1,466So...um...yeah...*get's on knees. Please forgive me! I wasn't in the mood to write this summer and I have a massive writer's block right now for everything since my muse has taken a liking to other things. Anyway, I want to thank everyone for the reviews that they're sending me. Also, *deep breath...I'm in need of a Beta reader. I've been going over the story and I'm cringing at the beginning chapters. Chapter one is partially fixed but I would like someone else to take a look at it and the others to make sure that I got all the spelling and grammar issues. So, just PM me or do that Beta connections thing and I'll start sending out the edited and hopefully updated chapters. I'll let you all know when it's done so...enough with my chatter and onto the chapter!
It was now Wednesday and Harry fidgeted as he and Gibbs (with Aiden in the back), made their way to the doctor's office for his appointment. Harry wanted to slouch in the seat and sulk but knew that Gibbs wouldn't let him get away with it. Sighing, the teen played with his gloves as the car stopped while they were stuck in traffic. "This is going to take forever." Gibbs gave him an amused look. "You should see it on Fridays during the summer or during the Fourth of July celebrations and then you'll understand the meaning of traffic jam." Harry scrunched up his nose at the thought that traffic could actually be worse as they've completely stopped. He's seen the traffic in London which was still pretty bad but it wasn't bumper to bumper like this.
While Gibbs waited for traffic to start moving, he was playing with the idea of getting Harry to help get the Christmas tree up, one that has been collecting dust for years. The decorations were in the attic somewhere so he'll have to go searching for it. He turned into the parking lot while making sure he won't get hit.
Harry looked at the office that just looks like an old house. The only difference is the parking lot in the back and the sign out front. Giving a loud sigh, he got out of the car as Gibbs unbuckled Aiden out of his car seat. A small dusting of snow crunched under Harry's boots as they made their way into the doctor's office. There was a coat rack beside the door so Harry took off his coat knowing that he'll probably melt by the time he gets called and will have to take his coat off anyway. Gibbs kept his on along with Aiden's knowing that the toddler would be squawking at the fact that within ten minutes he'd be forced back into his coat again.
Harry had the childish urge to shrink back into Gibbs and beg him to let him leave. He never did like doctors or healers of any kind. Gibbs brought the two boys up to the receptionist. "We're here for Harry Potter's appointment." The receptionist didn't even bat an eye. "Health card and insurance information." Gibbs handed over a card that Harry didn't even know Gibbs had. Not to mention he's still pleasantly pleased that his name wasn't recognized and was still getting back the sensation of being anonymous again. Harry didn't realize that his mind was wandering until he jumped when Gibbs placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him to a chair. He rested his head on his fist against the armchair in boredom with his eyelids starting to droop. Gibbs was keeping an eye on Aiden while reading the newspaper.
"Harry Potter?" Harry all but jumped in his chair. Gibbs rose before plucking Aiden off the floor and beckoned for Harry to follow. They went into an examination room with Harry hopping on the hard bed and heard the paper crinkle harshly as he sat on it. Every time he moved the paper would make a large crinkling sound.
"I don't like this." Harry muttered.
"We all have to do things we don't like sometimes and this is one of those times. Would you rather risk whatever is going on with you to get worse?" Gibbs asked. Harry huffed before answering. "No, I suppose not." They sat in silence while Aiden played with the small plane in his hands. There was a knock on the door before someone came in. "Harry Potter?"
Harry's head came up. "Yes?"
"My name is Doctor Bloc. I've heard that you've been sleeping a lot more than you should be and tired all the time."
"Yes," Harry stretched out, not knowing if his answer would offend him.
"Well, since you're a new patient I'll need your information."
"What kind of information?" Harry asked wearily, suddenly on guard.
"It's only about your health, measure your height and weight. Standard procedure I assure you. And this must be Mr. Gibbs."
"Just Gibbs is fine."
"Alright. Well, let's get the weight and height out of the way first since they're the easiest and doesn't take much time. Now Mr. Potter, I need you to take off your shoes." Harry looked over at Gibbs who merely stared back at him. The teen slowly peeled off his shoes and stood there. "Now I need you to stand by the door where there's a measuring tape." Harry stood by the door awkwardly as he waited for the doctor to tell him to move. "Alright, five foot, two and a half inches." The doctor muttered.
