Sirius came back to his senses to yells from most of the kids around him, Harry was bent practically double with a hand covering his scar. He was clearly in a lot of pain and above them shone the Dark Mark. Fred and George both stood in front of the group, wands pointing at the line of trees, presumably where the spell was cast.

Hermione and Ron also stood with their backs to the group, desperately trying to see past the shade of the trees, the darkness of the night was only slightly brightened by the sickly green light of the Dark Mark, the snake moving constantly, but never leaving the mouth of the skull.

Ginny was crouched in front of Harry, who looked terrified as well as pained. She was trying to both calm him down and explain to her where and how he was hurting. Harry wasn't responding to her, his breathing uneven, and he almost looked like he was trying to stop himself from throwing up.

"What happened?" Sirius asked, approaching Ginny and Harry. He would decide after that if he needed to focus on defending the kids or helping Harry.

"We were all waiting rather quietly for you to finish, but then there was clearly someone in the trees, so George tried to get them to say who they were, but then they cast the Dark Mark into the sky. I don't know why, but Harry then bent over saying his scar hurt. He's really pale." Ginny said, her own face looking sickly pale in the green light.

"Humanum revelio." Sirius muttered, it was, after all, the safest way to figure out if they were in immediate danger. There were only the 8 of them in the vicinity, so for now he needed to work on getting Harry healthy. "You can all relax, whoever that was isn't here anymore."

"Are you sure? Should we move?" Hermione asked, giving Sirius a brief glance over her shoulder, but she kept trying to scan the edge of the trees.

"You can't avoid that spell, not even if you're under the Potter invisibility cloak, which is also pretty good at rejecting spells." Sirius said. "And it's best to stay put for three reasons; one, it will help to show that nobody has died, two, it will make it easier for Remus and the aurors to find us, and three, I know we're safe here, moving means I don't know."

"So we're safe?" Fred asked, keeping his wand trained on the trees.

"For now. Hopefully Moony will come before anything goes wrong, but someone is probably going to have to stay behind to talk to the newspapers. No way will they let this go, I'll stay to explain, I'm an adult, you kids need to get home and get somewhere that you feel safe." Sirius said, his tone making it obvious that there was no point in arguing.

"We're almost 17, we're not kids." George tried to argue, but if he was being honest he didn't want to talk to the papers anyway, but he knew he didn't want to be called a kid.

"And you're still younger than 17, and you don't know what kind of terror settles into people when they see that mark in the sky. Besides, I doubt your mother isn't terrified." Sirius said, his voice a forced calm, in truth the symbol above them was terrifying him, there was only one time during the war when he had been forced to enter a terrible scene that didn't have a Dark Mark above. This would be the first time he saw it without a death underneath it.

It was more than possible that it was an escaped Death Eater who felt that the lack of a Dark Mark over... That house those years ago needed to be fixed, so they cast one over Harry. He wasn't going to tell anyone about it though.

"Harry, can you look at me?" Sirius asked, his voice soft and kind, it was the same tone he had used to talk to Regulus when he was the one who had been hurt by their parents, or in a panic, or ill.

Harry's face was definitely paler than it was when he was well, his eyes looked almost too big to match his face, and he winced even in the pale light of the Dark Mark.

"Are you okay? Can you tell me what's wrong? I might be able to help." Sirius said, gently running his fingers through Harry's hair. It was still messy, but since moving in with people who knew his father, it was now significantly better looked after than it was before, it having a healthy shine to it.

"My scar, it hurts so much." Harry whimpered, leaning into Sirius as though the man's touch could ease his pain. "It feels like it's being split in two."

"Oh, Harry. We have to wait for Moony to get here, but as soon as we get you to the Burrow, you'll get you a pain relief potion, then you should get some more sleep. Is there anything I can do to help you to make you feel better while we wait?" Sirius said calmly, he wasn't sure it was just pain in his scar, but there was very little he could do here.

"It's too bright, and loud." Harry whispered into Sirius' chest.

Sirius felt distressed, there was nothing he could do to help his precious godson. Instead he held the boy close, casting a cooling charm on the front of his robes, knowing that pressing something cool against his head would always help Remus to press something cold to his head when he had headaches. Harry was still pale, and had uneven breathing, as Sirius, carefully and gently, ran his fingers through Harry's hair.

Even though they were shown by Sirius' spell to be safe, everyone except Harry kept their eyes on the trees, most wands drawn. Ron jumped when he saw a bright, blue tinted white light emerge from the trees, A large group of wizards running behind whatever it had been, their own wands raised, and Remus leading the way.

