Death Eater Takes a Holiday

Chapter 60 Haven of Healers

Severus took the seat furthest away, as usual. Harry stifled a laugh when Albus offered tea but didn\'t get any takers.

\"Poppy needed to tend to a student with a minor injury. She\'ll be up with Harry\'s chart soon enough,\" Albus poured himself a cup of tea, ignoring the looks Kieran and Severus gave each other, as if each were daring the other to have tea. \"Perhaps while we wait, Kieran could tell us more about Harry\'s Order evaluation results?\" Albus looked over to the white-robed Healer expectantly. \"How long did you say it took?\" he asked, knowing Kieran hadn\'t said.

Kieran counted off on his fingers for a moment before answering. \"I’d say from portkey to Snape\'s bloodshed, about seven hours, give or take,\" he grinned at his friend. \"He did well, took a lot of punishment before he eventually gave an acceptable bit of information to establish their reaction. Just like we discussed last week,\" he added the last bit in Harry\'s direction with a pleased nod.

\"And what was their reaction?\" Albus directed his question to Harry, who\'d remained modestly quiet thus far.

\"They didn\'t seem to care that after hours of torture, I\'d finally told them something. For that matter, most the time I wasn\'t even sure what they were asking. The questions were vague, and even when I answered the one time, the hexes didn\'t slow down any. At that point I figured they were just wearing me down before handing me over to the Dark Lord,\" Harry ran a hand over his shoulder thinking about the wizard that had expertly wielded a knife. He was grateful for the fresh clothes he’d kept in his room in the tower.

\"He didn\'t give up a spy, either,\" beamed Kieran. \"I thought for sure when Snape was left alone with you and he’d put up the silencing charms and warded the door, you\'d blow his cover. Ah, Snape.\" Kieran turned to his friend. \"It was beautiful. When our Snape took off his mask, Harry looked shocked and swore at you up and down for betraying Dumbledore. I was already getting up to call it a day when he belted you,\" Kieran laughed, slapping his hand down on the arm of Snape\'s chair. Severus was not amused by Kieran\'s merriment at his expense, but was proud of his trainee/lover. He hadn\'t realized Harry had been ‘tested’ for so many hours before he’d arrived at Albus\' chambers. It explained why Harry had been jumpy to his touch.

The four wizards stood when Poppy entered the office. She smiled appreciatively at the gesture. \"Ah, Poppy, a cup of tea perhaps?\" Albus asked cordially, and immediately began to pour. Poppy looked askance. \"What have you got for us?\" he asked, seeing she\'d brought more than Harry\'s chart.

\"I have charts of past students who had either shown signs of healing capabilities or unexplained resistance to illnesses.\"

\"May I?\" Kieran took the offered charts, giving them a once over. The browning folders held records of various students with similar situations. Kieran shuffled through them again, looking for Harry\'s name. \"Did you bring Harry\'s records?\" he asked, seeing no other large folders, and noting that those he held were mostly very old.

\"Ah, yes, here it is,\" she said with a cheeky smile, stepping aside to reveal a box that had been levitated along behind her, and dropping it on his lap. The box was originally labeled by the manufacturer as Ministry Issued paper supplies, \'200 count, three sided, heavy weight file envelopes\'. The words had been crossed off and \'Harry Potter\' had been written in a tidy scrawl below. It also included a standard hex warning label should anyone unauthorized open the documents.

\"Been busy with this one?\" Kieran gestured to the embarrassed Harry beside him.

\"You have no idea,\" her tone droll as she daintily stirred her tea, not sipping.

\"With your permission?\" Kieran said in Harry\'s direction before opening the box, his tone once again professional.

\"It\'s why we\'re here,\" replied Harry off-handedly. Kieran held the lid over the box, eyeing Harry attentively.

\"That doesn\'t mean you don\'t have a choice. If you don\'t wish it, I don\'t have to look through here to make a reasonable assessment. I won\'t kid you, it would help a great deal, but it\'s not entirely necessary should you chose to keep it private,\"

Harry sighed. \"It\'s fine, I\'m just exhausted. Why would you pick tonight after my assessment to do this?\" Harry\'s asked, hoping he wasn\'t being too rude, but not caring much either. Despite the nap he\'d had after dinner with Severus, he was ready to drop.

\"Earlier when I tried to sense your old injuries and looked for scar tissue, I found it was a lot easier to do while you were relaxed and surrounded by people you trusted. If you hadn\'t been so exhausted, you may have tensed up when you felt me probing around, looking at your insides. Trust me, it was better this way,\" Kieran opened the box and flipped over the stack to take a look at the oldest records first. He compared notes in September to late in the school year. When he asked to see the copy of Harry\'s muggle doctor records, Poppy cleared her throat.

