For the Sake of the Children

Chapter Six: When it All Comes Crashing Down

These back steps are steeper to the ground
The brightest stars are falling down
I'm walking the edge, walking the tightest rope
We can be frank, reality rips on through
Rolling like a hurricane

Harry froze when he heard his Head of house tell him that it was required for the first year students to have a medical examination. While he knew logically that medical examinations where something that where normally required upon entering a new school he had figured that since there where so many noticeable differences between the Wizarding world and the muggle world that this was just one of the things that was not required and he wouldn't have to worry about coming up with excuses or explanations if he was asked about any of his injuries. He knew if it got back to the Dursley's that he had let someone find out he wouldn't make it to the end of summer. He felt a shiver run up his spine as he thought about how angry his uncle would be if he was confronted by the wizards about the injuries he had. Harry shook his head trying to clear his mind as knew from experience that if he got too worked up at the thought of being checked over it would only draw attention to himself and cause more trouble. If he played it cool maybe he could get away with the usual excuses of him being clumsy and not really hungry often when they checked his weight.

Unfortunately before he had been able to calm himself down he had caught the attention of some of the other Slytherin's setting near him. "Don't worry about it too much, Professor Snape is a tad over protective because he is a Potion Master and had to take a healing course to qualify. Because of it he wants to make sure all of his students are in the best health we could possibly be in. The only thing you really have to worry about is how many cavities you will have and if he and Madam Pomphrey decide that it is reason enough to make you drink skelegrow." Blaise said as he shuddered at the thought. "Trust me when I say that is one potion that should not be taken unless you actually have broken bones I would rather suffer through the cavities" Blaise grumbled seeing as it was well known throughout the other Purebloods that where within the Zabini's circle that the young heir had an intense sweet tooth. In fact it was an ongoing joke amongst his friends that if he was given the choice he would completely forget about the fact that he needed to eat actual food for his body to develop and would dive head first into the nearest sweet substance. As such his mother had actually tasked the house elves with keeping the sweets away from Blaise until he finished eating a complete meal and unfortunately the avoidance of sweets even included pumpkin juice so he was only allowed to drink milk or tea until after he had eaten the set amount of non-sweetened food.

While everyone else was teasing Blaise about his addiction to sweets and how it was incredibly unbecoming of such a prestigious family to fall to such temptation, which only ended in the person who made that comment suddenly sporting a lovely shade of pastel pink hair to accompany his troubles? Harry had honestly expected the other boy to get angry or for Blaise to get in trouble or something to happen since that was all he knew. Any time someone caused something freaky to happen he was always blamed and got punished for anything that wasn't considered ordinary. When the other boy just turned red in embarrassment and then started to laugh at himself as well before responding that he guessed he deserved that Harry could only look on bewildered this wasn't what he had learned was how things were supposed to go.

Before he had time to get even more worked up over the upcoming examination or the episode between Blaise and one of the other Slytherin boys, he was being pulled out of his thoughts by Naruto who just raised an eyebrow at the other boy.

"Are you just going to sit there staring at your breakfast or are you going to actually eat something before we have to go? I might not know much about humans as a whole but I am pretty positive that skipping a meal isn't a good way to start a day that we really don't know what will be expected of us throughout the day" Naruto said as he tried to focus on something other than his own frustrations. He didn't want to even begin to examine why his more bestial side was acting up. While he had gotten used to the red hot anger that would boil up every so often since he lost his brother he had also gotten pretty good at recognizing what triggered his rage. That was why he was so confused and frustrated with the way he was struggling today. He did not understand why he was feeling so unsettled and he did not like the fact that it was causing him to lash out at the others, he was going to have a lot of groveling to do to get Kazuo-sensei to forgive him for his behavior today. Once he got himself under control he was going to have to thank Kazuo-sensei for canceling the training session as well, with the way he had been feeling if he had actually participated and been paired up with one of submissives he would have likely gone too far and wound up accidently hurting the person he was paired up with and depending on who said submissive was could have ended in a fight between him and the submissives mate or elder sibling. He shuddered when he thought about what would have happened if he had been paired up with Shukaku and had went too far if she hadn't skinned him alive Gaara would have been sure to finish the job and there was very few youkai that he would prefer to stay on the good side of and Gaara was one of those that he did not want to end up on the wrong side of. Very few who did wind up on that side of the violent red head lived to tell the tale and Naruto did not want to test his own luck.

Gaara looked over noticing that Naruto had apparently gotten lost in his thoughts again and from the look on his face it wasn't pretty thoughts. "Snap out of whatever your little mind has concocted before you worry yourself into an early grave" he said quietly as he poked the other boy in the side with his elbow before continuing on with his meal.

Naruto looked up and smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head "Sorry you know me I tend to either overthink things or not think enough. You would think that you couldn't cause so much trouble by doing one or the other" Naruto said with a slight laugh before he too returned to his meal his eyes focused on the small black haired human that had caught his attention from the start.

