~*~

In the smallest bedroom (on the smallest bed) of Number four, Privet drive lay a rumpled haired teenager. He appeared to be moping, as most teenagers do on rainy June afternoons when they have nothing to do. However, Harry Potter was not your ordinary teenager and he was not sulking over the fact that the weather did not permit him to ride his skateboard. You see, Harry Potter was a wizard and he was brooding (as he often seems to be at the beginning of fics such as these) over the death of his godfather, Sirius Black.

To Harry, the walls of the small room (that had originally been his spoilt cousin Dudley’s second bedroom) seemed to be squeezing him. Pushing more memories of Sirius out from where he was trying to hide them in his brain. The rain was pelting down hard and as it fell, Harry tried not to imagine it as his tears, which he was trying very hard to hold in.

Harry shook his head; he needed to stop thinking about Sirius. For the first week he had evaded such thoughts by throwing himself into his homework, as he had rarely done before. However, now his homework was completed and at a quality that even Hermione, the brightest witch in his class and close friend, would have difficulty topping. Now it was the second week and he had been laying about doing nothing. (Except maybe painting the random picture of Hedwig that finds its way onto the Harry Potter movie sets.)

His owl’s, Hedwig’s, cage lay empty. She was out delivering post. Because that was the way wizards communicated, by owl. He stood up, he’d had enough, and he needed to get out of the house even it was pouring. Maybe he could go to Mrs. Figg’s. He hadn’t talked to her much since their fateful encounter with the Dementors in the alleyway last summer.

Harry shuddered, remembering that night when he had followed Dudley home. Angry at the death of Cedric Diggory, he had foolishly taken it out on Dudley and confronted him with a wand. It wasn’t as though Dudley hadn’t deserved it, Harry had reasoned, after all, this was the boy who had used him for a punching bag in his early years. However, before Harry had been tempted to curse his nefarious cousin, a Dementor, dark creatures that sucks out joy, had arrived on the scene. Instead of causing grievance on Dudley, Harry had saved his soul. True, not in your typical missionary style but it was saved nonetheless.

And it was Mrs. Figg who had appeared running at him. Mrs. Figg whom Harry had remembered solely as the lady with many cats and funny tasting chocolate cake. She had turned out to be a Squib, or wizard born Muggle. The only Squib Harry had met other than the caretaker at his school, Argus Filch. With her help, (Mrs. Figg’s not Filch’s) Harry had managed to drag Dudley home and been sprung from his summer prison.

Unfortunately, he now knew that he could not escape Number four for a little while more. Still he needed to get out his bedroom and stop thinking constantly of Sirius. He opened the door of his bedroom and began descending the stairs. He could hear voices at the bottom.

“You tell the boy!�

“No, it’s your turn! Dudders, your coat’s a bit mussed.�

“Mum!�

It was the Dursleys. A wry smile twisted Harry’ s lips. While most boys don’t exactly revel spending time with their family, Harry had good reason not to like it. For the first ten years of his life, these people had made his life miserable, constantly pushing him down to make sure he didn’t fit in with society.

Creak!

In his efforts to listen to the Dursley’s conversation, Harry had forgotten to watch his step. By mistake, he had stepped on the squeaky stair at the bottom of the second landing. He realized this and tried to pull his foot back, but it was too late. The trained ears of Aunt Petunia, always so convenient for catching morsels of gossips, had heard the noise. She whipped her head around to stare at Harry. Harry stared back. Slowly Uncle Vernon swiveled his head (an amazing feat for someone with no neck) to look at his nephew. When he caught sight of Harry, his face turned a shade of purple rarely seen on human faces. Ever since he had been threatened and humiliated by Harry’s friends (it was an act of goodwill) he would stop talking whenever his nephew was around. Another consequence was that Uncle Vernon’s face would flush a plethora of colors in the efforts it took him to bite back harsh comments directed at Harry.