\"There aren\'t any,\" Harry answered but offered nothing else. Kieran hadn\'t been told many details of Harry\'s life before Hogwarts. Since he was looking for signs of self-healing, it wasn\'t a total surprise there weren’t any records. He\'d also heard Snape grumbling on about Harry paying for his uncle\'s services and assumed them to be poor, hence one more reason behind not seeing a doctor for regular checkups. But then, Kieran was smart enough to know Harry had to have healed himself from something and there must have been a substantial healing to merit a call upon his expertise. But if he had learned anything from healing the wounds of Death Eaters and other equally dark wizards, it was not to pry too deeply when information wasn\'t offered.

\"Kieran, I have a list of possible injuries reported to us. It\'s not from the most reliable source, but still, a place to start nonetheless.\" Albus handed over the list he made when Dudley explained the things he\'d thought his cousin had healed. Kieran compared the list to the one he\'d made while scanning over Harry\'s body. He made a few notes and checked a few more things in Harry\'s chart.

\"Some of the items on your list were exaggerated, while other, far more serious injuries, weren\'t even mentioned. This one here,\" Kieran pointed to the list, “It says that your arm was broken, yet I see no signs of serious damage.\"

\"Right arm?\" interrupted Poppy. She got up and shuffled through Harry\'s chart. \"Here you go, 1992, winter, I believe,\" she said, proud of knowing his medical history as well as she did. Finding the correct page, she announced, \"Yes. November, 1992, right arm bones re-grown via Skele-Gro after an incompetent wizard attempted to heal what is suspected to have been a fracture of the humerus, near the elbow, which instead resulted in the removal of every bone in the right arm, from the humerus down to and including the distal phalanges,\" she harrumphed, obviously still annoyed that Lockhart had taken it upon himself to attempt to do her job.

Kieran nodded; it made sense there would be no signs of the causal injury or any previous ones if the bone had been re-grown. \"How about this one? It’s not mentioned on Albus\' list.\" Kieran pointed to his own back indicating the area. \"The spots on your back; you said that was from a tool?\"

\"A garden tool, it only broke the skin. Hurt like hell, but not much else. That happened the same day as this,\" Harry pointed to the Dudley list where it noted a broken rib.

\"That did not only break the skin; it lacerated your left kidney with two of the prongs. I didn\'t think it could be possible. There should have been too much mass for that to happen, but if like you had said, your cousin fell on top of you, it\'s possible. But you\'d have to have been extremely thin at the time,\" he mused.

\"I\'ve put on some weight over the years,\" Harry said without offering any numbers. Kieran need only to read the chart if he wanted details.

\"I’d like some time to go over these records more thoroughly. If I had to make a guess now, I\'d say Harry has healed himself with intrinsic magic. It\'s crude, but effective.\" Kieran explained further, seeing Harry\'s confused expression. \"Every witch and wizard has intrinsic magic. Using it\'s an involuntary action, like breathing and your heart beating. It\'s why we live so long. Our magic typically fends off most internal disorders like cancer and heart disease. Tell me, Harry, after these incidences when you healed yourself, did you wake feeling exhausted or drained?\"

\"I don\'t think so. The times they said I\'d done it, I had slept for days, so I wouldn’t be tired.\" Harry explained. Kieran made a few more notes on his chart.

\"Even with a week of sleep, if you depleted your magic to heal something this big, you would have woken up exhausted. If you woke up feeling well, then you must have tapped into a magical reserve.\"

\"I think that\'s what Severus told me, but I still don\'t understand.\" Harry was sure he would have been more lucid if he’d had a few more hours sleep.

\"Let’s say you suddenly aren\'t eating regularly, and this is something that has happened a few times. Wizard bodies, even muggle bodies, have a starvation mechanism. It will hold onto reserves if it doesn’t know if you\'re going to eat again soon.\"

\"But I haven\'t been starved for…\" Harry paused, realizing what he had almost said. \"You were just using food as a comparison, right?\" Harry\'s cheeks reddened. Severus turned his chair in Harry\'s direction.

\"He thinks you have stored away magic as a way to assure your survival. Magic that you should have access to on a regular basis, but don\'t.\"

\"How? And why haven\'t I healed other stuff over the years?\" he put his question to Kieran, but looked over to Poppy also.

\"Now that you\'ve been in the wizarding world for as long as you have, you no longer depend on the reserve of magic to keep you safe. Most likely, you haven\'t for years. Poppy has always been here for you, and you\'ve not lived in the muggle world for some time. As these things tend to go, at some point, your body would slowly release its hold on the reserves and access to the added magic would gradually make you become more powerful. I\'m going to speak with a colleague and get a second opinion. She will probably want to meet with you.\"

\"Do you have any questions?\" asked Poppy, seeing Kieran had finished. Harry pondered that for a minute.

\"Nothing at the moment, but I\'m sure as soon as you leave I\'ll think up a dozen,\" Harry paused. \"You said that if I were a true Healer, there wouldn\'t have been scar tissue, right?\"

\"Correct,\" Poppy and Kieran answered simultaneously. Poppy flushed and gave Kieran a nod to continue. Harry thought it odd to see her act this way. Maybe it was a Healer thing.

