Addicted to You

Addicted to You

A Harry/Tonks Story

By Crazy Writer Girl

Chapter Two - The Longest Week

I don't mind the abuse

It fills in time when I'm not much use

But it's killing me, killing me slowly

They all say I'm too restless

But words cut deep when you're defenceless

And they're killing me, but killing me slowly

Robbie Williams - Killing Me

Flashback - One Week Previously.

Well, technically the week he spent in Little Whinging had been a short week but to Harry it had felt like the longest week he had ever lived.

His uncle Vernon Dursley had not taken well to being threatened by the members of the Order of the Phoenix and his nephew's friends when he put himself out to go all of the way from Little Whinging, Surrey to Kings Cross Station in London to collect his ungrateful delinquent freak of a nephew. First, they expected him to take him in and waste his hard-earned money feeding and clothing the boy and making sure that he had a roof over his head and now they criticise how he treated him. all he really deserved was to be sent to an orphanage which is where he should have been sent when he was dumped on their doorstep in the middle of the night by the freaks after those unnatural parents of his had been killed back in October 1981.

The majority of what the Dursley's had done to their long suffering nephew was little different to how they had always treated him. They were verbally abusive to him and talked down to him - just as they always had. They hardly fed him enough food to keep a gerbil alive let alone a growing teenager - just as they always had. And they made him do all of the chores both in and out of the house whilst his cousin Dudley sat on his already too large rear and let it grow even larger - just as they always had.

In truth, Harry did not mind the way they treated him that summer, did not even register it as a form of abuse. It was just normal to him and was nothing more that what he deserved. In addition, after the horrors of the last few months even that small bit of absurd normality was something that he welcomed fully.

Add to that the fact that Hermione Granger had stopped at Diagon Alley y with her parents and bought themselves a post owl on the way back to their house in Nottinghamshire and that had been the last straw for Vernon Dursley, loving uncle that he was. For the first person Hermione wrote to with her new pet five days after she got it, was her best friend Harry who she was very worried about. Everyone knows how much the Dursley's love having their nephew receive letters from those "blasted birds." However, what nobody knew was just how badly they would react this time.

When Hermione had written that letter to Harry, her intention had been to make him see that he was not alone in grieving for his Godfather and to attempt to get him to open up to her about how he was feeling. She had known that her letter was unlikely to get a positive response from her friend, and he had known that his uncle would not be particularly happy that she was sending the owl in the middle of the day.

What she hadn't know, however, was just how badly he would react and what the consequences would be for the boy who was her best friend ever and who she loved like the brother she had never had.

Seeing that owl arrive outside his house and hover there tapping her beak relentlessly at the window until the Potter brat had let him in and then wait for a reply had been the straw that broke the camel's back for Harry's dear uncle. He had flipped, completely lost control of his temper, his voice, - and his fist.

He had torn the letter from his Nephew's hands, and ripped it to shreds. The shrieks of horror from Hermione's owl upon seeing his first letter that he had been so proud to deliver destroyed before its recipient could even read it, had been ear splitting and one of the most desperate and distressing sounds Harry had ever heard.

Those shrieks of horror soon turned to shrieks of fear when the owl attempted to peck at the angry shouting red-faced man and stop him beating the Poor messy haired boy who was now cowering on the floor in front of him trying to protect his head. Owls are loyal to their masters or mistresses and this owl knew just how much the green-eyed boy meant to his mistress so that was the least he could do. Unfortunately, for that poor owl all that succeeded in doing was turning the angry man's attention away from the boy and onto the owl.

If Harry had been related by blood instead of by marriage, it might have been very possible that he had inherited some of the talents, which made him the star seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and the youngest Quidditch player in a century. As it was, it was only a mutual hatred of each other and the fact that Vernon Dursley had married Harry's mother's sister that tied the two men together. And so the fact that Dursley was able to reach out with unnerving accuracy and grab hold of the tiny baby barn owl as it tried to fly away from him, and tighten his hold on it, twisting his wrist and breaking the poor owls neck as he did so, was nothing more than a shocking and sickening coincidence.

Luckily for the owl death was instantaneous.

