Severus shot up straight in his chair, blinking sleep out of his eyes and stretching his aching form. He had been fast asleep, his head hanging loosely from his chest, obscured by curtains of black hair. His hand was still clasped around the butterbeer bottle, half full of golden liquid and in danger of toppling over, that stood upon the table. A quick glance to the clock hanging over the kitchen wall showed that it was nearing midnight, the shadowy darkness of the room confirming this. A shuffling, clinking noise resounded around the room, breaking the thick silence and causing Severus to nearly topple out of his chair. That must've been what had woken him up in the first place.
The noise continued to echo throughout the room, and Severus pulled his wand out of his pocket and crept slowly toward the source, which seemed to be coming from his back porch. Severus stopped in his tracks, remembering that earlier that day he had put some dishes of milk and leftover dinner out on the porch, hoping to feed a stray cat and maybe earn himself a companion. Living alone had been lonelier than he expected, and he had often seen strays skulking around the neighborhood. Severus lowered his wand, now walking quickly toward the door.
He felt secure enough to set his wand down on the counter, and he switched on the light that would illuminate the cramped yard. The bright light momentarily blinded him before it pooled around the porch, bathing everything in sight in its warm yellow glow.
Severus took a step back, shock plastering his features. His jaw dropped, for instead of a starving cat there was a child sitting on his porch, blinking up at him through glasses that were taped together around the middle. A bread crust was in the boy's hand, and his brilliantly green eyes widened when he saw Severus standing there.
The boy stood up quickly and began to walk backwards, but he tripped over the hem of the too large pants that he wore. Severus shook off enough of his surprise to approach the boy, who put up an arm to cover his face. Standing over him, Severus hesitantly offered a hand to the boy, who continued to peer at him owlishly from over his arm. After a moment, he took the hand that was offered to him and rose to his feet.
"Er, why don't you come inside?" asked Severus after a minute of awkward silence passed between them. A look of indecision pasted itself onto the boy's thin face. Severus didn't have much experience with children, as he had been an only child and he never particularly related to children his own age. The boy seemed to be making up his mind, so Severus took this time to get a proper look at him. He was very thin, swimming in the clothes he wore, and Severus would guess that he was around six. His hair was a disheveled mass of black locks, and his eyes were extremely bright. He had only seen eyes like that before on one other person, and the sight of them made his head spin.
"Okay," the boy said finally, though the look on his face displayed some flickering of doubt. Severus led the way back to the porch, allowing the boy to pass before him into the kitchen.
"Take a seat," said Severus. The boy gingerly settled himself into one of the chairs around the kitchen table, which Severus noticed with a twinge of regret was extremely cluttered. He had told himself for the past few weeks that he would get around to cleaning this place up, but he never actually did it.
"I'll make you something to eat," said Severus, rifling through his cupboards for something a child would enjoy. Severus lived mostly on coffee and sandwiches, but he thought the boy might like something warm. After a couple minutes he found a package of macaroni and cheese, and he filled up a pot with water and set it to boil.
Severus's mind was swimming with questions to ask the boy, so while the water heated up he sat down across the table from him. He decided it would be best to start simply.
"What's your name?" he asked.
The boy's voice was surprising soft when he said, "Harry."
Severus had graduated from his Hogwarts class just about month ago, gaining every award in Potions that the school offered. With the savings he had saved up over the years from working a muggle job the past two summers and from the Potions awards, Severus had enough money to rent the little shack he lived in now. The place was a dump, and it badly needed several repairs, but Severus hadn't minded. He was finally free from living with his parents, and that was the best graduation gift he could give himself. The only thing that had gotten him through the past two summers was the glimmer of hope that he wouldn't have to stay under his drunken father's grasp for much longer. It was with great satisfaction that Severus had moved into the place. True, it was in a muggle town and he didn't know anyone there, but at least he had his freedom.
