Harry watched his cousin's watch waiting for it to become midnight. For him to become eleven. As always his birthday would be ignored but now it was worse than normal, with them being in the middle of nowhere in some sort of shack that made his cupboard luxurious. Harry began to doodle a cake in the dirt and put eleven 'candles' on it and looked at his cousin's watch again. 11:59.31, Harry closed his eyes and the wish he always he always made 'I wish for a family'. The watch beeped and he blew out the candles.

"Of all days for the damned half-giant to get a cold." Snape thought as he apparated to the point where Dumbledore had told him he would find Harry bloody Potter. "How the hell does a giant even get a cold? Stupid Hagrid, stupid Dumbledore!" He looked up at the small shack after casting an umbrella charm to stay dry form the rain, "What the hell Tuney?" He remembered Petunia Evans as being a strange girl, but why would she be staying here? The potion's master already knew that she had a permanent residence in Surrey and a decent amount of muggle money, so what would possess her to come to a tiny shack on a tiny island in the middle of bloody nowhere? Walking up to the door the thirty-one year old whispered alohomora and silently opened the door. Scowling in disgust of the inside of the shack (somehow it was worse than the outside) and looked around for the boy. Only about three steps into what he guessed was the living room he spotted a pile of rags on the ground in front of what looked like a pig on the couch. Suddenly the rags moved around and he saw familiar large green eyes looking at him under large ugly glasses, they were sad eyes a look he had seen on some of his Slytherin's with bad home lives. That wasn't the look that Harry Potter should have, it wasn't the look that Lily's child should even know how to make. "Potter?" He whispered, what was going on? Dumbledore said that he was being treated well by his family, but from the looks of the undersized boy and huge hand-me-downs that was obviously not true. The boy nodded before jerking to look frightened at the pig on the couch (which on second glance was a very large boy) and standing up with a look of confusion.

"Who are you? How do you know my name sir?" Harry asked just as quietly. Severus Snape winced noticing how small the eleven year old was, especially when he considered that neither Lily or Potter were short.

"My name is Professor Severus Snape, and I came here to give you something, but it seems I have to do a quick investigation on your family first." Severus could feel the masks he wore over his emotions cracking, and he knew more would probably fall by the end of this visit. Waving his wand in the air, he heard a screech as to adults flew down the stairs and were thrown against the wall. Another wave and the pig/human hybrid came off the couch and joined his parents being unable to move off the wall.

"W-what is this?" The fat man asked, Vernon, Snape remembered from one of Lily's rants about her sister's horrible fiancee back during the war.

"Severus! How did you find us?"

"Tuney," the dark man said it the same way he said, 'Gryffindor', 'cow manure', or 'pink robes', "I was here to give Mr. Potter his Hogwarts letter, since you seemed to see fit not give it to him. Or give him food, or clothes from the looks of it." The boy was now standing behind him, grabbed onto his robes Severus noticed how the tiny child's hands trembled slightly.

"We gave him things fit for a freak, and fed him way more than was necessary." The walrus-like man held his head up as if he was proud of the abuse that him and his family treated the boy. Petunia tried to move her arm to shut her husband up, but like the rest of her body refused to move. Vernon continued on as if he didn't (he probably didn't at all) notice that with every word the wizard seemed to be getting angrier, "We put him in the cupboard under the stairs, and tried to get the freakishness out of him by giving him impossible chore-lists and beating him when he didn't finish." The man then started to look angry at something, "But it obviously didn't work, he sent a snake after Dudders when we took them to the zoo on Dudders birthday, I knew we should've just left him in the cupboard for the day instead." By the end of his little speech, Vernon Dursley was a strange shade of angry purple, Petunia was white as a sheet, Dudley took his mother's reaction as a sign to be scared as well, and Harry was hugging Severus's legs as if to protect him from Vernon (not that he needed to since none of Dursley's could move because of Snape's spell).

Snape snorted, "I'm sure that that pig-thing you call Dudders most likely deserved it, and Tuney do you know what Lily would say if she knew how you were treating her son? She would be ashamed of the fact that you were family. And what would your parents say? No they wouldn't say a thing, they'd just take custody of both your son and nephew before you could say muggle." Harry tugged on the man's robe, "What Potter?" He asked quietly.

