Looking for happiness
Summary: AU. Set at the beginning of The Chamber of Secrets. Harry is rescued from the Dursleys by none other than Severus Snape. The Potions' professor must now, on Dumbledore's order, take care of the boy until the end of the summer holidays. Will the two put their differences aside and learn to get along? Or will their temper get the best of them? Rated T for mentions of abuse.
Author's note: Hello everybody! I've been reading quite a few "Harry gets rescued from the Dursleys" fanfics, so I decided to write one myself. Hope you'll like it! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am only writing this fanfiction for entertainment, and not for monetary gains.
Chapter One: The Letters
Harry Potter wasn't an ordinary young boy. Indeed, he was a wizard. But he wasn't an ordinary wizard either. Indeed, unlike his peers, who spent most of their holidays playing with their friends, going out and enjoying the sun or doing homework like any other student going to Hogwarts would; he had to do chores and was doing his homework at night in the dark, because his relatives didn't like magic at all. In fact "not liking" was a huge underestimation. They despised magic and their nephew's ability. Today was the 31st of July, Harry's birthday, but no one seemed to remember hadn't hoped that his relatives would remember his birthday, they never seemed to do anyway; but he had thought that at least Ron, Hermione or Hagrid would have owled him to wish him a happy birthday. He hadn't received any letters from either Ron or Hermione, even though they had promised to write to each other during the summer holidays.
Harry felt awfully empty- and it had nothing to do with the fact that he hadn't eaten properly since days- he just missed Hogwarts and his friends so much. He missed wandering in the corridors (sometimes past curfew), having fun in the common room, playing Quidditch and he even missed some of his classes. After all, being in class with his friends was a lot more fun than having to deal with the Dursleys. The knot in his stomach tightened when he remembered that there was still a little more than one month to go before returning to Hogwarts. And even then he'd probably be in trouble because there was no way he could finish all his homework before the beginning of the term. As soon as he came back home from Hogwarts, the Dursleys had locked all his spellbooks, wand and anything school-related in the cupboard under the stairs. The only way he could do his homework was by sneaking out of his room (or Dudley's second bedroom) late at night when his relatives were asleep; he would then proceed to unlock quietly the door of the cupboard under the stairs, grab a few spellbooks along with a quill, some ink and parchment and return to his room to do his homework under the covers with quill in one hand and torch in the other. He would already be exhausted from the chores he did all day and had to fight not to fall asleep while doing his homework, thus his essays would often turn out rather poorly done, and his handwriting would come out tiny and scrawny, sometimes very hard to read. He'd probably have to re-do some of his essays on the Hogwart's Express; Hermione could certainly help him. But he then remembered that Hermione probably didn't really care about him, and neither did Ron, since none of them replied to his letters. Harry felt tears of frustration and sadness welling in his eyes, but rubbed angrily at them before the tears got a chance to leak out.
It was going to be a hard day, especially with the Masons coming over for dinner…
A few days later…
"You wished to see me Headmaster?" asked Severus Snape, walking swiftly into Dumbledore's office
"Indeed my boy," Dumbledore replied, "Do take a seat"
Snape did as he was told and noticed to his astonishment that Dumbledore's eyes lacked their usual twinkling and were clouded with worry.
"Molly Weasley contacted me," the Headmaster went on, "She and her children are worried about the well-being of Harry Potter: her son sent him multiple letters but received no reply, even though the letters were all successfully delivered. They think Harry might be in trouble."
"And what exactly do you expect me to do?" Snape asked bitterly upon hearing Harry's name.
"I want you, Severus, to go and check on Mr. Potter, just to make sure that everything is all right."
"Now?" Snape growled, growing more and more furious by the second, "Why me Headmaster? Surely Minerva wouldn't mind checking on one of her precious cubs" he spat the last two words.
"You're the only available person Severus," Dumbledore said flatly.
"Actually, I'm not," Snape argued, "The staff meeting-"
"The meeting can surely wait." Dumbledore stated firmly.
Snape got up and billowed out of the Headmaster's office, muttering things about "wasting a perfectly good day" and "the Potter brat".