Unluckily for Harry, the death of the owl meant that there was nothing more for his "uncle" to focus his attention and his anger on and once again, it was directed at his freak of a nephew, with the hope of somehow managing to beat the unnaturalness out of him.

The beating went on for what felt like months or even years to Harry, but in reality was perhaps slightly more than ten minutes. It could have even been slightly less; it is difficult to keep a clear track of the amount of time that's past when you're being beaten up and trying desperately to stop yourself being injured even more than you already are.

When he had been staying (the conditions he faced whilst there meant that it could hardly be referred to as living) with the Dursley's the previous year, the Order of the Phoenix had had a 24 hour guard on Harry to protect him from the threat of Lord Voldemort and his followers the death eaters.

This was one of the many things the Order had kept him in the dark about, and was something he had been extremely angry about when he had found out about it. At the time he had really resented the fact that there was another reason why people felt they had to treat him differently and as though he was special simply because of the way in which his parents had been killed and the fat that he had the sheer dumb luck (he thought) to have faced down Voldemort three times and survived. He had wanted nothing more than to be a regular teenager like his friends and to have the normal worries they had. He didn't want to have to have a bodyguard.

As he lay there on the floor of the normally immaculate dinning room of number 4 Privet Drive cowering from his uncle (and his cousin who had now come to join the "fun"), Harry wished that he could be as lucky as Hermione's owl and simply die. He also idly wondered whether his unfortunate earlier wish had been granted and he no longer needed to be guarded. Because the one time he really would have been extremely happy to see a bodyguard (even his hated potions Professor Severus Snape) and not greeted them with the usual hatred they got whenever they accidentally showed themselves to him, there was once again no sign of them.

This had angered Harry, they expected him to save them from Voldemort, but they couldn't do anything for him, they couldn't even be there for him when he needed saving from his Muggle uncle. But then again he supposed nobody would have expected the boy who lived to need protecting from Muggles - he had become the only person ever to survive the killing curse when he was little more than fifteen months old, after all.

Because of this when Bill Weasley had finally broken the front door of the house down and came running into the dining room and stunned all three of the Dursley's (including Aunt Petunia even though she wasn't actually involved in beating Harry) before pulling them off of Harry, he wasn't sure whether to be grateful that he had saved him from what he was certain would have been death or whether to be angry that it had taken him so long to act.

For Harry knew that there was no way that the eldest Weasley could have either not heard the shouting and screaming that had gone on or have heard it but mistaken it for the normal day to day sounds of a boisterous family having fun together - for one thing, he knew that Harry and the Dursley's hated each other.

It was only when the beating stopped however, that he realised how much pain he was in, and the extent of the injuries he had suffered had become clear. As he collapsed onto his back he immediately began to cough and gag as blood ran down his front from where his nose was broken and bleeding and his two front teeth had been knocked out. It hurt for him to take a deep breath and his wrist lay by his side twisted at an odd angle, either broken or at the very least severely sprained from where his cousin had grabbed him to stop him from trying to run away and ruin his "fun." He also seemed to have wretched one or both of his legs given the way he had collapsed to the floor as soon as Vernon Dursley had lost his grip on him when Bill had stunned him.

"Harry? It's me, Bill Weasley." He started softly wanting to make sure his charge knew he was there and who he was before he got any closer to him or did anything else. The last thing either of them needed was to make the situation any worse and alarming someone who had just been beaten as badly as Harry had, particularly when they were as powerful a wizard as the young man in question was the guaranteed number one way to make the situation worse without even trying to.

"Alright there, Harry mate, you're safe now." The longhaired curse breaker had attempted to reassure the injured boy he considered his sixth younger brother.

He made a quick once over of Harry trying to determine exactly what action needed to be taken. He needed to see a healer, that much was all too apparent but it didn't seem as though his injuries were immediately life threatening. He actually doubted that there was any long-term danger to Harry's health at all, but he wasn't trained in anything other than basic first aid. For that reason, he decided that the best thing to do would be to follow Dumbledore's instructions, call the Headmaster, and have him send the Aurors - all of whom received a much more comprehensive training in first aid during there three years before they were fully qualified.

