"And where do you think you are going, Mr. Potter?" the icy voice cut through the silence of the abandoned corridor.
Harry flinched and turned around. A horrified expression in his eyes, "I… erm… need the toilette, Sir."
"Very likely story," Professor Snape said, folding his arms over his chest looking dangerously down at the far too small boy. "You walked past at least two toilettes already. Or do you have a specific toilette in mind?"
"No, Sir. I'm sorry, but I really have to go now", Harry tried to pass the professor, but suddenly his arm got caught in an iron grip. Harry startled violently and then looked up with pleading eyes. "Please, let me go!" he whispered desperately.
Before the professor could ask where the boy was planning to go, said child screamed and then crumpled to the floor. In his shock Professor Snape let go of Harry's arm, starring in bewilderment at the obviously anguished boy.
Harry clutched his forehead with both of his hands, unconsciously screaming in pain again and again, until it was over. He heaved a deep sigh and rolled onto his back, his hands still pressed firmly against his forehead.
When Professor Snape saw the blood between Potter's fingers, he shook himself out of his shock and crouched down next to the boy.
"Potter, are you okay?" he asked laying one hand at the boy's shoulder. The boy jerked again and then whispered "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have seen that."
Professor Snape frowned irritated, "You already knew this would happen?"
"Yeah, every year at the same time. I lost track of time in the great hall, and so I was too late. I hoped to make it back to my dormitory, but… why did you stop me?" Potters voice sounded accusing.
Taken aback Professor needed some time to think about what he was going to say next. On one hand he was angry at the boy, how dare he accuse him of having done something wrong; on the other hand he was extremely disturbed about the fact that the boy lived through such amount of pain and that every year.
"Let me see your forehead," he finally demanded and tried to push the tiny hands out of the way.
"No. It stopped already bleeding. I will just wash it away. There is no need-"
"You will do no such thing!" Professor Snape interrupted. "You will tell me immediately what happened, and why you didn't inform one of the teachers."
"Oh yeah, so you could tie me up and gag me and throw me in the cellar, too?" Harry asked angrily and looked at his professor, as he removed his hands from his bloody forehead.
"What are you talking about?" Professor Snape said and grabbed the small wrists of the boy, as the child belatedly noticed what he had done and tried to put his hands up again. "No, don't touch it."
Harry tried to free his arms, but the professor was too strong for him.
"Why do you care? You hate me!" Harry asked and jerked his arms again.
"Hold still! I will only cast a diagnosis spell," Professor Snape said, ignoring the boy's question and taking both of Harry's wrists in one of his large hands while the other pulled out his wand.
"Just let me stand up and I won't be a bother, I promise!" Harry tried again. He was starting to feel better again, and the stone floor was very cold.
"Be quiet!" Professor Snape snapped, and finally the boy shut up.
After a short diagnose spell which didn't reveal much about the cause of such a pain, Professor Snape spelled the blood away to reveal a very angry-red looking swollen scar. He packed his wand away, took the boy under his back with one arm and under his knees with the other, and pulled the boy to his chest, pushing his own body up from the floor.
"I can walk on my own!" Harry protested, but he could feel already the tiredness that always followed the pain.
"You, little boy, are coming with me into the infirmary and letting Madam Pomfrey do her job," Professor Snape explained and tightened his grip on the far too light child.
Harry yawed tiredly. "I should go back to my dormitory," he mumbled.
Professor Snape quickened his pace as he noticed the boy was losing consciousness. "Stay awake, Potter. We are nearly there."
"Sorry," Harry whispered, "can't help it." As Severus reached the hospital wing the boy was sound asleep.
"Severus. What are you bringing me? Did anybody overeat themselves?" Madam Pomfrey asked, as she hurried out of her office and watched Severus place a child in one of the beds.
"Nothing of this sort," he said with a deep frown on his face as he looked at the boy. Something was off, and he was determined to learn what it was.
"Oh. It's Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she walked over to see who her patient would be.
"Indeed. He left the Halloween feast early, and I followed him. I was about to chastise him for leaving early, but he broke down in pain clutching his scar. It lasted just a minute, but it appeared to cause him a lot of distress. As suddenly as the pain started it stopped again, and Potter informed me this happened every year at the same time. You know what happened on this day, at this hour, ten years ago?"
"Oh, dear. That's the day his parents died, isn't it? So is he reliving the pain of Avada Kedavra? Why didn't he inform somebody?" Madam Pomfrey wondered.
"I have no idea. When I asked him the same question, he said something about tying and gagging and throwing in the cellar. I assumed he was being facetious; however, perhaps you should check him for traces of mistreatment. He is far too light for his own good." Severus explained, while his eyes never left the sleeping form on the hospital bed.
Madam Pomfrey looked the boy over. He was really very thin. "And his scar?"
"It stopped bleeding on its own. I checked it. Except for the swelling, nothing is wrong, at least on the outside. Why it is causing trouble in the first place is beyond me. I never heard of anything like this, but then Potter is the only one living with such a mark. We don't know anything about this kind of scar."
"Okay, then I will see what I can find out, but it will take a while. Do you wish to wait, or shall I just call you when I have the results?" the mediwitch asked.
"I'm going to inform the headmaster about the situation, we will wait in his office until you are finished." Severus said and with a final glace at the small boy he left the hospital wing.
-oxo-
Harry slept through the night, and when he woke up the next day a blinding headache greeted him. He moaned and pulled his arm over his eyes so that he could shield himself from the bright daylight.