\"If Healers do such a great job, then why doesn\'t everyone use Healers? No offence, Madam Pomfrey,\" he added quickly.

\"None taken. There aren\'t all that many Healers in the wizarding world as you may think. There are Healers in almost all cultures, though not all of them are recognized as such. Some of the religious leaders in the muggle world were Healers. It\'s common for muggle Healers to credit their faith, or their gods for their abilities. I am fortunate to have a chance to work with Healer Kieran on these occasions.\"

\"You\'re one in a million,\" deadpanned Snape.

\"If you have no other questions, Harry, I\'m sure we can call this meeting closed and allow you some rest,\" said Albus with a smile, happy to have cut off Kieran\'s response to his old friend’s comment. There was a lady present, after all. He could only expect Kieran to play the gentleman for so long.

~*~

Harry stepped out of Sev\'s fireplace and made a beeline for the sofa, where he promptly plopped down.

\"Drink?\" Severus held up a short glass.

\"Got the good stuff?\" asked Kieran.

\"What else is there?\" grinned Severus. \"Better yet, you pour for the two of us while I get out of this horrid robe,\" he had started for his bedroom when Kieran stopped him.

\"Two? Not three?\" Kieran asked, gesturing toward Harry who was sitting on the sofa, skimming through a potions journal. Severus simply shook his head ‘no’ and went off to change into a clean, potion-free robe.

Deciding he couldn\'t be bothered to do much else, Severus removed his soiled robes, turned down the bed and returned to the sitting room in his white shirt and trousers. Kieran was still standing where he\'d left him, reading the label on the bottle from which he\'d just poured.

\"Good stuff, Snape,\" he took a sip while handing over the second glass. \"Doesn\'t Harry drink?\"

\"Not tonight,\" he answered with a smirk, gesturing to the sofa where Harry was already sound asleep. \"I\'m surprised he even made it past the bed into this room.\" Severus picked up Harry and began for the bedroom. \"Times like this, I feel old,\"

\"Nah, remember Rosie? She liked to be tucked in. She said I made her feel safe. I wouldn\'t worry about it,\" Kieran held open the bedroom door as Severus carefully maneuvered through the doorway without banging Harry\'s head.

He laid Harry down easily, spelled off his clothes, and pressed his lips to Harry\'s.\"Go to sleep,\" he said gently when Harry began to return the kiss. \"I\'ll be in later,\" he added, pulling up the duvet. Before he closed the door, Severus looked back to see Harry rolling over and claiming Sev\'s favorite pillow.

Back out in the sitting room, Kieran handed him his glass for the second time. Severus sat in ‘his’ chair near the sofa, thinking that tucking in Harry didn\'t really bother him. Maybe it was the fact that he liked doing it.

\"Don\'t stress over this shit. Next time you get captured and tortured for hours, Harry will tuck you in,\" he took a swig of his drink. \"It could be arranged, if you like.\"

\"I\'ll pass,\" Severus sounded tired. He wanted to protect Harry and didn\'t like knowing his likeness had been used during the test. \"How long do you think it will take for him to remember the portkey that captured him was sent by a Weasley? Two Weasleys, to be precise.\"

\"Too distracted with tonight\'s meeting. You couldn\'t get me to sit for all that crap after a day like today. Then again, he did sleep through three-quarters of the scan.\" Kieran emptied his drink. \"You get an eyeful of the pictures in his chart?\"

Severus nodded, and narrowed his eyes. Kieran sat up, watching Snape\'s brow crease in concentration. The bottle from which they\'d poured rattled on the tray for a second before hurling past Kieran into Snape\'s outstretched hand. He had a raw power that was hard not to be in awe of sometimes.

\"You make good work of it, of him?\" asked Kieran, referring to Vernon Dursley\'s torture and death.

\"I do nothing half way,\" Severus stared across the room at nothing in particular. \"I would have liked more time, but…\" he trailed off.

\"Never enough,\" Kieran agreed. \"Can I use your Floo? I want to contact a Healer whom Harry should meet. I might have more pull if I\'m calling from Hogwarts.

\"Use the private Floo. I can\'t chance Lucius calling in while Harry\'s asleep in the next room.\" Severus checked on Harry and cast a spell to keep the noise level down around him. He knew his friend also wanted to call while wearing the white robes. No point in wasting a good scrub.

Kieran spoke to a woman, explaining that he\'d been called to Hogwarts by Albus Dumbledore to look over someone special. When she questioned his wanting a second opinion, he had to do a bit of groveling, as he\'d not asked before and he was sort of an outcast among fellow Healers.

\"No, I\'m not up to something,\" he defended. \"I\'m at Hogwarts now… I know I\'m calling from a bedroom; will you give a guy a break? I can\'t discuss who it is on the public Floo network, even though this is a secure connection here at this end. I did an extensive internal scan on the patient, but I need you to confirm a few things.\" The woman speaking with him actually liked Kieran but didn\'t put up with nonsense. She wasn\'t impressed with his usual lack of respectable clientele. As luck was with the Scot, Harry chose that moment to toss and turn, putting his pretty face in full view.

