Sebastian Delacour prided himself on being a rational thinker even in the most dire of situations but when facing the two people responsible for the almost decade of suffering Harrison had been through, it took great effort to supress his fury from reaching his mouth. "You mind telling me what happened eight years ago?" he asked evenly without breaking eye contact with James. Lily paled, James glared and Pomfrey watched on in barely restrained confusion. "Now you listen here, whoever you are," James growled as he clenched his fists,"the Potter family's business is none of your concern, never has, never will be. What gives you the right to comment on past happenings you know nothing about?" Lily placed a hand on James' shoulder in an attempt to calm him down as Sebastian just stared coldly. "It became my business when at the age of ten the boy appeared in a ball of flame, half dead, in the grounds of my home in France. So why don't you try again Mr Potter. Do you mind telling me what happened eight years ago?"
The question was more stated by Sebastian than asked. He already knew what had happened, of course, but he had wanted to hear the Potters' account and admission of guilt. James looked thoroughly enraged as Sebastian sat there adorning a stoney expression whilst attempting to interrogate him. "Of course, I could always raise an enquiry with the British Ministry. I have a friend there from the days I spent as an auror- Amelia Bones is her name, you may know her?" James blanched, if the DMLE found out about him willingly abandoning his son he would be done for.
Legally, they mightn't touch him which he wasn't as relieved about as he should have been. His main worry was that if they were informed then they could bring it to the Wizengamot and he would be cast out of the alliances the past generations of his family had built. He swallowed hard and faced his teary-eyed wife. She nodded at him and he opened his mouth to speak but the door to the infirmary was flung open.
Standing in the entrance was a smiling Dumbledore, a stern-faced McGonagall, a bweildered looking Alexander and Snape who was surprisingly red-faced and furious. "Mum, Dad? What's happening?" Alexander said trying to crane his neck to see who was in the bed. When he walked forwards, he recognised the pale blonde hair and a smrik crept its way onto his face as he looked down on the bedridden student. "Serves him right the arrogant prat." Alexander said, barely containing the pride in his voice. "15 points from Gryffindor, Mr Potter," a voice echoed against the walls of the Hospital Wing. Everyone turned to face Professor McGonagall in surprise as she would seldom take points from her lions, especially more than 10. "I will not have you stand there and insult one of my best students."
More astonishment from the adults this time. Harrison's class grades weren't exactly secret as all students' grades- good and bad- were often discussed in staff meetings and he was regularly bottom of the class in Transfiguration, Charms and Potions. Alexander was seething at being told off and at his good-for-nothing brother being held in high regards by McGonagall. "Best?" Alexander laughed,"he can't even cast a levitation charm and slacks off in all his classes! I'm far better than him at magic!" Alexander whined, staring at McGonagall before turning to his parents. "Tell them!" he exclaimed,"Dad, tell them how much better I am than Harrison at magic!" The two heads of house stared on in astonishment as Dumbledore watched the scene unfold in front of him. "Have you ever thought as to why the boy struggles with his magic so much?" an accented voice ran cold across the Hospital Wing, causing Alexander to flinch slightly, James to wince and McGonagall to shiver. Everyone turned their heads to Sebastian Delacour sat at Harrison's bedside, clutching the boy's hand with his own.
"Have you ever wondered as to why he is almost a squib in regards to our magic?" he asked as he began to stand up. "It's because of the imbalance in his magical core due to him being a druid." There were several gasps around the room at this, one from Lily, another from McGonagall and finally from Pomfrey who had returned to scold the owners of the shouting voices. "Unlike us normal wizards whose cores are a mix of Natural and Human magic with the majority taken up by Human magic, Harrison's core is the polar opposite to that. He excells at nature magic while struggles with even the most basic of spellcasting. If he knew how to fully control his nature magic- like normal children who stop accidental magic as they age- then he wouldn't be stuck with being unable to use spells. He does not know how to properly use his magic at all! In the little over a month I had with him, I tried to teach him all I could on controlling himself so that he wouldn't accidentally hurt others as he never had the parent figures in his early life to do it for him!" he ranted, glaring at Lily and James who just sat in stunned silence.
"And you, the oh-so-mighty, infallable, untouchable, Leador of Light, Albus Dumbledore," he rounded on the headmaster, fire raging in his eyes,"forcing him to live with those despicable mundanes! Have you no shame for yourself? You were warned of the possible dire consequences of leaving the boy there by the less foolish of the two parents-only-in-blood and yet you still left him there alone, unwanted and unloved, forgotten and afraid. Do you know what state the poor boy was in when he appeared within the grounds of my home? You would pale at the image of some of the things I have seen! You are lucky he's even lived this long you blind, pompous prick!" Sebastian Delacour was utterly seething as he finished his speech, breathing heavily as his magic spilled out around him and cascaded against the walls. There was total silence in the Hospital Wing, nobody willing to move or make a sound that could trigger the Frenchman's wrath.