"Here. Drink this!" someone said, and Harry peered over his arm. Before he could make out who was with him he felt a hand between his shoulder blades pulling him up a bit. "Remove your arm!" the voice said again, and as soon as Harry obeyed something was pressed against his lips. It didn't smell inviting, but he had no time to comment on that, as the content of the goblet was poured into his mouth.
Nearly choking at the bad taste, Harry closed his mouth and turned his head away.
"It's for your headache, so stop being so melodramatic!"
Harry coughed hard as he finally managed to swallow the potion he'd already received. He opened his mouth again. This time he managed to drink without nearly chocking to death.
"Water?"
"Yes please!" Harry said and tried to grab the glass of water out of his professor's hand, but the professor pulled the glass away again. "No. Let me do it. If you drink too fast you will sick up."
Unhappy Harry nodded but let the professor help him. "Thanks!" he mumbled embarrassed.
"You are welcome."
Harry closed his eyes as Professor Snape lowered his body back onto the mattress. As soon as the potion kicked in, Harry sighed in relief, and his eyes fluttered open again. "Sir? Do you know where my glasses are?"
"Here!" Professor Snape reached to the night stand, took the glasses and gave them to the boy, who sat himself up in his bed. Harry placed the glasses on his nose and then blinked confused.
"Where am I?"
"In the hospital wing", explained the professor.
"Oh," was all Harry could say as looked around the foreign room.
"Mr. Potter, I want to talk to you about what happened yesterday, and I expect you to answer my questions honestly. Can you do that?"
Harry focused back at his professor and shrugged with one of his shoulders.
"What exactly happed?"
Chewing on his lower lip, Harry mulled over what he should reveal. "Well, every year on Halloween my scar start hurting me. It begins with a small prickle, but then it feels like someone stabbing me in my head. It hurts a lot, but it goes away relatively fast. My scar starts bleeding with the sharp pain, but stops immediately when the pain goes away again. After that I always feel very tired and fall asleep quickly."
"So you experience this every year in the same pattern?"
Harry nodded, still avoiding eye contact.
"As I asked you before, why you haven't told someone about that? You said something about 'binding you up'. Do you care to explain that to me?" Severus asked watching the boy intently.
Harry opened his mouth, then closed it again and shook his head.
"Did your relatives tie you up?" Professor Snape tried again.
For a second Harry's eyes shot up at his professor, but then he looked down again, starring stubbornly at his hands.
"I cannot help you if you don't speak up, boy. Madam Pomfrey ran some scans on you, and we got a strong impression that your relatives mistreat and neglect you."
"And what if they do? It's not like you could do anything about that!" Harry snapped defensively.
"On the contrary, if they mistreat you, you need to be removed from their care," Professor Snape explained.
"Yeah, right. As if that would ever happen!" Harry uttered a brief laugh.
"Look at me, Potter!" Professor Snape finally demanded. As the boy was still avoiding looking up, Severus placed two fingers under Harry's chin and guided the boy's head up until their eyes were meeting each other. Harry flinched as he locked eyes with his professor.
"I detest lies to no end and therefore you will never find me lying to you. I can help you. I talked to the headmaster last night, and we finally agreed that if your relatives are unable to raise you, you will be removed from their care. Unfortunately, there are not many people who the headmaster trusts with your safety, but I am one of them, if not the only one. So if you confirm our suspicions you will be living with me instead."
Harry's eyes widen at that. "Really? You would take me in?"
"What did I say minutes ago? I will never lie to you!"
Tears started to water Harry's eyes. "But… don't you hate me, too?"
Professor Snape sighed deeply. "I know I wasn't entirely fair to you, but I can assure you: I do not hate you. I will look after you. I can also promise you that I will never hit you."
"Not even if I was really bad?" Harry asked sounding like a little kid.
"Not even then."
Harry blushed violently. "So no bare spankings with belts?" he whispered.
"Absolutely not, but that's not an invitation to cross me. If you misbehave, there will be punishment! Such as writing lines, cleaning cauldrons, confining you to your room or losing privileges for example."
"Going to bed without food?" Harry asked.
"No."
"Being locked away in a cupboard for a day or two?"
"No."
"Chores for the whole day?"
"No, nothing of that sort. Is that how your relatives punished you?"
Harry just nodded.
"Would you please tell me, what your relatives do to you on Halloween, when you are in pain?"
Harry sighed, biting his lower lip until the professor pulled the lip out from under Harry's teeth with one finger. "Stop that!" he scolded softly.
Harry blushed, but then told his professor what he wanted to know. "They always tied me up, putting a gag into my mouth that I wouldn't cry out and then left me in the cellar for the whole day. They didn't listen to me when I explained to them that it only happened in the evening and only lasted about a minute or two. They were afraid I could draw attention from the neighbors."
Professor Snape looked suddenly very sad. "I will never do that to you. Although I'm sure your relatives didn't want to be bothered by you, and you probably learned to hide your pain or injuries, I expect you to come to me immediately if you are in any pain, no matter what, when or where. Is that clear?"
"Okay, Sir."
"You may call me Severus in private."
"Okay, Si… Severus. You can call me Harry, all the time," the boy said with a cheeky grin.
"In class you still will be called Mr. Potter, and rest assured, I will not favor you over anybody else," Severus clarified.
"It would be enough if you stop harassing me," Harry whispered looking down.
At that Severus' fingers were back under Harry's chin. Locking eyes with the boy again he said, "I will treat you with respect as long as you do the same, agreed?"
"Okay. Thank you!"
Severus nodded and released the boy's chin again. Then suddenly small arms wrapped around him holding fast onto him. Startled, Severus looked down into the smiling face of Harry. "Thank you so much!" Harry whispered and then buried his face into the professor's robe.
"You are welcome!" Severus said as he finally returned the hug.