\"Is that…?\"

\"My patient,\" Kieran quickly cut her off.

\"Is he?\" she asked, wanting confirmation. Kieran reached around and grabbed the fringe, lifting it away from Harry\'s forehead, exposing the famous scar.

\"The one and only. Do you suppose you can fit us in?\" he asked sweetly.

~*~*~

When Harry finally awoke, Severus was already teaching his third class. He read Sev\'s note telling Harry he\'d stop back in when he had a break in his schedule. Checking the time, he noted he had an hour yet before then. Harry rolled back over, enjoying Sev\'s luxuriously soft bed sheets. He\'d been tempted to conjure a duplicate of Sev\'s pillow so they could both have ‘the good one’, but he doubted it would be the same. The copy wouldn’t have his lover\'s scent permeating the fabric, and Sev would undoubtedly want the original.

Severus arrived in his rooms to find Harry showered, dressed and sitting on the side of his bed, talking to Ron in the fire. Ron was begging Harry to Floo over quickly so he could show something to Harry before Hermione came back in.

\"If you go, you can\'t come back, private Floo,\" Severus reminded Harry.

\"Harry, she\'s going to be out of the shower in ten minutes. Please, it\'ll only take two minutes,\" begged Ron.

\"If you come with me, I can get back,\" Harry said to Severus is a hopeful tone. Hermione\'s parents had gone out of town for a dental convention. Ron and Hermione were taking advantage of Ron\'s day off and were \'playing house\'.

\"Two minutes,\" Severus said with a sigh, agreeing to see what Ron was so insistent about, but having a good idea what it was.

They stepped into the Granger\'s muggle home. Before they had a chance to dust off the soot, Ron was practically bouncing on the balls of his bare feet.

\"Got it yesterday, but I couldn\'t find you anywhere,\" Ron held out a small diamond ring.

\"Brilliant,\" exclaimed Harry. \"When are you going to ask her?\" The \'her\' in question happened to choose that moment to waltz into the room carrying a quidditch magazine, wearing an oversized tee and boxers, with her hair up in a towel.

\"Jesus, could you give a girl some warning?\" she shouted, seeing the two extra men in the room.

\"Mi-Sweetie,\" Ron called out as she darted from the room.

\"We’ll let you take care of that while we let ourselves out,\" offered Severus. \"It\'s a very fine engagement ring,\" he added politely. Ron thanked him and dashed out of the room, apologizing to Hermione mid-stride. Harry turned to his lover with a grin.

\"I swear, sometimes I believe you\'re very polite to Ron just so you can see that shocked look on his face.\"

\"Always make the most of any situation,\" Severus said, wiping at a smudge of soot on Harry\'s nose.

\"Slytherin,\" Harry called out as they Flooed back.

~)*(~


Harry spelled off the soot after stepping back into Sev\'s rooms. \"Thanks for letting me sleep this morning,\" he said with a sigh. \"You usually make me get out before you leave for class.\"

\"Yes, well,\" he wrapped his arms around Harry\'s waist, pulling him close. \"It had been a long day. I placed extra wards on my office so you could sleep in here safely,\" he kissed Harry\'s temple, and continued to gently kiss along Harry\'s cheek until he met soft lips. Harry whimpered against his lips, and nuzzled Sev’s nose as they leaned their heads in opposite directions. Sev pulled back, drawing out Harry\'s lower lip with his teeth.

\"I can never get enough of you,\" Harry said against his neck. \"I missed you when I woke up,\" he pressed his lips against Sev\'s once again, then paused. \"Come to think of it, I don\'t remember going to bed.\" Harry tried to remember the previous night. They took the Floo from Albus\' with Kieran. He vaguely remembered picking up a magazine but being disappointed there were no pictures, since it seemed the blurry letters on the page weren\'t forming words. Severus smirked when Harry groaned.

\"Don\'t worry about it,\" Severus kissed Harry’s nose. \"As I said earlier, it had been a long day. But next time, you\'ll have to get up in the morning and leave when I do.\"

\"I was thinking more about Kieran. He didn\'t turn my hair green or anything while I was sleeping, did he?\"

\"You\'ll find that Kieran is serious when he needs to be,\" Severus watched as Harry\'s unguarded expression became more concerned.

\"How serious does he need to be? Does he think there\'s something really wrong with me?\" Harry remembered seeing a look on the Healer’s face, as if he\'d found something unexpected.

\"He contacted a colleague last night. After she consults with him, you\'ll get more information. This doesn\'t mean there is something wrong with you,\" Severus said while holding Harry reassuringly. He didn\'t want to explain that Kieran\'s reaction was not from his condition, but from the knowledge of how much abuse it would take for Harry to get to the point of conserving innate magic.

