Chapter - 18 : Discharge and Dilemmas

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Harry wasn't sure how he'd explain away his change in appearance once the Blood Adoption was performed. The Weasleys, the shopkeepers of Diagon Alley, a few Ministry employees, as well as the staff of Saint Mungo's, all knew Harry by what he looked like under the glamour spells he cast on himself every morning. After the adoption ritual he might end up being completely unrecognisable.

Harry supposed if anyone asked he could just tell them a variation of the truth - that Sirius had adopted him to make sure that Harry was magically and legally recognised as his son despite being illegitimate. Harry was looking forward to the day when he didn't have to worry about the glamour spells anymore. His magic being so untrained and undeveloped meant he obsessively checked his appearance in every reflective surface he passed, paranoid that the glamours would suddenly fail. He was also looking forward to moving out of the Burrow – it was exhausting constantly keeping up his web of lies around people he used to count as family.

So Harry was relieved when, seventeen days after Sirius had been released from Azkaban, the Healers declared him healthy enough to go home.

"Yes! I'm out of here, finally!" Sirius cheered, pumping his fist in the air in triumph.

Healer Aberworthy glared in disapproval. "Really Mr Black, I'm half inclined to change my mind about discharging you. You need peace and quiet and a great deal of rest."

"Oh, never mind that!" Sirius huffed and jumped out of bed. "I had enough of sitting quietly in one place while I was in Azkaban. Hand me my robe would you, Orion?"

"Here," Harry said, holding out a drab looking navy robe. "You need new clothes, by the way."

"Well, at least it covers this ghastly hospital gown." Sirius glared down at the offending bright yellow material he was wearing. "Right," he said after shrugging into the robe and pulling on his shoes. "Let's go."

"Rest, Mr Black," Healer Aberworthy stressed, one hand on her hip as she glared at him. "And make sure to follow your regimen of potions. And no alcohol or mood-altering charms for at least three months. It's all on this roll of parchment."

Sirius stuffed the scroll into his pocket without even glancing at it. "Yes, yes. I heard you the first dozen times."

"Well your behaviour does not fill me with confidence so it bears repeating!" she retorted, her cheeks flushing red. Seeing that her patient was now visibly fidgeting and eyeing the door, she gave up. "Oh never mind. Just go."

Sirius made an immediate dash for the exit as if scared that she would change her mind.

"Goodbye, Healer Aberworthy," Harry said, using his best childish charm. "Thanks for helping my dad."

"It was my pleasure, dearie." The Healer smiled down at him, all frustration suddenly forgotten. "You take care of yourself and your Da now, won't you?"

Harry nodded emphatically. "Of course!"

Sirius was waiting impatiently for him in the hallway, tapping his foot on the tiled floor. "Flirting with the pretty Healer again, Har- Orion."

"Oh shut up," Harry said grumpily. He didn't enjoy being reminded of the fact that the women he'd have been attracted to just a few months ago were now way older than him and treated him like a little boy. "Let's just go."

Sirius turned and began heading down the hallway. "All right, but I hope you have a few sickles on you. I still don't have a proper wand, and after ten years without using magic I don't fancy trying to apparate without one. And there's no way I'm going to let you side-along us to Grimmauld Place."

"Why not? I apparated myself all the way from London to the Shrieking Shack, no problem."

"You're ten years old, that's why," Sirius said. "For one thing your magic is completely untrained and side-along apparition is way harder than just apparating yourself. For another, it's illegal and while I'm normally all for flouting authority, I think breaking the law just two weeks after I got out of prison is a bit reckless even for me."

Harry reluctantly conceded the point. "All right, fair enough. It's just that if we don't apparate, and with no brooms and the house not on the Floo network, that only leaves…"

"Yep, we'll have to take the Knight Bus," Sirius agreed, laughing as Harry shuddered theatrically. "Come on, it's not that bad. We'll get there with all our limbs intact… well, probably… maybe anyway. Well, we'll get there, at least."

Harry sighed. "Fine. I'm sure I could get you up on child endangerment charges for this suggestion, you know, but whatever. What's life without a little risk and all that."

"That's the spirit!" Sirius grinned down at him and patted him condescendingly on the head. "Though you know, the wizarding world doesn't have any child endangerment laws. That's a muggle thing. Amongst wizards it's assumed accidental magic will kick in before anything too terrible can happen."

"Really? Huh," Harry said thoughtfully. "I should've realised that years ago, what with the three-headed dogs and Voldemort-possessed Professors wandering around Hogwarts. Then there are the more ordinary things, like Professors torturing students with blood-quills and sending eleven-year-olds into the Forbidden Forest for detention. I mean, I'm surprised students even manage to survive their first year in the castle."

"Not all of them do," Sirius said cheerfully as they traipsed down the staircase leading to the ground floor of the hospital. "I remember a first-year girl had to be sent home within her first month at Hogwarts. She had hysterics every time she saw a ghost and fell down three flights of stairs when trying to avoid the Fat Friar. Muggleborn, of course."

They reached the main reception area where Harry had to step around a mother and her wailing infant, both of whom had arms growing out of their heads. "I was pretty shocked the first time I saw the ghosts," he said. "I got used to them quickly enough though. I'm just glad I wasn't in Slytherin - I don't think I would've liked dealing with the Bloody Baron."

Sirius chuckled. "Yeah. Bloody creepy, isn't he? Nearly Headless Nick's way more fun."

Unfortunately, his laughter attracted the attention of the milling crowd of waiting witches and wizards.

"Look, it's Sirius Black!" someone shrieked, making everyone turn and stare.

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