Personally he would much rather call St Mungos' and have them send the lime green Knight Ambulance and some mediwizards to transport Harry to the hospital. For some reason however, it was believed by the senior members of the Order that this should only be done if Harry was in immediate danger of loosing his life or suffering permanent danger from his injuries for otherwise his overall security might be compromised.

The oldest Weasley had never seen injuries so severe come about simple from being beaten up, and growing up as he had in a loving family with parents who adored him, five younger brothers and a younger sister, he had really no clue that it was possible for people to hate their own relatives - their flesh and blood - so much. Actually to be truthful, he wasn't sure he had ever seen anyone with injuries as severe as Harry's regardless of how they had been inflicted.

He had heard the stories from Ron and from Fred and George about how badly he was treated by them, even something about there being bars on his bedroom window when they had rescued him using the flying car shortly before Harry and Ron had started their second year at Hogwarts. However, he hadn't believed it to be true. The twins were pranksters extraordinaire, and Ron idolised them, he had dismissed it as exaggeration and fantasy as all teenager boys are wont to indulge in.

He had reached into the back pocket of his torn and dirty black jeans and pulled out a small communications mirror.

If Harry had noticed it, he would have realised that it was very similar to the one that Sirius had given him the previous year other than being substantially smaller. But understandably, at that point in time Harry was not coherent enough to pay attention to anything other than the sheer amount of pain he was in. He never would have thought that his Muggle relatives would be capable of inflicting pain onto him that was on a par with that which he held felt when he had been tortured with the Cruciatius curse by Lord Voldemort and his faithful servant Peter Pettigrew otherwise known as Wormtail.

"Professor Dumbledore! Sir!" He shouted frantically realistically he knew that perhaps less than five seconds passed between his placing the call and the kindly old wizard and leader of the Order of the Phoenix's smiling face and twinkling blue eyes replaced Bill's own reflection in the mirror. "Professor Dumbledore! We've got a major problem on our hands sir and I need urgent medical assistance and back up here at Privet Drive."

Bill's reflection was quickly replaced as the extremely worried face of Albus Dumbledore appeared in the mirror. Realistically he knew that perhaps less than five seconds passed between his placing the call and getting word from Dumbledore that the Aurors were on their way.

All Hogwarts students past and present who had studied under Albus Dumbledore thought him to be a happy man without a care in the world. They believed that there was nothing that could scare or upset him - he was the old wizard the dark lord had ever feared after all. For the oldest Weasley however that illusion would disappear later in the day when he realised that he didn't think he had ever seen the venerable old headmaster of Hogwarts appear so worried in his life - he was normally so unflappable with those permanently twinkling eyes.

"The Aurors' are on their way, William and I will bring Madam Pomfrey if you believe the situation to be safe enough for non-combatants? No magic of any kind was detected within the area of the wards surrounding The Dursley's house or in Harry's immediate vicinity other than a blasting hex and three stunning spells that was registered to your wand directly before you raised the alarm. May I ask exactly what the situation is?"

In a way this angered Bill, he really trusted and admired the Headmaster of Hogwarts and leader of the Order as did most of the wizarding world. However sometimes he wished he could make him see young Harry as just that - a young boy who needed a family and his friends more than he needed to be kept isolated and safe.

If he had really cared about the boy, if he considered him to be as good as his grandson as he claimed he would drop everything and come running to be with him, never mind asking about what had happened or whether the situation was safe for non-combatants.

Deep down, he knew the Headmaster had to act the way he was and that it was right that he did so, but it was still a hard cross for him to bear and in a way it made him loose some of his respect for Dumbledore.

At this moment in time, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody and Nymphadora Tonks apparated into the back garden and then came running through to join them. All three of them were Aurors or Dark Wizard Catchers and as such were extremely used to seeing gruesome injuries that resulted from Hexes and Curses gone wrong (and even in some cases of particularly dark magic, curses gone well). With the exception of Tonks who was the baby of the Auror community. They all thought they had seen most everything there was to see when it came to fights, and duels and their consequences. But they had never experienced a case where a victim had suffered such severe and horrific injuries because of a Muggle style beating.