"Sirius! What happened, is everything okay? Did anyone-" But Remus' voice died in his throat before he could finish the last question, terrible memories of the war not even letting him think to the end of it.

"We need to be quiet, Harry has a bad headache and needs a pain relief potion as soon as possible. And don't worry, other than that, everyone's fine. The twins said that it was just someone in the trees they couldn't see who cast it." Sirius explained, quietly, still holding the suffering Harry close.

"I'll take him to get a pain relief potion, then take him to the Burrow, you can come later with his stuff, right?" Remus asked, now quiet. "Can you walk now, Harry, or would you prefer I carried you?"

Harry's only response was a quiet whimper, but he made no move to get up, so Remus took that as an admission of being unable to work, or feeling light headed. Remus was gentle when picking Harry up, seeing how ill he looked, he was careful to keep his sight away from the light.

As Remus left, Arthur stepped forwards to talk to Hermione and his kids, some of the remaining Ministry officials, including Chris from earlier, were going through the trees to look for anyone else, hopefully to find the caster.

Harry clung onto Remus as the man made his way through the trees, most people had already left the forest already, so there was no way for anyone to see them, making it unlikely for anyone to find out about Harry while he's vulnerable.

Remus was careful to slip out of the forest so that nobody saw them, so they wouldn't be stopped for questions. A medical bay had been set up to help the people who had been injured during the attack, more than one person had been trampled, but thankfully there was nothing that was so serious they wouldn't make it with the first aid before they could be taken to St Mungo's for proper treatment.

Thankfully the Weasleys' larger tent was unscathed, so Remus left Harry on his bed, which was safely towards the middle of the tent, while he left to get the pain relief potion for him. The emergency medical bay was crowded, but thankfully it didn't take long for him to be given the potion Harry needed.

While Remus was obviously worried for Harry, but he was glad it was nothing worse than a bad headache. A pain relief potion, a safe place, and some more rest, and he'd be fine, the chill that had settled into his bones from seeing the Dark Mark in the sky, which had only chilled him further when he saw his patronus heading directly towards it, was starting to relieve itself as he allowed himself to believe nothing was wrong.

Remus was thankful he was able to avoid everyone until the tent he had left Harry in was in. Unfortunately, Fate didn't seem to want him to be able to help Harry quickly. How much more did Fate want Harry to suffer? He's just a kind and he had already suffered more than most adults had in their entire lives.

"Ah, Mr Lupin." Fudge said, marching up to the man, not seeming to care about the frustrated, almost hurt look on Remus' face. "I trust that nothing too bad has happened, do you have a moment for us to talk? I hope we can get past our previous differences."

"Cornelius Fudge, I am currently trying to look after my godson. As for getting over our past differences, you have, and still are, actively tried to remove my rights multiple times, making it impossible for me to get another job, as well as sending my fiancé to Azkaban without a trial, then claimed our godson was practically insane when he found out the truth. Goodbye." Remus said, pushing his way past Fudge. He knew the only reason the man was even talking to him was so that he could get points for talking to a werewolf, but it wasn't going to work. If he wanted to look like he cared about werewolves, he would have to start actually caring about the rights of all people and creatures.

Entering the tent Remus breathed a sigh of relief. While it was still a tent, allowing a fair amount of noise to bleed through the thin, canvas walls, it was significantly quieter inside, hopefully enough so for Harry's comfort. It was definitely dark in the tent, Remus's eyes almost needing to strain to see properly, but he didn't want to turn on a light in fear of it being too bright for Harry.

"Harry? How are you doing?" Remus whispered, walking into Harry's room.

"It hurts." Harry whimpered, his head in his hands and tears were forming in his eyes.

"I know, Harry, I know. Drink this, you'll feel better after you do. It's a pain relief potion." Remus whispered, sitting down beside Harry and handing the potion over.

Harry didn't even hesitate, uncorking the bottle and chugging the potion down. Everything still seemed brighter than he knew it really was, but the pain in his head lessened significantly.

"We should get to the Burrow, I'm sure Molly is already worried. The others will come soon, Sirius will be later and will bring your stuff. I don't know if you were listening before." Remus explained, letting Harry lean on him comfortably, brushing through Harry's hair.

"I wasn't really paying attention to what was around me. When we redo my room, can we also look for something to help me get around when I can't walk?" Harry asked, Remus would probably never know how Harry was able to make his eyes seem so large compared to the rest of his face.

"Of course, I was already thinking you needed something like that. I'll also talk to McGonagall to make sure that you will have accommodation, especially for bad days. I don't know how good your good days will be or your bad days will be." Remus said, pulling Harry into a gentle hug. "C'mon, let's go."

