Abused

Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

All information regarding Elizabeth Blackwell, MD, is factual through her death in 1910.

Chapter 6: The Order Meeting… and Chewing on a Headmaster


Two days later, Remus joined them at the manor while they got ready for the Order meeting. Lucius had agreed with Susan’s choice, and waited to see the werewolf’s reaction to the picture that the five made together as they shared a drink in the parlor.

The blonde smiled as he turned the other man toward the door. Just inside stood five stern adults in black leather; Harry, Susan, Draco, Luna, and Neville. “Oh my God,” the lycanthrope breathed. “They’re incredible.”

The aristocrat chuckled, “Aren’t they though.” What made them the picture of unity was that the men had braided their long hair to keep it out of the way, while the women had braided theirs into a crown around their heads.

Lupin chuckled, “Dumbledore will never know what hit him, especially when he hasn’t had any idea what happened to Harry for the last several years.” He held out a portkey. “By the way, the meeting is at Hogwarts as a certain person has not yet been let back into the Black House.” Everyone was laughing as they touched the book, waiting for the pull behind the navel feeling that the portkey engendered.

In moments they were at the Main Entrance of the castle. A gasp of shock heralded their arrival. Minerva McGonagall had the immediate impression of being invaded, until she realized that two of the newcomers were Remus Lupin and… Lucius Malfoy! As she looked closer, the old witch found that she was seeing the five students who had gone missing several years before.

The first, a tall, dark-haired man with brilliant green eyes approached her, “Professor McGonagall, it’s good to see you again.”

“Harry,” she breathed then reached out to hug the young man.

Harry gracefully accepted the elderly witch’s embrace, knowing that if anyone had worried about him, it would have been her. “I’m sorry if I worried you, Professor, but after I was rescued from the Dursley’s it became necessary.”

Minerva’s hand came up to touch his cheek, “Why couldn’t you come to us if it was so bad, Harry?”

At that point the other brunet stepped forward, “He did, Professor. He told the headmaster that he didn’t want to go back… and why, but Dumbledore insisted.”

McGonagall’s glance went from the man in front of her to the other, shocked. “Neville?”

He grinned, “At your service, Professor.”

Her hand to her heart, Minerva McGonagall couldn’t believe that ‘her’ two boys had grown to be such exceptional men. Seeing that the woman was truly distracted, Lucius cleared his throat to gain her attention. “Excuse me, Professor, but we’re here for the Order meeting.”

Finally noting the aristocrat’s presence once more, she nodded, “Follow me.”

To Harry’s sense of humor it seemed funny that one of the ground floor classrooms had been turned into a meeting place for the Order of the Phoenix when Remus had ‘neglected’ to allow Albus use of Grimmauld Place.

At the door, Lucius took the elderly witch’s arm, “I believe the young people wish to make an entrance, so we’ll let them. It really takes so little to keep them happy.”

A small giggle escaped from McGonagall as she let the aristocrat escort her inside, followed by a chuckling Remus.

Albus looked up, and his jaw dropped at the sight of Lucius Malfoy. Apparently his run of luck was getting worse if the blonde was back in England. What really gave him pause was the presence of Remus Lupin with Lord Malfoy. Since when had the werewolf started communicating with the blonde aristocrat?

After seating Minerva, the two men took seats at the far end of the table, leaving several places between them and the others. The headmaster wondered what else was going to happen before the day was through. He could hear Molly Weasley already sputtering over Malfoy’s attendance after so many years. Hermione Granger Weasley was rolling her eyes at her husband’s muttered comments regarding the blonde.

As the old wizard called the meeting to order, the door swung open and five leather-clad people entered. Moody stood to remove them, expecting Kingsley and Tonks to back him. Looking around he saw that the other Aurors had remained seated, smirking at him. “What’s goin’ on here?” he growled.

Kingsley waved him off, “They have as much right here as you do, Alastor.”

