Michael had always wondered about it: Chloe hated anything to do with the wizarding world, so why had she ended up as George Weasley’s therapist?
She had never given him a straight answer.
Just brushed it off, told him George Weasley offered a good rate.
When it came to becoming Harry Potter’s therapist, she used the same kind of excuse.
“Ron Weasley is obviously terrible at converting pounds to Galleons. When it came time to pay the consultation fee, the generosity was extraordinary.”
“Or maybe it was just hoping this could heal a best friend.” Michael had been bent over his lamb chops at the time.
“You know how close they are.”
Chloe admitted the guess made sense.
She had seen it herself, the deep helplessness, the desperate pleading in Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley’s eyes when they first came to her.
But even without that, even if they hadn’t paid her a single penny, she still would have taken them on.
During Michael’s second year, his letters always carried bad news.
He told her a High Inquisitor from the Ministry of Magic had arrived at Hogwarts, someone who despised the place and was especially harsh on Gryffindor students, threatening and intimidating them at every turn.
For a long stretch of time, Chloe couldn’t sleep through the night.
She lay awake afraid something would happen to Michael at Hogwarts, that the woman called Umbridge would make his life unbearable.
Then she received a letter soaked with tearstains.
Michael’s handwriting inside was shaky and uneven.
He told her Umbridge had put him in detention.
That a vicious quill would carve whatever he wrote on paper deep into his own skin.
Then two names appeared in the letter.
[But! Sister, the Weasley twins comforted me for so long, and they gave me loads of prank supplies and delicious sweets! So don’t worry, I’m doing fine at Hogwarts. George and Fred are really brilliant. I can’t believe anyone could make such incredible prank things!]
[I’m sending you some of the Puking Pastilles they gave me along with this letter. Are you happy at school? If anyone upsets you, you can use these to get back at them!]
Just thinking about the words carved into Michael’s hands made Chloe tremble.
It was the first time she had ever wished she were a witch, so she could have walked into Hogwarts alongside Michael and protected him.
She was grateful to Fred and George.
Grateful for the comfort they had given Michael after he was hurt, grateful that they had been there beside him through that terrible time.
So when she learned that Fred had died in the Battle of Hogwarts, and when she watched George walk into her consulting room looking like a hollow shell of a person, she wanted, without a moment’s hesitation, to help.
They had brought joy and hope to Michael in his darkest moments.
She wanted to repay that as best she could.
As for Harry Potter, he had been Michael’s idol since Michael was young.
Every step Michael took had followed in Harry’s footsteps.
Michael looked to Harry as a guiding light, and she could not bear to watch that light go out in his heart.
Chloe knew she was the right person for the role.
Wizards were clearly neglectful of mental health, and they couldn’t bring themselves to tell a Muggle therapist where their real wounds were, they would always have to hide the wizarding parts.
Only she could connect those blurred-out pieces to their actual lived experiences and find where the true knot of the problem lay.
Chloe looked at the strange, towering building in front of her and sighed.
“Should I just pretend not to notice this completely unreasonable structure that Muggles could never have built — or should I bring it up and watch them panic a little?”
Michael was busy adjusting his collar in the rearview mirror and had no time to answer.
“Quick — do I look presentable?” A pat on Chloe’s arm, urgent.
“You’re really that excited about The Burrow, aren’t you.” Chloe shook her head, resigned, and reached over to smooth out the creases in his collar.
Michael nodded eagerly.
She looked at him and couldn’t help smiling.
Molly Weasley welcomed them with open arms, still in an apron, both hands dusted in flour, trotting out from the kitchen all the way to the door to pull Chloe and Michael each into a hug.
“Thank you so much for coming.” Molly looked at them with moved eyes and gave a small sniffle.
“Thank you for the invitation, Mrs. Weasley.” Chloe hugged her once more, then held out the flowers she had brought.
“I hope you enjoy these.”
“Oh—” Molly looked genuinely overwhelmed.
Fleur Delacour, standing nearby, quickly stepped in to take the flowers from her hands.
At the same time, Michael handed Bill Weasley several bottles of red wine.
“Chloe!” Victoire Weasley was the first to come flying over, arms wrapping around Chloe’s legs.
Chloe crouched down at once and pulled Victoire into a hug.
“Hey, that’s not fair! You cheated!” Teddy Lupin looked at Victoire with a flash of indignation, it seemed the two of them had just been plotting something.
“Long time no see, Teddy.” Chloe smiled over.
Teddy instantly turned bashful, walking toward her with a trace of shyness.
“Very cool hat.” Chloe said, doing her best to ignore the two strands of hair peeking out from under it shifting from brown to pale gold. The source of this chapter is g.com.
The Weasley home was even cozier than Chloe had imagined.
Handwoven blankets were spread across the sofas, intricate dark-colored patterns worked into the fabric.
“Mum made all of those.” Ginny Weasley spoke up from nearby, apparently having noticed where Chloe’s gaze had landed.
Ginny extended a friendly hand.
“First time meeting, I’m Ginny Weasley. Thank you for protecting Victoire and Teddy.”
The girl’s face instantly matched the name Chloe had held in memory.
Chloe introduced herself in turn, then glanced over at Harry without drawing any attention to it.
Harry and Ron Weasley were busy coaxing Teddy and Victoire into arranging the flowers in the vase.
Children that age always wanted to help with the grown-up tasks, and Harry and Ron Weasley had no intention of dampening their enthusiasm.
“Just a moment, dinner will be ready soon.” Audrey said from the sofa, voice gentle.
Percy Weasley rested a hand on Audrey’s belly, gave a brief nod to Chloe and the others, then headed off toward the kitchen.
“We’re a big family, aren’t we.” Ginny Weasley shrugged.
“George and Angelina Johnson are getting married soon too. Oh, did George send you a wedding invitation?”
“Mr. George Weasley did mention it.” Chloe’s expression softened into something apologetic.
“But according to professional regulations, I’m not permitted to have a personal relationship with a client during the course of treatment.”
Angelina Johnson nodded, unsurprised.
George had clearly already explained.
“Then today, with both Harry and George here…” Hermione Granger’s expression shifted into something worried and guilty.
“Our invitation put you in a difficult position, didn’t it?”
“It’s all right. As you can see, I’ve been doing my best all evening to look past those two gentlemen and avoid engaging or speaking with them.” Chloe gave a small blink.
“And I really was looking forward to this dinner.”
Hermione Granger and the others visibly relaxed.
“So… Chloe, is Harry’s treatment going well?” Ginny Weasley asked, openly curious.
“Ginny.” Hermione Granger tapped her before Chloe could say a word.
“That’s Harry’s private business.”
“That’s right, we’re not permitted to disclose any client’s treatment progress or process to anyone other than the client themselves.” Chloe gave a gentle nod.
Ginny Weasley pursed her lips but didn’t ask again.
➤ Next: Dinner (2)