I’ve had forty-eight new reviews from my last chapter. I am SO THRILLED you all enjoyed my story! Feel free to ask questions, leave suggestions or anything else, and I’ll try to reply! Thanks again, reviewers! What’s gone on before…
“I – I’m sure this is not the right way to help you… but please – don’t let go again… try really hard, please?” she meekly said. Harry’s chest clenched.
“I like it in that world,” he admitted. Petunia visibly sunk in her seat. “-but I’ll try.”
Chapter Five: Inkblots, Goals, and Sarcastic Remarks
“Pills, Potter,” Ron set a variety on a platter, each looking more menacing than the rest. One of them looked the size of a knut, but then again, imaginary things weren’t that good of a comparison.
“Hey, if I choke on one of these, can my aunt sue you?” Harry asked grumpily.
“Just take the pills, I don’t feel like playing your games today,” Ron huffed and set the tray on a cold, steel table.
“You say that everyday, but you never answer my questions,” Harry flushed one of his pills down his throat with the plastic cup of water and coughed on it.
“Pretending to choke won't work either, take the rest,” Ron demanded. “Or I’ll get Dr. Porter.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Harry stuck them in his mouth and swallowed. “So – what are we going to do today? Insane psycho therapy? Room containment?”
“Ink blots,” Ron checked his schedule.
“Oh,” Harry said. Usually he was right with the therapy. “Isn’t that a psychiatrist thing? For people actually wanting help?”
“You aren’t going to get better if you keep on insisting on making crude comments to avoid things,” Ron wrote something on his clipboard. “We have to be in Doctor Lupin’s room by 9:00.”
“Wait – wait – wait –wait… Doctor WHO?” Harry asked.
“Doctor Remus J. Lupin. You don’t remember him? You’ve seen him every Friday ever since Doctor Lockhart was transferred.”
“Yeah, of course,” Harry snapped. “You forget I haven’t entirely been here for a while.” He pointed to his head and glared at him.
“Change, we have fifteen minutes,” Ron threw a pile of clothing onto his bed and exited, waiting by the door for him.
“Aren’t my pajamas and clothes the same bloody thing?” Harry claimed loud enough for him to hear him before changing and tossing his pajamas carelessly behind the door for Ron to clean up later.
“Harry!” Remus welcomed him kindly.
“Professor Lupin!” Harry greeted him. “I can’t believe you’re real!”
“Just call me Remus or Dr. Lupin, please, oh! And I’m not a werewolf either, so that’s a good thing. Anyway, you’re late, but that’s okay. This shouldn’t be a long session today. I’m glad to see you back.”
“As in back, you mean–” Harry began.
“In the real world. The other sessions we had didn’t have a point. Anyway, guess what we’re doing today!”
“Inkblots?”
“How did you know?” Remus looked up from his pile of canvases.
“I’m psychic,” Harry grinned.
“Dr. Porter has told me you got in another fight with Draco on Tuesday.”
“I laughed.”
“You what?”
“I laughed, simple as that. Might have been slightly maniacal, but clearly amusement isn’t encouraged here,” Harry shrugged.
“Okay. Now Harry, I have some inkblots here – I need you to tell me the first thing that comes to mind when you see them, okay?”
“Yeah.” Remus held up a blotchy picture. Harry saw what looked like a large stick with four legs.
“Prongs.”
“Aaand…. This one?”
“Owl.”
“This?”
“Ford Anglia.”
“Next one?”
“Grim.”
“Odd, okay, this?”
“The… the veil.”
“The veil?” Remus stopped and put the stack down on the table. “Harry, I want you tell me about this veil for me, please. I can see it greatly affects you.”
“If it isn’t real, why bother?”
“Harry, don’t build a wall around yourself. Now, this veil…?”
“Sirius fell through it and he died. It was all my fault. If I hadn’t believed Voldemort, he would have still been alive and–” Harry stopped. “Wait, but Sirius – Simon, sorry – is alive here. Isn’t that all I need to know?”
“You must come to terms with this illness, now, what happened?”
“I believed Voldemort's vision, and it got us trapped. Sirius died trying to help me. Just like my parents.”
“You mean James and Lily Potter.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t exist in the first place either… so…”
“What do you know about your real parents?”
“My mum’s a columnist. From what I’ve heard, she doesn’t like me.”
“She’s a very busy woman, but you are fortunate to have an aunt like Petunia,” Remus smiled kindly.
“Do you know my dad?”
“I’ve never met him, no. I have heard his name was James Faust. Never met him, though.”
“Wait – that doesn’t make sense… Why is my mum’s name Potter if she’s married to James?” Harry questioned.
