Tired (QPR Drarry, mates, ace arospec Harry)

Chapter 5

"Poppy? I was told to head here immediately, something about Harry?" Minerva said, sweeping through the Hospital Wing doors, her smart robes billowing out behind her as she worked, her eyes filled with worry.

"Yes, I told Melissa most of it to tell Sprout, but I have discovered more since, come here." Mme Pomfrey said, waving Minerva over with her free hand.

"What happened to him?" Minerva asked, she knew there was at least something wrong with Harry from the moment she first saw him today. He was so small, skinny and undeveloped, not to mention how pale and scared he looked. If she hadn't known Lily and James then it would be arguable that it was Harry's genetics, but she did, and both were taller than average, in fact, Lily had started puberty early, and James at a pretty average time, but Harry looked 6.

"If it's a type of abuse it happened to him, his magic is strong, but it's pretty much all that's keeping him together." Poppy explained, still casting as many healing spells as she could, some repeatedly, as Minerva walked over. "But look at this."

Mme Pomfrey was pointing at an injury on Harry's leg, it was a rather large bite that was red and angry, but already scabbed over. It wasn't a human bite, nor a dog's, it was clearly the bite of a werewolf. It was probably new enough that there hadn't been a full moon since, but it did beg the question as to how Harry had gotten bitten. He lived in a solely muggle neighbourhood, so it was unlikely that a local was a werewolf, besides, he should have been inside when the full moon was out and there had been no werewolf attacks on muggle homes in many years.

"I'll contact Lupin, hopefully he can help, with this situation if nothing else. I'm pretty sure Lily and James were going to make him godfather of the next child, so unfortunately he isn't Harry's godfather, but he probably knows who all his godparents are." McGonagall said, sitting down heavily on the chair beside Harry's bed.

"This isn't your fault." Mme Pomfrey said gently, turning slightly to look at Minerva's crumpled and heartbroken face.

"I knew he would be treated poorly there, I knew it was the wrong place for him, but I never went to collect him, I didn't wait for Dumbledore to leave and take him home. I never even insisted they opened James and Lily's wills. I could have stopped all this." Minerva whispered, tears starting to fill her eyes.

"You were assured he would be fine, and Dumbledore wouldn't leave until you did. You have been so busy that you couldn't go for him or check up on him. This isn't your fault, it's Dumbledore's." Poppy said, wrapping an arm around Minerva's shoulders.

"I could have at least told Remus to check in on him regularly, or try to get Sirius a trial. I refuse to believe he would betray Lily and James, he loved them like his own siblings, they helped him through the loss of his little brother, how could he ever hand them over to You-Know-Who?" Minerva said, the sadness in her eyes being joined by a burning anger.

"You've been practically run off your feet these past 10 years, and Remus was prevented from seeing Harry because of him being a werewolf and being deemed too dangerous, but obviously that didn't protect him. You don't have the power to call a trial." Poppy reassured her, rubbing Minerva's back in a way she hoped was comforting.

"How long until Harry wakes up?" Minerva asked, trying to pull herself together.

"Tomorrow, probably around lunch, but it does vary quite wildly." Poppy said, turning her attention back to the sleeping boy. "When's full moon?"

"In three days." Minerva answered without even pausing to think about it, she had gotten used to tracking the full moon for Remus, and old habits die hard, especially when you don't really want them to.