chiralove (chiralove) wrote in phoenix_flies, @ 2007-09-08 10:54:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | fic: dani_meows, fic: pg-13, prompt 12 |
The Recovery of Hope
Modly apologies for the delay in posting - it seems that both of us have had RL crises at the same time - though of different sorts, obviously! Posting will continue as planned, but we're postponing this weekend's event until next weekend. Look for details later ... but for now, enjoy the fic!
Title:Recovery of Hope
Author:dani_meows
Prompt:12. After Sirius's death, Harry stops speaking to everyone around him. The shock of learning the prophecy has caused him to sink into a very deep depression. Dumbledore, too caught up in dealing with the war, sends him to the Dursleys in spite of numerous warnings from Hermione and the weasleys anyway. The Dursleys are furious by the threats and accusations leveled at them by the members of the Order, so they ignore Harry altogether. After four days pass, Remus starts to worry because he hasn't gotten a letter from Harry. What happens next?
Pairing:None, slight hints of Snape/Harry or Harry/Hermione if you squint.
Rating:PG-13
Word Count:2,137
Warnings (if any):None.
Author's Notes (if any):Much thanks to:torino10154 for the beta. :-)
Since Sirius' death, Harry hadn't spoken to anyone. His eyes were dead, he didn't eat, he barely slept. Hermione was worried. It had only been a day or two, but she knew that the last thing Harry needed was to deal with his aunt and uncle who wouldn't give a damn about Harry, and who would make things worse with their cruel and spiteful comments. Harry needed Hermione and Ron;, their friendship and comfort so that he could mourn the loss of his godfather and regain the strength to carry on.
Along with the Weasleys and Remus Lupin, she'd begged Headmaster Dumbledore not to send Harry back to the Dursleys, but he'd been too busy dealing with the ministry and the war to take their concerns seriously. He'd basically patted them on the head, told them that Harry would bounce back from this loss stronger than before, and sent them on their way. The hysteria within Hogwarts had reached a fever pitch as those who hadn’t believed Harry were forced to confront the fact that Voldemort had returned. It fell to Hermione and Ron to make sure Harry got up in the morning, packed his belongings, and boarded the train to go back to King’s Cross and the Muggle World. They only hoped that when they saw him again he’d still be in one piece.
“The one with the power to vanquish....” Trelawnely's creepy voice echoed in Harry's mind. A prophecy! Kill or be killed he was destined to be a murderer. But wasn't he already? He was responsible for the deaths of his parents, Cedric, and Sirius. Oh gods, Sirius! He can still see Sirius laughing as he was hit by Bellatrix's spell and fell through the Veil. He'd never see Sirius again and it was his fault. If he hadn't gone to the ministry if he'd listened to Hermione when she'd suggested it was a trap, if he'd tried harder to learn Occulmency, if he’d done any of those things Sirius would still be alive. Harry was so lost in his thoughts, that he barely took notice of Ron and Hermione coaxing him down to the great hall, for breakfast. He ate the toast Hermione gave him numbly. What did all this matter? He somehow miraculously had to kill a wizard that was older and smarter than he was and no one could do anything to help him survive. He was going to fail them all just like he'd failed Sirius.
Unlike the last four years worth of train rides home, this time there was no laughter in their train car. There were no voices engaging in animated chatter or games there was only a chilling silence and the occasional rustle of pages as Luna flipped through a book. Ron had tried to engage Harry in a game of chess, but Harry had only turned away to stare out the window, still not saying a word. No one had said anything since. None of them were certain how to reach their friend and break the ice that he was building up around his heart. This wasn't covered in any textbook or reference material; this was friendship and pain that they didn't know how to react to or how to make better.
They'd arrived at the platform and Hermione tried to shake off her sense of dread, but she couldn't help feeling that this was all wrong. Harry had almost walked off without his trunk, and when she'd reminded him to take it, he'd looked at her with those pain filled green eyes and then he'd taken his trunk with out word and carried it off the train.
She watched as Mad-Eye, Tonks, Remus, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley told off Harry's relatives and threatened them. That only added to Hermione's fears since she didn't think that threatening them would improve Harry's situation at all.
His aunt and uncle were furious; Vernon had screamed at him the entire car ride back to Privet Drive, about the audacity of freaks threatening him in public. When they had arrived “home” Vernon had dragged Harry upstairs and shoved him into his so-called room and locked the door.
When they began to burn his belongings, Harry had cringed but had stayed silent. He deserved it:, he deserved to be punished for failing, for not being the perfect hero this time around, for being responsible for Sirius' death. Hedwig had managed to escape. When they'd opened her cage to try to hurt her as well, she'd managed to fly outside, much to Harry's relief. He wasn't sure he could take the death of his familiar on top of everything else. She was currently sitting on his window sill, sleeping, although Harry wished that she would leave him alone, since he didn't deserve such a loyal pet.
Harry sat on the bed and stared at the ceiling before drifting off into an uneasy sleep. It didn't last long. He was hit by nightmares, everyone telling him that it was all his fault. His screams woke up his family. Vernon hit him hard across the face, and then ordered him to do chores all night, so that he didn't interfere with the sleep of the normal people in the household. Harry had done the chores without one complaint or any other words, causing Vernon to taunt him some more, “What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?”
