Harry Potter and the House Divided

Chapter Four "Accidents and Arrangements"

Harry's next Occlumency lesson with Fleur fell five days after the news about his inheritance and Mrs. Weasley's howler. As they had done the first time, they walked to the park where they could sit on a bench and simply look like young lovers. Fortunately, the weather had been cool and Fleur could wear a long sleeved shirt that concealed her wand when she used Legilimency on Harry.

Unfortunately, he was unable to focus and Fleur crashed through his defences much as Snape had before her. After the fourth successful assault, she gave him a look of unmitigated disgust and shifted so that she could talk without fear of dropping her wand.

"What ees wrong with you today, 'Arry?" she demanded, voice sharp with disappointment.

"Nothing...." Harry said, knowing that she would catch him in the lie.

"Nozing?" she demanded, voice rising on every word. "Nozing? ... Eizer you 'ave not been practizing at all or zere is somezing wrong. Eizer way, coming 'ere and risking my safety and yours 'as been a waste today."

The hot feeling that had never been far from Harry's middle over the past year flared up with surprising force.

"Well, you didn't have to come," he growled at her.

"'No, I deedn't." she agreed. "But I deed because William and all of 'is family care about you. Professeur Dumbledore ees worried sick about you and you know zat you need to learn Occlumency zo zat you don't let Voldemort enter your mind and learn zis thing zat Professeur Dumbledore says you know zat your godfazer died to 'elp you protect."

Harry stared at her, shocked by her directness.

"Ok, OK...." he sighed, knowing that she was right even if he didn't want to admit it.

"I don't know how it happened but somehow Rita Skeeter must have overheard what we were talking about at tea last week. Mrs. Weasley sent me a howler the next morning and said something about an article in the Daily Prophet. She's never been mad at me before, and even though Percy's a bloody thick git I would never say something about him to a reporter. It's not like they've been very good to me have they?"

Fleur nodded, her face shifting from annoyed to angry so fast that Harry feared he'd said something wrong.

"Zey are angry wiz you," she sighed, "but except for Mrs. Weasley I zink zat all of zem know you deedn't know about ze reporter. I deedn't and 'ave told zem so."

"Didn't she believe you?"

"I zink maybe she deed but you know zat she is very protective of 'er children, Percy most of all."

"What can I do?" Harry asked, depressed that his relationship with the only woman that he thought of as a mother figure might be damaged beyond repair.

"All zat 'U can do ees wait and let 'er zink and, 'ow do you zay eet?,cool down before she sees 'u."

Harry nodded, knowing that this was probably best but hating the thought that he would have to wait to work things out with Ron's mother for several weeks at the very least.

"Well," Fleur said rising from their bench. "Eet ees probably best to get you back to your relatives and do zis next saturday."

"OK," Harry said, distracted by thoughts of Mrs. Weasley, the prophecy and Sirius.

Had he been paying more attention to the world around them he would probably have seen the muggle automobile as it flew down wisteria walk. As it was there were only the momentary sound of Fleur's scream and the squeal of brakes before a tremendous impact and then Harry knew no more.

* * *

Harry knew as soon as he awoke that he must be in a muggle hospital. The cloying smell of antiseptics combined with occasional bursts of noise over the building's public address system made this clear to him. It didn't take him long to remember the car that had appeared, almost by magic he thought, a wry twist on his lips, and slammed into him and Fleur as they crossed the street on their way to his aunt and uncle's house.

As he lay there, ribs and right leg hurting, the thing that mystified Harry most was the fact that Fleur should have seen the car coming. After all, it had hit her first and he thought that she probably knew not to step into a street without checking to be sure that there weren't any cars in the area, didn't she?

On thinking about it, Harry realized that he actually hadn't known how Fleur was getting to the Dursleys for their Occlumency lessons. For all he knew Professor Dumbledore might have given her a portkey that would bring her to the house, or she could be using the flu network, or apparating. Maybe there were other ways that she could use that he'd not even learned about yet. However she'd done it, she might know even less about muggles than Mr. Weasley did. If that was so, she probably didn't even know how dangerous crossing the street without looking could be. After all, no matter how fast a broom might be, it was a lot lighter than a car and far easier to manoeuvre when you were up in the air. She'd probably never been hit head-on when flying, after all, he played Quidditch and he hadn't been hit full-on yet.

Although slow in coming, the realization that he was probably responsible for her safety when they were together hit him very hard. He was more than a little frightened that she might have died.