"What does 'muggle' mean sir?"

Severus rolled his eyes, "It is what wizards and witches call non-magic men and women. There are magical people who are born from muggles and they are called muggle-borns, your mother was a muggle-born and was one of the brightest in our class." His eyes softened slightly (he would deny it if called upon it of course), "She was my best friend, you have your eyes you know."

"Thank you sir." Severus turned back to where the Dursley's were still against the wall, "Sir?"

"What Potter?"

"Please call me Harry sir, and am I a w-wizard sir."

The potion's master sighed, "Yes Po- Harry you are a wizard, and please go upstairs for a minute I need to err discuss something with your relatives."

"Y-yes sir." Harry ran up the stairs and sat on the top one so he could hear what was said to his relatives.

Snape sneered at the Dursley's before pulling out piece of parchment he had started carrying after a case of a muggle-born he had sent to get after there had been no response only to find that she killed by her parents when they had found out she was a witch. Waving his wand Petunia stepped forward and fell down. The man just rolled his eyes before waving his wand again to stop the walrus-man from yelling at him and the pig/human hybrid from whimpering for his mummy. "Tuney," He pulled her up before she was ready, nearly pulling it out in his haste, "I want you to sign this right now." he shoved the paper under her nose and summoned a pen from the table.

"W-what is it?" she asked shaking in fear.

"It is a guardianship form for magical children under muggle care, it gives me temporary guardianship until a better guardian is found." He explained, "Now sign it Evans." this he sneered.

"I-I ca-can't Dumbledore said-"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THAT OLD MAN SAID YOU ARE ABUSING A CHILD PATUNIA!" Snape yelled before whispering, "Lily's child Patunia, your nephew. How did you grow up to be such a bitter woman?" His eyes hardened, "Now sign this before I press charges with both your ministry and mine." With that the horsey lady quickly signed her name. After she handed the parchment back to him Severus turned around like he always did hitting the woman in the face with his robes, "Pot- er Harry, it is time to go." He said as he passed by the stairs listening to the faint footsteps as the extremely light child bounded down the steps.

"Where are we going sir?" He asked slipping his hand into the dark man's.

Snape cast a quick tempus charm before answering, "As it is 1:15 in the morning we are going to my house in Spinner's End."

"Spinner's End?"

"It is where your mother grew-up."

"Oh."

Snape opened the door before pulling the boy into his arms, he tried to ignore the fact that the eleven year old was about the size of a nine year old and probably weighed as much as a child half his age. "I am going to apparate us there so you need to hold on tightly." the raven nodded before gripping Severus's neck like some sort of monkey. Once he was sure that the child was secure he turned around and vanished with a pop.

Right after the two vanished Patunia ran out of the shack screaming about how Vernon and Dudley were still stuck to the wall.

Snape sighed as he tucked Harry into the guest bedrooms large bed (Draco had chosen the bed in the guest bedroom for his "Uncle Sev" and so it was much nicer than the one in Severus's own room). Soon after him and his new ward had apparated down the street from the potion's master's house he had noticed that the little boy was falling asleep and by the time they were in the within the small house he was asleep. Shaking his head he conjured a fairy light (in case that the child woke up) and transfigured the boy's poorly fitting clothes (most likely from the pig hybrid thing) into better fitting pajamas and then headed to the door. "I've seen you 'fore sir." a sleepy voice called from the bed, "I don' know where but I seen you."

Severus turned back to the bed and looked at the now snoring boy, somehow in less than two hours the boy had broken through all his emotional masks without even doing anything but look at him with Lily's eyes and call him 'sir'. Was he really that weak? No, Harry was just that kind of child. But how had the boy see him before? Snape hadn't seen him since he was less than a year old when Lily had asked him over for tea after he had joined the Order. The potion master shook his head and left the door cracked before heading down to the basement he had some potions to work on.

