Author’s Notes: Thank you so much to my amazingly loyal, patient, wonderful readers! You waited so long, and I’m so sorry you had to. Had some serious real-life issues along the way, but I pressed forward and I finally have a chapter. I’m up way past my bedtime at this point, though, so there might be mistakes, especially in the first bit since it’s entirely unbetaed. The pleas for the new chapter were getting desperate, so I’m just posting and I’ll post an edited version if I manage it. Later. *posts and goes to sleep*

LIES – BREAKDOWN

“Are you *sure* we shouldn’t go check on him, Hermione?” Ron asked for the fifth time as Tonks thundered up the steps past the library toward the room where Harry’s occasionally amplified voice was coming from.

“Remus asked us to stay away; besides, do you really think Harry would want us around while he’s being punished?” Hermione replied logically. None of them were actually reading despite being in the library; they were all focused on what they could hear from the room above. Finally, after another minute or so, she said, “Explain the book, again?”

Ginny shrugged. “It’s like writing lines, only you have to say them out loud instead. It shows you a quote, you read it, and then it disappears and you repeat it.”

“What kind of quotes?” Hermione followed up immediately.

“All kinds of quotes, Hermione,” Ron answered. “Everything that’s been put in there by ten or more generations of Weasleys. The book picks them according to what it thinks you need, so it’s a better punishment than any parents could come up with, in that sense..”

“… serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered…” Harry’s voice came down from the room above, not painfully loud after travelling through walls and floors, but also not very quiet.

“Is it always this loud??”

“That’s it,” Ron said, shoving the book he had been pretending to care about to the side and standing to his feet. “I don’t care what Remus said or what you think Harry wants. Something weird is going on and I’m going up there to check it out.”

Ginny nodded and stood without saying another word, her book already having been set to the side. Hermione sighed and responded, “Remus was wrong about the Calming Draught, anyway,” and stood to follow the two Weasleys. Ginny gave a half-smile at that; it was only halved because just the mention of the Calming Draught could make any one of them upset. Usually, they avoided talking about it.

Hermione instinctively stepped lightly on the steps on their way up, even though there was no point: Ron and Ginny made more than enough noise for all three of them, and there was no way that if the adults cared to listen they would fail to hear them coming. Nor were there three other people in the house not already up here; only Mrs. Weasley remained down in the kitchen, and that was probably only at Tonks’ request.

“Finish-each-day-and-be-done-with-it; some-blunders-and-absurdities-have-crept-in—“ Hermione could make out bits and pieces of the words that Harry was running together as they approached the open door, but she couldn’t make sense of them. What on earth was this quote?

“I HATE YOU ALL!!” Harry yelled in frustration then, and Hermione froze in place, staring through the doorway at him. She knew he was upset, but this was far worse than she had feared! Harry sounded desperate as he continued to read, and she finally snapped out of her shock and moved forward, but Ron and Ginny were already standing in the doorway.

“What are you waiting for?” Hermione wondered, and Ginny turned around and snapped at her.

“The door is warded, genius!” Only an instant later her face was full of contrition. “Hermione, I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like that, I’m just frustrated,” she tried to explain. Hermione hesitated a moment before nodding her acceptance of the apology. “I don’t know what they’re doing in there…” She moved aside so that Hermione could see as well.

Harry looked to have just finished another quote, based on the look of grim satisfaction on his face, and the adults were all gathered halfway across the room from him. Tonks seemed to be unconscious already, even though she had been the last to come up, and Remus was crouched down next to her gesturing but not saying a word. Mr. Weasley had been crouched on the other side of her with his wand out, but he stood up now with a glance toward the door.

“Ginevra and Ronald, get away from the door this instant!” snapped Molly Weasley from behind the three of them, and Hermione scrambled to get out of the way just as quickly. The motherly woman walked right through the ward on the door and the students gathered around the doorway again.

“When degnoming, longest throw wins. Make sure you let go in the right direction,” Harry read in a tone that indicated that he knew *exactly* what he was talking about. Ron snorted and Hermione spared half a second to glance at him before looking back in to see what was going on.

Mrs. Weasley was discussing something in low tones with Mr. Weasley while Remus crouched next to Tonks but was watching Harry intently. Harry muttered the next quote too quietly for anyone to make out, and then Mrs. Weasley was stepping closer to him. “Please, Harry, will you let me cast a Silencing charm on the room? Then you can yell all you like…” she pleaded.