Before this panicked thought could truly take hold he heard a familiar and very welcome voice.

"He has a scar shaped something like a lightning bolt on his forehead. He's probably about 5'7 or 5'8, I'm not really sure, we've not measured him lately. He's been away at school you see and we don't usually see him this early in the holidays."

"Moony!!!" Harry cried, trying to rise from his hospital bed.

"Harry!" Remus responded, plunging through the curtains that divided his bed from the rest of the large, open-plan ward of one of the local hospitals. "Don't move!" was the next command from the older man, who barely caught Harry before he could try to stand on a badly sprained ankle.

"What happened?" Harry asked, subsiding back onto the narrow bed.

"I don't know." Remus said softly, eyes filled with pain and more than a little fear. "I just got here and haven't been able to talk with anyone in authority yet. The...nurse...?"(Harry smiled at Remus' lack of familiarity with the muggle medical system)"...hadn't even told me where you were before you called for me.

"How did you know what happened?" Harry asked, knowing that when Fleur was with him the order didn't have anyone else watching over them.

"Hermione saw something on the muggle news about a mystery couple struck on Wysteria walk. She says that she recognized Fleur from the picture that they showed and knew that you must be the other person in the story since it came from Little Whining."

Harry smiled. Only Hermione would have managed to get so much out of so little.

"What happened to Fleur?" Harry asked, fear for her life sweeping over him much as the cold waters of Hogwarts' lake had when he'd rescued Ron and carried Fleur's little sister to the surface of the lake during the Tri-Wizard-Tournament.

"I don't know..." Remus started to say, before being interrupted by a young nurse who tapped him on the shoulder.

"Do you mean the blonde girl that he was found with?" she asked, looking at Remus for confirmation.

"Yes!" Harry said before the older man could respond.

"She's all right," the woman replied. A rush of relief struck Harry with such force that he knew what the next thought would be that he'd use if he ever needed to make a patronus.

"She's very lucky. Only a few scratches and a nasty bump on the head. She'll be up and around by tomorrow morning."

Harry smiled in response to this news.

"As for you," the woman said with a frown, "you've sprained your ankle and broken a couple of ribs. Nothing that'll kill you but you'll be in a fair amount of pain for a few days. I'm not sure what the surgeon will want to do but I think that you'll be able to leave hospital by tomorrow morning so long as you're careful on that ankle for a while. Your ribs'll hurt but we'll show you how to take care of them."

Harry smiled. A full day away from the Dursleys and not too much damage done either. While he'd rather have missed the car altogether, things could be a whole lot worse. The nurse gave Remus a dazzling smile and Harry a somewhat more professional one before sweeping up the ward and back to the desk that Harry could just make out without use of his glasses.

"Uh, Remus," Harry said somewhat nervously. "Do you know where my glasses are?"

"No," Remus replied, clearly distracted by the young woman's attentions.

"Oh, great." Harry sighed.

"What's the problem, Harry?" Remus replied, attention fixed on his younger companion.

"Well, my glasses are gone and I don't think that we'll be able to get them back from the rubbish heap that they doubtless took them to when they cleaned the street after the accident. I don't think that we'll be able to find the parts that we need to repair them no matter how strong of a summoning charm we use."

"Hmmm." Remus said, his deeply creased face acquiring a few new wrinkles. "You and Fleur will be out of the hospital soon and before you go back to your relatives, I'll have her take you to one of their heelers and we'll get you new glasses or maybe those little lenses that they wear in their eyes."

"You mean contacts?" Harry asked excited, "I've never had those before and they would be really great."

"Then you'd better plan to wait for me until I can come by tomorrow. Sirius left me most of his ready cash and I'll get you enough money from it to cover the cost of the glasses or contact lenses."

"But my parents left me more money than I know what to do with. Take my key and get it out of my vault."

"I know that you and Fleur have done tea at least once after your lesson. Do you want me to bring you some extra money to pay for it if you go out with her again?"

"Sure," Harry said, distracted by what Remus had said about Sirius' money.

"Uh, Remus, did Sirius really leave you some money?" he asked, throat tightening painfully as he thought through what this must mean.

He did," Remus said, gently.

Suddenly overwhelmed by the shock of the accident and his grief about Sirius, Harry couldn't resist expressing what he was feeling to his godfather's best friend.

"I know that everyone says that he's dead but ...but ..." Harry said, voice choked by the feelings that he was trying not to express.

Remus' hand was clamped tightly on Harry's shoulder, the older man's face as pinched as Harry had ever seen it.