If they had been asked who they excepted to find as the victim of such an attack, they never would have said it would be Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived and the boy who they all had a bit of a soft spot for. Because of that none of them could suppress the instinctive gasps of shock which escaped from them when they realised just who it was that lay curled up on the floor in front of them bruised and battered almost beyond all recognition.

Bill paid little attention to the three of them and also to his own slowly simmering anger at everyone and anything that could have done something to prevent what had just happened as he went on to explain to Dumbledore as much as he knew about exactly what had happened to Harry since he had left Hogwarts one week ago. It didn't take very long for him to do that. All he really knew was that he had arrived to relieve Mundungus Fletcher for his shift as Harry's guard, had spoken briefly with Arabella Figg the old Squib who lived near to Privet Drive and helped the Order to keep an eye on Harry. He had then just been settled under the invisibility cloak when he heard shouting and some screaming. Knowing that Harry and his relatives really didn't get on well, he had ignored it to start with thinking it was just a typical argument between teenager and his guardian.

It had been hard for him to ignore it because he really did care a lot for the boy. However, it had seemed the right thing to do given that Professor Dumbledore had emphasised repeatedly that nothing should be done by the Order when guarding Harry that could antagonise his relatives because no matter how badly they treated him it was vital to his safety that he remain there for a period each summer. He may not like doing as the old headmaster had requested, but there was something about Albus Dumbledore that made it impossible to say no to him and damn near impossible to disobey him.

After a period of five straight minutes with no shouting but nothing but screams which the curse breaker was horrified to realise had obviously been screams of pain and of terror from Harry, he had decided that Dumbledore's Orders be damned. It had seemed to him the greatest risk to Harry's health and safety would come from sitting there and doing nothing than from intervening.

Dumbledore was a fantastically gifted wizard but he didn't seem to have grasped the fact that there were times when the needs of the one had to outweigh the needs of the many. Bill had never been as sure of anything as he was of the fact that this was one of those times.

What he hadn't expected to find was the sickening sight that beheld him upon entering the normally pristine house. Harry had been cowering with his hands over his head trying to avoid the kicks and punches from his uncle and cousin. That damnable aunt of his had been doing nothing to help the boy either. Instead although she had not touched her nephew, she had been helping with his beating by shouting suggestions for the two men and blocking the only exit from the room so that even if Harry had been able to get up and run from his captors he would not have been able to leave the room and fully escape the beating.

While Bill was explaining this to Dumbledore, Tonks and Shacklebolt were giving Harry emergency first aid and Mad Eye Moody was busy keeping guard over the still stunned Dursley's muttering all the while about the things he would see happen to them for this.

The three Aurors and Bill's fellow members of the Order of the Phoenix were so engrossed in focusing on their tasks that they completely tuned out the conversation between Dumbledore and Weasley regardless of the fact that they so desperately wanted to know what had happened to young Harry.

One of the most important things that each had learned during their three years at the Auror training academy was the ability to simply switch of their emotions for a period of time. It was a vital skill when in dangerous or upsetting situations to be able to simply get on with the task in hand and then deal with the emotional responses which stemmed from it afterwards.. All three of them (especially the veteran Auror, Moody) believed that this was something they were good at. But that day in early June as they worked to stabilise Harry Potter and guard his relatives so as to prevent them from inflicting more damage to him it was the hardest thing they had ever done.

All of a sudden mere seconds after the conversation between Dumbledore and Bill Weasley which was going on in the background was over, Harry began to come around from the not quite unconscious state he had been beaten into by his so called "family"

Realising that if he moved he could very likely aggravate his injuries, Tonks lightly rested her hand on his shoulder. "Wotcher Harry," she smiled at him, attempting to provide him with some of the comfort he so obviously was in desperate need of at that point in time. "We're going to fix up as many of your injuries as we can before the Healers come and take you to St Mungos, but I need you to stay as still as you can for me love, so you don't make any of your injuries worse, ok?"

Kingsley joined her in trying to reassure the boy as he continued to work to heal as much of the damage as he could. "I spent a good part of my three years at the Auror Academy doing advanced first aid young Harry and while I'm not as good as a healer, I believe that I am qualified enough to be able to tell you that you're going to be fine, nothing's going to happen to you now. But you will still need to go to the hospital I'm afraid, a few of those injuries are beyond my capabilities to heal permanently."