“Mum, all the other guys have mussed coats, why won’t you let me keep mine mussed?�

Slow as ever, it was Dudley Dursley, Harry’s cousin. Actually, he had become faster physically (it tends to happen when you change from killer-whale-body to wrestler-body) though mentally, he was still lagging behind a bit. When his mother did not reply for a minute, he finally figured that something was up. So he cautiously turned and saw his cousin. Harry stared right back through all of this. It would have been an eternity of silence (literally) had not Petunia prodded Vernon into action.

“Boy!� he shouted, another prod came from Aunt Petunia so he decided to lower his tone a little bit, his face paled from magenta to the gentle pink of dewy roses, “What are you doing here?�

“Well, considering that I live here,� Harry responded lightly, “I was planning to go for a bit of a walk. Why?� he asked, surveying his relatives’ courteous attire, “ Are you going anywhere?�

“No!� Vernon shouted at first on instinct, then he thought better of it. “Yes!�

“What your Uncle Vernon means to say,� Aunt Petunia filled in for her husband’s lack of verbal comprehension, “is that we are going out.�

“And you are staying here!� Uncle Vernon added.

“No! We can’t do that! He might run off and then we’ll be blamed!� Aunt Petunia protested.

“Good riddance,� muttered Uncle Vernon under his breath. At the sharp look of his wife, however, he reconsidered. “Well what do you suggest we do with him then?�

“Bring him along with us!� Aunt Petunia explained.

“Where are you going?� Harry asked over the melee. Both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon stopped to look at him. The moment had potential to become the next eternity of silence, but this time Aunt Petunia spoke up.

“We are going to Dudley’s psychiatry session,� Aunt Petunia explained. When she correctly interpreted Harry’s confused expression as ‘my cousin sees a shrink?’ she smoothly continued, “Dudders has had some little issues that his school suggested he sort out.�

“Oh,� Harry said, correctly interpreting Aunt Petunia’s answer to ‘the school staff is concerned about Dudley’s aggressive nature because he is five times as strong as them’, then he realized that his relatives wanted to bring him along. “No! I’m not going!�

“Harry, I think you should!� Aunt Petunia insisted fervently.

“Petunia! If the boy doesn’t want to go he doesn’t want to go,� Uncle Vernon lamented, “We don’t need to force him to come along with us! Besides, those sessions are ridiculously expensive.�

“But Dr. Vesanus gave us that free session today,� Aunt Petunia pointed out, “only she wouldn’t let us use it for Dudley.�

“She did? Why?� Uncle Vernon asked confused.

“Some nonsense about marriage counseling,� Aunt Petunia replied stiffly, obviously hurt by the idea that the psychiatrist thought she needed it.

“Oh yeah,� Uncle Vernon stated slowly. It’s obvious which side Dudley gets his brain from. Uncle Vernon didn’t really like the idea of marriage counseling. In his opinion (which he has a lot of) psychiatry is for “people who cannot be helped so don’t waste money on them in the first place!�

Harry didn’t have a chance; he was in the car and hurtling towards Dudley’s shrink before he could Floo himself to the Weasleys.

~*~

After about an hour of awkward silence in Uncle Vernon’s company car, they arrived at the building. Aunt Petunia grabbed her son’s thick arm and pulled him inside. Uncle Vernon waited until Harry followed them before entering as well. After a tedious elevator ride with odd elevator music, they arrived on the second floor. It was a long, white hallway. The glass door directly in front of the elevator read: Drs Delirus and Vesanus Counseling for the Unstable, Neurotic, Worried and Bored.

Still quiet, Aunt Petunia (Dudley still in tow) walked inside the office. Harry followed behind her, and Uncle Vernon brought up the queue.

Once inside, Harry found the waiting room to be a rather comfy place. With straight leather couches and warm, wood grained coffee tables. There were nearby magazine racks stock full of the latest issues in all subscriptions. A large T.V. sat on one side of the room. Dudley immediately sat in front of this, as though it were an ancient custom instinctively imbued into his system.

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley! How delightful to see you!� cried a young, slim woman. She wore a gray skirt suit with neat, straight lines over a white silk blouse. Her long brown hair was neatly coiled and pinned to the back of her head and her glasses were arranged perfectly straight.