Harry scowled at the mention of how short he was. He was one of the shortest boys in his year at Hogwarts if not the shortest. The doctor gestured to the scale that was at the foot of the bed. Harry stepped on the scale and watched the needle rise until around the 90 pound mark. The doctor merely wrote that down on his pad. "You can step off now." Harry jumped off it and merely waited and wondered what was next. He's never had a regular check up before since Gibbs and Shannon weren't his legal guardians…now that he thought about it, were the Dursley's marked as his guardians? His parents will said that they weren't so maybe there's no paper trail saying that the Dursley's were his legal guardians which means…Harry had to fight the urge to rub his hands and cackle. If he could get them in jail than it's one thing off his list of things to do.
Gibbs looked sideways and nearly raised his eyebrow at the slight maniacal look Harry was wearing. If he didn't know any better he would say that he was plotting someone's demise right now, or he just figured out their downfall from their stupidity. He'll ask later about it. He looked at the doctor who was putting all the numbers in the computer before Bloc turned around in his seat. He looked at Gibbs as if he was the offender of whatever didn't impress him.
"Mr. Potter is underweight for his age group by ten pounds and is a couple inches from where he should be." 'Not being fed regularly does do that to people.' Harry thought darkly. He knew logically that if it wasn't for Gibbs and Shannon it would have been much worse than it already it. Hopefully it can get fixed so he wouldn't always be scrawny. "Harry has only been in my care for a few months now." Gibbs said with a pointed look straight at Bloc. Bloc merely stared back for a few minutes before turning to Harry who merely nodded. Bloc just sighed before looking at his paper. "Do you know anything about your family medical history?" Harry gave him a blank stare.
"My parent's died when I was a baby and my Aunt refused to talk about them so I barely know anything about them let alone their medical history." He said flatly. Bloc just nodded before he jotted something down. Placing the pen down, he looked at Harry and Gibbs. "I won't lie; Mr. Potter will need some blood work done to see what's going on in his body to see if that's the cause of the tiredness. His lack of weight is a probable cause of all this but we won't know until we get the results. You just have to go to the clinic with this paperwork and they'll do the rest." Bloc printed out a couple of forms before handing them to Gibbs. "I'm asking for the works to be done in terms of vitamin and mineral deficiencies which are the main causes of being tired all the time but I won't know which one until I get the results back."
"How long is the wait?" Gibbs asked after tearing his eyes away from the page. "No more than three weeks I should say." Gibbs nodded as he took the lab paperwork from the doctor and Harry got up to put his boots back on. "Have you had your eyes checked recently?" Gibbs asked. Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "No, not in years." Gibbs wanted to growl at that. Him and Shannon lied and bullshitted their way through Harry's eye appointment in Britain when they found out he needed glasses. Petunia signed off on all the paperwork while sneering about freaks and how much they cost. Shannon gritted her teeth while ripping the forms out of the woman's hands while Gibbs tried to hold her back. Harry was eight at the time so it has been nearly six years since the last time he had his eyes done. Bloc nodded to himself while making notes on his pad of paper.
"Alright. When the lab results are in my office will call you to book another appointment to go over the findings and what we need to do to fix them."
"Alright." Gibbs wordlessly stood up with Aiden as Harry hopped off the bed to put his shoes back on.
"I never want to do that again." Harry declared as they walked out.
"You won't have a choice for the next little while Harry. I want to know what's wrong and this is the only way to do it."
"But needles?" He whined. Gibbs gave him a stern look. "It's either that or find where your version of a clinic is and since you don't want the American government to help you my hands are tied." He looked sideways as they reached the car. "You know that you can claim refuge here and just claim that you don't want to be taken back to Britain."
"But then Britain will know since America will have to declare that I've required sanctuary and I highly doubt Dumbledore will let that stand and will try to take me back regardless." Harry looked at Gibbs straight in the eye. "That's why I don't want anyone to know I'm here. If my old Headmaster gets wind that I'm here then there will be hell to pay from me probably. Not to mention it'll alert all the old Death Eaters that I'm open season and I rather like living right now." Gibbs sighed as he turned the car on. Harry did raise valid points but it didn't mean he liked it.
"Fine. But just remember that you'll be found out eventually."
