Harry Potter and the Winters After the War

Chapter 73 - All Part of the Job

It was mid afternoon the next day before Harry had any more visitors. He’d spent the morning sleeping, taking his potions every hour and doing his report, so that by the time Ginny returned he was more than ready for a break.

“Hi Harry,” Ginny greeted him as she peeked through the door.

“Hi Gin. Come on in,” Harry invited as the healer and two of his aides were working on him. “They’re just taking off some of the bandages.”

Ginny nodded slightly. “I can see that. Hello Healer Gudgeon,” she added.

“Good afternoon Miss Weasley. Now that Mr. Potter’s been able to wake from sleeping normally, for the past twenty four hours, we’ve been able to give him the stronger potions. It’s made a world of difference. These wounds are finally healing properly,” he informed her with a wave of his hand towards Harry’s shoulder and side. “You see?” he offered as he pulled the last of the wrappings off. “There is no trace of it at all. I expect he’ll be a bit tender for another day or two, but other than that, from the chest up, Mr. Potter’s completely healed.”

“That’s good to hear,” Ginny agreed. “What about below his chest though? Didn’t you say last night those are his more serious wounds?”

They are. Internally his kidney and other internal organs are structurally healed, but the tissues still don’t have the strength they originally did. That’s what the potion is for. They should be back to normal in another day. The presence of the bullet in his joint continues to be of concern of course, but as I’ve told Mr. Potter, we have it magically isolated now, which should keep it from moving and will help the tissue heal properly around it until it can be removed. His skin and most of his muscle tissue is already healed. It’s only the bone that was damaged and the presence of a foreign object so deep in his joint that is the source of his pain. We’ve already removed those bandages as well,” the healer said.

“Do you know yet when you can remove the bullet?” Harry asked the healer.

“As I told you last night. That depends on how well you continue to heal. I expect it will be sometime this week, Saturday at the latest,” Healer Gudgeon answered.

“When can he go home?” Ginny asked.

“We were just discussing it,” Healer Gudgeon told her. “I’ve told Mr. Potter, he can go home today, provided he has someone to care for him. If not, he may have to stay longer.”

“I have a house elf. He’s in training to be a healer,” Harry offered. “Perhaps he could take care of me?”

“He could make and administer your potions certainly; however you will need physical assistance in getting around and nursing care, at least for the rest of this week. Is there anyone else you could stay with?” Healer Gudgeon asked looking pointedly at Ginny.

“Oh…” Harry said. “Ginny’s with the Harpies and she’s supposed to live in their dorms during the season.”

“I see,” the healer said with a frown.

“But there’s the Burrow,” Ginny suggested.

“Are you sure your mum won’t mind?” Harry asked her and Ginny rolled her eyes. “We should at least ask, don’t you think?”

“I think Mum would be insulted if we didn’t assume it was alright,” Ginny argued.

“Yeah, probably,” Harry agreed.

“It’s decided then? You have a place to stay?” the healer asked the pair.

“Yes. I’ll be at the Burrow,” Harry told him confidently.