Hermione was surprised at Harry’s reaction. She hadn’t seen any large displays of temper from him yet this summer, but this definitely qualified. “SOMETIMES a SCREAM is better than a THESIS!” he yelled, his voice cracking under the strain slightly. He swayed slightly on his feet and blinked rapidly. Hermione could see that he was close to breaking down.

“Mrs. Weasley!” she hissed, but the woman didn’t hear her. She was about to call again when Harry began to yell again.

“I HATE QUOTATIONS! I *HATE* QUOTATIONS! I HATE *QUOTATIONS*! I HATE QUOTATIONS!” He shook the book in his hands, and Hermione realized that it had to be magically-attached to them somehow. Well, of course Harry wouldn’t like that, after being forced to write in his own blood for the past year! “I HATE THEM, I HATE YOU, I HATE—I hate—“

Suddenly Harry wasn’t screaming, he was crying instead. Molly Weasley took a step toward him and then Arthur called her back. Reluctantly she took a step back to where she had been and watched as Harry shrieked at the book. “Stop it, stop it, stop it,” he repeated, shaking the book in his hands. Abruptly he sat, right in place, his feet not even moving. It was a strangely fluid motion despite his distress, but Hermione had never seen him so close to tears. She tried once again (and failed) to step through the doorway. Tonks was still laying unconscious and all the conscious adults seemed torn between moving toward Harry and giving him his space.

“Help him!” Hermione tried to scream, but it barely came out a whisper. Harry was giggling hysterically, and she glanced over to see that Ginny and Ron were standing in remarkably similar postures, both of them clenching their fists as their sides and staring into the room, worry mixed with helplessness. “Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn’t, it ain’t. That’s logic,” Harry read, still giggling. Hermione thought she might see a tear tracking down her face, and was shocked that he didn’t try to wipe it away instinctively, as he normally did. Instead, he just continued to repeat the same thing, over and over again. “Contrariwise… Contrariwise… Contrariwise…”

Finally, *finally* Remus jumped to his feet and made his way to where Harry was. He slowed as he got closer, but then seemed to gain confidence and knelt down beside Harry to put his arm around the teen. Hermione exchanged glances with Ron and Ginny when Harry leaned into the embrace instead of withdrawing as he had from all their attempts at contact since they had first seen him on his birthday. Then Hermione gaped as Remus easily pulled the book out of Harry’s hands and threw it across the room.

When Ron and Ginny didn’t seem surprised, she nudged Ron. “Why didn’t they just take the book out of his hands before??”

“Couldn’t,” Ron mumbled absentmindedly. “The book decides when the punishment is over.” He and Ginny were watching as Remus tried to get their father’s attention, but Arthur was too focused on waving his wand over the Weasley family heirloom in a complicated pattern of scanning spells. Both the Weasley children appeared to have forgotten that *they* had not lost their voices as Remus had, and Hermione was about to call out when Remus successfully got Molly Weasley’s attention and mouthed words to show her that he had been silenced.

As Molly moved to try to help Remus, she snapped out Mr. Weasley’s name. “Revive Tonks!” she ordered, and then began trying to find the countercurse, since Finite Incantatem did not seem to be working. Fortunately, Arthur’s job with Tonks was much easier, and she sat up in confusion and took everything in for a moment—Remus, Molly, Arthur, and the teens standing just outside the door.

“Gordon!” she exclaimed suddenly, in an apparent non-sequitur. “He’s outside taking a walk!” She jumped to her feet and almost immediately tripped and nearly fell flat. She caught herself, barely, and then rushed through the door, the teens only barely managing to get out of the way before she barreled through them and down the stairs. Hermione held her breath waiting for the metamorphmagus to stumble and fall, but she made it down safely and the front door slammed closed behind her.

It took several more minutes and both Arthur and Molly to successfully reverse the spell silencing and deafening Remus. Hermione hadn’t even realized that the werewolf couldn’t hear anything, but realized that she should have since he should have flinched otherwise at the high volume in his sensitive ears.

“Harry? Harry?!” Remus called several times, more frantically each time. Harry’s head turned slightly but that was his only reaction: Hermione could see that his eyes were somehow blank in a way she’d never seen them, and she shuddered. Remus then tilted his head up to glare at the Weasley patriarch. “What’s wrong with him?” he demanded with a snap.

But Mr. Weasley just shook his head. "I don't know, Remus.. I've never seen *anyone* react this way, or even close to this! The book is harmless; I was sure of it!" Hermione winced; even without having seen Remus’ reaction, she knew that was the wrong thing to say.

