Bloody but Unbowed

Chapter 8: Muggle-magic

Harry stood up, he walked towards Minerva, then he got on his knees, in front of her, hugged her legs, and started crying. Professor McGonagall was crying too while stroking Harry's hair. "You should go to bed now" whispered Minerva in his ears. "Please don't go." begged Harry. "Don't leave me alone."

Harry felt as if he was 7 again: a child who was afraid of the darkness, and yet darkness was what constantly surrounded him.

"I won't leave you alone anymore, I promise." She answered with a gentle smile.

Minerva made him carefully stand up. Kreacher arrived with two mugs full of tea and some sweets. "Kreacher, I think that your Master really needs to go to bed now, could you please help him get changed?"

"Yes, Madam. Kreacher will help." The house-elf placed the tray on the table and hurried to reach Harry, then he took his hand and gently accompanied him upstairs.

Now she was alone. She sat again, and took a small clock out of her pocket. On top there was carved: time only is what keeps us apart.She opened it. On the left part there was a picture of Diana and Darius smiling at her. Her heart bleeded again.

"Good morning, my dear." Minerva greeted Harry as soon as he stepped into the drawing room the morning after.

"Hello!" replied Harry cheerfully.

"If you don't mind I would like to start packing and take all your staff to Hogwarts. You have never seen the teacher's castle wing, have you? You'll see. It's the best part."

"Can Ron and Hermione come to visit from time to time? It's kind of hard, after all that happened, being apart for more than a few days..."

"Of course! Actually, you could ask them to help us move into your new room."

"That's great!"

Those two friends had been his only family for more than 8 years now, and it was difficult for him imagining a future without them. He knew that their lives would eventually have taken different paths, but still, this didn't mean they had to become strangers once the school (and the whole Voldemort-situation) had ended.

In less than two hours Hermione and Ron were in Harry's room, helping him pack, while Minerva was taking care of some bureaucratic business downstairs.

"Do you remember when it was just the three of us in this house a year ago?" Harry asked.

"It definitely wasn't the best time of our lives..." Ron commented sarcastically.

"My therapist says that I shouldn't indulge in the past..." said Hemione.

"Your WHAT?" cried Ron and Harry at the same time.

"My therapist. My parents insisted that I went to see one after all that happened."

"But isn't it a Muggle-thing? How can he understand what happened to you?" asked Ron.

"He's a she, Ron. And she is a Squib, so she perfectly knows what happened to all of us."

"But why haven't you tried with someone who works at Mungo's Hospital?"

"Because trauma is not something you can cure with magic, we all already know that, don't we? Trauma needs patience and care to heal, and I made so much progress with her: I even stopped having nightmares all the time.

I'm doing a therapy that is called EMDR, it means Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. In short, it consists in recalling a traumatic memory in order to desensitize it. You should try, guys! She is not the only Squib who does that, there's a whole community of therapists specialized in the Wizarding World."

Ron and Harry were astonished. They never thought that, for once, the Muggle World could have created something more magical than magic itself.

"Kids! Buckbeak and the Thestrals have arrived! Are you ready to go?" cried professor McGonagall from downstairs.

"COMING!" replied all three of them. So they rushed down the stairs, ready for a new adventure.