Mistaken Perceptions

Harry stretched out as much as he could in the cramped cupboard. He had been moved back into there after his uncle had discovered that he couldn't do magic outside of school. His uncle seemed to have lost all fear of him now and Harry had no one to turn to. Sirius' name still hadn't been cleared and the ministry were coming down hard on Remus after new stricter regulations had been imposed on the werewolf.

Harry had been communicating with Ron and Hermione but no matter how much they planned they had found no way to get him out. Not that he had told them quite how bad it was however, they didn't need to worry about him on top of everything else.

Harry heard a drunken yell from the kitchen and flinched, his uncle was calling for him once again and it's not as if his aunt or Dudley were going to act as shields for him. To them he was just a freak and he deserved every beating his uncle handed out.

Harry dragged his abused body out of the cupboard knowing that the consequences would be worse if he ignored his uncle and the ministry were just looking for an excuse to expel him so that ruled out magic. He was going to turn 17 in little under two weeks and he couldn't wait for the day when he would be completely free from the fat man's iron-fisted rule.

He stood in front of his uncle his shoulders hunched inwards looking frail and too thin.

"What's this, Boy," the fat man bellowed indicating a spillage on the kitchen floor. "You did this to spite me didn't you?" His fat hand reigned down a series of hard slaps on Harry's face. Harry remained impassive throughout this punishment but inside he was raging. All of his energy was going into clamping down on his magic which was boiling up inside of him. He couldn't let it out and he knew that but his magic was tired of being restricted and his damaged body naturally strived to protect itself.

Harry suddenly snapped back into the real world as a hard blow knocked the wind out of him and he felt one of his ribs snapping. He finally took the time to register his uncle's face, purple with rage, the vein in his forehead pulsing dangerously. Harry hadn't seen his uncle this angry in a long time, or this inebriated and he was suddenly struck with the cold realisation that maybe this time his uncle wouldn't stop. This could be the end for the boy who lived.

He fell to the floor still struggling with his magic as his uncle kicked him repeatedly over and over again in his head, his stomach, his back.

Darkness gathered around the edges of Harry's eyes and in his last conscious moments he did the only thing he could as he waited for death.

Harry Potter released his magic.

~*~*~*~

Severus Snape billowed towards Dumbledore's office, his blonde godson trailing reluctantly behind him. For the first time ever Draco had defied his father and in an act of supreme sacrifice he had given up all that he had in order to do what was right.

Draco had chosen Harry Potter and probably signed his death warrant by doing so.

Now Severus, who had been uncovered as a spy for the light, had his godson under constant guard in Hogwarts, possibly the only place that could protect them from the wrath of Lord Voldemort. Draco had recently turned 17 and as such, had been inducted into the Order and he was now doing his level best to help the war effort.

"Uncle Sev, why has Dumbledore summoned you?" he questioned his godfather.

"I do not know Draco but if you want to continue to be allowed to accompany me then you had best remain silent," said Severus arching a haughty eyebrow and peering down his hooked nose at the inquisitive teen.

Draco sighed and shut his mouth as Severus muttered the password and stepped past the gargoyles.

"Ah Severus," Dumbledore said, a serious looking his sparkling blue eyes. "I have some order business that you must attend to. You may bring young Mr Malfoy since he is now a member of the order but I expect utter discretion on both of your parts," Draco had never heard the jovial old wizard sound so severe.

"Of course Headmaster," agreed Severus as Draco nodded his consent. "What is the business you wish us to attend to?"

"The wards surrounding Harry Potter's summer residence have detected a flare of magic," Dumbledore said. "It is unclear where the magic is from but I need you both to look into it. It is better to be safe than sorry after all, especially in the case of young Mr Potter."

Severus exchanged a glance with his youthful charge. "Are you sure there is no one better suited for this task?" asked Severus slightly incredulously. "I doubt Potter will appreciate our intrusion," He spat Harry's name like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Draco kept silent but he sort of agreed with Severus. Checking up on Potter because he had been too lazy to wash the dishes or something, did not seem like a profitable use of their time.

However, he had sworn an oath of allegiance to Potter and he was interested to see how the Golden Boy lived. He imagined it to be a large ostentatious mansion with his muggle relatives waiting on him hand and foot. Maybe the mansion had a special area for the press to camp out in; the boy seemed to be in the media so much. Even his defection to the light side had done little to ease Draco's bitterness at Harry's "perfect" life.

Although he knew little about Harry, Draco had decided long ago that he knew enough to be insanely jealous at the friendship, love and respect that Harry seemed to gain so easily and that Draco had never had. Not even from his parents.

Yes, he decided, it would be good to see just how the great Harry Potter lives. He came back to reality just in time to hear Snape agreeing to check out Potter's house and they began to leave trying to get to the apparition point.

"Severus," called Dumbledore as they headed out. The Potions Master turned back towards him repressing a long suffering sigh.

"Yes, Headmaster."

"Take as many healing potions with you as you can possibly manage. I have a feeling you're going to need them."

~*~*~*~

Severus and Draco arrived at the tiny muggle house that was Number 4, Privet Drive. It was not as Draco had expected it but he knew, especially with magic involved, that first impressions could be deceiving.