Upon hearing a male voice he couldn't identify Harry visibly tensed. He had a vague idea that he did know they person who it was but it hurt too much to open his eyes for long periods of time and he couldn't work out who it was based only on there voice. His fight or flight reflex would have kicked in but he was in no condition to be able to move and he knew that if he tried he would barely make it two steps before he collapsed.

Tonks realised that he wasn't sure who it was and given the beating he had just suffered at the hands of his uncle and cousin was obviously panicked that an unknown male voice meant that another beating was imminent. It wasn't the most rational of reactions, but given the events of the past hour, it was all too understandable.

"You're safe Harry, it's just me Tonks, and Kingsley and Moody are here too. We've got you're back, so to speak, so there's nothing to worry about any more." Slowly, and what she hoped was soothingly, she went on "Bill's here too, just over there," she said gesturing over to where the redhead was before continuing "he stunned the Dursley's so they can't hurt you any more and Dumbledore is on his way - he will be here as soon as he can."

Bill spoke up from the other side of the room where he had joined Moody in guarding those examples of the worse sort of Muggles that were the Dursley's. He was pacing backwards and forwards as he watched them, not being too careful about where he walked and that meant that he would "accidentally" knock into one of them about every third step or thereabouts. "Harry I can guarantee you, that you will not be living here any more after today, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure of that."

"And I'm going to help him, Harry; you don't ever have to see those people again after today if you don't want to. Even if Dumbledore tries to send you back, I'm not going to let him."

As the frightened boy's bright green eyes snapped open to reassure himself that it really was her and that she had meant what she had said, Tonks screwed up her face as though she was in pain and changed her hair so that it was exactly the same shade of green as his haunted eyes. The relief that seeing her morph brought to Harry was immediately obvious. He knew that Metamorphmagi were extremely rare and that there was no way that the person in front of him could be a death eater pretending to be the young Auror. It really was her.

To Tonks, seeing the look of relief that brought to him made the slight pain she felt whenever she changed more than worth it. And as he reached out towards her with his one uninjured arm she had no qualms about taking his hand and squeezing it ever so gently, trying to not to hurt him further whilst still trying to provide him with all the comfort she could with that one simple, brief gesture.

"Tonks?" Harry croaked barely able to speak because he was in so much pain from what appeared to be a broken jaw and several loose or knocked out teeth. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble for you all." He closed his eyes after that, obviously having used all of his remaining energy on that one unnecessary apology that his upbringing had taught him was necessary.

Unbeknownst to either Harry or Tonks, Albus Dumbledore had all but silently apparated into the room whilst Harry was speaking. Madam Pomfrey the Hogwarts school mediwitch and Amelia Bones, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, and Tonks' ultimate superior in the Ministry of Magic, accompanied him.

Both were startled when Madam Bones immediately dropped down on to her knees by the injured young man and answered before anyone else had a chance to. "Nonsense, dear boy, you haven't done anything wrong... you're not the one to cause us a problem - those so called relatives of yours are the ones as fault, not you!"

Harry looked as though he wanted to believe this but wasn't sure that he really could.

"I know that we don't know each other very well, Mr. Potter, but you must believe me when I say that none of this is your fault - you are worth of our time and attention - much more worthy of it than those people. All though they will be getting it, that's for sure. They will not go unpunished, no child deserves to be treated as you were and they will very rightly pay for their actions."

"I greatly admire you - everything you have achieved seems so much more when you know the full story of your life - when you see the true hardships you have suffered and obstacles you have overcome it suddenly seems so much more than simply being the first and only person to ever survive the killing curse. I get the impression from our short meeting in the past Mr Potter and from things that my niece Susan has told me that about you that you dislike your fame. That's part of what makes you so special and I just wish that I had both the strength of character and the bravery that you have."

"Um, Madam Bones?" the poor boy questioned quite unsure of who it was speaking to him.

"Yes Mr. Potter. I'm impressed you remember me from our one brief meeting given your current situation. You just stay there holding Auror Tonks hand and let Madam Pomfrey and Auror Shacklebolt heal you up until we can get you to the healers at St Mungos'. You let them know if you're in any pain or you need anything, ok?"