With the exception of Minerva, Shacklebolt, and Tonks, no one recognized the five as they took seats with Lord Malfoy and Remus Lupin. All they knew was that the group appeared dangerous and attitude poured off them in waves.

Dumbledore called for quiet then asked, “Would you please introduce yourselves?” One of the ebony-haired men shrugged and motioned to the women. The blonde stood.

“Susan Bones, Master of Charms, Defense, Occlumency, and Legilimency.”

The brunette was next. “Luna Lovegood, Master of Divination, Defense, Occlumency, and Legilimency.”

Harry motioned to his stepson, and Draco stood.

“Draco Malfoy, Master of Potions, Defense, Occlumency, and Legilimency.”

Neville stood. “Neville Longbottom, Master of Herbology, Defense, Occlumency, and Legilimency.”

Finally the last one rose. “Harry Potter, Master Healer, Master of Defense, Occlumency, and Legilimency.”

The room fell silent, stunned by the polished, educated team seated before them. Harry then continued, “And Lord Lucius Malfoy, new Master of Transfiguration.”

Ginevra Weasley was the first one to speak. “Well, it’s about time you came back, Harry. Are you ready to admit that you’re not gay?”

The brunet snorted, “Not a chance! But even if I weren’t I wouldn’t marry you on a bet. You people used me, and then ignored me when I didn’t fit your mental image. I am who, and what, I am. What other people think isn’t as important to me as it used to be.”

Molly sprang to her feet, “HOW DARE YOU INSULT…”

Harry snarled back at her, “How dare you attempt to use me to improve your own positions in the wizarding world? Did you really think I was that blind? If you had really cared about me, you would have been there when I almost died, but my true friends had to go to Lucius to get help for me.”

He turned on the headmaster. “And you… You didn’t care whether I lived or died after I defeated Voldemort. Be warned old man, your time as Headmaster is almost up. The Board will eventually remove you, and I’ll be laughing all the way.”

Flitwick inquired, “How did you know the Board was thinking about that?”

Harry snickered, “Because we were at the Board meeting two days ago. You see, we…” he waved a hand at his companions, “hold eight seats on the Board.”

Hermione stood, “You can’t hold seats on the Board of Governors, you’re too young.”

Draco snickered, “Nice to know that you haven’t read up on that, Granger. We are the representatives of families with hereditary seats. All we needed was to obtain our Mastery in our chose field to claim those seats. With our return to England, we have set those claims in action and joined the Board.”

Arthur frowned, “Albus, why didn’t you know…?”

The old man shook his head, “For some reason I wasn’t told.”

Harry laughed, “Because Draco and I recognized your ‘spy’ on the Board, and altered his memory of the meeting. You really should be more careful about whom you meet with during school hours.”

Dumbledore shook his head, “You couldn’t have received your Mastery. The university has no record of your attendance there.”

At that point, Lucius broke in. “There is a simple answer to that, they didn’t attend university in the United Kingdom. When Draco had the opportunity to do Advanced Placement at a foreign university, the others agreed to try for placement as well. All five received their Mastery more than a year ago… at the Wizarding University of Salem.”

Hermione dropped into her seat. The Salem school was known to take only the very best, and to do a four-year program in three years was almost unheard of… even for that school. What really irked her was that the Wizarding University of Salem had accepted those five… even Longbottom, but refused her admittance. How could a half-hearted student like Harry Potter… and an incompetent one like Neville Longbottom be admitted to such a prestigious school… and succeed?

Harry watched the emotions flitting across the witch's face with a smirk on his own... but he'd let Granger stew in her own broth, he had bigger fish to fry.

"By the way Dumbledore, you might as well quit trying to get into my vaults... everything but the Heritage Vaults are now empty. Gringotts spent the morning moving my funds into joint vaults with my husband."

Albus heard the word 'empty' while the Weasleys only heard 'husband'. Somehow this orphan from nowhere had outwitted them all. What they never noticed was that the young wizard didn't identify his spouse for any of them.