“Very well, thank you Dr. Vesanus,� Aunt Petunia replied a bit nervously, clutching her handbag extra tight.

“Oh, how many time must I ask you to call me Ingrid? And where’s Dudley?� asked Dr. Vesanus politely, she tottered over on her five inch, grey heels to where Dudley was sitting. “There you are!�

Dudley, the South-East boxing champion, whimpered under the kind gaze of the lovely young woman.

“And who have we here?� now, Dr. Vesanus walked back over to where the Dursleys were standing, as well as Harry.

“Uh, er, this is my, um, nephew, uh, Harry Potter!� Uncle Vernon stated, moving Harry in front of him, as though he expected his nephew to shield him from the onset that he expected to ensue.

“Yes,� Aunt Petunia put in, “since you offered that free session to us, well, we decided it was best not to be selfish, so we gave it to him!�

“A sort of early birthday present!� Uncle Vernon added. Harry snorted; the Dursleys had a knack of picking out rotten birthday presents for him. The last one he could remember was a hanger and a pair of repulsive socks. The socks had made a useful present to a happy house-elf though.

“Oh really,� Dr. Vesanus paused here, and surveyed the Dursleys with a critical eye. They cowered back under her gaze. “Well, I’ll simply have to give you another one today so you ALL can sort your problems out.�

“Oh, you really don’t need to,� Aunt Petunia insisted, “We don’t want to be taking up too much of your time…�

“Oh don’t worry! You’re my only clients!� Dr. Vesanus assured her. Oddly enough, it didn’t really work.

“What about Dr. Delirus?� Harry asked.

“Oh, her?� Dr. Vesanus voiced lightly, “She’s my twin sister. Don’t worry; you’ll meet her soon! Now, just make yourselves comfortable while I talk with Dudley!�

Dudley scowled and got out of his prized seat. He grudgingly stomped in the direction of the office door. Harry slowly sat down on one of the couches. It felt brand new, he blandly flipped through some magazines, but nothing really caught his eye. At least he wasn’t thinking about Sirius!

~*~

“Now, Dudley, how’s your week been?� inquired Dr.Vesanus kindly.

“It’s been, uh, it’s been good,� Dudley whispered from the couch he was laying on. To be accurate, it is actually two couches pushed together so that Dudley could fit on it. Dr.Vesanus sat nearby, cross-legged with a pad of paper in her hands as well as an ink pen. At Dudley’s response, she softly wrote Nervous.

“Your cousin is here, how do you feel about that?� she asked calmly.

“Uh, well, a bit worried really,� Dudley began, “I mean the school he goes to and all…�

“What school?� prompted Dr.Vesanus when Dudley clamped his mouth shut. Dudley kept his mouth shut and shook his head vigorously. Dr.Vesanus was confused; patients only did this when a subject they didn’t want to talk about was broached. But what could Dudley possibly have to fear of his cousin’s school?

Maybe she was getting to far ahead of herself, she reasoned. Maybe it was just the general idea of school that frightened him. She wrote School? on her yellow notepad and prodded further, “Do you like school?�

Dudley exhaled, “Well, school’s okay, the guys treat me better now that I’ve become top wrestler.�

His response puzzled Dr.Vesanus, obviously school wasn’t the problem, she added a second question mark to her notepaper. Maybe it was his cousin who frightened him, or maybe just his school. After all, the former had been rather kind and attractive. She decided to venture one more question about his mysterious cousin’s school, she hoped the careful wording she was about to use would pry more information out of Dudley, “Is there anything…unusual about your cousin’s school?�

Again, Dudley clamped his mouth shut. This increased Dr.Vesarus’s curiosity about, what was his name? Oh yes, Harry. She needed to find out what was so wrong with him, she leaned forward. “Is it the classmates at his school? The staff? Has anything overly traumatic happened to you while you were visiting either his school or his classmates?�

Dudley could keep his mouth shut no longer. “They gave me a pig’s tail!� he blurted out, embarrassed.