"Well, you were wrong," Remus replied with a growl. "How could it possibly be harmless if it reduced Harry to *this*? And how are we going to get him back, now?"

Arthur held his hands out as though to physically calm the man. "I don't know, Remus… I don’t know what's happened. But I will do everything in my power to undo whatever it is," he answered earnestly.

Pounding footsteps sounded up the stairs, and Hermione turned to see Gordon appearing at the top of the stairwell. She stepped out of the way and pulled Ginny out of the way as well, but Gordon couldn’t enter through the doorway any easier than they could. “Dammit!” he swore under his breath, taking in the scene inside before taking a deep breath and turning. “Nymphadora, how do I get in the room?” he asked in a more pleasant tone.

“With me,” she responded, finally coming to the top of the stairs herself. From the way she was limping Hermione guessed she had taken a fall on the way in or up. She moved quickly nonetheless, moving forward to take the psychologist’s arm and then walking through the doorway and pulling him through.

"What happened?” Gordon asked the room at large. “I was out taking a walk and Tonks came and got me!" He took in the scene in front of him and crouched down in front of Remus and Harry almost immediately. "Harry?"

When there was no response from Harry, he looked to Remus. "How long as he been unresponsive? What triggered this?"

Remus shook his head. "The book," was all he managed, choking slightly on even those few words. Gordon looked up at Molly and Arthur for answers.

"I was all the way down in the kitchen and didn't hear his yelling at first," Molly admitted. "When I did hear the commotion, I came up to find Tonks unconscious, Remus silenced and deafened, and Arthur not sure what to do, nor do I blame him. I don't know what happened--it was a simple punishment, and Harry's not usually a violent boy."

“If that’s a simple punishment, I’d hate to see something complicated,” Gordon muttered half under his breath. He looked around the room and took in the fact that everyone in the house was here—the children still held back by some invisible force at the door, Tonks just behind him, Remus still holding the unresponsive Harry close, and Molly and Arthur standing above them. He hesitated for a moment before coming to a decision.

“Harry needs space,” he said decisively, despite knowing that this could not go well. “Remus, do you need help getting him to his room?”

Remus finally responded, shaking his head as he stood to his feet without setting the teen down. Gordon watched as Harry tightened his hold on Remus’ sweater to the point that his knuckles whitened slightly. Remus hugged him slightly closer in response. “So light..” he said absentmindedly. Gordon frowned in response but set that aside for the moment, promising himself to get back to it (along with a great many other things) when Harry had recovered.

“Come on,” Gordon said, and began moving out of the room. Nymphadora, Arthur, and Molly all began to follow, and the children at the door crowded around so much that Remus was forced to hesitate. “I *said* that Harry needs space!” Gordon snapped slightly before taking a deep, calming breath. His burst of anger had the desired effect, though, as everyone (except Molly Weasley) backed off slightly and Remus was able to push past the teens and continue toward Harry’s room. “Everyone go down and wait in the kitchen. I’ll be down in a while.”

Gordon shook his head when no one moved except to open their mouths to protest, presumably why each one of them should be allowed to help Harry. Gordon rolled his eyes in irritation. “Who am I kidding? Clearly a pitiful Muggle such as myself can’t convince any of you of anything,” he said bitterly, not below manipulating them in an urgent situation. “Well, I’ll put it this way—if you want to help Harry, for once, you will *all* give him the space he needs. If you do, then hopefully I can remedy whatever damage you’ve managed to do and you will be able to have a conversation with him in the near future. If not…” He left the sentence hanging and stormed up the stairs to the next floor, pausing halfway to take another deep breath before continuing more calmly to Harry’s room.

Gordon closed the door as soon as he entered, and Remus looked up from his position on the bed. He had sat down and appeared to be trying to disentangle Harry from himself, but Harry's only response seemed to be to cling more tightly. "What is he muttering?" Gordon asked, hearing that Harry was saying something but not able to make it out.

"Contrariwise," replied Remus. "It's the only thing I've heard him say, since they ended the spell deafening me." Remus sighed, and then said, "I'm sorry about earlier, but I was just so.. worried. Is there any way I can help, or do you want me out of here, just like everyone else?"

Gordon was surprised that Remus had heard him. He had spoken harshly, but had not raised his voice much if at all. He pushed the surprise aside. “I think Harry would rather there be fewer people around when he recovers, don’t you?” was his reply, with a raised eyebrow.

