If reading without having read Harry Potter and His Guardians, then a few things need to be clarified.

Harry was abused by the Dursleys. Verbally and Emotionally.

Sirius is Harry's primary guardian, and Remus his secondary (due to his werewolf status)

Sirius is innocent. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Pettigrew was caged, and a spell placed on him, preventing him from transforming, thus, even with Remus forgetting to take his potion, Pettigrew was unable to escape.

This is set in summer after third year. Sirius and Remus manage to coerce Harry into telling them of the Dursleys treatment of him.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, unfortunately =(

I sat behind my desk, preparing for the following school year, when suddenly someone stepped out of my fireplace. I remained still, wary of who was coming as most people gave warning before arriving. However, I straightened up, and waited for the person to step out of the fire. As they stood up, I calmed, realising it was just Sirius, soon followed by Remus.

They had been extremely happy as of late, having successfully gained guardianship of Harry, something which both had been wishing for, for a long time. I set the papers I had been attending to, to the side, and looked up expectantly. I doubted this was a social calling, as both of them were here, and furthermore they both wore furious expressions. This somewhat shocked me, as Sirius angered easily, but it took much more to anger calm, logically-thinking Remus.

"To what do I owe this unexpected but pleasant surprise?" I enquired, casually.

"Harry," Sirius practically growled.

I immediately straightened his stance, recognising something to be seriously wrong. "What of Harry?" I questioned, rather sharply.

"Did you happen to know that Harry was being abused by those damned muggles?" Remus spat.

I paled, hoping I had misheard. "No, I was not. Are you quite certain?" I asked, knowing they wouldn't accuse of such a thing if it was not so. I only asked, hoping that they were mistaken, however slight that chance was.

"Of course we are damn sure!" Sirius exploded. "Harry told us when I asked why he had accepted to living with me, immediately after realising I wasn't a mass murderer. At the time it didn't occur to me that it was strange, him accepting so quickly. But, that didn't last long. Every time they were brought up, he withdrew into himself. We finally confronted him, and after a little prompting, he told us. They beat him, Albus! They hurt him!"

I sat there, shocked. Yes I had known that Harry hadn't been quite happy at the Dursleys, but it never occurred to me that they had actually done more than neglected him to a certain extent. No, that wasn't correct. The possibility had occurred to me, but I had dismissed the notion, thinking that Petunia would care for Harry as if he were her own. Anger coursed through my body, raging through me. I had placed baby Harry there, despite the warnings given to me by Minerva, and had requested of Petunia Evans to look after her nephew as if he were her own son. In spite of that she and her husband had hurt him? I couldn't stand for any of my students being harmed in any manner, let alone Harry, who I had become closer to, and who I saw as a grandson. I started shaking with anger, and sparks flew out of my wand, as my emotions started controlling my magic. I struggled to calm myself down, as the windows in my office began to shake, as did the cupboards and my desk. Once I had successfully regained control of myself, I allowed myself to take in what I had just learnt.

Guilt wracked though me, as the silent accusation hung in the air. I knew why Sirius and Remus had both come to my office after finding out such a startling and painful revelation. They blamed me. And rightfully so. In the wizarding world, I had been given the task of finding a suitable family to take Harry in, as Sirius had not been an option. I had placed Harry with the Dursleys, believing that the blood wards that Lily's sacrifice provided would be well worth the small amount of neglect Harry may suffer. However, I would not have allowed him to stay there a moment longer had I realised it was more serious than neglect. Though Harry's safety from Voldemort had been my primary concern, it was not worth Harry being hurt by his caregivers.

"I cannot believe you placed Harry there, knowing what you did of Lily and Petunia's relationship! You knew that Petunia hated Lily, ever since Lily became involved with the wizarding world. Hell, Petunia refused to attend to her own sister's wedding out of jealousy! Was that not enough to tell you that placing Harry, who had just lost both parents, with magic-hating muggles was a bad decision?" Remus burst out.

