Healing

Healing

Part Two

The trip to Diagon Alley was remarkably unremarkable. They left after Harry took the potions that would make his hair blond and his eyes light blue, in case they encountered any students. Harry was shocked at the enormous amount of gold in Dumbledore's vault until he reminded himself that Albus had helped Nicolas Flamel make the Sorcerer's Stone. One of its properties was the ability to create endless amounts of gold. They purchased robes, casual clothing, books, potion supplies, parchment, quills, and other supplies Harry might need. Albus also provided him with a large supply of sweets and a top of the line broomstick once he learned Harry played quidditch.

Back at the castle Minerva and Albus tested Harry to make sure the future's curriculum was not behind the present one. They were pleased to discover that Harry was ahead of their current students in Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He was on par with them for Potions and Astronomy. For fear of making a slip he would not be taking History of Magic. He would read their current textbook, though, just in case.

"Minerva, what is happening now with Voldemort?" he asked. They were outside walking the grounds. The students would arrive the next day.

"He continues to attack Muggles and wizard families. Battles are being fought between aurors and Death Eaters. There are several students who have lost their parents, including your mother," she explained.

"Already? No wonder Aunt Petunia hates us," he said sadly.

Minerva raised her eyebrows, "She hates you?"

"Yes. I lived in the cupboard under the stairs until I got my Hogwarts letter. Hagrid still had to track us down to deliver it. My uncle wouldn't let me read it," he explained. This was an old wound, long healed and pale in comparison to the more recent pains. Minerva looked deeply upset, though, so he changed the subject. "Who's on the Gryffindor quidditch team? I know my father played...plays."

Minerva smiled. This was a topic she could talk about for hours. Quidditch was one of her passions. "That's right. He's a chaser, and team captain. Sirius Black is a beater along with Nymphadora Tonks, his cousin. The two other chasers are Frank Longbottom and Anne Vector. The keeper is Ryan Weasley and the seeker...I think we need a seeker this year. Do you play?"

Harry's eyes lit up. "You made me a seeker my first year."

"I did WHAT?" she exclaimed.

Harry told the story of Neville's rememberall and his first time on a broom. They spent the rest of the morning telling quidditch stories. Harry described every game he had played at Hogwarts and Minerva did the same. Oddly, they found themselves becoming friends. It was a strange situation for both of them. The Minerva McGonagall Harry knew was twenty years older and much more severe and stern. Harry was much more mature than a seventh year student. He had been forced to grow up too fast. Accompanied by grand hand gestures Harry also told her about the First Task in the Triwizard Tournament, when he had used his quidditch skills to get past a Hungarian Horntail dragon. After that conversation they flew together every day.

Harry looked in a mirror, still not used to what he saw. The potion had made his hair light blond, though not as white as Malfoy's, and a bit longer. The thick, wavy strands fell to his chin, no longer hiding his scar. His eyes were bright blue. He had magically corrected his vision during sixth year so he didn't need his glasses anymore. What was hardest was that when he looked in the mirror, instead of seeing his father looking back, he saw Albus Dumbledore. He ran a brush through his hair, able to tame it for the first time in his life, and left the room in his plain black robes. It felt strange that he wasn't wearing Gryffindor colors, but that would change tomorrow. He could wait that long.

He walked down to the entrance hall where he had to meet Minerva and the first year students. All transfer students had to get sorted. He reviewed his story in his head until he was sure he remembered all the details. The fewer people he had to memory charm the better. The scene in the entrance hall was very disconcerting. Many of the people entering the school looked just like their children or nieces and nephews that would attend Hogwarts in twenty years, but with slight differences. Harry picked out Ryan Weasley immediately. He looked exactly like Charlie, but with a different nose. Lucius Malfoy was a carbon copy of Draco Malfoy, but he wore his hair longer. Severus Snape walked in behind Lucius, clearly in the other boy's shadow. Harry felt his jaw clench at the sight of Belletrix Black. She was walking in with her little sister Narcissa. Harry would have to do his best to avoid all Slytherins.

The atmosphere in the entrance hall changed dramatically when the Marauders walked in. They were loud, happy, and exuberant. Looking at the four boys it was almost impossible to believe that one of them was werewolf, and three years later one would be dead, betrayed by another of them, and the final one wrongly imprisoned. One of them noticed Harry and nudged the others, whispering and pointed. Sirius was about as subtle as a ton of bricks, Harry thought fondly. Harry smiled and waved. They all waved back and James's eyes went wide. He whispered animatedly to his friends as they disappeared into the Great Hall.

McGonagall led Harry and the first years into the Great Hall.