"Stupid boy can you do anything right?" Vernon screamed, throwing a perfect breakfast of french toast and bacon at the foot of the nine year old Harry Potter. "You're not going to be fed today, get your list and get to work." Vernon sniffed, "Then you will go to your cupboard when your done and make no noise at all, it's family night and I don't want you to ruin it."

"Yes uncle." Harry picked up the food and headed outside to go and work on the garden like he always did in the morning. At least he hadn't been hit that time. Harry knelt down and began to weed the flowers. 'Stupid boy.' Harry looked around, he had heard his uncle's voice but he didn't see his uncle. Harry shrugged before turning back to his work only to come face to face with a pansy that had his uncle's walrus-like mustache 'stupid boy' Harry jumped realizing it was the one talking. He decided to ignore it and kept working. 'Stupid boy' another flower, 'stupid boy' a new one, 'stupid boy' now a clump of small roses with his aunt's stiff curls, 'Stupid boy' 'stupid boy' 'stupid boy' 'stupid-'

Harry sat up and gasped still hearing the echo of his aunt and uncle's cry of 'stupid boy' in his head, he looked around the small room and felt the luxurious bed he was sleeping on, the first bed he had slept on. The room looked like it had been decorated by a child his age, the blue wall paper was covered with dragons and a mobile that made roaring and growling noises was hanging from the ceiling and a strange orange light was floating under it. For a second he wondered where he was, then he remembered that man, Professor Severus Snape he had said his name was, had come and taken him away from the shack that Vernon had rented to hid from the letters. He had also remembered that the professor had also said he was a wizard. Getting out of the bed he noticed that he was wearing green pajamas he had never seen before. Shrugging he left the room to go and find the dark man that had rescued him the night before. Hearing a high voice from downstairs he decided to head down hoping to find him.

Severus watched as Narcissa Malfoy ran around his kitchen putting together a meal enough for seven as she chatted amicably without pay attention to if he was answering enough. "Why did I invite her here?" he thought watching her crack another egg over the muggle stove, "Oh yeah, I don't know how to cook for a child, and she likes children." He chuckled as she dropped another plastic cup, not very many people would guess that the elegant Mrs. Malfoy, the most revered image of the perfect pure-blooded wife, was such a klutz in private.

"I honestly don't understand why my husband thinks that a house elf can make a decent meal, I mean the ones at Hogwarts have years of experience but... Oh hello dear who are you?" Snape looked up to see Harry standing in the doorway rubbing sleep from his eyes. Narcissa walked over and smiled at the boy, she knew that sometimes if Dumbledore sent the man out to get a child from a muggle family he would sometimes bring them here until school started, but this one couldn't have been older than nine, "How are you sweetie? Come here and lets get some food into you huh?" She said softly. "And this is why I brought her, she likes kids." Severus thought, he remembered how devastated she had been when she had been told she couldn't have any more children after Draco.

Harry nodded, "Alright mam." He said softly and followed her over to the table.

Once all three were seated and a large plate in front of all three (Severus's and Harry's had suspiciously larger portions than the blond) "Cissy I'd like you to meet Harry Potter, Harry I'd like you to meet Narcissa Malfoy nee Black."

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Malfoy," Harry mumbled into his plate before digging into the veggie filled eggs in front of him.

Narcissa on the other hand just gaped, if what Severus had said was true than that meant the boy was her son's age, and the 'savior of the Light'. She remembered Lily from school, being only a year younger that the girl, and she had never been short. Also she had never met someone who was both short and had Potter blood. Another thing was that from the way he was eating it was like he had never eaten in his life. "Severus," She hissed looking at the man, "if he really is eleven and that small go get some potions for him he needs them."

"Not yet Cissy, that's why I called you, can you get your husband to send an Auror, someone from Children Relations, and a healer from the ministry please." He thought for a second, "Just not an Auror under Dumbledore's foot I have a feeling that this was intentional."

The blond woman gaped at her friend, magical children were precious and very difficult to conceive so child abuse was something that was frowned upon by most of the wizarding community. Nodding she turned to her food, she'd fire-call her husband after breakfast and then it would most likely to take all day, who knew when they would have a decent meal. Maybe she'd be able to force second's down both of the other two's throats.