"I know it hurts, Harry, let it out if you need to," Remus said his voice barely more than a whisper.

"I'm not going to let it out!" Harry yelled, suddenly furious with Sirius' last living friend. "He died and it wasn't his fault. He never should have been there and it's not fair that he had to die when everyone around him was being either stupid or goading him into doing something."

"Well you can be sure that I didn't tell him to come with us," Remus said softly.

"Of course you didn't tell him to come with you!" Harry yelled. "You were telling him to do what Dumbledore said even though he didn't care that keeping Sirius in that house was the worst thing he could do to him."

"Harry," Remus said sharply, "it was the only thing that could be done with Sirius until we could catch or kill Peter."

"And you're telling me that he couldn't have gone somewhere else?

America, Australia or some island in the South Pacific somewhere?"

"Harry, he wouldn't have gone somewhere else because he wanted to be near you to help you if he could."

"I'm not worth his dying!" Harry growled.

"You may not think so," Remus said sharply, "but everyone who knows you would give their lives for you, just as you would have given yours for him if you could."

This was too much for Harry and he began to cry, huge sobs tearing through his overly slender frame.

He never noticed Remus cast silencing charms on the curtains and conjure a privacy bubble as well. He did feel the older man take him into an uncertain hug and knew even in the depths of his grief that Remus was crying too.

He cried for a long time, horribly embarassed by the weakness that he had shown so infrequently since he was old enough to know that the Dursleys would only mock him if he showed them any kind weakness. When it was over he was so exhausted that he fell asleep, Remus sitting by his bedside.

* * *

When he woke the next morning, Remus was gone and an unfamiliar woman in her mid thirties sat at his bedside. She was of about average height, slender with piercing blue eyes and long black hair.

"Watcher!" she said when she realized that Harry was awake.

"Tonks!" Harry said, knowing immediately who she must be.

"Got it in one," the young auror said, smile bursting across her pretty face. "Particularly surprising since they told me that I had to look like a respectable woman if I wanted to keep an eye on you."

"You mean they said no pink hair or long warty nose," Harry teased, needing the laugh as much as Tonks seemed to think he did.

"True," Tonks sighed dramatically. "I mean really. Professor Dumbledore has no sense of fashion. Comes from being a very old man I suspect," she said with a grin. "Or maybe just being a man period."

"Hey!" Harry said, only half pretending offence.

Tonks gave him a cheeky wink and then turned to more serious matters.

"Are you OK there Harry?" she asked, obviously concerned.

"I'm fine!" Harry said trying not to let her know how badly he felt.

Tonks frowned and Harry knew that she'd caught him in a lie.

"Well, I'm not hurting too much and I guess that there's going to be lots of potions for me to take when I get back to the Dursleys, right?"

"There should be," Tonks agreed. She frowned as if trying to decide what to say next but before she could ask him anything else, a new nurse came through the curtains and began to take Harry's vitals.

Harry, thankful that he wasn't going to have to answer any questions about Sirius or Fleur gave the middle-aged woman his full attention and was as cooperative as he could possibly be. When she was done she smiled at him and told him that he was doing well.

"You're probably not ready for it yet but after the surgeon has a look at you we'll let your girlfriend come in to see you. You must be something special if you've got a girl who is as gorgeous as she is worrying about you as much as she has been."

"But..." Harry said, not wanting the nurse to think that Fleur was his girlfriend. The nurse, used to such interruptions, didn't let him get another word in before continuing with her business.

"You'll probably be able to leave hospital around eleven, though the surgeon will have to tell you how to take care of that ankle and deal with your ribs for the next little while," she told him before moving off to see her next patient.

Tonks, who had been watching the whole thing, burst out laughing and fell out of her chair.

"Girlfriend? Girlfriend? Wow, Harry you're really moving up in the world. An older woman and part veela too. Next they'll be telling me that you're shagging McGonagall and she's been giving you an "O" for effort!" she burbled nearly overcome by fits of laughter.

"Oh, Shut it!" Harry said with a frown. Fleur was Bill's girlfriend. After yesterday Harry wondered whether she'd ever let herself be near him again. He knew that if she was willing to continue working with him that he'd have to work much harder on trying to keep all of the troubles that this summer seemed to be filled with out of his mind. It would be the hardest thing he'd ever done, far harder than learning how to cast his patronus or perform the perfect summoning charm.