Alexander was the first to recover from Sebastian's tirade and spluttered as he attempted to formulate a sentence but was beaten to the punch by Snape. "I can't believe you thought giving him to that awful woman would have brought him any form of protection," he hissed staring at Lily who had a distant expression as if she had been placed under the imperious curse. He wanted to continue but stopped as the quiet shifting of bed sheets brought everyone's attention to Harrison.
Sebastian ran over and sat down in his chair again, placing Harrison's hand in his and whispering into his ear. As he came to, Harrison stared blankly at the ceiling as he took a few moments to register where he was. He took in the hurried whispers and breath on his ears as his senses began to return to him and recognised it as French. He tilted his head to his left and saw Sebastian Delacour sitting at his side, whispering comfortingly in his ear and holding his hand. Harrison smiled and squeezed on Sebastian's hand as the frenchman smiled back at him.
He sat up, his whole body ached as he shifted his weight to rest against the headboard. He looked at the group of adults staring at him and he shrunk back down into his bed, clutching Sebastian's hand even tighter. Sebastian lifted his other hand and patted the back of Harrison's comfortingly as he smiled at him. Harrison nodded at the man and coughed, at which Sebastian handed him a glass of water that he drained within a few seconds. "What happened?" he said almost quiet enough to not make a sound. "You had a really violent panic attack in the common room Mr Potter," McGonagall said softly, her stern expression completely vanished,"the members of the Quidditch team alerted me to the problem but, when I arrived, the man on your left was already there and carried you to the Hospital Wing which is where you are now. You gave us all quite the scare, Mr Potter. Are you feeling better now?"
Harrison blinked a few times before a loud groan interrupted. "See, he's clearly fine he's only done it to get a little bit of attention," the whiney voice of Alexander rung out. Sebastian stood and drew his wand, his temple pulsing from his rage causing James, Lily and Dumbledore to draw their own and point them at him. "You get that vile little boy out of this infirmary, right now!" he snapped in a heavy accent,"I will not tolerate such insults towards my son in all but blood any longer!" Harrison looked on astonished, Sebastian had said he sees him as a son. His eyes filled with tears as his chest felt warm, but they were not tears of despair or pain- they were tears of relief, almost joy. He blinked a few times, trying to dispell them as he stood up and leaned on Sebastian's shoulder. He moved past the frenchman towards the group of British. Lily tried to reach out to her son but he slapped her hand away which earned a silent sob from her and a growl from James.
Harrison continued on, his eyes focused on Alexander as he limped forwards towards the glaring redhead. As soon as he realised what was happening, he drew his wand and began to raise it. "L-L-Levicor-" Alexander stammered but Harrison lifted his hand and slapped the wand from the redhead's grip. Alexander started to take steps back but fell onto his back when his heels hit something. He looked away from Harrison for a monent to see what he had fallen on and found tree roots and vines slowly wrapping themselves up his body like a devil's snare. Alexander's eyes widened as Harrison formed a small whirlwind in his palm like he had in the charms class on the first day of term. He squeaked and whimpered as his brother knelt next to his head, lowering the whirlwind near his face. Suddenly, the blonde stopped and turned his head upwards to his right. Alexander followed his gaze and found the strange man standing above them, his hand placed gently on Harrison's shoulder her stood up and moved away.
The vines around Alexander's legs slowly unravelled, allowing him to stand. He scrambled to his feet and stumbled towards his parents, clutching his mother's side and sobbing with fright as she stroked his hair to calm him down. The door to the Hospital Wing was flung open, startling the group already present. Pomfrey was about to complain but shut her mouth when she saw who was stood in the door. A woman with blonde hair tied into a ponytail dressed in formal clothing was flanked by a dark skinned man in red robes and a light skinned man with curly black hair, also in formal wear. They took a look at the scene: the three potters huddled at a bedside on the left of the room with Dumbledore next to them, Snape and McGonagall in the centre of the room, a dark haird man kneeling in front of a blonde boy who was sat on a bed on the right side and finally Pomfrey who was stood holding two potions in her hand.
The newcomers strode into the room, the man in red robes going to Dumbledore, the blonde woman approaching Harrison and Sebastian with the darkhaired man standing slightly stunned in the middle of the room. He looked to the left, his best friend- practically brother- was stood with an arm around his son, trying to comfort the boy whilst on the right, a man he did not know softly scolding a boy with emerald green eyes and pale blonde hair that he recognised. "Sirius?" He heard James say, he didn't turn his gaze from the blonde boy, his hand twitched. He took a deep breath and began to walk. He swallowed hard as he reached the bedside where the blonde boy was sat, he wouldn't hear the end of this from James afterwards. He crouched down next to Sebastian and looked up at the blonde boy and saw his emerald eyes, they were almost exactly the same as Lily's.