"As long as the mundane side of things are legal they'll have a harder time touching me."
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Harry was putting his stuff away in his locker when he heard multiple footsteps coming up behind him. His shoulders tensed as he slowly turned around.
"Well well, if it isn't the Brit Potter." 'Brit Potter?' Harry had to admit that was a new one he hasn't heard yet but still wanted to bash his head against the lockers. 'And here I thought today was going to be a good day,' he thought. He turned with a raised eyebrow to the leader of the four.
"Yes Ryan?" He drawled. Harry really wasn't in the mood for this since Gibbs wanted to take him to the blood testing clinic after school even though they only saw the doctor yesterday. Harry grumbled about them being vampires in disguise and (although he will deny this), was pouting and pleading with his eyes to Gibbs to not send him there. He never liked needles in the first place for shots, let alone leaving the needle stuck in his arm to suck out the blood.
"We heard that there was something going on between you and Hannah."
Harry had a very confused look on his face. "Who?"
Ryan scoffed. "Don't give me that crap Potter."
"I wouldn't have the need to if I even knew who the bloody hell you're talking about." He shot back while slamming his locker shut. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm meeting up with friends who they, unlike you, actually have two brain cells to rub together." He didn't wait for any replies and just shoved his way out of the semi-circle Ryan and his friends put him in.
"Don't pretend you're innocent Potter!" Ryan called out. Harry just rolled his eyes as he kept walking away.
"Hey Harry!" Michelle came bounding up to him with her books in her hands.
"Hi Michelle."
"What was that about?"
"What was what?"
Michelle scowled. "With Ryan. I'm not an idiot."
"No one said you were." Harry shot back. "He's just bothering me about some girl that I have no idea who he's talking about."
"What's her name?"
"Hannah something." Michelle quirked an eyebrow as they sat down at the table where Sabrina and Richard were already sitting. "You really don't remember?" Harry shot her a dirty look for even suggesting it. She held up her hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. Apparently there's a rumour going around that you two are seeing each other." Harry stopped and gave her a blank stare before giving a bark of a laugh before stopping when he saw the look on Michelle's face. "You're serious?!" He exclaimed.
"Yep." She chirped. Harry just groaned and had the urge to bang his head against the wall or something. "Let's just go find the others." He muttered, not wanting to think about this nonsense this early in the day. 'This day is getting better and better and it's not even noon yet.' He thought sullenly.
"Do I have to go to class?" Richard whined. Michelle gave him an evil look.
"If you want to make it to Friday than yes." She said sweetly with a smile. Richard shivered before backing up slightly. "She's scary." He whispered to Harry. Harry could only nod, not wanting to admit that Michelle could sometimes make Snape look tame in comparison.
"Got anything going on this weekend?" Michelle asked. Harry slowly shook his head. "Not that I know of," he said slowly. "But I won't make any promises." Michelle shrugged. "Fair enough. I was just thinking about hanging out at the mall."
"Again?" Richard exclaimed. "Why not wander around down town?"
Michelle gave an uncertain look. "I…guess we could."
"But where?" Sabrina asked. "There's always the parks." Harry pointed out. Not to mention the large area where you could just run around.
"What about downtown?" Richard suggested. "We can just wander around until we get picked up while going into the different shops. You never know what you can find." Richard continued. He looked at the others who just shrugged. There is nothing else better to do so why not?
"Sure. At least one of us has a phone." Sabrina nearly muttered under her breath.
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Harry waited by the office for Gibbs to show up. It was near the entrance of the school where the buses come in with a side entrance for cars that were parked in the side parking lot of the school. He resisted the urge to look at his watch and instead stared at the clock hanging in the office, watching the seconds tick by slowly. Harry is sure that that the clock was ticking slower by the minute and was starting to feel like he was going mad from all the waiting with nothing to do. He smacked his head off the wall for something to do while beating against it like it's a drum. He is very bored. Turning his head sideways in complete boredom, he idly wondered if he should have taken up his friends offer of keeping him company so he wouldn't be so bored.
"You ready to go?"
Harry jumped when he heard Gibbs. He didn't even hear him coming! Well, he amended. 'You can't hear anything over this racket.' "Yeah I'm good." Harry threw his bag over his shoulder and followed Gibbs to the car. "Let's get this over with. I don't want to see the blood sucking vampires." Harry sulked. Gibbs gave Harry an amused look while the teenager glared out the window of the car. "Where's Aiden?" He asked while still staring out the window.