Severus Snape was staring at the house before him. Number Four Privet Drive. The lawn was mowed, flowers were nicely arranged, and the house itself looked clean and neat. He noticed though that curiously only one window in the whole house had bars on it, as though they were afraid that its inhabitant would try to escape. He knocked on the door. Petunia Dursley opened the door, a can of soda in one hand. The smile on her face faded away the moment she took a look at the visitor.
"You!" she shrieked, dropping the can of soda, its contents spilling on the carpet
"Nice to see you too Petunia," Snape smirked, highly amused by the woman's reaction.
"Get out of my house" she spat, trying to close the door, "I don't want your kind near my home!"
"Not a chance, Petunia," Snape smiled coldly, "I'm here to check on Mr. Potter"
Petunia paled considerably at the news.
"He's out with his friends," she said forcefully, noticing how unconvincing she had sounded, "He won't be back for a long time"
Snape quickly brushed past her ignoring her protests, and walked into the living room, where a very large blond boy was busy watching TV and eating ice-cream.
"I want my soda Mum," the boy whined while stuffing a large spoonful of ice-cream in his mouth. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the Potions' Master.
"Where is he?" Snape demanded, looking at Petunia and the boy, drawing out his wand. Petunia let out a horrified scream and ran next to her trembling son, hugging him tightly and trying to shield him from Snape, although she only managed to shield half of his body.
"I-in the bedroom up-upstairs," Petunia stuttered, "F-first door on the left… T-the key is in the first dr-drawer of little chest of drawers next to t-the door"
"The key?" Snape asked dangerously, and he quickly went upstairs. His fury escalated when he saw the cat-flap on the door. He unlocked the door and went inside, unable to supress a gasp when he discovered a very thin little boy wearing clothes that were much too large for him. The little boy was sitting on his bed and jumped to his feet in surprise when the Potions' Master came into the room.
"Potter?" Snape murmured incredulously, looking at the boy with growing concern. His shoulders were hunched, his face was gaunt and wore an expression of pure defeat, the dark circles under his eyes stood out shockingly on his much too pale face.
"Professor Snape," Harry said softly, mortified that his least favourite teacher had seen him in his current state.
"What in Merlin's name happened Mr. Potter?" Snape urged, carefully walking towards the boy to have a better look at him.
"I-um…" Harry didn't know what to respond.
"Articulate as ever, Mr. Potter" Snape drawled sarcastically, and Harry took deep calming breaths as he saw Snape smirking.
"Pack your things," the professor said suddenly, ignoring the boy's glare.
This took Harry by surprise.
"Where are we going, sir?" he asked, but recoiled when he saw the anger in the man's eyes. Snape sighed.
"To Hogwarts, of course," he answered lazily, "And I'd appreciate if you could for once follow a simple instruction and start packing, I don't have all night"
"Oh… But all of my school stuff are in the cupboard under the stairs, sir" Harry informed him, while wondering why the man cared about his situation but knowing all too well that going to Hogwarts with Snape was still a better option then being locked up in a room for the remaining of his holidays.
"I'll take care of that Mr. Potter," Snape replied, "Just pack your clothes and other belongings." With that, he walked out of the room, heading for the cupboard under the stairs.
Since Harry owned practically nothing, he had finished packing in a matter of seconds. He went next to Hedwig's cage, caressing his owl's soft feathers.
"We'll finally be free, girl," Harry whispered to her. Hedwig hooted a reply and nipped his fingers affectionately.
"Are you ready?" Snape's voice came from the doorway.
"Yes, sir," Harry answered. The professor shrinked the boy's luggage and put it in his pocket.
"Come on, then" he said impatiently.
Harry took Hedwig's cage and started walking towards Snape, who noticed that Harry had some trouble walking. He would have to do something about the boy's possible injuries as soon as possible.
Petunia Dursley flinched violently as she saw the Potions' Master and her nephew walking down the stairs. She opened her mouth to say something, but Snape cut her off before she could utter a single word.
"You won't see your nephew again this summer," Snape started dangerously, "I'll deal with you and your family later" he smirked, "I'm sure that Dumbledore will be glad to learn how you treated the Boy-Who-Lived".
With this, he grabbed Harry by the arm and led him outside the house, shutting the door behind him and thus shutting out Petunia's pleas, begging him not to hurt her family.
To be continued…
A/N: What do you think? Please review!