Lucius Malfoy was having a pretty odd day, first was when he got a fire-call from his friend Severus at seven o'clock in the morning asking if his wife could come over for a little while. Now, two hours later, he now had his wife and Severus waiting in his office with a strange little boy in green pajamas for several officials per request of the potion's master.

"What is the meaning of this Lucius? Calling us into your office right as work starts? I barely… Oh, who's this?" The head of Child Relations, who Lucius had called in (on order from his wife), asked noticing the child now cowering behind Snape because of how quickly the man had burst into the room scaring the child. Kingsley looked around his companion curious, he wondered who Mr. Zabini was talking to. After a moment the fireplace lit up and a wizard in Healer's robes came through and, after looking around, focused in on the little black haired boy.

Smiling the Healer bent down next to Harry, "Hello I'm Healer Martin, and I work for the St. Mungo's Hospital. What's your name?" He said softly. Taking the hint (and Mr. Malfoy waving them towards the chairs in front of his desk) Kingsley and Mr. Zabini walked in quietly and sat down.

"I-I'm Harry sir, Harry Potter." Lucius, Harold (A.N.- in the book there is no Mr. Zabini, so his name is now Harold because I say so. Hah!), and Kingsley nearly fell over in shock. After all Harry Potter was eleven years old, this child didn't look older than nine, and extremely malnourished. Lucius shot a questioning look to his old friend and his wife but they both just sent him a silencing look that Harold and Auror Kingsley obeyed. All of them turned to watch as Healer Oliver Martin talked to the boy.

"If you mind," Martin said raising his wand, "I am going to run a check over you with my wand, you'll feel a tingle for a moment and then you're going to feel really sleepy. Alright?" Oliver Martin had seen many abused children in his time as a healer at St. Mungo's, mostly muggle-born's who had been abused by their muggle parents before and after getting their Hogwarts letter, had actually never seen such a case of neglect. Mostly what he saw was violence; mental, physical, and even sexual abuse, but at least it looked as if they had been fed, this boy on the other hand looked as if he had been nearly starved to near death. Harry nodded after a second, looking nervous and Martin smiled slightly. "Revelo Patiendo" He whispered giving the standard swish and flick movement pointing at the child. As they watched a blue-green aura surrounded the boy before becoming completely red. Five out of six of the adults in the room gasped, but instead of shock the Healer's eyes narrowed and, after pulling out a muggle style paper out of his robes, he mumbled a different spell under his breath and the red aura surrounding the child made its way onto the paper forming red ink, thus becoming a medical report. After the Healer stood up while reading the report Harry let out a yawn, Oliver looked over the paper with a chuckle and a sad smile, how someone so innocent looking had suffered and he had only looked at the first three lines, "Harry why don't you go sit on Mr. Snape's lap that way you can take a nap if you wish?"

"Yezzer." Harry said before slightly stumbling over onto Severus who caught him and pulled the raven haired boy onto his lap.

Severus cast a slight silencing charm over Harry before turning to the Healer, "What has happened to him? I knew he was malnourished and beat, because the muggle who did it told me so while looking proud," He snarled clutching the sleepy boy protectively to his chest, an action that did not go unnoticed by the rest of the room.

"It seems like he hasn't had a decent meal since he was four years old, coincidentally when accidental magic starts by the way, a large part of his bones have been broken and healed with magic, sleep deprivation, lung infection, it looks like he has never had shots, magical or muggle, and the list goes on repeating the same thing leading to a seven year history of abuse along with it progressively getting worse as the years go on." Martin shook his head looking up from the report with a look of disgust, "Whoever placed him with whatever muggle family he was with should be Kissed and those muggles locked up."

Zabini nodded, "I remember my predecessor mentioning, well more like ranting, how Dumbledore completely ignored the laws completely and placed Harry Potter with…" The head's eyes widened, "His relatives did this to him?"

Snape nodded solemnly, "Lily's sister Tuney and her family, when we were kids Petunia was always jealous of her sister for being able to do magic. Her fiancée, when I met him, was xenophobic and a bastard at that. Also I saw their child, he's no better I thought he was some sort of pig/human hybrid thing when I saw him." Again his arms tightened as if he was afraid that the little child would vanish.