“They never married.”
“Oh… but then shouldn’t Petunia be Petunia Potter then?”
“No, no. She’s a widow. It happened when you were six, I think, from what your aunt has told me. It’s Dursley, Petunia Dursley.”
“Was her husband’s name Vernon?”
“Yes, but I do know from previous ranting sessions that the Vernon you described was far different than the real Vernon.”
“Anyway, the ink blots?”
“Oh! Yeah, sometimes I get off track. What do you see here?”
“Snitch.”
“And here?”
“Fluffy.”
“What’s Fluffy?”
“It’s a Dog’s name. It had three heads.”
“Okay…. Um… this?”
“House cup.”
“Harry, I saw a little progress today, you opened up. However, we need you to not depend so much on your imaginary world.”
“Okay…”
“Do you have any questions?”
“When can I leave?”
“Er – er we have about ten minutes left-”
“No, I mean leave this place and be normal?”
“Well, Harry, that’s hard to say – we have to make sure you are stable which could take months to determine. You have to realize, you have been in and out of this illness because of scenes that happened before you fully recovered. We have to make sure you can deal with news without going into relapse,” Remus explained.
“Well… can I leave the hospital for a few hours?” Harry asked, impatiently.
“Not for a while, I’m afraid,” Remus said.
“For only a couple of hours?”
“A lot can happen in a few hours! Besides, this place has strict orders not to release anyone. You could run!”
“I won’t run!”
“We can’t allow it!”
“How will I know I want to stay in this world?”
“There is no other world, Harry! Your world isn’t, and never was, real!”
“I liked that world though!”
“You need to try, Harry, you promised your aunt that-”
“How did you know that I promised her?”
“We have cameras in the rooms... sorry for invading. Anyway, this is a world without Voldermort! It doesn’t have all of the evilness that we have, why don’t you try to see?”
“Voldemort.”
“What?”
“It’s Voldemort, not Voldermort.”
“…Yes, well…”
“Can’t I get something for good behavior?”
“From what Dr. Weasley’s told me, you’ve avoided simple tasks given to you.”
“I’ll be good, then can I leave? For only… hm… five hours?”
“I can’t give you that, Harry. I’m not your doctor. If you really want this, you’ll have to get both of their written permission,” Remus concluded. “And Ronald is quite frustrated with you already.”
“But if I be a good little mental case, they might allow this?”
“You’ll have to ask them,” Remus finished. “I’ll come with you.”
“NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Ron replied to his request.
“But why?” Harry demanded.
“You are in a very fragile state right now; you aren’t able to take in sudden changes!” Lily stated, pleading with her eyes.
“Oh, so waking up in this world isn’t a sudden change?”
“You can’t handle any more than you already have. Harry, I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Lily confessed.
“It’s settled, then,” Ron concluded.
“No, please! What if I am really good? I take my pills on time, do stuff without a fight? All that good, jolly stuff?” Harry asked.
“It’s too risky!”
“What’s a little risk?” Harry moaned.
“What if we work towards a picnic and see if you’ve improved a bit to work towards another goal?” Remus asked.
“Dr. Lupin! You don’t have any power over this matter!” Ron’s ears turned red.
“No, no, Ron, I think – I think this is a good idea,” Lily interrupted.
“What?!” Ron hissed.
“I’ll agree to that!” Harry spoke up.
“No! You need both of our signatures and I will not give permission!”
“But we are working towards a goal! This is a great incentive for Harry! He can slowly put himself into natural society!” Lily exclaimed.
“He will not leave this hospital until he is ready!”
“How can you decide if he is ready? He may be showing the best signs of recovery and the shock of the outside world may put him in relapse!”
“The picnic can be on the grounds-” Remus chirped in.
“Hey! That’s not an incentive! I want to get out of this place for a while!”
“What if,” she silenced them. “What if we make that his first goal? If he does well, he can work for his next goal to a picnic in a park?”
“I agree!” Remus said.
“You have no say!”
“I don’t want that stupid goal! I can go outside in the fenced in social area and eat if I wanted to!”
“Fine, the first goal will be a picnic in the social area,” Ron gave in. “And we’ll decide from there if he’s done a good enough job to receive a higher goal.”
“I’ll consent to that,” Lily said.
“It’s settled then,” Ron ended.
“Fine,” Harry sighed. “After three days, if I’m good-”
“Three days?! No, Potter, no less than a week. One week and we will see from there,” Ron argued.
“A week, Harry, and you can start your good behavior now,” Lily stated.
“Fine,” he huffed and rested his head in his hand. “Fine.”
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