"Alohamora" the dark shadow whispered as the door of #4 Privet drive silently swung open. He stepped through and clicked the door shut. The shadow paused in the entrance hall, listening to see if the Dursleys were awake. They weren't. He softly stepped to the stairs and his eyes fell to the cupboard in which the small boy slept in. He pulled the little door open and hunched over as he slid through the narrow and small doorway to the cupboard under the stairs. The he saw the little boy. His face was shadowed and dark. He was frowning, and he appeared to be dreaming. "I don't know why I was being so paranoid," Severus Snape muttered quietly to himself. The boy was obviously fine. Then why had Dumbledore requested to go check on him? What nonsense. Though he had to be true to his word, so he clicked on the dim light and carefully pulled down the little boy's single torn bed sheet. "Oh dear god," Snape whispered as he saw what was beneath the sheet. Blood was soaked through the little boy's overly large pajamas. His face had now contorted into a grimace. Afraid of what he would find, Snape hesitantly slid the boy's shirt up. He found what he had feared. There were slashes on the poor little boy's back that looked like he had been whipped with a belt. There was a large gash on his chest where he had most likely been cut with a knife. The boy opened his eyes. They were gray and shadowed, full of pain and sadness. "Have you come to save me?" The little boy asked. Snape said nothing as he took out his wand and applied a healing ointment and some bandages to the boy's cuts. Then he whipped his wand and a fluffy white blanket appeared. The little boy stared at Snape all the while. Snape gently picked up the little boy and wrapped him in the blanket. Holding the boy in his arms, he silently walked out of the house without a backward glance. He glanced at Harry's eyes. He saw no emotion at all. "Yes, I have com to save you," he whispered gently as he disapparated into the night.