Dr.Vesanus leaned back. A pig’s tail? She didn’t really know what to make of it, obviously it wasn’t as though they had anatomically connected the tail of a pig to his backside. She drew a picture of a pig’s bottom on her notepad before continuing, “How did they do that?�

“With a pink umbrella!� Dudley whimpered from his couch. He moved his hands from his sides to underneath in order to make sure his bottom was still tail-free.

A pink umbrella? Now Dr.Vesanus understood, Harry must have attached the pink umbrella to the back of his pants, it would not have been hard to do, umbrellas have a curved handle ideal for that kind of purpose. But she couldn’t understand why such an incident was so worrisome. She delicately queried, “What upset you most about this ‘pig-tail’ incident?�

“It hurt a lot when they had to remove it,� Dudley sobbed softly. Remove it? Dr.Vesanus wondered. The prank had thickened. This was more than hanging the handle of the umbrella on the back of pants. This Harry sounded clever and creative, Dr.Vesanus couldn’t wait to get him on her couch. She drew an umbrella stabbing the pig’s rear on her notepad.

“St. Brutus’s for Incurably Criminal Boys,� Dudley spoke up suddenly. Dr.Vesanus leaned forward to make sure she’d heard right.

“Come again?� she asked.

“That’s the school he goes to,� Dudley explained.

Dr.Vesanus leaned back, nodding to herself sagely. So Potter was a bad boy, he was becoming more fascinating by the minute. Still, she needed to concentrate on Dudley right now, spineless porker though he was. But could she resist the delicious topic of this Potter boy? Maybe she could combine the two, “Has your cousin played other pranks on you?�

Dudley began rocking back and forth on his double couch. Dr.Vesanus waited for him to speak, for a while he didn’t. Just when she was about to give up hope: “Once one of his friends gave me some toffee, and afterwards I couldn’t talk right and my tongue felt all swollen.�

Dr.Vesanus wrote drugged toffee on her notepad. “Did you ever get an urge for more ‘toffee’ after that first try?�

“No!� Dudley exclaimed, “My parents were so angry, my dad was throwing china ornaments at Harry.�

Understandable, she had sensed the couple needed therapy the moment they had entered her office. Dr.Vesanus wrote abusive use of passive objects on the side of her paper. She could refer back to that when she questioned them. “Are you the only victim in these attacks?� her voice was smooth and calm.

“No,� Dudley admitted, “when we were thirteen, my Aunt Marge came to visit. And she always makes cracks about Harry’s parents. And he got so mad at her…�

Dudley had stopped unsure as to how to continue. Little did he notice that Dr.Vesanus was on the edge of her seat, waiting for him to continue. When it became obvious that he was afraid to, Dr.Vesanus decided it would be time to resort to her old tactic of prying words from her patients.

“Let it out Dudley, let it out,� she murmured, coming over to where he was laying, cheeks puffed in an effort to keep the words in. Dr.Vesanus carefully bent over and gently tried to pull apart the lips. It worked; the words so safely held inside Dudley Dursley’s mouth erupted.

“HE BLEW HER UP!� Dudley expelled as all the air rushed out.

Dr.Vesanus nearly fell over in excitement. How scandalous this Harry Potter must be! She was surprised she hadn’t seen this in the tabloids (and she did read those frequently). “What else has he done?� she asked eagerly.

“He tried to set a bush on fire,� Dudley rushed on, now all the air was coming out, “and Mum beat him with a broom.�

Dr.Vesanus scribbled a little tally next to her abusive object comment and nodded for Dudley to continue while she doodled little flames consuming the pig’s rear she had drawn earlier.

“Well, uh,� Dudley searched his head for various misdeeds, “he shrunk a sweater that one time. And then there were all these letters he was getting. It drove Dad insane…�

“Letters?� asked Dr.Vesanus, inquisitive as always.

