“Hello Harry,” Healer Andromeda Tonks said as she came into the exam room, her sister right behind her. She and Cissy had a joint practice and while they were both general healers, Cissy specialized in lycanthropy and Andromeda was a midwife and pediatric Healer.

“Hi, Aunt ‘Dromeda,” Harry whimpered, his face nearly buried in Lily’s neck.

Smiling at the boy who was practically family, she pulled her stool over near Lily and sat down. A flick of her wrist unlocked the potions cabinet so that she could summon what she needed. “Can you come see me?” she asked the boy.

Nodding, he carefully moved to sit on Andromeda’s lap, cradling his injured arm. “It hurts,” he told her.

“I know, sweetie,” she replied, brushing the hair from his brow. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“I fell off Buckbeak,” he answered, leaning against her. She wasn’t really his aunt, but he considered her his aunt because she was Aunt Cissy’s sister…and she treated him just like she did Teddy and Tessa.

“Who is Buckbeak?” she asked, gently examining his arm. She already knew the answer, because a nearly frantic Sirius had told her what had happened when he came through the Floo just moments before Lily had brought Harry through.

“He’s Dad’s hippogriff…I was flying on him and fell.”

She kissed his brow. “Flying hippogriffs is much different than flying brooms. You should practice riding one and get good at that before you try flying Buckbeak again…and not by yourself until you are sixteen,” she told him.

“I’m not gonna fly on him again,” he replied. “My arm really hurts, Aunt ‘Dromeda.”

“That’s because you broke it, Harry.”

“Do I gotta take a bunch of potions?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.

She chuckled. “Just a couple, kiddo. Something for the pain and Bone Knit Elixir…and you’ll need something for all those bruises, but I bet your mum has a salve for them.”

Harry looked at his mum who was still sitting nearby. “Do you Mummy?”

“I do, baby,” Lily said, reaching over and rubbing his back.

Andromeda took that brief moment of distraction to set Harry’s broken arm.

“Ow!” the boy cried, hugging his arm.

As Andromeda has started telling Harry what potions he would need to take, Severus walked over to the potions cabinet and removed the correct vials. He knelt in front of Harry. “Here imp, take these for us, alright?”

“But they taste nasty,” the boy whined, hiding his face in Andromeda’s shoulder.

She bounced him gently on her knee. “Come on, Harry. Be a good boy and take the potions from me.” He just shook his head. “Remember that boys who take their potions without a fight get a candy when they finish.”

Sniffling, Harry took the potions from his Da and drank them, making a face after each one. “Can I have a candy now?” he asked the Healer.

“Yes, Harry,” she said with a chuckle. “Just let me finish.” She conjured a splint, which she carefully placed on his arm before conjuring a sling as well. “I want you to wear this for a week and then let me or Aunt Cissy take a look, alright?”

“I will Aunt ‘Dromeda,” he replied, kissing her cheek and sliding off her lap to hurry over to the candy jar.

She turned to Lily and Severus while Harry was distracted. “He’s got a broken arm, mild concussion and is covered in bruises. I’ve healed his arm and I think you two can handle the rest.”

Lily nodded. “Thank you, ‘Dromeda.”

“You’re welcome, dear. Cissy told me a bit of what’s been going on with James.”

Lily sighed deeply and Severus squeezed her hand. “We have an appointment with our lawyer next week. This just…I hate that Harry got hurt, but I hope it makes things easier,” he told her.

She nodded. “I had my assistant show James to my office to wait. You can leave with Harry whenever you are ready.”

Andromeda sighed when she heard the commotion out in the hall. She had told her assistant to take James Potter to her office when he came in, but from the sound of things she was having problems. "I'll go talk to him while you two take Harry home."

"Thank you, 'Dromeda," Severus told her.

She stood and gave Lily a quick hug before leaving the room and going to deal with James. Out in the hall she grabbed James by the arm and shoved him into an empty exam room, closing the door and casting a silencing charm with a wave of her hand. Working with small children, knowing wandless magic was a must. "Have you lost your mind, James Potter?! Letting a six-year-old fly on a hippogriff?!"