\"He already called, last night?\" Harry was surprised he\'d gotten on it so quickly. \"Um, what fire did he use?\"

Severus wondered why that would matter, and pointed to the private Floo they\'d just returned in. He could see the relief on his lover’s face.

\"That\'s good, at least. I’d hate to think he called from the sitting room while I was laying there asleep on the sofa,\" Harry said with a laugh. Severus smirked, quickly cutting off Harry\'s laugh.

\"Did you think I would leave you on my sofa and have Kieran sit on the floor while we visited? It was just as well,\" he began with a grin. \"He needed the famous Potter name to compensate for the infamous Donnelly name. Moreover, you\'re beautiful when you sleep.\"

\"You really think so?\" Harry asked, batting his eyes comically.

\"No, I was quoting Kieran,\" he teased, earning him a pinch on his arse. Harry had gotten a good grip too. Severus\' face remained the same, not revealing how much his backside stung, or the response it caused in front.

All too soon Severus needed to start back for his classroom. \"I\'ll talk to you before the weekend,\"

\"I\'ll speak with Kieran, but let me know how things go on Friday. Perhaps you shouldn\'t eat too much of that trash you and your friend pack away on Thursdays,\" he added, thinking about the pigging out Harry and Hermione tended to do on \'date night\'.

\"I know, I know. Too many treats slow you down. I\'ll be good…mostly,\" he added with a cheeky smile.


~)*(~


It had been an interesting evening with Hermione. She was relentlessly badgering him about why he and Severus were there to speak with Ron. Harry wasn\'t sure why it worked so well, but when he said, \"Some things are best left alone,\" she clammed right up and asked no more questions.

Harry was glad he didn’t eat too much since he was nervous about going with Kieran to see another Healer. When they arrived, Harry was taken aback by his surroundings. The dividing walls between rooms appeared to be linens, sheer yet somehow opaque. They were not like the tapestries at Hogwarts, more like sheer curtains one would see just over a window, before the drapes facing the room. Harry began to wonder if there were any walls at all. There seemed to be a light source behind all the white walls he\'d seen.
\"Are we in heaven?\" whispered Harry, making Kieran chuckle.

\"I am,\" he answered mischievously when a very attractive woman greeted them. She led them down a corridor, introducing them to various people on the way. Harry noticed they were all introduced by their given names. One woman in particular was warm and friendly, but Harry noticed she was very careful not to touch him, reminding him of Quirrell. As she spoke with Kieran, Harry noticed a small child standing near her legs. She smiled up at Harry, and wiggled her fingers up at him in a juvenile wave ‘hello’. When it didn\'t seem like the Healer\'s conversation was going to end too soon, Harry knelt down to the girl’s level. She wore a white gown like the Healers, and her fine blonde hair curled around her shoulders. Harry was sure she should have had wings.

\"Are you sick?\" she asked curiously.

\"I don\'t think so, are you?\" he noticed her little chin went up proudly before answering.

\"I am working here today,\" she beamed. Harry was about to ask what it was a four year old would do for a job when he noticed Kieran was walking again. When they reached their destination a Healer named Frances was waiting for them.

\"Welcome, Kieran. Mr. Potter, it is an honor to have you as a guest with us today,\" she said warmly. Harry got the impression she meant it, and not in a \'you’re famous\' kind of way. Kieran had explained that the place was composed of various people with special talents that could help diagnose, or guide a Healer in the right direction when presented with more complex cases. Harry noticed Frances wore a white gown much like the one he wore in the Infirmary when Kieran had looked him over. \"How did you feel when Kieran examined you? Did you feel at all nervous, tense, vulnerable?\" she asked, giving examples so he understood what she was asking.

\"No, it was fine. He\'s healed some small stuff for me before, so it wasn\'t a big deal,\" Harry explained. She could see he was in fact very comfortable with Kieran.

\"Small stuff?\" she inquired, knowing most people don\'t call Healers for the \'small stuff\'. \"In other words, he was healing injuries he himself inflicted upon you?\" she smiled too sweetly at Kieran, apparently knowing him better then Harry realized. Their guilty expressions didn\'t deny in her assumption. \"Did you forget what we discussed?\" she addressed her peer in almost a sarcastic tone.

\"Healers heal,\" he answered as if the point had been drilled into his head in the past. \"He slept through most the exam,\" offered Kieran, getting them back on topic.

\"May I call you Harry? It\'s a very personal thing to have someone look inside, seeing your body\'s history so to speak. I want to make sure you\'re comfortable,\" she seemed very relieved to see Harry was at ease, and had so readily allowed her to use his given name. He initially didn\'t think too much of it, but then realized how difficult this would be for a rape victim. He had been so exhausted when Kieran looked him over, it didn\'t occur to him to be concerned about his past being so exposed. When she left them alone, handing Kieran a white gown, Harry narrowed his eyes.

\"You said I didn\'t have to wear one of those again,\" Harry said, pointing to the silky gown.