"We have a transfer student this year. Harry Jameson is joining us for his seventh year." Minerva gestured towards the stool with the sorting hat.

Harry walked up to it, trying not to laugh at Dumbledore's little joke with his last name. He picked up the sorting and sat on the stool, placing the hat on his head. It fit much better than it had his first year. Harry had a moment of panic, remembering that the hat almost put him in Slytherin.

Ah, so you're the one Albus was telling me about. He tells me I'm not allowed to actually sort you. He says I have to wait fourteen years. Harry waited.

I can see why I put you in Gryffindor, though you would do justice to any house. I almost put you in Slytherin, you say? Yes, you would have done well there. But since you insisted, or will insist.....GRYFFINDOR!

Harry smiled and Minerva called the first new student. Harry left the hat on the stool and walked to the Gryffindor table amidst cheers. He sat down by the Marauders. He was pleased to see his mother and father sitting together. As he sat down next to Remus, Sirius reached over the table to James.

"That's twenty sickles to me Prongs. You said he'd go to Ravenclaw," Sirius declared loudly as the Ravenclaw table next to them cheered their first new house member.

James grumbled and pulled out some coins to drop in Sirius's hand. He brightened up quickly and introduced himself to Harry. "I'm James Potter, or Prongs as you've already heard. The lovely lady next to me is Lily Evans," she blushed and smiled at Harry. "The goof taking my money is Sirius Black, otherwise known as Padfoot. Next to you is Remus Lupin, also Moony. This here is Wormtail, Peter Pettigrew."

He shook all their hands. It was difficult to treat Wormtail normally, but his hatred of the man this boy would become was tempered by the image of his sentencing. Harry remembered watching the fear on Pettigrew's face as the Dementor approached, and hearing his mum's screams in his head, and then the dead look as only a shell of a man remained after the kiss sucked the soul out of his mouth. He snapped back to the present, or was it the past, when he heard his name.

"Harry? We lost you for a minute there. Where'd you go?" James was talking.

"Sorry. It was a...tough summer. Voldemort," everyone within hearing flinched, "killed my parents." Albus had just instructed Harry. The easiest way to lie was to tell the truth.

Remus squeezed his shoulder. Lily reached a hand out and he took it, feeling comfort from all sides. The sight of Albus's body falling to the killing curse as Voldemort laughed popped into his head. The truth was even truer than he realized. It was like he had lost a father again this summer.

"How did you get that scar?" Peter asked.

"There was this curse..." he let his voice trail off.

"You were there?" Lily asked incredulously.

Harry just nodded, not trusting himself to talk anymore. He closed his eyes and bit his lower lip hard, trying to compose himself. A hand gripped his other shoulder. The touch was familiar. Twelve years in Azkaban had not changed it. Sirius must have changed seats to sit next to him. He felt a pang of guilt but pushed it away. He took a few deep breaths and opened his eyes.

"So, do any of you play quidditch?" he asked, knowing the kind of conversation that would spark.

* * * * * * * *

Breakfast the next morning was a much happier meal. Harry was regaled with tales of spectacular last minute goals and saves, continuing the conversation from the previous night. The rest of the quidditch team made its way over to them once the food was gone and a strategy session ensued. James was the team Captain. The players on the other teams were pointed out to Harry. After Lily tried to get James's attention three times with no success she just shook her head, gave Remus a look, and left to join the other girls in her year. It turned out Ryan Weasley was the youngest Weasley in his generation. His father was a cousin of Arthur's father. He was a fifth year, and a new prefect. Anne Vector was also in fifth year. Tonks was a third year. She hit Sirius for introducing her to Harry using her first name and knocked over a pitcher of pumpkin juice in the process. Harry was the first to react and cleaned it up quickly.

"Fast on the draw. It looks like we have a good one for the dueling club. Now if he's a fast on a broom as he is with his wand..." Sirius said.

"What kind of broom do you fly Harry?" Tonks asked, fidgeting in her seat.

"Comet 260, Uncle Albus bought it for me," he answered.

"HA! I told you Sirius Black! Fork it over," James got his revenge.

Sirius stuck his tongue out at James and passed over two galleons. "Uncle Albus? What's the relationship? He's too old to be an actual uncle."

"He's my Great-Uncle," Harry responded.

"How come you're only starting Hogwarts now?" Ryan wanted to know.

"My parents liked to travel a lot," hey, anything was possible. "They taught me at home, or rather in whatever hotel we were staying in at the time."

"I just thought of something!" Sirius said.

"That's a first Padfoot." Remus taunted with a grin.

"Hey, my grades aren't that bad. I might actually qualify for auror training," Sirius responded.