He nodded vaguely in response to that and she could tell that he immediately regretted doing that when a look of sheer pain crossed his features. She was just about to move closer to him and take his other hand in a gesture of comfort but it looked as though Tonks had the situation under control.

"Sssh Harry, stay still ok and we'll do something about that pain," Tonks whispered squeezing his hand once more and using her free one to stroke his hair back off of face in a loving gesture.

As she looked at the bruised and battered young boy who lay huddled in a foetal ball on the kitchen floor of his supposed home, Amelia Bones found it hard to believe that there could be such people in the world that they could inflict such pain on a member of their own family. She had been the head of the magical law enforcement section of the ministry of magic for ten years and had been an Auror for twenty five years before that and had thought that there was nothing left which she could see at a crime scene and be shocked by. Then she had been called by Albus Dumbledore and asked to meet him at the apparition co-ordinates that she would later realise corresponded to Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, surrey the house that few outside the upper echelons of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad knew to be the childhood home of the boy who lived Harry Potter. The sight that she faced once she arrived there and got her bearings was one so horrific it left her feeling sick to her stomach.

She knew that her impromptu response to his comments about not wanting to be a bother to them and being sorry for being injured had not been what the boy in front of her had been expecting.

She also knew that her presence there was a great shock to everyone else in the room other than Dumbledore and that Aurors Moody Shacklebolt and Tonks were probably beginning to worry a little bit about what she would think about them being there and about the effect it may have on their jobs - and future career prospects.

The existence of the Order of the Phoenix was a closely guarded secret. There were many department heads within the ministry who beloved all of the lies Cornelius Fudge had been spreading for the past year. Those people would not be very happy to discover that their any member of their staff had been moonlighting in another job working for Albus Dumbledore against He who must not be named.

However, Amelia Bones was not a conventional boss and she was very glad to see that her staff knew how to read between the lines and follow their hearts instead of the drivel the minister wanted them to believe.

The other deciding factor in Madam Bones' decision to applaud the three Aurors' diligence was the fact that not two days before she had been approached by the leader of the Order of the Phoenix and had agreed to join.

This was a fact that was currently not common knowledge amongst the other members of the illicit organisation, but was something they would soon come to realise within the next few minutes even if it would not be officially confirmed to them until the next full meeting.

Looking down at the three unconscious Muggles who lay in an undignified heap being guarded by Alastor Moody and who she thought must be one of Arthur Weasley's many children; she couldn't help the look of disgust that crossed her face. They had to be punished and she would personally make sure that they faced as harsh a punishment as they possibly could for what they had done to young Harry.

The fact that he was the boy who lived and the only hope of the wizarding world was beside the point, no child ever deserved to have suffered the way he had regardless of who they were or who there family was. She would make sure the pain and suffering Harry had suffered was avenged if it was the last thing she ever did.

For the first time since she had joined the Magical Law Enforcement Squad mere days after leaving Hogwarts, Madam Bones regretted that there were laws in place that prevented Muggles from being sent to Azkaban, the wizarding prison. She knew that the laws were in place for a very good reason and normally she agreed with them. She couldn't help but feel that for the three of the worse examples of Muggles before her a nice long stay on that chilly windswept isolated island with only the Dementors for company was exactly what they deserved. The fact that as Muggles they would be unable to see the Dementors was beside the point - they would still be able to feel their effects.

Just because they couldn't be sent to Azkaban didn't mean that they wouldn't face an extremely harsh punishment.

Certain high-level Muggle officials worldwide were aware of the existence of the magical community, and there were contingency plans in place for occurrences such as this.

There was a special crossover division of Scotland Yard which dealt with Muggles who were aware that magic existed when they had committed a crime which affected either magical beings or the magical world in general. This division worked in conjunction with the Aurors to ensure that they were punished in a way that both took into account their heritage and the severity of their crime.

It had been a very long time since there had been any need for the crossover the division to come into operation (the last time had been for the escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban). It has been an even longer time since they had been needed to mete a sentence out for a crime let alone one that was as serious as the charge Harry's relatives were likely to face for the way they had treated him. Nevertheless, when the division was needed, it was there.