\"You don\'t. This is for me,\" Kieran quirked a smile and slipped behind a curtain to change.

\"I thought you were kidding about that,\" Harry whined when he realized he wasn\'t getting a gown, or anything else for that matter. He ducked behind the curtain to undress when Kieran came out. He was grateful there was at least a sheet on the bed he could keep over him until they began.

\"Did you notice there are no decorations or pictures on the walls? They don\'t want anything affecting the flow of magic in here,\" Kieran explained as helped straighten the sheet while Harry climbed under. Harry noted Kieran was once again in that professional mode. He was more serene, his movements smooth, deliberate, and gentle.

Frances returned, and asked questions about past injuries and illnesses. She said she was ready to begin, gave Kieran a nod, and he removed the sheet. Harry may have been used to sharing a room with four guys, but lying there like a specimen in front of a stranger was altogether different. He could feel the heat in his face, and resisted the urge to move his hands to cover himself.

She worked much like Kieran had, beginning with her hands above his body, hovering longer over areas that had been injured. Harry would occasionally watch her expression as she concentrated. At one point she looked frustrated and stopped.

\"Harry,\" she began slowly, keeping eye contact. \"If you don\'t object, I would like to call in an assistant. There are some notes I\'d like to make, and magical quills would affect the flow in the room,\" she motioned for Kieran to replace the sheet over Harry when the young wizard agreed. Leaving for only a moment, Frances returned with another woman. He was relieved to see the other woman who was there to take notes went to sit behind a curtain and would not be watching. He thought maybe the Healer didn\'t expect to find as much as she had or she would have already had the assistant in the room when they’d begun the scan.

As she continued the exam again she would occasionally say a few words. She spoke so softly Harry wondered how the assistant could even catch what she was saying. He wondered if she saw more than Kieran had, or if she knew what had caused some of his older stuff. When she began to actually place her hands on him, he felt as if she was looking right through him. Technically, she was, but he felt as if she was actually seeing him getting hurt. Harry took a deep breath to calm down, and mentally berated himself for letting his imagination get away from him.

Kieran shifted his position from beside Harry, to standing near his head. Harry could feel the heat of his friend\'s hands above his head before he felt them press lightly on his forehead. Fingertips pressed points along his eyebrows, and made small circles when they reached his temples. Kieran massaged Harry’s face and scalp until he relaxed into a meditative state.

When Frances was finished she explained that she would now bring in someone who could sense other’s magic. She would be able to locate and evaluate his core magic and how he used it. Harry was listening, but continued to meditate. He got the impression she was speaking with Kieran anyway. Frances sent the assistant out, asking her to send Phoebe in if she was ready. Harry glanced over to the door when he heard the little girl’s voice. She was playing in the corridor with a toy Pegasus, waving it in the air in flight. He was glad to see she was staying in the corridor while another woman came in.

\"Harry, this is Phoebe, you met her earlier. She\'s going to evaluate the source of your magic and it\'s strength. She will not actually touch your person,\" Frances explained. Phoebe was small in stature, and wore the same gown as everyone else. As she approached the table her lips pursed slightly.

\"Did someone use wand magic in here?\" she asked reproachfully. Harry looked around and noticed all eyes were on him.

\"Er…nothing much really. I spelled my clothes off,\" admitted Harry. Apparently that wasn\'t the right thing to say, if their reactions were anything to go by. Frances\' sudden intake of breath was not as bad as Phoebe\'s \'Oh.\' with a hand over her mouth and blushing cheeks. Kieran winced initially, but then grinned while shaking his head in disbelief.

\"Shall we begin?\" asked Phoebe quickly. \"What I\'m going to do is check your magic and then you will be asked to do some difficult spells and charms, and I will check again. A ‘before and after’ as it were,\" she explained. Harry nodded, afraid to say anything else to embarrass himself. Harry laid down, and another exam began. He noticed that her hands didn\'t move around as much as Frances\'. Phoebe smiled as she worked and kept her eyes closed while sensing his magic. It didn’t take very much time for her to finish up. Again Harry noted she was very careful not to touch him.

\"You have a great deal of power,\" she complimented and took a step back when Frances covered Harry with a sheet. \"What I would like you to do now is put on a gown and follow Frances to a room where you will expend some of your magical energy. Then you will return, and we start again,\" she bowed to them and Harry wondered how to return the gesture while lying down. He\'d have to ask about that right after he found out why spelling his clothes off was such a big deal.

Kieran went along with Harry while he attempted to use up a fair amount of energy. It reminded him of flying until he was numb. After levitating the same huge stone to various sides of the room, they decided that to save some time they could more quickly ‘use up’ an appreciable amount of magical energy by having Harry put up additional wards on a portion of the facility, further ensuring no one could Apparate into secure areas.

\"That\'s probably enough,\" Kieran said, getting no response. He chuckled and took Harry by the arm, leading him back to the examination room. Harry thought vaguely about his own home’s Warding and the vial Albus had made him take a sip from to help him restore his energy.