"And you can also quit calling the Order to meetings trying to locate me now that I've returned to England... although I do plan on doing a lot of traveling to make up for the deprived childhood you dumped on me."

Albus finally found words. "Harry, I'd like for you to teach Defense this next year... as you have your mastery."

The brunet shook his head, "Not a chance. First of all, I am primarily a Healer, not a fighter, and secondly, I know that if I teach here, I won't be able to keep my seats on the Board of Governors. There is no way I'm giving up that kind of power to make a manipulative old man happy. I've allowed you to ruin too much of my life as it is, you're not getting any more of it."

The wizard stood and went over to Minerva, kissing her hand. "I will see you again, dear lady. Take care."

She smiled up at him, "I will, Harry."

Stopping beside Kingsley and Tonks, he inquired, "Are you stopping by later?"

The Metamorphmagus grinned, "Of course we are, cuz... when you least expect it."

Harry chuckled, "Tonks, my love, I ALWAYS expect you... at the least expected times."

He returned to his friends as they had moved toward the door. "Just remember, Dumbledore, I'm keeping an eye on your shenanigans. Soon you'll make a wrong move and you'll be out of here on your scabby arse." Harry looked around at the others, waved his hand, and said, "Bye," before disappearing out the door with Lucius, Remus, and the others.

When all was quiet again, Moody glared at the other two Aurors. "You want to tell me what that was all about?"

Shacklebolt shrugged, "I'm not sure if I should. Harry prizes loyalty very highly."

Molly yelped, "You're supposed to be loyal to the Order."

The Auror shrugged again, "Maybe so, but after Voldemort was gone, what was occurring with Harry James Potter had absolutely nothing to do with the Order of the Phoenix, and everything to do with friendship, trust, and loyalty. But then, you and yours wouldn't know much about that, would they, Molly?"

The headmaster frowned, "How about telling us something that no longer matters... as Harry is of age? Who was designated as his guardian in July of 1997?"

At that, a large grin covered Kingsley's face, "Lucius, of course. After all, it was he who called me when he had been told young Harry might be being abused." He snickered, "You know, Hufflepuff loyalty is very special... especially when it comes in lion-form. If it hadn't been for Neville, Susan, and Luna seeking out someone who was powerful enough to counteract anything you could pull, Albus, Harry would be dead now. He almost didn't survive, and he had the absolute best Healer taking care of him."

Arthur finally spoke up. "Why couldn't we find the guardianship documents? They must have been filed."

Shacklebolt nodded, "They were... under a spell of my own devising that I use when forced to remove abused children from their homes and place them elsewhere." He looked once more at the old wizard. "What you neglected to realize, Albus, was that with Harry being under 17 at the time, he met the criteria as an abused child. It was later that he requested the guardianship be extended to his 19th birthday."

The headmaster sighed and asked, "So who sealed the vaults, anyway?"

At that Tonks had to chuckle. "Uncle Lucius did. From the day he was named guardian, until they returned to England, not a knut was removed from Harry's accounts. And before you ask, Uncle Lucius financed Remus' support until Harry could make other arrangements. He was the one person that Harry didn't want to suffer because of everything."

The meeting broke up with most of the people thinking about what had been said. Moody, on the other hand, cornered Kingsley. "I can’t believe you betrayed the Headmaster!"

Shacklebolt shot back with "I couldn't believe that Albus Dumbledore betrayed Harry... but the proof was in his very first Hogwarts' letter. Knowing that a child was kept in a cupboard, and doing nothing to correct it made him a party to the abuse that young man suffered. It was only through Lucius' wisdom that he wasn't charged with child abuse right along with the Dursleys."

The two younger Aurors swept from the room while the peg-legged old man stared at them. How did Kingsley Shacklebolt turn things so that their leader was in the wrong. Moody shook his head attempting to clear it, but things still fell into the same places. If everything the MLE Auror said was true then Albus Dumbledore should have stood trial for child abuse and neglect.