Amelia intended to make sure that it was used to the full extent of its power in this particular case.

****

Pulling herself out of her thoughts with some difficulty, the head of the Auror division faced her staff. "Auror Shacklebolt, I'd like to hear your report on the exact status of your patient both now and when you first arrived on the scene and began treating his injuries."

"Yes, I too would like to know exactly what you have done to treat Mr. Potter's injuries before I do any work to further his healing and deal with the injuries you have not been able to do anything for." Both of the Aurors who had been taking care of Harry jumped slightly when they heard the soft-spoken Scottish tones of Poppy Pomfrey for they have been so engrossed in their task they had not realised that she too was there as well as Dumbledore and Madam Bones.

The tall black Auror with the gold hoop earring quickly nodded at his ultimate superior at work and the kind hearted Hogwarts Matron and quickly began to run down the list of Harry's injuries that he was aware of - both those that he had either partially or completely healed and those he had been unable to do anything about.

Nodding at the man whose valiant attempts at first aid had done so much to stabilise her patients condition and prevent him from suffering any further injury the school mediwitch gestured for him to move away from what was now her patient so that she could take over his treatment using her greater knowledge and skills.

She also indicated to the clumsy metamorphmagus who was holding Potter's hand that she too should leave and allow her to work but when the girl tried to release him and leave his side Potter refused to relinquish his grip on her and said "No... Madam Bones said I could hold her hand..."

Shaking her head at the boy who was her most frequent patient and who reminded her so much of his father who she had treated many times before him she smiled down at the injured boy and said "well Harry seeing as it's you and you're one of my favourite ever patients I'll allow it just this once."

For some reason the normally confident boy who lived didn't want to hear exactly how close to dying he had come - he just wished that he actually had died so that he wouldn't end up putting anyone else in danger simply because they knew him. Then he felt guilty for thinking such a thing because due tot the prophecy if he killed himself or died some other way Voldemort would never be vanquished and so he would be left to terrorise the whole world (both wizarding and Muggle) unchecked for the rest of all time. The thought of facing that prospect just made him feel even worse than he already was. So instead, he decided to simply stop thinking and concentrate simply on the sensations that holding the hand of the pretty Auror who he had secretly had a crush on since they met was causing him to experience.

Some period of time passed slowly whilst Harry lay there holding hands with the green haired metamorphmagus with salty tears streaming silently down his cheeks. He didn't say a word as Madam Pomfrey worked to heal him up as much as possible with the semi skilled assistance of Kingsley Shacklebolt and Professor Dumbledore, he simply lay there crying for all that he had lost and everything he had been through, refusing to speak whenever Dumbledore tried to engage him in conversation. Ten, minutes, perhaps even quarter of an hour passed before the most powerful wizard in the world got the unspoken hint and decided to stop hassling the boy when he was so obviously deeply traumatised and in so much pain. Another twenty minutes passed in silence before Poppy Pomfrey declared that she had done as much as was humanly possible to be done "in the field" as it were and that he needed to be moved to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Maladies before anything else could be done.

Harry groaned aloud when he heard that they would be summoning the Knight Ambulance to transport him to the hospital. He was imagining something very simply to the bright purple triple Decker knight bus that he had had the misfortune to ride several times. That was something of an incredibly bumpy wild ride and its conductor a spotty faced young boy named Stan Shunpike was a bit over enthusiastic and in your face. Neither of which were things that Harry felt well enough to cope with at that present moment in time. Therefore, he was extremely relieved when instead the lime green ambulance arrived with its extremely placid and quiet attendants - neither of whom made any mention as to the fact that the famous Harry Potter was their patient.

Harry spent the next two days in the hospital recovering and recuperating from the vicious attack he had suffered at the hands of his supposed family, before being moved to Hogwarts.

There he had had a brief meeting with Albus Dumbledore, which had gone only slightly better than their last meeting, in that whilst once again he couldn't believe what he was being told and he did get angry, he didn't end up wrecking the room and destroying half the contents of the room in which they met as he had done previously.

Two hours after that Harry was safely ensconced in his new room at 12 Grimmauld Place London with his new minder Nymphadora Tonks. A fact that he wasn't at all happy about.