“Yeah, it was the weirdest thing,� Dudley shrugged, “they were actually from his school and Dad wasn’t to happy about him getting into there so he didn’t answer the letter. But it was like they were watching us because they knew where Harry was sleeping. And so then Dad moved us to this little island in the middle of nowhere and that’s when they came for him. This big giant grabbed him and took him off.�

Dr.Vesarus eagerly deciphered this piece of information. Harry was put into a school (St. Brutus’s for Incurably Criminal Boys) and Mr. Dursley was upset about that. Well, naturally, who wouldn’t be upset to find out their nephew was an incurable criminal? But Harry had been watched (no doubt by the secret police) and they knew where he slept. For one vain moment, Dr.Vesarus wished she possessed that information as well. So, Harry was watched by the secret police, no doubt for some crime he’d done. And then his uncle had moved the whole family into hiding! Harry Potter had been a refuge! It was all so romantic poor Dr.Vesanus nearly burst into tears.

It would be best for her to end the session now. What was her usual closing statement? Ah yes, “Anything else you wish to tell me?� she intoned sweetly.

“Uh, no. Thank you doctor!� Dudley fled from the room, relieved. Dr.Vesarus sat back to daydream about the marvelous, rebellious, romantic Harry Potter.

~*~

Harry was sitting in the waiting room, looking at a book of 3-D pictures and trying to make sense of them. He couldn’t. The door opened, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, who had been complaining about psychiatrists the whole time looked up anxiously. Dudley came running out and plopped down immediately in front of his favorite chair.

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley?� asked the ever-polite Dr.Vesanus.

Both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon exchanged glances. They got off of their couch and walked through the door stiffly. Harry watched them leave. He then noticed that Dr.Vesanus was staring at him rather intently. When he met her gaze, she arched an eyebrow at him and winked. Then she ran one of her nicely manicured hands down her side and strutted back into her office before shutting her door.

Thoroughly perplexed, Harry shook his head. If he didn’t know any better (he really didn’t), he’d have said Dr.Vesanus was flirting with him. But that was absurd. He turned to Dudley.

“So, Ickle Diddydums, how’d it go?�

Dudley glowered at the T.V. screen for a few minutes, he didn’t generally like being called by his mother’s nicknames, but he didn’t really want to confront his dangerous cousin either. Finally he spoke.

“She asked a lot of questions about you.�

~*~

“Listen, Dr.Vesanus,� Petunia Dursley began, sitting awkwardly on one of the couches her son had just lain upon, “my husband and I don’t really need counseling. We just want do know how Dudley is doing.�

“Mmm-hmm,� Dr.Vesanus mmm-hmmed, “and how do you think you raise your children?�

“Children? Why we have only one,� Petunia stated, pretending to be confused.

“I consider Harry as one of your children, his different lifestyle is no reason for you to disown him,� Dr.Vesanus looked at Aunt Petunia over the rims of her spectacles.

“Different lifestyle?� Vernon Dursley spoke up, trying to keep his voice level, “How much has our son told you?�

“Oh, you need not worry,� Dr.Vesanus assured the two worried parents. She assumed they didn’t like it to be known that they harbored a delinquent, “everything Dudley tells me is legally protected. It’s called patient confidentiality.�

“Do we NEED patient confidentiality?� Vernon asked, incensed, this was the last time he was letting his son out in public if he spilled such important secrets to regular crackpots.

“Well it’s a given,� Dr.Vesanus explained, “all patients enjoy the same treatment—“

“We are NOT your patients!� Vernon Dursley informed her.

“Oh, right,� Dr.Vesanus understood now, these people were simply afraid of shrinks. “Well, about your son…�

“Yes, about our SON,� Aunt Petunia informed her, “as in singular form. Only child. NO OTHER CHILDREN TO SPEAK OF!�

“Well, if you are adamant in denying that Harry is your child,� Dr.Vesanus was beginning to feel worried, “then why do you treat him like one?�

“What? I’ve never treated mine own son the way I treat that thing for as long as he’s lived!� Uncle Vernon roared.

“So you throw ornaments at random things do you?� questioned Dr.Vesarus, feeling very displeased with the complete lack of care these two were showing.

