take these to Master Draco and tell him to add them to the water. It should turn thick and a golden colour,” she said as she turned to the bedside table.

“Done, though the little guy put up a fight,” Lucius said, looking at his daughter while Harry gazed worriedly at his son.

“Right, come here.” Lucius walked round the bed to his daughter. She handed him a ladle and positioned him in front of the bowl, to which she had added leaves of different colours, the most prominent being black. “Stir this, three times clockwise, seven anticlockwise, four clockwise. Then add the rest of the leaves in the box and stir clockwise until it turns blue.”

She left him to it and moved to the bed, where Harry moved over to allow her to get near his son. She tilted the boys face this way and that, inspecting the cuts that peppered his skin. She moved her hands down, feeling for how many ribs were broken, cringing when she realised the boys breastbone had been snapped clean in two.

Lucius noticed a tear fall down his daughters cheek as he brought the viscous blue liquid over to his daughter. She took it from him and tore off the bottom of her own shirt. She dipped it in the liquid and applied it liberally over James’ face and chest and his right wrist and left ankle. Lucius held Harry back as Andie worked, staying out of her way. Draco returned to the room and stood with them, watching as his sister worked.

Draco marvelled at the fact that even though she was wearing a ripped shirt, her hair was all over the place and she was saving a child’s life, she still moved with a fluid grace. She moved away from the boy and Harry gasped as he saw what the blue liquid was doing.

Bruises and cuts rose to the surface of James’ skin, old wounds that were just a shadow so the healing elf could see what to work on. Harry’s tears ran freely when he realised that James had been on the receiving end for weeks, maybe even months. Andie moved back to the boy and perched herself on the edge of the bed as she applied a bright green cream to the broken ribs. As she was rubbing it in, she started murmuring in a language that Harry and Draco didn’t recognise.

Lucius lost himself in the rhythm of the Elvin words, Andie instantly reminding him of her mother, who he had loved in spite of the death threats. Only when Andie glowed bright blue did he realise what was happening. “No!” he screamed, lunging forwards. He made a grab for his daughter, but it was too late. Both she and James let out screams, and Andie collapsed off the bed.

Harry lunged forwards with his seeker abilities, catching her before she hit the wooden floor. James opened his eyes as Harry transferred Andie to Lucius and Draco’s care.

“Dad?”

“James! By Merlin, are you alright?” Harry said, scrambling to embrace his son.

“It hurts, dad. Where are we?”

“Malfoy Manor. We’re gonna make the pain go away, but you have to do as you’re told.” James nodded and Harry looked down to see Andie opening her eyes slowly. “Are you ok? What the hell was that?”

“No clue. James. Bath. Now,” she gasped, clutching her ribs. “Draco, Harry, submerge him. Repeatedly. Stop fizzing. Stop submerging.”

Harry and Draco nodded and Harry gathered his son in his arms, carrying him to the bathroom. He placed him in the bathtub and the thick golden water fizzed and bubbled around the small frame. They each stood on a side of the free standing tub and took a shoulder each, pushing James backwards and submerging him for half a second before pulling him up again. They waited for James to ready himself before repeating the procedure. They continued to submerge him as the bath remained fizzing. After twenty full minutes the water stopped fizzing around James and they let him lay back in the tub, thinking it wise to let him soak up whatever Andie had ordered added to the water.

Harry and Draco entered the bedroom to find a St Mungo’s Healer flooing out, and Andie lying on the bed as her father sat beside her, holding her hand.

“What happened?” Draco asked, moving round the bed to take Andie’s other hand.

“According to the Healer, she absorbed James’ broken bones. Ribs, collarbone, ankle and wrist,” said Lucius evenly, though they could all see he was still shaken by the incident.

“Why?” Draco asked. He glared at his sister, whom he loved more than he had ever done his mother.

“Because he couldn’t handle them and I can,” she stated simply. “James is too young and too delicate to handle that kind of pain. He is young, something that are prized by elves, no matter the species. I had to protect him.”

Harry didn’t understand, but right now he didn’t care. She had saved his sons life, putting her own at risk. “Thank you.”

She looked at him. “Welcome. How is he?”

“Soaking in the bath. Me and Draco thought it best. What’s in the bath, and the paste you put on him?”

“The blue liquid is a way to see what is hidden. Someone placed him under a glamour Harry, his injuries were extremely serious. The orange one is used by the Elves to heal the young, it is used only for them. It restores the untouched quality of young skin while aiding the healing process. The bath was filled with different plants that I collected. They all have healing and restorative powers, and calming agents. I thought it best to use them all.”

“Will he be ok?”

“I should think so, physically. But Harry, the things I saw in his head.”

“What do you mean?”

Lucius stepped in as Andie buried her face in Draco’s shoulder. “When she healed your son, she was able to take a look at some of his memories. Most Healer elves do this so that the one who has hurt the young can be punished.”