For the next few days he was like a ghost much to the Dursley's delight. He slept during the day taking the sleeping tablets, his aunt forced him on him so that he didn't interfere with her telly watching, and doing chores at night. His aunt and uncle knew something was wrong but why should they care? They said to themselves, it was the boys own fault that he didn't listen, didn't fight his freakish tendencies and chose to become a menace. Why should they care if he was depressed and lost?
Three days had passed since he'd seen Harry go off to his relatives loving care and Remus was getting worried, since no note had arrived. None of the others who had joined him in threatening Harry's family seemed too concerned, but he was. Considering how lost in grief, Harry had seemed, he decided to allow him one more day to write, since it was possible that he'd just lost track of time.
On the fourth night, after still no word from Harry, the last link he had left to his family, Remus got ready to check on him, but at the last moment decided to tell the headmaster where he was going.
Calling the headmaster's name in the fireplace, he waited for Dumbledore’s wizened face to appear in the green flames of the floo.
“Headmaster, I'm going to check up on Harry.” Albus rubbed his temples as he looked at Remus, he was prepared to tell Remus what he'd told others, about how the house on Privet Drive was the safest place for Harry, but when he saw the look on Remus' face he knew that he could not. Remus looked much like he had during that awful Halloween night when Lily and James were killed, and Sirius had been put in Azkaban and they'd believed Peter to be dead. When he'd begged him to let Remus take care of Harry, to take care of James and Lily's child as they would have wanted. He'd refused but he knew now as he'd known then that Remus was only living for Harry these days.
“Very well. Let me get Severus in case he needs any medical care and we'll all arrive there together,” Albus had replied, before closing the floo connection to get the potions master.
The last thing Severus Snape wanted to deal with during the summer was the exasperating, egotistical, spoiled and pampered brat who lived to annoy him, but since Dumbledore had asked, he had no choice but to grab a collection of beneficial potions and come along.
Silently, they walked along the street to Privet Dr. and magically opened the door. Even Snape let out a gasp at the sight before them: the boy had a large blue-black bruise on his cheek and purple bruises in the shape of big beefy fingers on his arms. He was staring at them with deadened eyes, rather than his usual defiant green. Harry turned without a word and continued his mopping without saying a word to any of them.
“Oh Harry!” Remus cried out as he ran to the boy. He gathered Harry in his arms, and it was like a dam broke inside the boy’s heart because with a cry like a wounded animal, Harry began to weep while clinging to Remus like a lifeline.
“I killed him. I killed Sirius,” he was whispering. “I can't possible kill HIM, I'm going to fail and we're all going to die.” His voice was hoarse from lack of use, and Remus whispered reassuring words. The time to actually work out his fears and thoughts would be once Harry had calmed down a little. Remus was more than a little shocked when Severus sat down behind them and began to rub the sobbing boy’s back in soothing circles.
Severus himself was surprised at his own actions. What was he doing? This was the son of his most hated school rival, the boy he had hated for so many reasons since the boy had started Hogwarts. All he knew was that the boy's grief called to him and he had to offer comfort.
The noise had woken the Dursley's, who came down to either punish Harry or to watch the punishment be dealt out. They stopped short at the sight of two grown wizards comforting the sobbing teen, and the elderly adult wizard with his wand pointed at them.
They paled, and began to run up the stairs to their rooms, when Dumbledore spoke in a steely tone, “I remove this boy from your care for you have given him none., For years his very presence has protected you from harm, but it will no longer. You will face the full harshness of wizarding law for how you have treated him.” Vernon and Dudley wet themselves and Petunia fainted.
Dumbledore pulled out an owl from his violet robes and wrote a note to the Wizarding Child Services. They would be out tomorrow to investigate the care the Dursley's had given Harry.
Severus and Remus coaxed a nutrient potion and a calming potion down Harrry's throat. Then Remus picked up the boy who had fallen into a light sleep he growled when he realized how light his Cub was, he should really be much heavier for a boy only a month away from sixteen. If wizarding law didn't take care of the Dursleys, he would get his own justice, Marauder style.
Severus was in the uncomfortable position of seeing things in a different light. Perhaps the boy wasn't like his father, wasn't an attention seeking prat. He would have to consider the boy without seeing the echo of James Potter and decide what he thought about the boy. He'd still need to maintain his ‘evil git’ persona in public but perhaps during private lessons he could be fairer to the boy. Seeing the boy breakdown had touched something deep inside of him something that was rarely ever touched in his life. Suddenly he found himself wanting to make sure that the boy was happy.
The guilt was going to eat at him for a very long time,, Dumbledore reflected as he looked at the boy. He hadn't done a good enough job protecting him. This became especially true when he found out about the starvation sessions and the cupboard under the stairs later. Why hadn't he ever checked on the boy? Why hadn't he paid closer attention? It was truly a wonder that boy was as kind and generous as he was after growing up with monster like the Dursleys.
Now that they decided they were going to take him away from Privet Dr., the question became where to go instead. Grimmauld Place was probably the safest place for him to go, but due to his mental state and his grief over Sirius, anywhere with so many reminders of his godfather wasn't the best idea.
Finally it was decided that they would place him in Remus's care in a small cottage under the Fidelius Charm. They would spend the rest of the summer getting him to deal with his grief and fears, and training him up so that the next time he had to face down Voldemort he'd be prepared.
It would take time for Harry to snap out of grief and guilt, but now in the care of people that loved him, Harry would slowly learn how to heal.