“What? We don’t throw things at him!� Uncle Vernon laughed nervously as though this were a joke, “We simply give him a good talk, and you’re making us sound abusive!�

“I have hear on my notepad,� Dr.Vesanus flashed her notebook into the faces of the Dursleys, “two separate accounts of you either hurling or hitting Harry with inanimate objects!�

“Yes, well you also have a burning umbrella stabbing at a pig’s bum!� Vernon Dursley yelled at her.

“Vernon, calm down,� Petunia put her hand on her husband’s shoulder to keep him from rising out of his chair. She turned back to Dr.Vesanus, “What else has Dudley told you?�

“Plenty of disturbing things,� Dr.Vesanus informed Mrs. Dursley. “Troublesome accounts of being called a ‘pig’ and being given drugged candy by Harry’s friends. Also he told me about that school Harry goes to.�

“School?� Aunt Petunia became rather nervous upon hearing that one word. “What about school?�

“Well, the things Harry and his friends learn there frighten your son a little bit,� Dr.Vesanus explained good naturedly. “And I understand why you wouldn’t want anyone else to know about that school.�

“Dudley told you that we told him not to tell anyone else about Potter’s school?� Aunt Petunia asked sharply, feeling very worried.

“Yes, like I said, it might be a bit…embarrassing to deal with,� Dr.Vesanus adopted an understanding expression.

“Damn right it is!� Vernon Dursley nodded fervently, pounding his fist on the arm of the couch.

“But I think that if you talk it out, you might be able to work past your differences,� Dr.Vesanus continued.

“You don’t find what Dudley said, a bit unbelievable, do you?� Petunia queried cautiously.

“No, not at all,� Dr.Vesanus stated, “after all, I’ve dealt with criminally incurable boys before.�

It took a few seconds for her words to register with the Dursleys. But once they realized that she was talking about St. Brutus’s they broke out into laughter. It was the laughter of relief, and it felt good to laugh, they had not laughed in a long, long while.

“What is it?� Dr.Vesanus questioned, thoroughly puzzled. “I don’t understand!�

“Oh, well, Harry’s obviously going to be incapable hands,� Vernon chortled.

“Yes,� Petunia giggled. “You take care of him, thank you for talking to us.�

And they walked out of Dr.Vesanus’s office giggling like mad.

~*~

Harry was busy staring intently at his 3-D picture, his eyes watery in his efforts to see the image hidden there. Ha! He had gotten it. It looked very much like a head, the head of someone he knew very well. The head of Sirius Black.

Harry threw the book down in frustration, this wasn’t going the way he wanted it too. He had left the house to avoid thinking about Sirius, but no matter where he turned, he was constantly reminded of him. Even the way Dudley was sulking reminded Harry of how Sirius had sulked about being in Number 12.

“Tee hee.�

Harry’s ears perked, unless he was very mistaken, he had just heard someone tittering merrily. He whipped his head around the face the giggler. It was…Aunt Petunia…and Uncle Vernon. The sight of them so merry was so alien to Harry that his jaw just dropped open. So did Dudley’s. He had never seen his parents so happy either. They looked positively drunk the couple was so happy, were they…dancing?

Oh, yes they were. They were literally waltzing out of Dr.Vesanus’s office. The latter stood in the doorway, with a sweet smile on her face as she looked at the two people she had just helped. Then she focused on Harry.

“You’re next!� she announced cheerfully, cocking an eyebrow at him.

Harry was now very worried, his relatives were all acting like nutters, did he really want to go in there? He didn’t want to turn insane. But…maybe if he did turn crazy, he wouldn’t have to think about Sirius. Weighing out the odds, Harry decided it couldn’t hurt, and followed the psychiatrist into her office.

~*~

“Sit down,� Dr.Vesanus pointed towards the plush leather couch. Harry grunted and sat down on it. He cast a bored glance around the office; it didn’t look like the place for a nuthouse. The wood paneling on the walls wasn’t scarred and the couches were intact. The entire room was composed of varying shades of brown except for the bright blue chair Dr.Vesanus was sitting in. Harry then noticed she was staring rather intently at him. Her gaze was rather disturbing to him. She wasn’t even blinking.