I winced at that, knowing it was the truth, and that I had been exceptionally blind at having not realised it. "I admit, I knew of Lily and Petunia's relationship, but I had hoped that Petunia would overlook petty childhood grudges, and care for Harry as if he were her own son, in light of Lily and James' death." I quietly confessed.

Both Sirius and Remus stared at me in disbelief. I could understand why. I had not met Petunia Evans, however, the little I did know of her let on to the fact that she would not be one to overlook her jealousy over her sisters magical abilities.

"I am sorry. I know it may not seem like it, but I would not have kept Harry there for even a moment had I known he was suffering from abuse at the hands of the Dursleys." I said sincerely. I did not want for them to gain any notions that I would have left Harry there, despite my faults. I would never allow for anything to harm Harry, and yet, over the last three years, harm had still reached Harry. I had not protected him as I was supposed to.

"Headmaster, the extent of the damage the muggles did is quite large. I don't understand how he has been able to hide it, but if there is unexpected movement anywhere near him, he flinches. He begins to get slightly upset at raised voices, though he does not react as strongly. How has no one recognised this?" Sirius enquired coldly.

You only see what you expect to see.

Those same words I had spoken to Severus came back to haunt me, and now I was a hypocrite. Had I not told him that he should keep an open mind in regards to Harry? And yet, here I was guilty of doing the exact same thing, albeit in much more severe circumstances. How had I missed this? I had been headmaster of this school for many years, and a teacher for even longer. I had gone through many students, some in similar situations to Harry, and yet when it came to Harry, I remained a blind fool.

"We only see what we expected." I whispered, sorrow evident in my voice, and I suspected, on my face too.

After a moment of silence, I broke it, "I will make sure they do not get away with it. They will pay for their treatment of Harry." I was hesitant to add anything else as I wasn't sure I wished to hear the answer to my question, but I knew that it would eat me from the inside out, "Does Harry blame me?"

There was a slight pause, and then, "How are the letters to first years given out?" Remus asked, before Sirius could say anything.

I was surprised at the question, but answered it none-the-less, "there's a magical book which lists all the students' names that have magical ability and are to attend Hogwarts. We just set them up to write the letters magically, as it is incredibly time consuming. The signatures are already done beforehand."

Remus and Sirius looked slightly relieved, and mollified at hearing this.

"If I may ask, why would you like to know?" I questioned.

"Harry's letter was addressed to 'the cupboard under the stairs." Sirius growled.

I had been shocked at the news of abuse, and yet I didn't think the muggles had the audacity to keep Harry in a cupboard. I had sent money to them on a monthly basis, to provide for any essentials, and yet it seemed as if they had been used for their own personal gain.

I placed my head in my hands. I knew I was at fault for this chain of events. Now I knew why Harry's guardians had answered my question with another question. Harry did blame me. That knowledge hurt. I knew it was well deserved blame, and yet that didn't take away from the hurt, in fact it made it worse. I knew it would be difficult if not impossible to regain Harry's trust that I had unknowingly broken each time I had sent him back to the Dursleys.

"Harry believes that I knew what awaited him at the Dursleys home each time he returned there." I stated quietly, though the pained tone of my voice still escaped, not really expecting either of them to respond.

"No, not really. He is a little bitter, and rightfully so, about how his letter was addressed, but despite that, he did not blame you or anyone else for what happened. Instead he is under the impression it's his own fault." Remus responded, and towards the end, his voice became bitter.

I looked up abruptly, shocked at this new revelation, despite knowing that children having suffered abuse their entire life developed that line of thinking. "No! It isn't his fault at all! It was I who placed him there, they who manipulated him by using the money on personal items rather than using it on Harry. It's not his fault." I exclaimed.

"Yeah, try telling him that. We told him that, but he didn't seem to believe either of us." Sirius explained. "

I was relieved that Harry did not blame me, though the blame did lie on my shoulders. But it was most definitely not worth Harry believing it was his own fault. Even if Harry did not blame me that did not mean that Harry trusted me.

"We should go now, Harry will be returning soon. He's at the Weasleys." Remus answered when I looked at him questioningly.