"How long have you had the boy Severus?" Kingsley asked.

"A day why?"

"You seem very protective of him."

Severus looked at the man, he had met Kingsley in the Order but knew he didn't serve Dumbledore but what he viewed as right so he decided to answer, "What I say stays in this room alright?" after receiving affirmatives from those in the room the dark man gathered himself, "My father was a very violent muggle, he hated magic with a passion. He beat my mother to death when I was twelve and then he began to take out his anger out on me. Dumbledore ignored mine and Lily's pleas to not send me back to my father, whether he didn't believe us or just ignored them I don't know. It was also around that time when the Marauders began to make my life hell. Because of this, I-I can't stand to see children being harmed by adults or other children." Severus looked down at his lap at a now snoozing Harry while the other adults all gave each other a conspiring look.

"Alright then, I believe that as we have enough witnesses I, Harold Zabini, Head of Child Relations and Welfare, name Severus Tobias Snape as Harry James Potter's legal and magical guardian. So mote it be." A slight glow enveloped a shocked Severus before vanishing. Before he could recover the man shot up and headed towards the door, "Now I have to file the paper work for that, Shacklebolt run interference with Dumbledore, and Lucius, Narcissa, I leave Severus with you." Nodding to Healer Martin when he opened the door he then briskly walked to the elevators before Severus could recover and catch him.

The Healer shook his head, "I am going to go put this in Mr. Potter's record. Mr. Snape, please set up potions for the little one, when I say he is malnourished he is near the point where I would want to take him to the hospital. Also the constant healing could've permanently harmed him. Take care." He walked over to the fireplace and stepped in, "Oh and I would like to have another check-up with me during the winter break. SAINT MUNGO'S!" In a whoosh the healer was gone.

Narcissa took Harry out of Severus's arms and removed the silencing charm. In just enough time to, just as she did the potion's master recovered. "I-I can't be his guardian, I-I'm no good w-with kids, ZABINI!" He tried to run out the door only to run into it as Lucius swished his wand. "Lucius let me out I need to get Zabini to-to I can't take care of a child." The dark man sunk down to the ground a slightly panicked look on his, he knew that Harry was taking apart a large amount of the shields he wore to hid his character, and that was only in a day! What would happen if he raised the boy?

"Profezzer?" A sleepy voice asked from where Narcissa was sitting with the boy in his lap, "Whas goin' on? Where'd the others go sir?"

Narcissa nuzzled into the messy mop of hair, "They left, and don't mind Sev he's having a nervous breakdown he'll be fine in a minute." Harry nodded but still hopped down from her lap and headed over to where Severus was.

"Professer?" he asked clearer than his just waking up voice, "Are you all right?"

Snape looked up into those clear green eyes and gave a shaky smile, "Ye-yes Pot- Harry, I'm alright, it's just¸ I guess, well umm."

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Harry, Severus was made your guardian by one of the men in who was just in here." Lucius said trying to help his friend.

"Really!" Harry looked at Lucius with his eyes sparkling before jumping onto Severus giving him a hug, before jumping back with a worried look, "You don't mind do you?"

Snape gave the boy a look of disbelief before dragging the boy back into his arms, "No Harry I would never mind you staying with me, I-I'm just worried."

Narcissa 'aww'ed as Lucius rolled his eyes, "All of you out, I have to do work." Narcissa glared at her husband before a stray thought entered her head.

"SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE!" She turned back to the hugging duo against the door (both of which flinched at her shrill voice), "It is Harry's birthday today, he needs presents, and he is still in his pajamas, come on back to Spinner's End right now." She pulled and pushed until they were out of the office through the floo.

After they were gone Lucius shook his head, if this was how the morning went he really didn't want to know how the rest of the day would go.

END CHAPTER ONE.

…Oh wow that was long. Well now this is the first fic that I've posted in awhile (I blame school and inability to focus). This is pretty out of my comfort zone so feedback (and if I should just give up) would be greatly appreciated thank you good-bye…