“Er, Dr.Vesanus,� Harry said, hoping to get Dr.Vesanus to blink. It did, she appeared to come out of a trance. She shook her head three times and sat back in her chair, bringing her notepad close to her and letting her pen hover over it.

“Call me Ingrid, please Harry,� she purred. “I’ve heard a lot of interesting things about you.�

“You have?� Harry asked, a bit startled, he would have thought the last things his relatives would talk about was him.

“Yes, you’ve frightened your poor, simple cousin quite a lot. And embarrassed your aunt and uncle,� Dr.Vesanus continued. Harry wasn’t exactly sure what to say, she was talking to him as though he were the culprit. In a way, he was, but the Dursleys were so much guiltier in his mind.

“I have?� Harry inquired.

“Yes, they are especially anxious about your school,� Dr.Vesanus informed him. She was rather disappointed that he wasn’t smoking a cigarette or harassing her or doing any of the other typical things she imagined bad boys did.

“They talked to you about my school?� here, Harry’s voice took on a surprised tone.

“Yes, St. Brutus’s,� Dr.Vesanus explained. Christ, what was it with these people and school? She would have thought that there were more important things in life.

“Oh,� sighed Harry. He should have expected that. The Dursleys were adamant that no one should find out about his school. A hot rage flared up in his chest, he wanted to scare them. He wanted to let some unfortunate Muggle know the truth. He didn’t care if he was exposing the wizarding world, he would be getting back at the Dursleys. He took a side long glance at Dr.Vesanus. She was gazing at him adoringly. She also looked like the type of person who would go straight to the tabloids with any unusual information. He would tell here. But where should he begin to explain to her? Maybe he should start with St. Brutus’s. “Did you know I’ve never even seen that school?�

“You skip?� Dr.Vesanus perked up, maybe this wasn’t going to be so boring after all.

“No, I go to a different school,� Harry gently clarified.

“You’re a misunderstood genius!� Dr.Vesanus cried out excitedly, she could see the story in her head now. Poor, misunderstood Harry, his acts of brilliance being mistaken for common crimes.

“Uh…� Harry didn’t comprehend what was going on here, this Dr.Vesanus seemed too eager to jump to conclusions. And they were all way off base. “What exactly have my relatives told you about me?�

This was the opportunity Dr.Vesanus had been waiting for. She took a deep breath, “You’re a delinquent who goes to a scary school, and you and your classmates enjoy torturing your cousin and setting bushes on fire. Then your uncle throws breakable objects at you while your aunt beats you with a broom. But they pretend you aren’t even related to them and try to keep you away as much as possible. When they first found out you had to go to St. Brutus’s your uncle turned your entire family into refugees. But when they found you it was too late and you were taken away!�

An awkward silence filled the room after Dr.Vesanus had expelled all she wanted to say. Harry was beginning to feel rather uncomfortable. Is that how Muggles saw his situation? Maybe he wouldn’t expose the wizarding world to her. No one would believe anything she said.

“Harry, I want to tell you that you can confide in me anything you want,� Dr.Vesanus blinked her large brown eyes at him.

“Uh, well,� Harry began. “I think I need anti-depressants.�

“You do drugs?� Dr.Vesanus opened her eyes even wider. “I’ll give them to you as long as you promise not to feed them to your cousin Dudley.�

“What? Why would I give them to Dudley?� Harry started.

“Your cousin told me about the toffee incident,� Dr.Vesanus informed him knowledgeably.

“Toffee?� Harry was completely at loss now. What toffee? He tried to think…toffee toffee toffee. Oh, yes, now he remembered. Fred and George’s ton-tongue toffee. They had secretly fed some to his cousin. “That was just a prank!�

Dr.Vesanus ignored his explanation. “If I give you the proper prescription, I want you to promise me you won’t sell them or hand them out.�

“I won’t! I swear!� Harry swore.