Remus looked reluctant but moved immediately, setting Harry down so that he was sitting next to him and then moving to stand up. His motion was halted, however, when Harry did not release his sweater and said, "Don't go!" His voice was pleading and childish, but not demanding. Remus sat back down on the bed quickly and glanced at Gordon for instruction as Harry leaned into him and clenched his sweater tighter.

Gordon pulled a chair up so that he was a few feet away from the bed facing Harry. "Okay, Harry, he's not going anywhere," Gordon replied calmly. "You're safe, Harry. You’re in your room, in Grimmauld Place, with me, Gordon, and Remus. We're safe here with you."

"No," Harry replied in the same childish voice. "Contrariwise, contrariwise."

"Contrariwise," Gordon repeated, his voice gently leading. Harry shook his head once and leaned into Remus harder. They sat in silence for several long minutes, Remus slightly stiff for fear that any movement might disturb whatever Gordon was doing.

"Scared," Harry admitted finally, squeezing Remus' sweater in a death grip that turned his knuckles white. Remus took a chance and reached his arm around to encircle Harry's shoulders, and Gordon nodded to approve the gesture. Remus relaxed slightly, and Harry did too, though he didn't loosen his grip on Remus' sweater.

"I can see why you would be scared, Harry. This stuff is very hard to understand, but we have some time that we can take to talk about it now," replied Gordon, his voice still calm but warm and soothing. Remus felt himself relaxing instinctively at the tone.

Harry shook his head slightly more forcefully, and didn't say anything more despite several more minutes of silence. Gordon had an intent expression on his face, his brow slightly furrowed in concentration. Finally, the psychologist shifted slightly and took a deep breath before beginning to speak in a quiet, level voice.

"You're safe here now, Harry, and so I want you to join us in the present by becoing aware of the room where we are; become aware of Remus' sweater that you're holding onto, and the feel of his arm around your shoulder, and the bed that you're sitting on, and the sound of my voice. Bit by bit, you're coming back into the present so you can talk quietly with us here."

Harry's posture shifted ever so slightly. "Remus?" he said in a small voice. "I'm scared."

Remus glanced at Gordon before saying as calmly as he could, "That's alright, Harry.. It's understandable that you're scared. This is difficult stuff, I know.." Remus tried to remember what Gordon had said before. "But we can talk about it, now.." He looked at Gordon again and Gordon nodded, only briefly making eye contact with Remus before looking back to Harry.

"No," Harry replied. "Don't want to."

"Most people don't like to talk about why they're scared," replied Gordon, and he let the statement hang for a moment. When Harry glowered at the floor but didn't respond, he continued, "I wonder what happened, earlier. I was out on a walk..."

"Too much.. it's too much..!" Harry responded, breathing a little faster. Remus squeezed Harry’s shoulders lightly in an attempt to comfort him and tried not to let his breathing speed with the teen’s.

Gordon took several deep breaths until Harry followed along, relaxing slightly. "Too much," Gordon repeated eventually. "I wonder what was too much.."

"Couldn't leave.. couldn't move.. stupid book..!"

"Most people find having a lot of people around stressful.. I wonder if that made it worse, Harry," Gordon prompted again. Remus looked up and him and frowned slightly, but didn’t say anything.

Harry nodded. "Everyone around.. panicking.." He shuddered.

"Everyone was panicking around you.." Gordon repeated.

Harry hid his face against Remus' sweater, nodding slightly in response. Gordon let the silence stretch slightly again before asking, "What about your magic, Harry?"

Harry moaned slightly. "Make it stop... too much... Please..."

Remus ruffled Harry’s hair as the boy continued to hide his face, wishing there was something he could do to help. Gordon replied, "I can't do that, Harry.. nor would I want to. Lots of people feel overwhelmed when things change suddenly, especially as much as they have changed for you. That's why I want to talk about it."

When Harry shrugged but didn't say anything in response, he suggested, "I’m confused about what happened after I left. I think I saw Molly coming up with lunch for you.."

“Ate lunch; then…” Harry paused with a light shudder. “Upstairs..” Remus frowned at the fact that Harry was still speaking in stilted, incomplete sentences, but Gordon shook his head slightly when they made eye contact and he stayed silent.

"You ate the lunch Molly brought you, and then you went upstairs.." Gordon rephrased, leaving the statement open-ended but not pushing Harry to continue.