"I didn't think there was anything wrong, Dromeda..." The man started.

"That's Healer Tonks to you!" She snapped. “Nothing wrong with putting a child on a hippogriff? A child Harry's age can barely control a broom, much less an animal ten times his size!"

"I was standing right there..."

"If you were stupid enough to put that boy on your bloody hippogriff then you should have been on there with him! What were you doing, James, while your son was on that hippogriff?"

James looked down at his shoes. "I was watching him, until Sirius came outside to tell me that I had a Floo-call...from a witch I used to date."

"A witch?! You took your attention away from your son because of a witch?! James Darius Potter!"

He winced at the use of his full name. “Andromeda..."

"Healer Tonks!" She snapped at him again. "Your son should be your top priority James. When he is with you your attention should be on him and only him!"

"Lily and Snape don't focus only on Harry..." He protested childishly.

"They didn't put their son on a hippogriff!"

"But..."

"But nothing! Do you realize that you could lose what little custody you have of Harry because of this?"

"What?! He's my son!"

"And you foolishly endangered his life, James."

"Snape is beating Harry!"

Andromeda slapped him. "Do you honestly think I would allow anyone to get away with beating one of my patients? If you think he is beating Harry, then you know nothing about Severus Snape. He would do nothing to hurt that little boy."

"Harry told me that Snape hit him."

"Severus may have spanked him, but he has never 'beat' Harry."

"I don't want him touching my son," he told her. "And I don't think Harry needs to be spanked. I never was."

She put her hands on her hips and looked at him like a mother looks at a naughty child. "You should have been, James Potter. Then maybe you wouldn't be such a spoiled brat now and would be a better father."

"I'm a good father," he protested.

"A good father would not willingly put their child in a situation where they could be hurt or killed!" She stopped and took a deep breath. "By law, I have to report this."

"You can't!"

"I have no choice, James. Even if custody wasn't an issue, I'm required to report any instance where a child gets hurt when the parent knowingly put their child in danger."

"It was a mistake, Andromeda. I'm not a bad father because of a mistake...I never meant to hurt him. It's not fair for you to report it."

She sighed deeply and pushed him back into a chair, before pulling the stool over and taking a seat in front of him. "It may have been a mistake, James, but Harry could have easily died. He was lucky he landed on his arm and not
his back or neck. That would have killed him for sure. Then how would you have felt? How would Lily have felt?

"There is more to being a father than having fun with him or trying to make him like you better than Severus. You need to start behaving responsibly...like an adult.

"Children need structure and stability and they need to learn right from wrong. Allowing Harry to run wild is not a mark of a good parent. It's just confusing him and causing him more harm."

"I'm not going to start acting all strict like Snape. Harry's just a little kid. He ought to be having fun...not being serious and making potions all the time."

"At least act like an adult. Have you ever considered that Harry enjoys playing with his little potions kit? Do you ever spend time doing things that he wants to do? Or is it always what you...and Sirius...want to do?" She summoned a book from her office and handed it to him. "This is a book on parenting. Read it with an open mind. And be expecting a call from your solicitor."

He took the book and nodded, before standing and heading toward the door.

Sirius was still in the waiting room. "How is Harry? They wouldn't tell me anything.". Severus and Lily had pointedly ignored him as they had left the Healer's office, with Harry asleep on his Da's shoulder thanks to the pain killer he had taken.

James closed his eyes and hit himself on the forehead with the book. In the whole exchange with Andromeda, he had failed to ask how his son was doing. "Andromeda?" He asked, looking at the Healer.

She gave him a pointed look. "Harry will be fine. He has a broken arm, mild concussion and a bunch of bruises...he'll recover in time," she answered, before heading toward her office to make her report.

James turned to look at his best friend, who he considered a brother. "Padfoot...I think I've messed up. Big time."