To earn money, Severus worked part time in various jobs around town, never staying at one thing for long. He had taken the summer off from any serious work, deciding to savor some leisure time while he could. He had been offered some Potions apprenticeships, and he was mulling over the thought of accepting one of them. However, the looming threat of the Dark Lord was adding more and more worry to his days.
While at school, Severus had been friends with the Death Eater crowd. They had accepted him where everyone else had ignored him, and it was enough to keep him brewing potions for them whenever they needed them; love potions, dreamless sleep potions, and whatever else they requested. Because of this, they had allowed him to tail along with them, bringing him to their secret meetings and telling him of their plans to join up with the Dark Lord as soon as they graduated. They expected Severus to come along with them, but the idea left him feeling slightly queasy.
Severus was brighter than most of his 'friends'. He knew that once he joined the Death Eaters, there would be no going back. He didn't know if he was ready to sign away his life. At the time, he had been a hurt child with no else to turn to, so he had agreed with all their plans. After Lily started ignoring him, it seemed like he had no other options for his life.
The pain of Lily ignoring him had faded somewhat, even though it was constantly there, like a dull ache that he became used to with time. The Death Eaters to be had already owled him a few times this summer, asking when he planned to join up or requesting potions. So far he had ignored their letters, but he had a feeling they wouldn't let that slide for long. The future stretched out like a lonely road before him, and the path was so dark he couldn't see where he was stumbling along.
Aside from these letters, no one from Hogwarts had contacted Severus. He spent his nights reading Potions magazines and brewing new potions. It had been thrilling at first, being able to do what he liked when he liked it. He had already stocked up on several useful potions, and he was thinking of sending in an article to Potioneers Weekly. However, the solitude did get to him, which was what led him to set out the dishes for the strays. He had made sure he placed wards around the yard, so that no one of danger could enter. The wards worked, for a hungry little boy didn't look like a danger to anything.
"How did you get here?" asked Severus, standing up to check the pot, where the first bubbles were beginning to rise to the surface. He poured the noodles into the pot, picking up the spoon to stir them around.
"I..I don't really know," said Harry.
Severus raised his eyebrows. "Surely you didn't just appear here," he said. "Are you parents looking for you?" The thought of returning Harry to a pair of frantic parents was enough to make Severus cringe.
"No," he said, looking down at his hands. "My parents are dead."
"Who do you live with, then?" asked Severus.
The boy stiffened in his seat. "My aunt and uncle."
"Well, aren't they looking for you?"
"I doubt it," said Harry with a snort.
Severus slowed his stirring. "What do you mean?" he asked. He couldn't imagine that Harry's relatives weren't sick with worry right now.
"They're probably glad I'm gone," said Harry, and he sounded so certain of this fact that Severus didn't doubt him. He knew what it was like to be unwanted by your relatives.
"Did you tell them you were leaving?" he asked, his tone neutral, not betraying the fact that unease had crept into the pit of his stomach.
"They told me to leave."
"What happened?" asked Severus, turning to face him, spoon still in hand.
Reluctance shadowed Harry's face, and he was quiet for such a long time that Severus thought he wasn't going to answer him.
"There was an..incident," he finally said, carefully choosing his words. "I did something freaky..not on purpose," he added quickly. "I was just really mad at my cousin. He's always a git to me, and he pushed me over when we were walking home from the park. Then…" Harry cleared his throat, but since he had started talking the words were tumbling out of him.
"It happened. Sometimes stuff just happens around me. I can't control it, but it makes my relatives really mad. I got this feeling in me, like everything was tingling. Then Dudley floated up into a tree…I know he can't climb. He's too fat," said Harry with a grin. "So he was stuck there, really high up, and he was screaming and crying like a baby. Some neighbors saw him and called my aunt." The grin faded from his face as he said it. "They had to get a ladder to bring him down. As soon as we got home he told her that it was all my fault."