"I know you may not believe me, but I truly am sorry. I know I have much to make up to him for. I know that the entirety of this situation lies on my shoulders." I whispered, earnestly.

"We know." Remus replied, bluntly. "But that doesn't excuse your actions, and the repercussions of them that Harry has had to endure and suffer."

I turned my head away, knowing of the truth in his words. They left my office silently; while I sat there pondering what had been revealed to me.

I had known Harry was unhappy with the Dursleys, and that he came back from the summer holidays thinner than normal. He was extremely short for his age, despite both his parents being slightly taller than average. He was also much quieter, though he had a penchant for trouble, similar to James. However, in Harry's case, it mostly was not his own fault. His marks were average, though I had heard him mentioning to his friends that if he had achieved higher marks than his cousin he was punished. This comment was now seen in new light, though Harry had mentioned it casually. It also allowed me to see that Harry's friends had been aware to an extent of what happened during the summer holidays. I knew that if they had known the extent of the abuse, they would have let someone know, particularly Hermione, regardless of whether Harry agreed or not.

Harry had kept quiet about this to everyone, suffering in silence, and living a life no one should have to endure, let alone a child, and Harry, at that.

Despite all these observations, separately they had seemed insignificant, but in light of what had been revealed, they had been clues, and no one had figured it out, leaving Harry to suffer. I should have recognised the signs. I was a headmaster of a school of students aged eleven to seventeen, and therefore had learned to recognise the signs.

You see what you expect to see.

Those words were beginning to haunt me, as my own words came back to eat at me. I had expected to see a child who was slightly unhappy, but on the whole healthy, and a saviour of the world. And yet, I had only seen that. I hadn't seen the extreme thinness, warring on the line of dangerously unhealthy, the flinches at unexpected movement, the lack of appetite, the pain in his eyes – that were as a result of injuries. At the start of each school year, when Harry returned, there was lingering pain in his eyes, and his movements also conveyed this. He usually kept it hidden, however, I had noticed, yet once again attributed it to some minor issue, such as homesickness. Though in hindsight, that thought was laughable.

I had missed so much. And yet Harry had not said anything to the otherwise.

I silently vowed to do whatever I could to build his trust in me, so that he could confide in me, in future circumstances.

I am sorry Harry, for the pain you have had to suffer as consequences to my decisions and actions.

I had to make amends with him. I couldn't stand the thought of someone I loved as a grandson, suffering continuously due to my hand, and was glad that Harry now had Sirius and Remus to protect and love him. Harry had many that cared for him, and that he also cared for, but Harry didn't seem to realise just how much those cared for him. I was one of those who cared for him, too much. But now it seemed, I hadn't cared enough. If I had, than Harry would have known he could have come to me. That I would have helped him, taken care of him. Yet he had not. It didn't matter that as Harry's headmaster, our relationship should be strictly that of teacher-student. Rules be damned, Harry needed all the support he could get.

Another thought suddenly ran through my head. If Harry's relatives had not cared for him the slightest – though, I had no doubt that they hadn't – than, Harry had also suffered through the turmoil the events of each year had put him through silently and alone. He had not had the support I had envisioned with him when I sent him back to Number four Privet Drive. I wondered than how, despite all he had suffered, he had remained true of heart, how he still remained compassionate, and wasn't embittered, though he had enough reason to be so.

I concluded that Harry was an immensely strong individual who had dealt well with the path life had dealt him – which I had played a hand in, something which I dearly regretted.

I resolved to bridge the distance which I had not realised had come between us, as soon as possible. Though I knew that Harry did not wholly blame me for what I had caused, I also instinctively knew that he would not wish I know of what had occurred at the Dursleys. Therefore, I would wait until everything had calmed down before directly approaching him. In the meanwhile I could do my part by assuring that he did not have to endure more than any other students' stress. He would not have external worries and stress such that the Philosophers Stone and the Chamber of Secrets had caused, and certainly not that of dementors, and of the supposed mass murderer after him.

I would take care of him from a distance as best as I could. It was the least I could do. I just hoped Harry would understand, soon, that I cared, and that he could come to me.