“Upstairs… Remus… the book…”

Gordon smiled encouragingly, winking at Remus when they made eye contact again. This caused a small smile to appear on Remus' face--if Gordon was happy, it was probably for good reason. "You went upstairs with Remus, who brought the book," Gordon attempted to clarify.

Harry shook his head once, frustrated. “No! Remus… the book…” Harry's hand spasmed on Remus' sweater and Remus suspected that it would be permanently stretched by this misadventure. He didn't mind that, though, if Harry recovered properly; already he could see progress, however slow. "Give.." He nudged Remus to indicate that he should tell Gordon.

Remus opened his mouth to respond, but Gordon caught his eye and shook his head. "I was wondering what happened to *you*, Harry, not to Remus," he responded gently.

Harry sagged slightly in defeat and silence reigned in the room for a long moment before he finally said, "Remus.. the book.. give.. give me.." Harry's knuckles were white again and he burrowed his face against Remus' side.

"You're doing such a good job, Harry," Gordon encouraged bracingly. "Lots of people find it hard to put things in full sentences or make themselves understood when they are overwhelmed with emotions, but talking about it will help you deal with those emotions.”

Remus watched as Harry seemed to grasp on to that promise like a lifeline. The teen’s hand loosened from its death grip on his sweater and the teen sat up slightly. “Remus—Remus told me to read the book,” Harry continued finally, his voice still hesitant but much closer to his normal tone.

“Remus told you read from the book,” Gordon repeated with a nod. “I was wondering what the book was like, Harry… Arthur, Mr. Weasley, said it was a bit like writing lines.”

Both Gordon and Remus were startled when Harry suddenly pulled his hand back from Remus’ sweater and held it to his chest, rubbing the back of it with his other hand continuously. Gordon looked at Remus, who was forced to shrug since he was as much in the dark as the psychologist. “No..” Harry moaned. “No more lines.. I wasn’t lying..!”

“Harry..? Is there something wrong with your hand?” Gordon questioned. Harry froze and shook his head but didn’t uncover the back of his right hand. “May I—I wonder if I might be able to see it,” he continued after Harry didn’t seem interested in saying or doing anything more.

As Harry extended his hand shakily out to show Gordon, Remus couldn’t stop himself from gasping. How had he not seen the scar before? Though the scar was thinner in some places and thicker in others, it clearly spelled out the words, ‘I must not tell lies.’ “Harry..!” Remus couldn’t stop himself from exclaiming. “What—how—when--?”

Gordon took in the words on the hand and then watched as Remus’ reaction caused Harry to cringe, this time slightly away from the wizard. “Would you rather talk about this alone with me, Harry?” he wondered.

Harry looked over and seemed to realize how he had been leaning against Remus and that the wizard's arm was still around him. He stopped just short of pushing Remus' arm off of his shoulders but did shrug uncomfortably and then nod. Remus tried to make eye contact before leaving but Harry stared uncomfortably at the floor. "Good luck," the man finally said softly before leaving and closing the door behind him softly. Gordon nodded to him as he passed and then immediately turned his attention back to his patient.

"Did someone--did an adult cut that into your hand, Harry?" Gordon asked finally. Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm wondering how you got a scar in the shape of words on your hand, Harry.. I'm just a Muggle, so I don't know if there's perhaps a spell that will do that..?"

"It's not a big deal," Harry replied finally with a scowl. "Umbridge made me write lines with my own blood, to 'make an impression.'" He paused, then added defensively, "I didn't even tell a lie!"

"Usually, it's a good idea to tell an adult that you trust when another adult is hurting you, Harry.. Otherwise the adult can keep hurting you."

Harry gave another uneasy shrug. "Do we have to talk about this?"

"We should talk about this, Harry." Gordon watched the teen's tense shoulders and downturned head. "We don't need to talk about that right now, though. You never finished telling me about the book that Remus asked you to read."

Harry frowned and ducked his head even further. "I don't know what's wrong with me.. it was just a stupid book. Ron and Ginny thought it was funny," Harry replied quietly.

"Nothing is 'wrong' with you, Harry," Gordon replied with a comforting smile. Harry's head lifted enough for him to see Gordon's expression through his fringe, and he shrugged again. "You had an emotional response. It's very common for people to feel overwhelmed, especially when they have been under as much stress as you have over the past few weeks."

"But.. how can I stop it from happening again?" Harry wondered, straightening slightly at the note of hope that it seemed Gordon was holding out.