"We know Padfoot. You just pretend to be stupid to get the girls," James said, "not that it works. So what's this epiphany?"

"Well, your name is James..."

"That's an epiphany?" Sirius smacked James.

"...and Harry's last name is Jameson, son of James!" Harry almost choked on his pumpkin juice as the rest of the table burst out laughing. For a moment Harry began to panic, thinking they had caught on to Dumbledore's joke. He realized they had, but not to the depth that it actually ran.

Lily heard the commotion and came back to see what was so funny. When Remus told her she grabbed Sirius's arm and dragged him out of the Great Hall, a very angry look on her face. He looked chastised when they came back to the table. Harry suspected that Lily had firmly lectured him for joking about his parents. Little did she know she was talking about herself and her boyfriend. Harry looked up to the head table and saw Dumbledore watching them. He forced a smile and the headmaster smiled back.

The first class he had was Astronomy. Lily and Remus were the only other seventh year Gryffindors in the class. They teamed up on him on the way to class.

"We're sorry about Sirius, Harry," Lily began.

"He really is smarter than he appears." Remus said.

Harry stopped walking and faced them. He felt odd. They were trying to explain the Marauder he knew best. "It's okay. He means well, but he just doesn't think before he talks."

Remus and Lily both looked at him with wonder. Harry decided he shouldn't have said anything. He wasn't really supposed to know any of them. He attempted some damage control, "It's obvious, like James would do anything for Lily, and Remus is the quiet, thoughtful one."

"You're pretty good at reading people." Remus said, sounding reluctant.

Lily started, "We're going to be late if we don't hurry. We have to get all the way to the other side of the castle."

Harry's first day of classes wasn't bad. Astronomy picked up pretty much where he had left off. They had Transfiguration that afternoon and started on human transformation. It was mostly a lecture. The practical lesson would be the following week. McGonagall explained the process of becoming an animagus in much more detail than her lessons to third year students. She stressed the importance of registering the animagus form with The Ministry. Harry guessed that was her attempt to lecture her wayward students. He made a point not to catch her eye during the lesson. It was hard enough to ignore the sniggers coming from James and Sirius. If he looked at Minerva he would start laughing, too. Harry amazed the Marauders with his practical knowledge in Transfiguration and Charms. In Defense Against the Dark Arts each student was tested at the beginning of the first class. Harry impressed everyone by winning a duel against Professor Martins.

The next full moon was still a few weeks away. Harry was trying to figure out how to reveal to the Marauders that he was an animagus. He knew they must be worried about leaving him alone in the room all night without getting suspicious. He was an insomniac ever since Sirius died and at least one of them must have noticed. Harry had caught them whispering a few times, only to stop when they noticed Harry approaching. Remus always looked annoyed with his friends at these times. Harry suspected that he was trying to convince them to stay away for this month at least and they were refusing. Remus was stubbornly independent. It had taken months for Harry to convince Remus to let Harry join him as a griffin during the full moon. He eventually decided that the direct approach was the best one, but he would have to wait until after the full moon. There weren't enough clues for anyone to figure it out yet.

* * * * * * * *

Quidditch tryouts were the second Saturday after classes started. Harry was yearning to play again. He hadn't flown since his summer practices with Minerva and was itching to get back on a broom. He hadn't been able to fly as a griffin either. After two weeks he felt like he was chained to the ground. He hadn't gone that long without flying in over a year. After learning the disillusionment charm and getting a special dispensation from The Ministry to perform magic during the summer, he had gone flying in his animagus form frequently at the Dursleys' house. There were only three people trying out for the empty seeker position. Harry was up against a third year student and a forth year student.

James had the entire team flying during the tryouts. The beaters were aiming strictly for the potential seekers and the chasers and keeper were practicing regularly. All three potential team members had to try to be the first to the snitch. Harry kicked off the ground quickly, relishing the feel of the wind whipping through his hair. He had tied it back, something he never had to do before, to keep it out of his face. With an expert eye he searched for the snitch while keeping an eye on the other two potentials. One of them, the forth year, was not a very good flier. He would be easy to beat. The third year was pretty good on her broom. She looked for the snitch carefully, but wasn't paying enough attention to the other seekers.

Harry decided to have a little fun. It wasn't a very fair contest, as Harry had played seeker for four and a half years (quidditch was cancelled during the Triwizard Tournament and he was banned during his fifth year). He whipped his broom around and shot towards the ground. He was pulling a Wronski Feint, though he wasn't sure if it was called that yet. Both students trying out saw him dive and followed, thinking he had seen the snitch. He wasn't sure how quickly the broom could brake, so he pulled up before he normally would. As he was rising he heard one of the two others crash and winced. It was probably the forth year boy. He turned and saw that the third year girl had pulled out of her dive just in time. She hadn't been flying as fast as Harry. Lily was watching and ran onto the field to take care of any possibly injuries. He was just a little stunned and got back on his broom.