\"Who\'s that little girl?\" Harry asked no one in particular as they entered the room.

Frances welcomed him back and suggested he get comfortable while they wait for Phoebe; meanwhile she\'d explain the child’s presence. \"Phoebe is very sensitive. As she senses your magic, her energy and yours flow together somewhat. She is very careful to keep a safe distance, to protect herself. You can imagine she would need to rid herself of any negative energy to keep her from getting loaded down. For her, having contact with a child so young and pure is like a cleansing of the soul.\"

\"More like having your aura scrubbed and polished,\" laughed Phoebe as she entered. \"Clarice\'s mother is a Healer, and allows her to spend a few hours a week here. She mostly plays, and lets me hold her hand when I need to. Ready now?\" Phoebe gave Kieran a nod, and he removed the sheet once more. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment before raising her hands. After repeating everything she\'d done earlier, Phoebe returned to one area in particular, concentrating there for some time.

\"How old are you?\" she asked, not opening her eyes.

\"Eighteen.\"

\"What was the first serious injury that occurred after you began at Hogwarts?\"

\"Um, I don\'t know,\" he hadn\'t had to explain that in years and didn\'t know how to now. \"At the end of my first year, after Vol, um…\'You Know Who\' was using one of my professors as a host body. I don\'t know how to say it really. Quirrell died and Voldemort, or maybe his spirit, seemed to emerge like a mist and came at me. I woke up three days later. I don\'t really know if that counts as an injury.\"

\"Was anyone else present?\" she asked calmly, though she had flinched when Harry mistakenly said Voldemort the second time around.

\"I think it was just before I passed out when Albus Dumbledore came in.\"

\"Did you get hurt the following year while at Hogwarts?\" she asked, knowing some of the answers, but wanting a few details that a chart would not show.

\"I broke my arm. Kieran said it didn\'t show because the bones were removed and grown back. One of my professors tried to fix it, but he wasn\'t very good at magic. Later that year I was bitten by a basilisk on the same arm.\" Harry watched Phoebe\'s face. It seemed she was about to speak, but then thought better of it. \"Can you sense an injury healed with Phoenix tears?\" he asked curiously.

Phoebe gave Frances a nod before turning to Kieran. \"I will give you some time to change into your clothes; then we\'ll meet in my office and answer some of your questions,\" she said politely, but Harry didn\'t think she was answering the Phoenix tears question.

When they arrived in Phoebe\'s office, Harry had the feeling it was no coincidence the little girl was sitting in her lap.

\"I would like to start out by reminding you that all information regarding your magic, you past injuries and any healing done by yourself or others, will remain confidential. You have shown a great deal of trust in Healer Kieran and us by trusting his judgment by coming here and allowing us into very personal aspects of your life.\"

Harry nodded, not sure of what to say. He guessed he should thank them for seeing him so soon, but she began to speak again.

\"Frances and I concur with Kieran\'s original assessment. Healings achieved by you in the past were done purely as a defensive mechanism. As for my own findings regarding your magic and how it\'s used, it is clear to me that you still are not using a portion of your magic and may not have accessed it for several years.\"

\"That\'s the stored magic he mentioned?\" Harry asked, looking over to Kieran.

\"Yes, that\'s right. I\'m going to explain how this works and give you an estimated timeline of these events. You may find some of what I have to say accusatory in relation to your family, and I mean no disrespect to you, or yours,\" she said carefully watching for Harry\'s reaction.

\"You don\'t have to tiptoe around this. I want you to explain what all this means. I\'m not going to take offense because you now have to discuss my relatives’ lack of offering medical treatment, or for that matter, mistreatment in general,\" Harry sighed, wanting to present himself as a mature adult, not a vindictive child.

\"Thank you,\" she said with a reassuring smile. \"First off, understand that for your body to heal itself, you had to be, or at least feel that you were alone in your care, or that your caregivers were incapable. I\'m not going to get into the in-depth psychological aspects of this, but I want you to understand it doesn\'t happen overnight. At some point your body recognized that you were continually getting hurt with no recourse. There may have been a significant event that caused you to do ‘accidental magic’. I’m sure you experienced unexplained magic before you went to Hogwarts; this is the same.\"

She held up Frances\' notes of healings from her examination. \"Accidental magic uses up your energy as any spell would, but since you were too young and had no wand, you wouldn\'t have noticed. After a while, your body recognized an ongoing need, and reacted to make sure there would always be sufficient magical energy readily available for future injuries. This was commonly seen centuries ago in war times. Because you are already a powerful wizard, you’ve never recognized that you haven’t had full access to your magic. Normally, your body would acknowledge that you were indeed getting cared for once you arrived at school, but that didn\'t happen. That\'s what makes your case unique.\"

Harry groaned, thinking this was just one more thing to make him \'special\'.