Harry looked down at the table again while Severus's wind whirled with the new information. It sounded like the boy had magic in his blood, for the event reminded him of himself at a young age, unable to control his emotions. Those displays had always sent his father into a rage.
"I knew it would be bad when my uncle came home, so I left," finished Harry. "And somehow I managed to end up here. It was getting dark, and I was scared and hungry, and then…" he trailed off, unsure how to continue. He glanced at Severus with those large eyes, who saw that the boy was still afraid and hungry and tired and didn't know what to do.
"I see," said Severus as he added butter and cheese to the noodles, scooping them into a bowl and putting it before Harry, whose stomach let out a grumble. He passed him a spoon, and he eyed Severus before taking a small bite.
As Harry ate, Severus's thoughts drifted to Harry's story. It looked like he was living with muggle relatives who didn't understand magic, and probably treated the boy cruelly. The thought sent rage bubbling through Severus. Harry's magic must have transported him here, since there was food available and no threats to him. Severus looked up to see Harry eagerly finishing up the bowl.
"Want some more?" he asked. Harry shook his head, a hand creeping toward his stomach.
"I'm too full. Thank you," he said, and his voice was filled with gratitude. "I can leave now."
Severus arched an eyebrow at him. "Leave? I don't think so. It's the middle of the night and you have nowhere to go."
Harry's eyes widened once more. "You don't want me to leave? But you've already done enough for me," he said.
Severus shook his head. "I'll run a bath for you and then you can sleep here. We'll figure everything out in the morning."
"Thank you," Harry repeated, a yawn tacked onto his statement. Severus could see that he was exhausted.
"Come on," he said, standing up and stretching his tall frame, gesturing for Harry to follow him down the hall. Severus led him to the bathroom, where an old bathtub sat. Severus was grateful that there wasn't any damage to the bathtub as there was to the rest of the house. Turning the tap, a gush of hot water flowed from it. "I'll just leave you here till you're done. There's shampoo and soap there," he said, nodding toward the bottles on the sink before edging out of the room and closing the door with a snap.
Severus walked toward his bedroom, sinking down onto his bed and putting his head in his hands. What was he going to do with the boy? His relatives didn't want him, and he didn't have anywhere else to go. He put his head in his hands, pondering the situation he had gotten himself into. The truth was that Harry reminded Severus far too much of himself at that age, and pity and empathy were tugging at his usually cold heartstrings.
Severus heard the tap shut off. He decided that he would let Harry sleep in the bed tonight, and he would take the couch. Grabbing some extra blankets from his closet, Severus made himself a makeshift bed on the couch. It would do for one night. He went back to his room and added another blanket to the bed, thinking that Harry was probably cold after wandering around for however long he had been outside.
The thought occurred to him that Harry would need some clothes to sleep in. The rags he was in now were far too dirty, but Severus knew he didn't have anything that would fit the kid. He rummaged through his messy closet, throwing clothes here and there until he produced a shirt that was oversized on him. He figured Harry could sleep in it.
Severus rubbed his hand over his face, willing it to ease away his tiredness. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, and the thought of spending this one on the couch was enough to make him rethink his actions. Instead, he made his way to the bathroom and knocked on the door.
"I have some clothes you can sleep in when you're done," he said, feeling a bit awkward. "I'll just leave them out here," he said, setting them down on the floor and retreating to his room. He heard the door snap open, then closed. A few minutes later Harry was before him, the shirt down to his ankles. He yawned once more, eyelids drooping.
"This way," murmured Severus, leading him toward his bedroom. Harry crawled into bed and was out with minutes, a muttered, "Thanks," the last thing he said. Severus reached up and took off his glasses, setting them on the bedside table and pulling the covers up to his chin. He stepped out of the room, gently closing the door behind him.
Severus turned off the lights, the room filling with darkness once again as he settled himself onto the couch. The image of Harry's haunted eyes swam underneath his eyelids. What have I done? He thought to himself before sleep claimed him, pulling him toward the bliss of dreams.