"Harry?" He breathed, a forlorn expression overriding his earlier stern one. Harrison gazed for a moment, realisation dawning on his face,"Uncle Padfoot?" he whispered and the man got a closer look at Harrison's eyes. He knew that look all to well, the look of someone who has constantly been put down and broken by those supposed to protect him. He glared at his realisation causing Harrison to flinch back slightly. "Harry, where have you been? I searched everywhere but couldn't find you. I tried to ask your parents but they just told me you were in a safe house all these years." Sirius rasped as tears began to form in his eyes before turning to face James and standing up. "Some fucking safe house you left him in then!" he barked, the glare returning to his face. James stood up and faced Sirius,"Padfoot, please, it was for his own good- for the greater good!" James replied.
Wrong answer. Sirius drew his wand and sent a barrage of stinging hexes at James. "The 'greater good'? You abandoned your son- my godson- in an unloving home for the greater good? What if he had died James!" Sirius bellowed as he stopped flinging hexes but his wand stayed trained on James who just stared in astonishment at his best friend. "Why wasn't he sent to live with me if he needed to be kept safe?" Sirius growled,"Grimmauld Place and Black Manor have plenty of protective wards and I changed the secret keeper so the rest of my undesirable relatives can't access them. So why was the boy left to die with the Dursleys instead of given to me to protect?" Everyone looked on at the two arguing men with a mixture of pride, guilt and astonishment. "Have you looked at his eyes?" Sirius said abruptly, tightening his grip on his wand. James pondered for a moment as he looked at Harrison.
"He has Lily's eyes?" James croaked and winced as he narrowly avoided Sirius' bludgeoning hex. "I meant properly looked at them!" Sirius roared,"you might find something familiar within them if you look long enough." he grumbled and holstered his wand while turning to Dumbledore. "And you, stupid old fart. I've revoked your access to the Black vaults at Gringotts and have blocked your entry into any and all Black properties. I will be leaving your stupid Order- not that it was effective anyways- and will be enjoying spending as much time with my godson as possible." Sirius turned and went to Harrison, leaving everyone in stunned silence. Dumbledore wore his usual grandfatherly expression but inside he was seething. How dare Sirius defy him so openly, couldn't he see everything he did was for the greater good? And what did he mean the Order was ineffective, it was the only reason Voldemort didn't take total control!
"What about Alex!" James yelled,"you just going to abandon him? He's the Boy-Who-Lived, for Merlin's sake, Padfoot! He needs tutoring and training if he's going to defeat Voldemort!" James flicked his wand to deflect the cluster of black flames that rocketed towards him. "What is wrong with you! Are you trying to kill me?" James yelled as he took a few steps towards Sirius and was about to cast a spell, the magic ready at the tip of his wand. "Enough!" Amelia shouted,"the pair of you, for once, act like the responsible adults you are supposed to be! Mr Potter, take your son and wife and leave, you are not needed to be present for this." she looked at James, adorning a stern expression that could rival McGonagall's. When James didn't move, she gave a look to Kingsley who started gently pulling James out of the Hospital Wing by the arm. "Dumbledore, please escort yourself and your staff out of the Hospital Wing, you're presence may disturb the boy and I won't be having that." Amelia snapped, glaring at the headmaster who opened his mouth to argue but seeing her expression he walked out with Snape and McGonagall close behind and shut the door.
"Harrison, I'm Amelia Bones- head of the DMLE and friend of Sebastian." she reached out a hand to Harrison to shake but he flinched away and cowered behind Sebastian. She looked at him with confusion as Sebastian sighed and shook his head. Sirius looked on with an indifferent expression but inside he was outraged. "Harry, what did they do to you?" Sirius whispered,"how much did they hurt you?" Harrison looked at the floor, the only sound in the room was the light patting of his tears falling to the cobbled floors. That was all Sirius needed, he looked at Amelia who looked at the boy solemnly before standing up and walking to the door. Sirius stayed, conjuring a chair to sit in front of Harrison and just watched his godson closely. Sebastian moved and put an arm around the blonde's shoulders and pulled him to his side, rubbing small circles comfortingly on his arm. Pomfrey walked over and placed a potion on the nightstand next to the bed before disappearing into her office with a sigh.
------------------------------------------------------
2963 words
A/N: Another chapter down and I'm hoping to have the year end in the next few chapters which should be easy with having 3000 words per chapter.
I hope you enjoyed this one, reviews and critiques are greatly appreciated as well. :)