\"Looking back at your records from school, it\'s no surprise why this didn\'t happen. At a very young age, you were betrayed by a professor, and had to face him and the Dark Lord alone. Also at a young age, you broke a bone and were once again let down by a professor who shouldn\'t have taken on a task he was unskilled to perform, who instead made the matter worse. Were you alone when bitten by the basilisk?\"

\"Technically yes, but I had help; I knew Dumbledore was helping though his phoenix,\" Harry said in defense of his guardian.

\"Knowing you were not alone, and being cared for by the bird and later in hospital, you may very well have stopped using your store of magic for injuries at that time. But because you continue to have life-threatening injuries each year, your body, while not using the store of magic, doesn\'t yet feel it\'s safe to release it. I will discuss this further with Healer Frances and together with Healer Kieran we\'ll come up with a suggested treatment plan. Understand that you are in no danger, and are not obligated to any treatment, but you\'ll most likely want access to all your available magic. And may I say, you are a considerably powerful wizard and will only be more so if this issue is rectified. Do you have any questions?\"

\"Wow,\" he said to himself, taking it all in. \"You’re sure that I\'m not using and replacing the magic you speak of?\"

\"Yes, very sure. In fact you depleted more magical energy then I expected, making it easier to differentiate between active magic available for use, and that which is dormant. I\'m confident in my findings.\"


~)¦(~


Apparating back home for some much-needed sleep, Harry startled the twins when he appeared beside them and the bubbling cauldron. \"Hey,\" he said tiredly to Fred and George. They looked him over nervously, unsure of what to say. They had loads of questions.

\"Alright there, Harry?\" George ventured to ask.

\"Um…Ginny said she heard a bell go off while she was in McGonagall\'s class a few days ago. She thinks maybe it was the same kind of alarm she heard when you used the portkey after you and Ron were attacked in the quidditch locker rooms.\"

At that point Harry knew what they wanted to know and wasn\'t letting them off the hook too easily. He knew they had sent the letter that portkeyed him to his fake capture. He pulled off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes with a sigh. \"I spent all day locked in a cell with a few sadistic bastards. I used the stone to get back to Hogwarts, so yeah, I guess Ginny was right.\" Harry watched them freeze up. He was unsure whether they knew exactly the purpose for the letter they had sent him. A tapping on the window turned all their attention to a small owl outside the window.

With a quiet hoot the owl left again as soon as Harry untied its delivery. Tapping his wand to the seal, confirming he was the intended recipient, Harry unrolled the parchment and expressed a weak smile before rolling it back up again. \"I\'m going to bed. I don\'t want to be bothered unless you\'ve set fire to the curtains again, alright?\" he told them, getting a quick, short nod from two wide-eyed redheads in return. He stopped in the kitchen to get a glass of water and put the parchment on the table where he knew they would find it.

Dear Mr. Potter,

It was a pleasure to meet you today. It is always a compliment when fellow Healers bring in a patient for a chance to combine resources in an effort to offer the best medical attention available. Your Healer and our staff will continue to meet in the following week to come up with a treatment plan that offers optimal results. I look forward to meeting with you again soon.

Sincerely,

Frances Wellingfield

The Wellingfield Institution of Healing and Wellness.

Harry thought about it again, then resealed the parchment. He wanted to make the twins stew, but he didn\'t need to freak them out. Also, he wasn\'t prepared to share this new information just yet. Once sealed, the letter wouldn\'t open again for anyone else. He warded the bedroom to keep him and Hedwig safe from the twins’ work in case of possible explosions, and climbed into bed.


~)*(~


Severus sat on his sofa rolling his eyes as Draco Malfoy complained about his current living accommodations.

\"You will not give that woman a hard time. Do you understand?\" Severus scowled at the blonde, waiting for a nod. \"She isn\'t there to cook for you. If she is kind enough to invite you to join them to dine, you will be grateful and polite.\"

\"She\'s a servant!\" complained Draco again. \"You should put her in her place,\" he added, but then realized he\'d crossed the line by telling Snape what to do.

\"You are a guest in that home,\" Severus hadn\'t actually said \'my\', or \'her\' home. \"She may be my servant, but she is not your servant! As a favor to your father I am allowing you asylum for this short time. You have a room in which to sleep, access to the recreational wing, and are permitted onto three-quarters of the grounds where it is safe for you to take your broom out. You will behave. You will show respect to everyone living in the manor, or I can easily find a room in Hogwarts’ dungeons for you to hide yourself.\"

\"Fine,\" Draco hissed resignedly, smoothing out his hair.

\"A box marked ‘potion supplies’ will be delivered in a day or so. Inside you will find a parcel to be given to the servant, and also a care package from your mother. I strongly suggest some of the sweets in that box find their way into the pockets of the children in the manor. You need to make amends, or you can cook your own meals. I\'ll be checking in with her; don\'t make me regret my hospitality.\" Severus closed the Floo before Draco had a chance to respond.


Tbc