As breakfast came to an end the first years where led to the infirmary Harry couldn't help but compare the way they were following after the professor reminded him of a mother duck leading her ducklings to water. The mere thought had forced a smothered giggle out of Harry. While not everyone could hear it he did catch the attention of the students closest to him. Noticing Naruto's raised eyebrow and the curios look on Blaise's face Harry figured it wouldn't hurt to share. "We look like little ducklings following their mother. The image of Professor Snape as a Mother Duck just startled me" Harry said before laughing as the others grimaced at the very thought of Professor Snape being their mother

When they all got to the infirmary the Slytherin first years where ushered towards one side of the infirmary that was set up to slightly resemble a hospital waiting room. While it was nowhere near as big as those that where in an actual hospital or even a well accomplished healer's office here in the wizarding world it was big enough for the group of first years to sit down and start up a game of exploding snap while they waited for Madam Pomphrey to get through the list of students and seeing as she was going Alphabetically the young students knew they had plenty of time for a couple games before they would be going to the first class of the day. As the games went on the players seemed to be on an ever rotating list. Once the students had figured out a pretty good rate for how long the checkups would take the roster was set up so that as soon as one student was pulled for an exam they were replaced with someone a few exams down the line and then would be returned to another ongoing game by either swapping with someone needing a break to the restroom or a snack or something else.

Professor Snape had been helping Madam Pomphrey whenever needed with some of the more obnoxious purebloods or some of the males who were uncomfortable with their exam being done by the madam. Between times when he needed to step in and do an exam himself or was required to fill something in that went beyond the usual scrapes and bruises or for some of the girls needing a nutrient potion because they were already going on diets trying to attract the perfect husband. Severus shook his head as he watched the young Bulstrode heiress try to argue with Madam Pomphrey, something even he had learned was a hopeless endeavor. While he was grateful he did not have to explain to the girl what damaging your body could do to your reproductive organs, life expectancy, and other affects that defying your body necessary nutrients could do.

While Madam Pomphrey was engaged in an argument regarding the difficulties of child birth and mortality rates for both the mother and child when the mother was not taking proper care of herself from a young age. Trying to distract himself from the nonsense that Pureblood traditions had caused he looked over at the other children who had successfully succeeded in creating a revolving roster of students playing multiple games of exploding snap in the middle of the area where the students were expected to stay. At first Severus had thought that it was probably Draco or possibly the Zambini boy or even the Uzumaki kid. But that wasn't that case the longer he watched the more he noticed the smaller black haired child that deeply resembled his own schoolboy rival. Harry Potter was the one directing the students into their revolving door games where they were switching in and out of games better than some of the political meetings that he had been forced to sit in on when he took up the Prince Lordship. These children at the direction of Potter's son where functioning better than grown adults at the elite social dinners and things that he was required to attend every so often where run less efficiently than the way this first year muggle raised boy was running a spur of the moment set of games to keep the students entertained while waiting for their checkups.

Severus hated to admit it and would rather accept one of those infernal lemon drops that Headmaster Dumbledore was always offering him whenever he would encounter the elderly man, than allow others to know that he was reminded of his friend Lucius Malfoy in the way the boy was quietly taking the lead in such a way that it looked like it was actually Blaise and Draco who were leading the students but to those who were trained in the art of subtle manipulations would recognize the true organizer of the group. Severus didn't like that ever since the boy had entered the school he was having to think of unpleasant things. And once he was sorted into his house he knew that he was going to have to deal with it for the rest of his time here. Unlike if the boy had been sorted into another house where he would only be required to interact with him during classes, meals, and any detentions the boy was sure to attain as he was the son of Potter, with him being sorted into his house he didn't have the choice but to see him on a daily basis and even interact with him because regardless of how he felt about Potter's bloodline being in his house he would not neglect his duties as head of house, the very same duties that he had set for himself when he was appointed to the position and refused to be like his predecessor.

Severus must have been staring too intently at the boy because Harry turned his head to meet the gaze of his professor. When the bright green eyes capturing the gaze of the elder dark haired male Severus felt his breath catch in his throat not allowing him to look away as the image of the child was replaced with the disappointed face of his best friend. Her eyes seemed to convey her disappointment in the fact he was still unable to put the past behind him and was still holding onto the grudge from their own school days. Severus quickly averted his eyes to break the connection erasing the ghost of his old friend. No matter what he wanted to keep telling himself there was no way he could keep calling the boy Potter's son because while he was the son of his rival that he had been determined to hate just like he had hated the elder Potter he was being reminded every time he watched the boy that he was also his best friends son and something was telling him if he kept comparing the boy to his father he would have to see those green eyes looking at him in anger once more and he never wanted to see that again. He was forced to see that look in his dreams every night when he went to bed remembering how he had betrayed his friend, near sister, and led to her death and he did not want to be haunted by the same eyes during his waking hours as well.