A few moments passed while Tonks' fit of laughter wound down. She looked at him for a moment as if she were trying to make a decision about something but shook her head slightly before relaxing into her chair. Harry was too distracted by his anger to do more than notice this small drama and it would be weeks before Tonks' strange actions would be repeated and lead to much joy, confusion and pain for him.

* * *

Two hours later, Harry and Fleur were ready to leave the hospital. Tonks decided to accompany them on their search for Harry's contact lenses as she thought that having someone along who knew a little about muggles and their medicine would be important. After their visit to the optometrist, which went surprisingly well in Harry's opinion, the three returned to the Dursleys, Tonks hair now black with bright orange streaks.

Uncle Vernon was not glad to see any of them and Harry wondered if a wizard who looked at Tonks' hair that way might set it on fire in a fit of accidental magic.

On entering the house, Harry saw that Professor Dumbledore and Madame Pomphrey were waiting for them in the Dursleys' living room. Harry knew that the presence of even more "freaks" could only have reinforced the anger that fuelled the disgusted look that Uncle Vernon gave him and his ersatz bodyguards as they trooped past him and took seats across from Hogwarts' illustrious headmaster and its equally temperamental nurse.

Madame Pomphrey waded right in, handing Harry a variety of small containers filled with potions that would speed his recovery.

"Well, Potter, it seems that you can't avoid needing my services, even during the summer holiday. It might be easier for all of us if you just moved into the hospital wing next year, would save everyone a lot of trouble I suspect," she said, mouth in a tight line that was nearly as intimidating as the looks that Harry sometimes got from his transfiguration teacher and Head of House, Professor Minerva McGonagall.

"But Poppy," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling madly. "The Potter men are the sole reason that we've been able to justify keeping the hospital wing open since your arrival at Hogwarts."

Madame Pomphrey gave the Headmaster a dark look before beginning to pour samples of the potions that she'd given Harry for his 'health'. Unfortunately for him, the ligament relaxing ointment was one of the nastiest things he'd ever smelled and the swelling suppression solution that she followed it up with tasted even worse.

"Potter, you'll need to take all of these before going to sleep tonight and on waking tomorrow. You'll be done with them once you've seen to taking them tomorrow morning. If you don't have any other questions I'll be going back to Hogwarts."

As Harry had no questions Madame Pomphrey nodded to him and Professor Dumbledore before a nearly silent disapparation.

"On other matters," Professor Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling as he addressed Uncle Vernon, "I must insist that Harry's Occlumency and Self Defence tutors be allowed to work with him here in your house until such time as he can be removed to an alternate place of safety. The protection that I have described to your wife only works if Harry is in your home. His recent accident as well as last summer's...incident became possible because he was not here."

"Well, if he weren't a freak like the rest of you, none of this would have happened at all, would it." Uncle Vernon demanded, voice and manner as angry as Harry had ever seen it.

"Certainly not," Professor Dumbledore said quietly. "But as he is a wizard and one of the most powerful and well known as well, we are well beyond any ability to change what has already happened.

"While we're on that," Tonks said coldly, staring at Uncle Vernon, "it would also be a smashing good idea if you told your son to lay off as well. I'm Harry's guardian now and it looks like he was the victim of... a lot of problems with your son before he got to Hogwarts."

"Problems?" Uncle Vernon barked, glaring at Harry as if the beatings that he'd suffered at the hands of Dudley's gang were Harry's fault.

"Oh, most definitely." Tonks interrupted, eyes flashing angrily. She stormed on, ignoring Professor Dumbledore's sharp glance as she did so. Although he was a little angry at her for stepping in like this, Harry felt a warm glow on the realization that Tonks was determined to do her best to fill her new, found role in his life. "Beatings, money stealing, and other small crime that Dudley continues to engage in to this day, although he's smart enough to avoid taking on someone his own size."

Harry barely suppressed a snort at this comment. After all, Dudley seemed to be determined to mach a raging bull in size and disposition. Although the boxing had helped him turn some of his mass into something approximating muscle, there were still at least three chins for Dudley's opponents, whether in the ring or out of it, to aim for.

Tonks continued, her anger not yet fully vented. "As an officer of wizarding law I can tell you that if he were magical we would have already given him an 'All-Expenses-Paid' trip to Azkaban for some of the things that he's done, who knows, maybe that's why the dementors were so interested in him last summer. They often know long before anyone else does the people whose souls they will get to feed on."

"Nymphadora," barked Professor Dumbledore, his normally harmless persona replaced by an uncharacteristically impatient mean. "You are not helping Harry at the moment. Please regain control of yourself or leave until you can."