"First of all, we need to figure out what emotional response this triggered, and deal with whatever is causing those emotions.. Along with that, I can teach you ways of coping with your emotions as you are feeling them, without being overwhelmed," Gordon responded, winking at Harry when he finally looked at Gordon's face. Harry managed a weak smile in response.

"But do we have to do it right *now*?" Harry asked, a note of pleading in his voice.

"Is there a reason for waiting?" Gordon asked, his voice slightly playful.

Harry sighed. "I guess not..."

Gordon leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees and his chin cupped in his hands as he watched Harry. "You were already responding emotionally before I even left, if I remember correctly... Almost as though the situation were bringing a particular memory to mind.."

Harry's whole body tensed and his eyes became distant and unfocused for a moment before he shivered and shook his head. "No," he vocalized immediately. "No."

Gordon held his breath for a moment before repeating, "No..?"

Harry wrapped his arms around himself lightly and rubbed his arms. "I don't want to talk about this," he replied.

"I know you don't," responded Gordon gently. "But there is nothing wrong with you, Harry, and whatever you're remembering is *not* your fault."

"You don't know that," Harry responded angrily. "You can't know that..!"

"Yes, I can," Gordon responded firmly. "Adults, especially those responsible for your care, are *never* justified in hurting you. I don't care what you have done; hurting a child is *never* acceptable."

Harry began to rub his arms again. "How do you know I was hurt..?" he asked in a slightly smaller voice, all anger gone as quickly as it had come.

"Because, Harry. I know people, and no one responds the way you did without some tr--without someone having hurt them, at some point. I still don't know what happened, though.."

"I just.. it was just.. like when the Durs--when my family p-punished me.." Harry continued to rub his arms nervously. "I don't like being in trouble," he added shortly.

"I'll need you to be a bit more specific, Harry," Gordon said almost reluctantly. "I know this is hard to talk about, but it will help you work through your emotions, I promise." The psychologist moved his chair closer and then reached out his hands. "Come on, Harry.."

Harry stared at Gordon's hands for a long moment before reaching out his own and placing them in the larger ones of the psychologist. Gordon squeezed his hands gently, and Harry felt as though he had a little more strength. It was easier to remember that he was here and not there. "When they were angry, they would scream at me.. about how worthless I was," Harry began in a small voice. Gordon nodded encouragingly and squeezed his hands again but didn't say anything to interrupt him.

"The worst was when I did magic, accidentally.. that was the only way I *could* do it, anyway. They didn't even tell me that's what it was--they would scream at me that there was no such thing as magic, and about how worthless I was and what a waste of their time and money.. And then they would throw me in my cupboard, and I would hear them locking it, and threatening me if I even tried to come out, and.." Harry trailed off, shaking slightly.

"Harry.. I need you to look at me in the eyes. Can you do that for me?"

Harry slowly managed to drag his eyes up to meet Gordon's. Then the psychologist spoke again. "You are not a waste of anyone's time or money, Harry, and you never were. And your magic? I happen to know for a *fact* that it is very special, and I am *so* proud of you for your courage and ability to deal with unusual circumstances with so much strength. Not only that, but I *know* from living in this house with you and the others that everyone feels the same way about you. You are *so* special, Harry, and that is a *good* thing." Gordon finally paused and let silence fall over the room, allowing Harry to think about his words.

Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "What if I don't *want* to be special..?" he whispered.

Gordon grinned. "Well, my dear Harry, I'm afraid that you have *no* choice. In fact..." Harry eyed the mischievous glint in the psychologist's eye, but waited for him to continue. "I think that you shall just have to assist me in my prank war with Tonks... after all, I'm only a poor, innocent Muggle and I stand no chance against her without your help." He winked. Harry smiled half-heartedly.

"So... what now?"

"Now, I need to know how you are feeling--right now, at this very moment," Gordon responded with another smile.

"Erm.. Just.. tired, I guess.." Harry responded wearily.

"I need to go downstairs and talk with Remus and Arthur and Molly about what may have gone wrong with the book--it's fairly apparent that it did not work as they expected. Would you like to get some rest, or come down with me to listen?"

Harry frowned in thought. "Rest.." he said finally, his muscles relaxing slightly even as he said the word. Gordon smiled, and then pulled him to his feet for a moment. The psychologist then pulled back the sheets on Harry's bed before beckoning him to sit back down on the bed. Harry wearily removed his shoes and then collapsed back on the pillow. Gordon pulled the sheets and quilt up over him and smiled again. "Rest well, Harry," he told him, and then he moved to the door and shut it quietly behind him.

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Reviews Welcomed! :-D