Chapter 3 – The first Shock

Thanks a lot to my beta-readers, Tori and Leona, for correcting my mistakes.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.

I'm not a native speaker of English!

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Chapter 3 – The first Shock

Harry wasn't sure whether or not these people were wizards; however, the question was cleared up as soon as they entered the house. A pot as big as a cauldron stood on the stove, and a wooden spoon was magically stirring its contents.

Severus guided a still reluctant Harry to a chair at the large table. Harry watched with fascination as White Cloud waved her hand and the stew pot came over to the table. Another wave and the spoon vanished and was replaced by a ladle. If they could all do wandless magic, maybe he could learn it while he was here. He would have to remember to ask Severus about it.

White Cloud filled each of their plates and then sat down. Harry listlessly pushed the stew around his plate. He hadn't eaten on the plane, and he still wasn't hungry. His thoughts wandered to the dungeons. . . to Ron's pleading eyes. . . Draco naked and covered in blood and semen. . . the hard jerk on his hair as they forced him to watch. . .

A loud snap near Harry's ear startled him back to the present. The second snap focused his attention, and he looked up at Light Arrow. The old man watched him with a worried look and calmly said, "Easy there, son. Reliving the past doesn't help; try to stay in the here-and-now."

Harry had broken into a sweat and was breathing rapidly. Severus massaged calming circles on the back of his neck, helping him to calm down. Embarrassed, he grabbed for his spoon and started eating. Harry was relieved that the others weren't pressuring him into sharing, and after a short moment, Severus' hand vanished from his neck too. The flashbacks were horrible, and Harry was grateful that Light Arrow had been able snap him out of it. The meal continued calmly; everyone ate in silence.

When most of them had finished, White Cloud directed, "After lunch, you can move into your rooms and rest for a while. The others will be back in an hour." Because he didn't want to draw anymore attention to himself than he already had, Harry finished his stew. Adults always seemed concerned that he wasn't eating enough.

When they were all finished, Light Arrow and Rose lead Harry, Draco and Severus upstairs to the bedrooms. He was looking forward to spending some time alone with Draco.

"I'm sure you would prefer your old room, Severus," Light Arrow said as he opened a door on the left side of the long hall.

"Yes, thank you," Severus said, placing his bag inside the room before rejoining the others.

Light Arrow pointed at the door beside Severus' room. "White Cloud and I sleep here. Whenever one of you has a problem, you can come to us; no matter what time it is." Light Arrow turned and opened the door opposite to Severus'. "This is your room, Harry."

"My room?" Harry and Draco exchanged panicked looks. "But I always share a room with Draco."

"Not here, Harry." Light Arrow gently guided Harry into the room while Rose steered Draco down the hall to a room at the other end.

Harry struggled against Light Arrow. "No! I won't stay alone! Let me go!"

Light Arrow quickly encircled Harry with his arms, pressing Harry's back against his chest. "Calm down, Harry, and I will explain the reason for it." His voice remained calm and gentle, despite Harry's panicked struggle.

"No, please..." Harry pleaded desperately. He felt hot tears run down his cheeks and hated himself for showing weakness again. He hated it here. Why were they all hurting him? He couldn't sleep alone.

Light Arrow sat down on the bed and cradled Harry in his lap. Harry was confused. He hated being held like this, with his choice of movement restricted. However, it felt good to have the burden of choice lifted from his shoulders. Secretly, he wanted nothing more than to be a child and feel safe; he hadn't felt safe for a very long time. Although he continued to sob, Harry soon stopped struggling, giving in to the soothing effects of Light Arrow's beating heart and calm words. "That's it, Harry, relax. I won't hurt you. Shhhh..."

When Harry finally stopped struggling, Light Arrow loosened his grip and Harry shifted position to hide his face in Light Arrow's chest.

"Please, I can't sleep alone. I have to be with Draco," Harry whispered.

"You can sleep alone, Harry, and you will. Severus' door is directly opposite to yours and mine isn't far either. As soon as you have a nightmare, or any other problem, we will be here for you. Draco has to learn to live on his own, just as you do. You cannot share a bedroom your whole life. We won't separate you completely, Harry, just at night. During the day you can both spend as much time together as you want, and you can visit each other in your rooms as well. This way you both have a place of your own, where you can retreat when you need down time. You need to find your way back to yourself and regain the power to live on your own."

"You don't understand," Harry mumbled into Light Arrow's chest.

"If I had a dollar for every time a child has said that to me, I would be a rich man, Harry. Maybe I don't understand your problem completely right now, but I do know that it is unhealthy to depend so deeply on another person who also desperately needs help. You are strong, Harry. You need your friendship with Draco and nobody is trying to take that away from you, but you are also your own person. I know you have nightmares, and that it makes you feel safer when Draco is there, but Draco needs time to heal as well. I'm sure he has been happy to help you, but he has his own problems and needs to concentrate on them, not on you. Now, we will be here to help you. There is a spell on each room to inform us if someone has a nightmare or has problems sleeping. We will be here to help you the minute you have trouble. You don't have to worry; if you want, I can have the spell notify Severus as well when you need help." Light Arrow started to gently move his body backward and forward, rocking Harry. "Do you want me to adjust the spell so that Severus will be informed?"