“Good,� Dr.Vesanus was about to open her little cabinet where she kept the pills when a loud explosion could be heard from the waiting room.

~*~

“Haha, school!� Vernon Dursley sputtered, as he danced his wife around the waiting room. He was so incredibly relieved that the psychiatrist had not found out about his nephew. It was as though all the tension that had been building up over the years from anticipating some nosy Muggle to figure out Harry’s secret had disappeared. He was a new man!

�Hee hee, incurably criminal!� giggled Petunia, waltzing with her husband. She too, was enormously calmed.

“Daddy’s gone mad, hasn’t he?� Dudley whimpered from his chair. The sight of his parents so carefree was so unexpected that he felt thoroughly frightened by it. Now all he needed was for Harry’s schoolmates to show up again and he would get a heart attack.

BOOM! Crash!

The wall with the T.V. on it caved in. With the T.V. smashed, Dudley began to wail and Vernon and Petunia stopped waltzing.

~*~

“Did you just hear?� Dr.Vesanus inquired, but Harry was already out the door and stepping into the waiting room. He searched his pockets for his wand. Then he remembered that the Dursleys had taken him before he’d had a chance to bring it with him.

“Damn,� he cursed and then looked at the source of the disturbance. He saw a large hole in one of the walls. And outside of the hole looked to be…a flying carpet?

It was, a large flying carpet hovered outside of the hole. Harry could only half glimpse the figures on the carpet through the dust that had settled in the air. But one of them was jumping inside the building. It looked to be a man wearing a lopsided bowler hat.

“Dursley!� he roared, Harry then recognized him as Alastor Moody, retired Auror. The Dursleys were cowering terrified against the wall. Dr.Vesanus was rubbing her eyes fiercely, unsure of what she was seeing.

“W-what is it?� Vernon Dursley sputtered.

“I told you not to abuse your nephew!� Moody roared at the terrified Muggle. “And you take him to a psychiatrist! What part about abuse do you not understand?�

Vernon Dursley just muttered uselessly. Moody turned to Harry. “Come with me,� he growled. He grabbed Harry and pulled him out the hole in the wall and onto the carpet.

“Sit tight!� Moody roared, and the carpet took off.

Harry wasn’t quite sure where to grab on, the carpet was relatively smooth and didn’t offer much grip. He pictured himself tumbling off the edge and landing on top of a corporate building. After a while however, he realized that there wasn’t much to staying on the carpet. It held him there by itself. He turned to look at the others on the carpet. Moody appeared to be steering it with his wand. There wasn’t anyone else on the carpet. Except Dumbledore.

“Alright Harry?� he asked kindly.

“Uh, yeah, I think,� Harry answered.

“Harry, your mourning over Sirius is perfectly normal,� Dumbledore told him.

Harry felt his eyes tear up again, he looked away. “I know I shouldn’t be trying to forget him but every time I remember him, I feel like crying,� he confessed.

“And that’s normal,� Dumbledore patted Harry gently on the shoulder. It occurred to Harry how odd it was to see him sitting on the carpet, cross-legged. He had never seen Dumbledore sitting on the floor, he had always been in a chair or standing up.

“Harry,� Dumbledore began again, Harry looked up into the kind face. “I know that you asked the doctor for anti-depressants…�

Harry looked back down again, he knew he was going to be reprimanded for this. “It’s not fait,� he complained, “How come you’re so happy right after Sirius died?�

�Because I use these,� Dumbledore opened a small container. “It’s a bit like an anti-depressant, only for wizards.�

Harry peered into the small container. It contained what looked to be—“Lemon drops?� he questioned, confused.

“Try one,� Dumbledore encouraged him, “they really do help.�

Though doubtful, Harry popped one of the sweets into his mouth, savoring its lemony taste as he sailed through the sky to Number 12, Grimmauld Place. The lemony flavor did help a little bit, and he would be hanging out with the Order, maybe things weren’t so bad after all…

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