"He's still at the daycare. Tony is picking him up."
"Tony?" Harry asked. Gibbs gave him a look. "He may have immature moments but he will always come through for you." Harry tilted his head sideways accepting that. Tony may hide it but he can be very serious when he wants to be, from what Harry could figure out. No one can work with Gibbs for so long without being able to pull their weight. "So how did you meet everyone?" Harry looked at Gibbs in curiosity. Gibbs gave a small smirk. "That's a talk for after supper since it's a long one." Harry just pouted. "Not even one story to get my mind off the vampires?" He asked with wide eyes.
Gibbs glanced at him before raising an eyebrow. "If that look rarely worked when you were a cute and adorable child what hope do you have of it working now?" He asked in amusement. Harry gave him a dirty look at that before shrugging. "Thought I'd give it a shot." He muttered while crossing his arms. He shot up when he realized the last comment. "And are you saying I'm ugly now?" He demanded.
Gibbs had to hide his smile that was threatening to come out from Harry's squawk of protest when he said nothing.
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"Harry Potter." Harry could almost feel himself shaking as he got up from the chair to go into the back to get the work done. Gibbs gave him an encouraging smile as he watched the teenager go into the back with the person.
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Harry stared at the chair. The leather chair that had very long armrests that could fold up if needed.
"Have you ever done this before?" The girl asked. Harry shook his head. "Why don't you sit in the chair and I'll explain the process than?" Harry gingerly sat in the chair as he sat with a stiff spine. "Alright, I'll be looking for a vein in one of your elbows by having you make a fist. Once I find the vein I'll tie a rubber band around your upper arm to restrict the blood flow. I'll insert the needle to get the blood and once that's done I'll take it out and you'll be on your way." Harry was too nervous to nod. It sounded fine in theory but he really didn't want to have any sharp metal things coming from his skin without it being numb first. Getting shots when he was younger didn't really help especially with that tetanus shot after having his leg torn by that dog. "I need you to hold out your left arm." Harry stretched out his left arm on the arm rest. "Now make a fist and squeeze it."
Harry obeyed and made the fist while the nurse pressed gently on the skin in his inner elbow. She did this a couple times before she found what she was looking for. At Harry's confused look she explained. "I'm looking for a superficial vein because we can easily run into trouble if we go for the deep ones." She went to her desk and grabbed a blue rubber strip and twisted it around his upper arm. "Now relax your fist." Harry did but was staring at the vials that were lined up on the desk. She than brought the needle over. "You don't need to look if you don't want to." Harry immediately turned his head and clenched his right hand when he felt the needle tip go under his skin and squeezed his eyes shut from the pain. If the nurse heard his sharp intake of breath she didn't comment on it. Harry looked at the wall like it was the most fascinating thing he's ever seen and before he knew it the needle was sliding out of his skin. When the needle finally came out Harry risked looking over. Six vials of blood were filled with his blood. He knew that blood was a powerful substance in the magical world and there were numerous oaths that healers have to take in order to just be able to handle them, not to mention how much security goes into guarding them. Here in the mundane world people come to these clinics like it was nothing that they're blood is taken. It baffles Harry a little if he's honest but doesn't let it bother him. When he felt the cotton ball and the tape on his arm he looked up to see the girl giving him a small smile. "You're all done now."
Harry jumped off the chair and would've ran if he could but instead forced himself to walk at a sedated pace that is used for acceptable society standards. He immediately went towards Gibbs once he spotted him and grabbed his coat from the chair.
"So I see you survived your encounter."
Harry gave him a look. "Very funny."
"You were the one going on and on about the visit." As they walked out of the building Gibbs had an idea. "Why don't we go out for supper, just the two of us?" Harry went wide eye at that. The last time he went out for food with anyone else was when Gibbs and his family lived in England.
"Sure." Harry wasn't sure where they would go but he wanted to. It would just be him and Gibbs, something that has only happened once when Shannon just wanted the day with Kelly. So she persuaded Gibbs to spend the day with just Harry. It is one of his most cherish memories as a child.
So, good? Bad? Ugly?