While Severus was having his own internal debate the exams had continued on quickly passing through until it was finally Harry's turn. While Harry walked across the room and ducked behind the screen that was used to separate the beds and was meant to give the students a sense of privacy as they were examined. As Madam Pomphrey bustled about the area setting up a new set of potions and vials and a whole slew of lovely things that they were going have to do. While it was much quicker than in a muggle hospital it still took a little bit of preparation and work to achieve results. After setting an auto inking quill down and enchanting it to record the results of the exam she set to work. With a small cutting charm she opened a small cut in his finger where she then used a swish of her wand to draw blood from the wound and to divide it into a couple different vials where she then dropped a few drops of different potions into the blood and waited for the quill to start recording the findings.

Name: Harry James Potter
Age: 11
Blood Status: Pureblood
Blood Type: AB+

So far everything was working properly and the parchment was showing exactly what she and Severus where expecting it to not that she expected to make a mistake and if Severus expected her to he best keep it to himself unless he wanted her to bind him to a bed and keep him there for a week the next time he got so much as a sniffle. She then started to move her wand in a slightly more complex pattern than one would normally see for spells starting with six interlinking circles before a slashing line is drawn through all six circles at once with a sharp left turn of the wrist looking like a giant backwards check mark before making sure to pronounce the spell correctly Sanguistensio. Harry started to relax when all he felt was a pressure around his upper arm that steadily increased before the quill started to scribble out the results.

Blood Pressure: 135/100
Pulse: 60

Madam Pomphrey's eyes narrowed slightly at the result since it was a lot higher than she had been expecting at his age. While it was only 15/20 higher than what was normal for a child to be that much higher than normal could be a symptom of an underlying condition which meant she was going to have to do an even deeper check than she had originally planned on. Luckily for her the next spell in the list of spells she was going to be casting today was incredibly simple. The wand Movement was a simple cursive lowercase t with the incantation was Caliditas and was one of the spells that other than a wash of magic the target didn't really have any reaction to. Harry shivered slightly at the feel of the magic washing over his body as he sat there. Harry was sure to admit that the magical exam was a lot less anxiety inducing than the test he had been forced to endure when he entered Primary school.

Temperature: 38.11

Madam Pomphrey shook her head slightly tsking as she made a note on the parchment she was using to keep a list of everything she would need to do to put the boy back in a semblance of perfect health. While she wasn't completely surprised that Harry was already causing her to have to put her license to good use it still was concerning that it wasn't even the first week of school yet and she was starting to worry about a student. She couldn't put her finger on what exactly it was that was making her worry but after twenty years of being the Hogwarts Matron and another ten years that she had spent in her residency under the best healer Britain had to offer she had gained what most would be inclined to call a sixth sense when it comes to her patients health. The next spell she cast was one of the reasons that becoming a professional healer was such a hard profession. A lot of medical spells didn't have an incantation which made it fall under wordless magic and wordless magic was actually harder than wandless magic. As such it could be very complicated to succeed at the spells.

Harry wasn't sure what he was expecting but for the small room to be filled with the sound of his heart thumping along steadily. Harry wasn't even sure what to expect any more since everything was so different from what he was accustomed to. The next spell she cast was another silent cast which then started to scan down the body causing Harry's eyes to widen as a graining picture appeared in the air in front of the three before clearing up to reveal that three of Harry's ribs where fractured with one actually be broken. Harry turned pale as he noticed what everyone was looking at and was so busy trying to figure out a way to hide what they had just found that he didn't notice that the noise that had been coming from the waiting area had vanished. When Severus had left to handle a fight that had broken out between his godson and the Rosier boy causing the whole system that Harry had set up to grind to a halt. Unfortunately Severus returned just in time to catch the image of the fractured and broken ribs and was so shocked by what he was seeing he forgot to close the partisan behind him so that the other students could not see what was going on. With the partisan left open everything that was going on was easily viewed by the other Slytherin students and the privacy spells that madam Pomphrey had put up before they started where no longer active since the room wasn't completely closed off anymore because she always anchored the spells to the separations so that she wouldn't have to use as much energy to maintain them. With a wave of her wand the scan changed to show deep bruising along his upper chest, ribcage and stomach before with a twist of her wrist the pictures shuddered almost like when a shutter closed on a muggle camera and a magical photo appeared in the stack that had been recording everything that the two adults had discovered. When the picture continued the scan it also picked up heavy bruising on his back which then quickly joined the pictures already taken. With each spell she cast Pomphrey was losing color and when she looked over at her colleague she saw her own reaction mirrored upon the dour potion masters face.