Tonks fell silent, although Harry couldn't tell whether the angry looks that she shot at Professor Dumbledore were caused by the Headmaster's interruption or the use of the given name that she hated as passionately as she obviously disliked Uncle Vernon.

Although he looked very angry, Uncle Vernon was silent, seemingly aware that he didn't fully control the situation in his living room.

"As I was saying," said Professor Dumbledore, "Harry must not leave this house until shortly after his birthday. Of course, this means that his magical training must be done here and as Ms. Delacour and Ms. Tonks are to work with him on various aspects of it while he is here, I must insist that their efforts not be interfered with."

"I will certainly stop them from entering my house if either comes in looking like she does now," Uncle Vernon roared, finger pointed directly at Tonks' tiger-striped hair. "And if that one tries to do whatever she did to Dudley again, I'll throw her out and not allow her back in."

"Ms. Delacour, can you wear the invisibility cloak until you are alone with Harry?"

"I zink zat I should arrange 'is lessons at a time when 'is cousin won't be 'ere. After all, eet would look strenge for 'Arry's family to open ze door wizout anyone coming een or leaving and William 'as told me zat 'Arry's aunt's neighbors watch zis 'ouse very closely."

Professor Dumbledore nodded, obviously satisfied with Fleur's solution.

"Tonks..."

"I'll come in my natural face. After all, Harry's been lied to enough lately." Tonks said, her face and form shifting until she stood tall and slender with auburn hair and grey eyes nearly as piercing as Sirius' had ever been.

Harry was surprised by the sadness that swept over him when he looked at a face that was a near match for Sirius' even if it was somewhat softened by Tonks' womanly form. Determined to avoid showing weakness to Uncle Vernon, he savagely crushed an overwhelming need to run away from the living room and the memories that Tonks' "real" face brought to the surface for him.

Fortunately for Harry's equanimimity, Professor Dumbledore reasserted his control of the room.

"Unfortunately, it will be the second week of August before you can be taken from here to the location that I hope to have you live in for the rest of your holiday," he said, the news pleasing neither Harry nor Uncle Vernon whose face was practically glowing with the fury that he was trying to contain.

Much as he hated the news, Harry recognized that Professor Dumbledore was right to demand that he stay inside no.4 Privet Drive. After the accident and the attack by the dementors last summer, he knew that much as he hated the thought of being trapped in his relatives' house for the five or six weeks that he would have to stay here, going out wasn't safe. On the other hand, even though he'd not get to see the Weasleys this summer he now knew that Professor Dumbledore wanted him to be away from the Dursleys as much as they wanted him out of the house. Harry drew comfort from his headmaster's desire to relieve his burdens and this helped him face the prospect of spending far too much time in close proximity to his relatives.

"All right," he agreed, voice barely above a whisper.

Professor Dumbledore nodded in apparent recognition of Harry's confused feelings.

"I will ask Fawkes to come to you every three days to pick up any communication that you have for me. Please feel free to use your beautiful owl for letters to your loyal friends. But I must warn you Harry," he said, eyes sharpening to an intense blue that Harry had only seen once or twice before. "You must remember to avoid talking about news that you get from me, Nymphadora or Ms. Delacour in your letters. As you learned last year, they can be intercepted."

"OK," Harry said, glad that although he would be trapped here, he would be able to get news and stay in touch with the people who cared about him for himself and not because he was the only hope that the wizarding world had against Lord Voldemort.

"I am aware that this arrangement is uncomfortable for you and your family." Professor Dumbledore said to Uncle Vernon. "I share your distaste for it as it does neither you nor Harry much good. Unfortunately, the alternatives for Harry and your family as well aren't worth contemplating and so I must ask you to do the best you can with the situation until such time as we can retrieve Harry from you."

"Very well," Uncle Vernon grumbled.

Professor Dumbledore then disapparated, seemingly realizing that there was nothing more he could do to help either Harry or The Dursleys.

"Keep your head down and your wand up and everything'll be OK," Tonks said with a wink before disappearing with a tremendous bang.

"Well, Boy," Uncle Vernon said, "I'll live with this but you and your freaky associates had better not do anything to embarrass us or I'll throw you and them out on the street."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry said, knowing that it was better to leave things as they were than to cause himself more trouble.

"Good, then. Go up stairs and we'll call you when its time to eat."

"Yes, Sir." Harry said, picking up his potions and purchases before going up to the smallest bedroom.