The Three Patronuses

Chapter 5

Harry decided that he hated apparating.

His chest constricted as if he were being sucked into a tube, which made the pain from his injuries increase even more. The sharp impact of landing cause pain to flare through his ankle up through his calf. Thrown off balance by the pain, his leg buckled and he toppled to the ground.

Three pairs of concerned eyes trained themselves on Harry.

"Harry! Are you ok?" Sirius asked, rushing over to his godson. Harry gave a weak nod. "Can you stand up?"

Harry attempted to stand, hoping that he could ignore the pain in his ankle. He soon found out that applying any amount of pressure to it sent jolts of pain through his calf, and it was impossible to stand, let alone walk. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes, and Harry shook his head in defeat. "No," he gasped.

The other three adults crouched down beside him. His mum waved her wand over his leg, casting a diagnostic charm. Ignoring the list of other injuries, her face grew grim.

"It's broken," she said softly, "why didn't you tell us it was broken?"

"I," Harry gasped in pain, "I didn't know. I think it was sprained before, I landed on it wrong"

"Madam Pomfrey can fix it up once we get back to Hogwarts. I don't want to try anything now because it might make it worse. Hogwarts isn't that far off, if we help you, Harry, do you think you can make it?" Remus kept his voice gentle, all too aware of the pain Harry was experiencing.

With a deep breath, Harry nodded. His mum transfigured two sticks into crutches, and with their help, the group slowly made their way to Hogwarts.

The pain in his ankle took dominance over his thoughts, something which Harry was thankful for. It kept hundreds of other thoughts from sprinting through his mind. His parents were alive, Moony and Padfoot were safe and with him, and holy shit they knew about the Dursleys.

That thought alone terrified him. He had spent so many years of his life hiding the actions of his relatives. He was supposed to suck it up and deal with it for one more summer and then forget about them and everything they had done. No one was supposed to know.

What scared him more was that no one had brought it up yet. Besides the concerned looks each one of the adults had given him, you wouldn't guess that they had just rescued him from a cupboard under the stairs in his abusive house. Were they going to mention it? Or were they waiting for him to bring it up?

The hot weather made Harry's injuries even more miserable. He was used to the sting of sweat dripping into the belt lashes on his back, and the overwhelming presence of overexertion. That didn't make it any easier to bear though. The cool air of the castle was a welcome relief.

The route to the hospital wing was a familiar one, and probably one Harry could walk in his sleep. The group continued to walk in silence, and Harry wished that one of them would yell at him already.

"I think its best for either Remus or I to take Harry into the Hospital Wing. Poppy doesn't know about your return yet." Mum nodded. James squeezed Harry's shoulder, and he tried not to flinch. His dad couldn't know that the night before Uncle Vernon had hit that exact shoulder with the belt buckle.

"We'll be back soon. I need to have a few words with Albus." James's voice was calm, but anyone could see that she wasn't going to have just 'a few words' with the Headmaster.

"I'll go-"

"No, I'll go Padfoot. You stay with Harry. I have a few things I wish to discuss with the Headmaster as well."

"But-"

"The headmaster doesn't need any more of his things broken, Padfoot." Harry grinned. That's exactly something his godfather would do.