"Yes," he whispered.

The monotone voice and the gentle swinging began to cause Harry to drift off. He knew how pathetic he must look cradled in the old man's lap, but he had never felt so safe and warm in his entire life and wanted to enjoy it as long as possible.

"I'm scared," Harry whispered. He felt overwhelmed by all the stress from the last few weeks at Headquarters, from the journey, and from the events here at the ranch. He just wanted to hide in the strong arms and sleep. He was sure he wouldn't have a nightmare while Light Arrow was with him.

"I know, my boy, I know," Light Arrow said, never stopping the gentle swing. "But you are not alone. We will watch over you until you are ready to watch over yourself, no matter how long it takes you, Harry."

Harry clawed tighter at Light Arrow's flannel shirt. He didn't wanted to be alone; he didn't want the memories of the dungeons to haunt him.

"Look, you won't be alone after all, Harry. Karim has taken it upon himself to watch over you," Light Arrow said. A small chuckle in his voice made Harry look up. A black cat jumped up onto the bed and curled up in Harry's lap. Harry loosened his death grip on Light Arrow's shirt to pet the cat. Karim purred, lulling Harry into a restful sleep. His eyes drifted closed; Light Arrow didn't let go of him, keeping up the gentle swing.

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Draco watched fearfully as Light Arrow and Severus guided the reluctant Harry into his room. Only Rose's calming hand on his shoulder stopped him from panicking completely like Harry had.

"It's okay, Draco. Come on, I will show you your own room."

"But I have to sleep in Harry's room. Please you don't understand," Draco pleaded.

Rose smiled calmly at him. "I understand perfectly, Draco, but you need to take care of yourself while you are here, not Harry. My father and Severus will take good care of him, I promise." Gently she guided the blond boy down the hall to his room. Draco tried to look back over his shoulder at Harry's room in hopes that the door would open and Harry would come out.

"He is okay, and you will be okay as well, Draco," Rose said gently and stroked his hair before she steered him into his room. "Come on, I'll help you unpack, and then you can rest for a while."

"Harry cannot sleep alone, Rose," Draco tried to explain.

"You will not be able to care for him his whole life, Draco. One day you will have your own family. You will still stay good friends, but you both must learn to live your own life."

"A family?" Draco spat angrily. "As if any girl would even look at me!" He threw his bag on the bed and began to open it when a warm hand on his wrist stopped him.

"Don't speak like that, Draco," Rose said warmly. "Come, sit down with me for a while." Never letting go of his hand, she started to trace one of his scars that lead from the back of his hand to the underside of his arm. "A girl that can't look past your scars isn't worth your love, and there is a lot of love. I can feel it," she said while placing her hand over his heart.

Draco was too shocked to react. Nobody had touched him since the dungeons, and he was surprised that it felt good. He felt the urge to cry but managed to keep his face expressionless.

"You don't have to hide behind your mask here, Draco. We want to help you. You are still a wonderful young man, and you will find your way in life. The scars on your skin will become a part of you, and anyone who judges you by them is not worth your time. The scars here -" she laid her hand on his chest again, "- will be harder to heal, but we will try."

Her words touched something deep inside. How could a woman he had known for just an hour touch his soul like this? He grabbed for the hand that was hovering over his heart. "They will never heal." He was silent for a moment, and when he looked down, he found that he still was holding Rose's hand in his lap. Draco snapped his hand open to release it, but Rose didn't draw it away.

She encircled his hand with both of hers. "We will see, Draco. Just give us a chance and time."

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Severus watched as Light Arrow cradled Harry in his lap. He was reminded of the times when Light Arrow had to calm him in the same way. He understood how frightened Harry was and why Harry thought he couldn't sleep alone. Severus knew about his nightmares and flashbacks, but he also knew that Harry couldn't hide behind Draco his entire life. Light Arrow would calm him down, so he didn't interfere, but rather observed the scene passively.

Severus slipped out of the room once Harry began to fall asleep in Light Arrow's lap, physically and emotionally exhausted. He wanted to check on Draco and Rose.

At Draco's door he knocked softly.

"Shh, it's surely just Severus wanting to check on you. Shall I let him in?" Rose said from behind the door.

The door opened by itself, and Severus smiled at the fascination on Draco's face over Rose's use of wandless magic.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"Sure, you can help us unpack, Severus," Rose said cheerfully.

Severus eyed Draco critically. "Everything okay?"

"Sure," Draco said and looked at his hand, which a moment before had been held by Rose. "How is Harry?"

"He is okay, Draco. The two of you need to stop worrying about each other so much. Light Arrow is still with him." He looked at Rose, who knowingly smiled at him.

"You look tired, Severus. You should rest a while," she gently laid a hand against his cheek.

Severus grabbed for her hand and looked deep into her eyes. "I'm not the one needing to heal, Rose." He gently reminded her.

"You will always be the one that needs healing, big Brother," Rose said and encircled his hand with her own.

Severus could feel her magic flow into him, scanning him and calming him. He was tired from weeks of trying to help the boys without success not to mention from the long journey. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to lay down for a bit.

"Manipulative witch," he growled playfully at her.

She just smiled and then turned back to Draco. "Let's unpack while Severus goes to have a nap."

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