Realizing that he'd been blindsided, Alastor gave the old wizard a betrayed glance and left. He just couldn't stay there any longer.
~*~
Through Beth Blackwell, Harry set up a meeting with Bill and Charlie Weasley, regarding the seat on the Board of Governors.

Bill sat across from the dark haired man. “I just don’t want the problems that come with it, Harry. You know damned well that Mum and Dad, as well as the old coot, intend to influence my actions there.”

Harry grinned at him. “Just hear me out, big brother… and if you feel my idea isn’t workable, I’ll drop it.”

Charlie leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees. “Ok, tell us about it.”

Legs stretched out in front of him, Harry began. “You spend most of your time in Egypt, Bill. If you obtain your Mastery, is there any reason why that has to change?” The redhead appeared thoughtful, as Harry continued. “So you take your seat on the Board, and share the responsibility with Charlie. That way, neither one of you will be in the country for any length of time.”

He snickered, “And before your parents… or Dumbledore can influence you, I’m going to try. I want the pair of you to consider joining me in removing the old man from the Headmaster position. The fact that he knew of my abuse, and allowed it to continue, should show that he doesn’t have the best interests of his students in mind.”

The two eldest Weasley brothers looked at each other for a long moment… then Harry saw the evil grins appear. He shook his head, “I swear, you look like the twins when you do that!”

Bill smirked. “I’ll set up for my Mastery exam. Just let me know when the next Board meeting is.”

The brunet grinned. “Great. Now if Remus can convince the last heir to take his seat… on our side, we’ll be more than ready to work on taking out the old man.”
~*~
Hermione had tried for weeks to speak to Harry. Every time he was anywhere public, it seemed as if either Draco or Lucius Malfoy was with him. She had attempted to contact him by mail, but any owls sent to him by her, the Weasleys… or Dumbledore, were returned unopened.

A great deal of snooping had given her the information that one Harry Potter was working part-time at St. Mungo's. She decided that the only way to confront him was by showing up there, as he almost never appeared at the Order meetings. The young wizard had told them all quite bluntly that the meetings were a waste of valuable time that could be better spent on his patients… considering that there wasn't a Dark Lord or Death Eater to be found anywhere.

Asking to see Healer Potter at the desk got her stared at, so the witch took to roaming the halls in search of the elusive Harry.

She finally saw him coming down the hall toward her with an elderly woman at his side. They were talking quite steadily, when Hermione called out his name. "Harry..."

The brunet turned to stare at her, saying coldly, "What do you want Mrs. Weasley?"

The frost startled her, but she continued, "Perhaps we can speak privately."

He glared at her, "Beth can hear anything you have to say to me."

Hermione Granger stared at the older woman in Healer's robes. "Who are you?"

Beth snorted delicately. "Elizabeth Blackwell, Healer, Herbalist, and Surgeon."

The muggleborn witch's eyes widened. "There was an Elizabeth Blackwell in America in the 19th century who became a Doctor."

Beth rolled her eyes at the young woman.

"Some of your information is correct, but what you don't know is that I was born in Bristol, and moved to America when I was eleven. I was the FIRST woman doctor in America. I returned to England in 1858, and allowed the muggles to believe I died in 1910. I have continued to practice my Healing Arts for almost a century."

Harry chuckled, "Beth, that just might make you older than Albus Dumbledore."

She snorted again, "That juvenile delinquent? He's still wet behind the ears. I can remember treating him for burns, AFTER he ignored his mother's warning and tried to pet a blast-ended skrewt."

Beth returned her glare to the muggleborn witch, "And you're not as bright as you think you are either, girl. Brains and book-learning are all well and good, but you need to know how to deal with all kinds of people. Some you'll like, and some you won't, but you should never base your opinions of someone on what you think they should be. People have a right to be themselves, without anyone else forcing them into a mold like so much plaster of paris."