Remus stood up, picking Harry up and apparating to outside the Burrow. Molly was indeed worriedly waiting in the kitchen, stress baking the muggle way. The eldest Weasley children were trying to assure her everything was fine, but they also looked worried.

"Remus, Harry!" Molly practically screamed, rushing into the garden as soon as she saw them, leaving Bill to catch the bowl she carelessly tossed aside. "What happened? Is everyone okay? Why are you carrying Harry? Is he hurt? Where is everyone else?"

"Molly, relax." Remus said firmly, Harry wincing at the loud noise, his headache not having entirely faded. "The others are fine, they're just explaining what happened, they'll be back soon. Sirius will bring Harry's stuff. Harry just had a bad headache so we got him out of there first."

"I'll lead you to Ron's room, Harry can rest there, I'm sure Ron won't mind." Charlie said, stepping in before Molly could go on a tirade about how none of this should have happened and how mortified she feels and how scared she was she would never see them again.

"Thanks." Harry said from Remus's arms. He felt like he was weak and pathetic, but he didn't want to show the Weasleys that side of him. He knew it was irrational, but he was afraid that if they knew they would stop wanting him around.

"No problem." Charlie said, his mouth was smiling, but his eyes looked at Harry and were full of concern. Admittedly, he didn't know Harry very well, but he had heard a lot about him from Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny. Percy had mentioned him occasionally, but more seemed to think of him as a bad influence on Ron.

-----

"Where's Harry? Is he okay?" Ron asked as soon as he got home with Arthur. Molly having calmed down significantly after talking to Remus.

"He's in your room, hope that's okay. He was still in pain after the pain relief potion so we decided to let him rest. You can go check on him if you want, just don't wake him up if he's asleep." Remus said, hoping his comfortable tone could help calm Ron down.

Ron ran upstairs immediately, Hermione following him slowly after a moment or two. They could hear the thumping of Ron's footsteps the whole way to his room, so they hoped it wouldn't wake Harry up if he was actually asleep.

"Sirius stayed behind to explain the situation to the papers, he figured it would be better than just ignoring them. We didn't find the person who cast it, although Barty seemed stressed and angry." Arthur explained, plonking down heavily on the worn out sofa.

"Everyone else is actually okay, right?" Molly asked, jumping up and rushing over to check on her children one by one.

"We're fine, mum." Ginny said, trying to pull herself away from Molly's tight grip and intense gaze. "The only one you could say wasn't fine is Harry, because of how bad his headache was and because he couldn't walk."

"I know, but you're my children. I want to make sure you're alright." Molly said, almost defensively. Her voice was delicate, as though the smallest thing could push her over the edge.

"Come on Ron! Harry is sleeping, standing there looking at him isn't going to magically fix anything." Hermione said, almost annoyed as she pulled him downstairs.

"I know, but he's my best mate, I hate seeing him in pain, or keeping things that hurt him to himself." Ron muttered, shaking Hermione's hand off his sleeve.

-----

It was around mid afternoon that Harry woke up again. His legs still aced, but he was able to walk now. He breathed a sigh of relief at that, before he realised that he had to climb down all the stairs. He was glad he was in Ron's room, it made him feel strangely comfortable, but it was unfortunate it was at the top of the house. His head was almost completely fine now, just a little slow.

Harry was starting to stagger his way down the stairs when he ran into Ron, who immediately brightened seeing he was both awake and up.

"Harry! How are you feeling?" Ron asked, both of them stopping on the stairs. "I was just about to come check on you, I have some muffins mum made, there are more kinds of food downstairs. Apparently she heard the report of the attack and started baking. Although Bill said it was likely that if she wasn't baking she would have been storming the campsite." Ron chuckled, not that the situation was really funny. He was also holding a slightly chipped plate that had two muffins on it.

"I'm alright, sorry for taking your room." Harry said, his stomach then letting out a loud gurgle.

"You haven't had anything since yesterday evening, eat at least one of these. I'll give you a piggy back ride down." Ron said with a smile, handing Harry the plate and turning around, crouching so that Harry would be able to clamber on.

"Thanks." Harry said, sheepishly, almost failing to get onto Ron's back, if it wasn't for Ron's surprising strength he would have fallen off.

"Of course, you'd do the same for me, right?" Ron said, his tone bright.

"We are best mates." Harry agreed.

The others were relieved to see a laughing Ron return with Harry on his back, his cheeks stuffed with the second muffin he had been brought, grinning broadly himself. It seemed like everything was okay.