Harry sat down on the end of the bed and looked at Andie. “Andie, who did this to him? Who hurt my son?”

She was sobbing openly now, both in pain and the fresh memories from James coursing through her mind. “Harry, Albus, Lily, go get them. Now.”

Harry gasped as he realised what she was trying to tell him. He spun on his heel and marched down the stairs, Lucius following closely behind him. He watched as Harry threw some floo powder into the fire in the kitchen and grabbed hold of him just as he whipped out of sight.

*******

“What the hell did you do that for Lucius?” Harry fumed as the two men brushed soot off of their clothes onto Harry’s living room floor.

“Because you’re likely to do something rash and extremely ill-advised. I thought you could do with a level head to help you see clearly.”

“I’m not going to do anything, I’m just going to get my children and leave. Now help me find them, it’s a big house.”

Lucius sighed and trailed after Harry. Soon enough, the two men could hear scuffling, as if a little mouse was sneaking up on them. Harry and Lucius performed simple Lumos and turned around, only to find a small face looking at them in the general gloom.

“Lily! Come here baby, are you alright?” Harry said as he knelt down to his daughters level. She flew into his arms and held him so tight he thought his neck was going to snap. Lucius saw what Harry had not yet seen, the dark circle that was the girls left eye.

“Lily, talk to me.” Harry said, prising the slim arms away from his neck. He gasped when he saw his daughters face, tilting it so he could get a better look.

“I was bad, daddy,” Lily whispered.

“It doesn’t matter baby, we’ll get rid of it. I have friends who can make you feel all better,” Harry said as he ran his fingers through her shoulder length hair. “Lily, baby, where’s Albus?”

“With the bad man.”

“What bad man?”

“The one mummy brought here after she sent you away. She said you were bad, so you had to be punished. So you had to go away. And then the man came. Mummy said we had to call him Uncle Greg.”

“Where are they, Lily?” Lucius asked getting down to her level as Harry stood.

“In Al’s bedroom. They’ve been in there for a very long time.”

“Good girl. Can you take us there?”

She nodded and Harry and Lucius followed her, Lily keeping a tight hold on Harry’s hand. In his free one he held his wand. As they approached a door that was locked from the inside, Harry, Lucius and Lily could hear screams from a little boy, interspersed by a woman’s voice and sparsely punctuated with that of a man.

Harry’s temper flared when he realised what was going on. His magic soared out of control and the door blasted off it’s hinges as Lucius placed Lily behind them. Lily clung to Lucuis’ legs as the scene unfolded.

Albus was curled into a ball on the floor in the middle of the room, while Ginny sat in a comfortable arm chair, calmly drinking Firewhisky while Gregory Goyle pounded into Harry’s son.

A mass of things happened at once. Lucius hexed Goyle, Lily ran to her brother and Harry grabbed Ginny and pinned her to the wall. “Lucius, get them out of here, wait in the hallway, I’ll be out in a minute.”

Lucius had never seen Harry this angry, not even when single handedly destroying the Dark Lord. He moved quickly, gathering Albus into his arms and taking Lily by the hand, taking them out into the hallway so they wouldn’t have to see what happened to their mother at their fathers hands.

“Why did you do this? I can understand you wanting to hurt me, I really can, but our children? Why them? What the fuck did they do to deserve this?” Harry snarled into Ginny’s face, snatching her wand from her.

“Because I could. Take them, take the little brats! I thought by giving you children you’d love me, really love me! But I was wrong,” Ginny said. Harry backed away from her, dropping her wand at her feet.

“You’re pathetic. I feel sorry for you. I pity you. All you have is your self loathing and your hate. I’m taking my children now, and they are never coming near you again.” With that, Harry walked out the door, scooped up Lily and flood back to Malfoy Manor, where Andie did all she could to help them, with the aid of a healer.

*********

Ok, a little explanation. I hate Ginny and I decided to make her deranged in this. There is more coming, and please keep reviewing and voting for the pairing.

Thank you for the reviews. Thank you to BRM, Tina109, scorcho_789, GreenEyedRaven, vider le demarreur, amyordinary, kiwigirl, and micky.

Thank you for taking the time to review. More importantly, thank you so much for taking the time to read it! *hugs all round*

A special note to amyordinary, my parents are going through a divorce at the moment and it clouded my judgement a bit when writing this. My parents divorce is not fair, or just and the legal system is absolute crap. So, I felt like talking my frustration out in writing and this was the result.

I made Ginny really bad because I hate her, she is not what I picture for Harry. And as for the abuse of Harry’s children, that I really didn’t plan on, it just evolved in my head. Please don’t hate me, it will get better, I promise. Just a note, there was no sexual abuse of the children, I just couldn’t bring myself to be that sadistic.

So, continue to read, review and vote for the pairing you want.

Love and cookies to all my readers. Cookie to the one who guesses what comes next with Andie’s tale of her past.