The Healer returned to Harry, "I'm ready now."

He gave her an impish grin. "And awaaaaaaaay we go," as they apparated away from St. Mungo's without giving Hermione a chance to tell him what she had come to see him about.

Hermione Weasley couldn’t understand. If he was good friends with the old healer, why did the idiot at the desk not know where to find Healer Potter. It never occurred to her that he might be a volunteer… or that he might not go by ‘Potter’.

What the Gryffindor witch didn't know was that Harry Potter's volunteer work schedule also covered for his appointments with several healers who were overseeing his care for a while. Beth Blackwell had discovered a small condition that would, in time, correct itself with exceptional medical care.
~*~
When they reappeared at Malfoy Manor, Beth cuffed him, "You don't need to act like you're as immature as that old reprobate at the school. You, Harry Malfoy, are the most adult twenty-something I have ever known, and don't let anyone convince you otherwise. I'm just glad you have a sense of fun, or you'd be too perfect to be true."
~*~
Weekends were for those who had become Harry’s family. Draco had recently asked Susan to marry him, and Luna was engaged to Neville. Remus… and Severus Snape joined them, as did Charlie and Bill Weasley. Beth Blackwell appeared as her schedule allowed.

The entire group waited impatiently for the Christmas Holidays to be over… and the arrival of the newest Malfoy.

To Lucius’ shock… and Draco’s smirk that plainly said ‘I told you so’, Harry’s appointment just before the holidays provided a surprise. There wasn’t going to be one addition to the family… but two!
~*~
Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, and Bill and Charlie Weasley went dashing up the stairs to the master suite in Malfoy Manor. They had been summoned in the wee hours of the morning, at Harry’s request.

In the sitting room of the suite, they found the Longbottoms and the younger Malfoys waiting for them. In Susan and Luna’s arms rested two tiny beings; one dark haired, and one blonde. Luna quickly deposited her bundle into the werewolf’s arms. “They’re cleaning him up, and you’ll soon be able to see for yourself that he’s fine.”

Lupin looked down on the ebony head. “What’s his name?”

Luna grinned, “Harry and Luc have named him Rigel Black Malfoy… and his sister is Merope Potter Malfoy. We’ll let them explain why when you get in there.”

Bill gazed at the tiny blonde Susan was holding. Seeing his interest the witch passed the baby to him, but he quickly passed her to Severus. As the dark haired man held Merope, Charlie whispered, “Never have I been so glad Harry refused to give in to my parents. She’s absolutely adorable.” He looked up at Remus, “And not a red hair in sight!”

They all chuckled at the comment regarding the prevalence for redheads in Bill and Charlie’s family.

Soon Lucius allowed them in to see Harry. Draco could see the rings of exhaustion around the emerald eyes, but there was also a look of complete peace as well. He realized why… At last, Harry had the family he had always wanted.

Harry smiled as those he cared about entered the room. It was the first time he realized those present actually made up a sort of family… HIS family. Severus and Remus were holding the babies and seemed completely enthralled with the tiny bundles of humanity.

Charlie gave him a grin. “Draco said you wanted to explain the names.”

Lucius sat beside his husband, “Yes. I think it’s appropriate. We’ve decided that Draco will continue to be heir to the Malfoy estate. Rigel was given Black as a middle name in the idea that he will inherit the Black estates from Harry, and Merope will inherit the Potter estates.”

Harry continued, “Remy, Lucius has agreed with me that you and Severus will be the twins’ grandfathers, because neither of us have living parents. As Draco and Susan are already their brother and sister-in-law, we’d like the rest of you to be their godparents. You are the people I trust most with my life… and those of my children.”

Neville spoke for the rest, “We accept the responsibility, and are honored by your trust.” Then he gave his dearest friend a hug. “Congratulations, Harry.”

Severus and Remus lay the babies in their cradle, and led the others out, leaving the new family to rest.