Severus closed his eyes painfully no matter what he tried to tell himself he knew it wouldn't work. If anyone was able to recognize injuries like the ones on the young boy it was him since he had sported similar injuries all throughout his time as a child. As the scan changed from searching for bruising to scars Severus felt his breakfast trying to make a reappearance as he saw the results. The boys back was littered with scars seeming to cover his entire back except for parts that would be visible when wearing a shirt. He was appalled to find himself mentally catalog the scars and what they could have been caused by. Without even looking up Severus was positive that Pomphrey was fighting back tears just like she had all those years ago when he had been the one sitting on the bed allowing her to do the exam that he knew was only going to cause problems if it was reported. If asked at a later date Severus would not be able to identify the exact moment that he decided that he wasn't going to let Lily's son continue to live like he had all those years ago but this was it. He would find a way to get the boy away from whoever was causing these marks because regardless of what Potter would tell him when asked he was too well acquainted with the true causes of marks such as those to be fooled by the excuses that Potter, no Harry would be sure to give when asked.

While Severus was thinking to himself the exam had continued on and unfortunately Kitsune demons where known for their good eyesight and Naruto had crept ever closer to the edge so that he could see what was going on and it seemed fate was conspiring against them because in a completely enclosed space with no open windows or any way for wind to have gotten into the room a strong breeze flowed through the small area causing the parchment that had just finished being filled out to fly off the table and towards the door drifting directly into the clawed hand of the Kitsune prince who started to read.

Severus might have been able to get the parchment away from the child if it wasn't for his senses going haywire causing him to swear he was hallucinating. When Severus went to grab the paper before the student could continue to read it he froze when he looked past the troublemaking Kitsune and his eyes were caught by an emerald green pair of eyes that made his heart hurt and him forget how to breathe. The crimson hair seemed to swell in the breeze carrying a scent he had thought he would never smell again to his nose. The green eyes which now that he had torn his own away from he was able to see her face as she winked at him just like she always had when she was playing a prank on the marauders. With that final playful wink she faded from view like she had never been there to begin with.

Severus shook his head forcefully trying to force himself back into reality since there was no way that Lily had survived in any way, not even as a ghost and even if she had it wouldn't have looked like she had when she was still living, Severus was positive he was losing his mind as he quickly tried to get the paper away from the other boy only to realize that he had been distracted by the hallucination just long enough for the boy to have finished reading the paper.

List of Current Injuries: The patient has three fractured ribs along both sides of his body the left side seems to have sustained the brunt of the injuries to include two of the fractured ribs as well as the single broken rib. The patients left ankle in broken as is his right wrist while both arms show signs of improper healing of the bones after having been broke before. Has heavy bruising across his chest, abdomen, ribs and back. Bruising is deeper on the left side as if patient tried to protect their right side possibly by curling into a ball when possible. Large sections of the patients back are littered in scars and burns that are too entangled at this point to be able to determine exactly what caused them. Malnutrition is the result of ongoing or long term starvation and is going to take a long term treatment to get the patient to a proper weight. Insulin levels are incredibly high and the patients glucose is to low and should be placed on a diet that is high in both protein and glucose to keep the patient from going into a insulin induced coma. Upon further examination it was discovered the patient has tearing in the anal cavity and bruising along the prostate, furthermore the genitals of the patient seem to be heavily burned though not as extreme as some of the scars upon his back or chest.

As he started to growl and red energy surrounded him causing the other demons in the room to pale and only one thought passed through all of their heads. That one thought was pretty much summed up perfectly by what Neji had to say. "Well Shit"

These four walls are closing in on me
The talk is louder than I'll sing
I want to be there, want to be where you are
But you know it all
Every look and smile that aren't meant to break
I'm over the bridge and under the rain

A/n: Ok to start off with I am soooooooo Sorry for the late update I have been incredibly busy and my muse just refused to work with me. I have been struggling with this chapter for over a month. I am so glad its finished Like im going to go watch some anime or something I need a break my head is killing me. Anyway I hope everyone likes this chapter I worked realllllly hard on it and I really hope it turned out well. I think my favorite part had to be near the end where Severus was Hallucinating Lily. They found out about the abuse and we can all say that naruto is very unhappy with the development can we not? As always thanks so much for the reviews and favorites everyone if you have any Ideas or suggestions feel free to hit me up I am always available for inspiration. Now onto review responses my favorite time of the day!

Rainbows and Twilight : Well you have asked such a thought provoking question I can't really answer it without ruining the rest of the story with a yes or no all I can say is continue reading and putting the clues together. Shoot me a pm if you realllllly want to know the answer:p

Shadowlady89: Mika Toshino currently a picture of an anime nine tailed girl with a butterfly tattoo on her shoulder.

Riyo: Well I am glad you liked last chapter and I hope you like this one as much. As we all know me actually getting this far is an accomplishment what with my getting distracted and my own personal life constantly getting in the way. Anyway if you have any ideas let me know I could always use the help.