As he continued to rise out of the dive he caught a flash of gold behind the chasers. He dodged a bludger aimed in his direction by Sirius. They had picked out that he was the better flyer and was singling him out with the bludgers. As he shot toward the snitch he ducked to avoid the other bludger. He kept his body low against his broom for better aerodynamics. He spiraled and turned to avoid the black balls that Tonks and Sirius were hitting in his direction. The snitch was almost between the two seekers, who had not seen it. Harry came up right behind them and saw another bludger headed his way. If he caught the snitch he would get hit. He accepted the danger as he had been hit many times in his life already. He stretched out his hand and his fingers closed around the tiny metal ball. The white wings beat against his closed fist. Harry heard someone yell his name as a bludger hit his right shoulder.

He heard a snap and knew that bone was broken. His flight path took him between the chasers, who had slowed when the heard the bludger hit. By the location of the pain, Harry guessed his collarbone was broken. He took deep regular breaths to help fight the pain as an older Remus had taught him one evening. Werewolves understood pain. He landed and took the snitch out his right hand with his left. Moving his right arm from its position across his chest would be a very bad idea right now. The rest of the team landed and crowded around him. Tonks ran up to him as soon as she landed. Sirius, Ryan Weasley, and Frank Longbottom were chasing after the bludgers to get them back in the box.

"Harry! I'm so sorry! Why didn't you dodge?" Tonks looked distraught.

"It's okay Tonks, just a collarbone. I had to catch the snitch. It happens," he said. That sort of thing was normally accompanied by a shrug and his shoulders reflexively attempted it. That pain made him wince and he was sure all the color drained from his face.

Lily took his right arm in her left hand and placed her right hand on the small of his back. "You're going to the hospital wing. Quidditch!"

"Hold on a sec," he said. "James!"

"Harry?" James responded, looking worried.

Harry held out the snitch with a forced smile. James took it and smiled back. Harry let Lily lead him back up to the castle while the team discussed the tryout. The result was pretty obvious, but it would mean adding a forth seventh year student to the team. Four players was a lot to lose at the end of the season.

"That must hurt a lot Harry," Lily said, concern in her voice.

Harry's heart almost melted at his mother's obvious care for him. "I've had worse. Cruciatis hurts much more."

Lily stopped in her tracks, almost causing Harry to trip. He was an excellent flier, but all grace departed when his feet touched the ground. She stood there staring at him, eyes wide, for at least a minute for managing to speak. He winced under her scrutiny.

"You've been under the Cruciatis Curse?" she asked incredulously.

"Er, yeah," he mumbled. He wasn't supposed to talk about things like that. The pain must be affecting his thinking process.

"Who did that to you? They're in Azkaban now, right?" she demanded, furious that someone had performed an Unforgivable Curse on him.

"No, he's not, but not for lack of trying on The Ministry's part."

"Who....not....not Him?"

Mix a little truth with the lie, Harry reminded himself. "Yeah. He was after my parents. They weren't just a random attack."

"Oh, Harry! That must have been terrible. How did you get away?" Lily's eyes were tearing in sympathy.

"I'm not sure. I didn't think I was going to. It was a huge battle," Harry's mouth was on automatic. The final battle replayed in his mind. "I saw him fall. The flash of green light just hit his chest and he fell. One moment I was fighting and then there was all this pain. The next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital wing. I didn't know where I was but Albus and Minerva were there."

"Lily? Harry?" a familiar voice said.

"Moony?" Harry's brain was still on automatic.

A hand touched his right shoulder lightly, but it was enough to bring Harry bring back. He sucked in a breath and almost fell to his knees. Remus caught his arms and held him up.

"What is going on here?" he asked.

"Harry! I forgot about your shoulder! I'm so sorry!" The tears falling from Lily's eyes increased.

Harry bit his lower lip and steadied himself. He reached out his left arm to lean on Remus. "Don't worry about me Lily. I'm a magnet for trouble. If I don't get hurt once a month I start to wonder if something's wrong."

They started for the hospital wing again, Harry letting Remus support most of his weight.

"No one answered my question," Remus pointed out.

"Quidditch Remus, what else?" Lily said. She clearly disapproved of all the injuries quidditch resulted in.

"I don't know why you go to practices Lil. So, did Harry make the team?"

"After that performance he must have. I've never seen anyone fly like that," she described the tryouts as they neared the hospital wing. She didn't tell Remus about the conversation in the entrance hall.