Severus strode up to the front door and knocked obnoxiously loudly. Draco could feel a tingle in the air of exceptionally powerfully magic. It flooded his body setting his nerve endings on fire and sending a shiver racing down Draco's spine.

There was no reply from within the house except for a muffled yell of "Go away!"

Severus lifted his wand and silently unlocked the door, the feel of the powerful magic got even stronger and for the first time Draco started to be a little fearful for what they might find inside.

Chapter 2

Severus entered the house casting his eyes around the dimly lit hallway. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with the house but his instincts were telling him something was amiss and 17 years of spying were enough to teach him to trust his instincts.

He kept Draco firmly planted behind him as the crept quietly down the hallway. Severus knew there was something wrong when his finely attuned potions nose detected traces of the metallic tang of blood in the air.

"Stay here," he cautioned Draco. He walked into the kitchen rolling his eyes as he felt Draco follow closely behind, regardless of his instructions.

The scene that greeted Severus ad Draco was... gruesome to say the least. A great whale of a man way dragging what looked like a corpse slowly across the kitchen floor leaving a gleaming trail of blood. Draco gasped loudly as the shock of black hair on top of the corpses head identified it as Harry Potter.

The fat man glanced up at the gasp and dropped Harry's lifeless body in favour of advancing menacingly upon the two men in his kitchen. Severus quickly pulled out a wand and with a hasty incarcerus had the man trussed up. He silenced the fat muggle's protests and quickly strode to the side of the fallen Saviour. Draco trembled in shock as Severus grabbed him and Harry and activated the portkey that would whisk them back to Hogwarts.

~*~*~*~

Madam Pomfrey was just preparing a cup of tea when her fireplace flared. She was astonished the see a panicked Severus protruding from her fireplace and insisting that she come to the hospital wing at once.

When she arrived she understood why Severus was in such a panic. The patient that awaited her was nearly dead. She ran a diagnostic spell to catalogue his injuries and then proceeded to perform a few complex healing charms to deal with the plethora of broken bones, cuts and bruises. She had been working almost automatically up to this point not really thinking past healing the patient but as he got further out of the woods she finally had time to realise his identity.

Sweet Merlin, that was Harry Potter. How did he get in such a state? He must have been doing something for the order, she decided. He couldn't possibly have got in to such a state while staying with his relatives. Surely not.

Poppy was drawn out of her thoughts by Severus' sharp voice.

"Have you ever run a full diagnostic on the boy, Poppy?" he questioned.

She shook her head in denial realising that although he had been through her ward many times she had never actually scanned him past basic checks.

"I would like a full check up dating back to birth, if you would, Poppy," Severus said in clipped tones.

The mediwitch bustled to perform the spell and had a quick quotes quill perched ready to note down the findings. The first year or so of Harry life was pretty normal with only the occasional bumped knee or head, culminating in the curse scar received from Voldemort. Pretty soon after that however, the injuries began to tall up endless lists of broken bones and infected cuts that had received no treatment, almost constant malnutrition up until he was 11 and then every summer after that. As the list went on the injuries got worse and worse and only a few of them had been healed which were the injuries sustained at Hogwarts. None of his other injuries had even been treated with muggle medicine.

As the spell finished its assessment of Harry's injuries Poppy gave a sob. She covered her face with her hands and cried for the boy who had lost his youth. She felt Severus pat her awkwardly on the back and could tell by that uncharacteristic gesture from her old friend that he was feeling the pain and guilt just as keenly and she was, albeit in a more restrained and Snape-like manner.

In all the fuss nobody noticed Draco Malfoy turn tail and run.

~*~*~*~

Draco had no idea where he was going he just knew that he had to get out of there, get away from the horror story he'd steeped into when he entered Harry Potter's home. He couldn't believe he had been so wrong about Perfect Potter's life. How could no one have noticed what was going on? It was unthinkable.

Although Draco had been a Deatheater's child he had been coddled by his mother and luckily he had not been old enough to participate in what his father got up to so despite his family he had little idea of the bad things that could happen in life. Certainly he could never have imagined anything as bad as what had been listed in Harry Potter's diagnosis. At 17 it was more than uncomfortable to have his world view shaken like this. He had known logically that there were bad people who did bad things, his father being one of them, but to see it laid out before him like that was almost more than his mind could handle.

He found himself climbing the steps to the Astronomy Tower and wet and sat on the ledge to look out at the night sky attempting to process all that had happened that night. After a few hours he started shivering from his prolonged exposure to the cool summer breeze that wafted through the tower. He went back down into the castle and almost without thinking his feet carried him down the familiar path to the hospital wing.

He paused in the doorway noticing the room was empty, Severus and Poppy having long since gone to bed. Working up his courage he slowly made his way across the room until he was standing at the bedside of his former nemesis.

Harry Potter looked almost angelic while he slept; his face healed and cleared of blood and his long thick black eyelashes brushing against his cheekbones. His silky, black was spread like a halo across the white pillow and the contrast was startling. Without any conscious thought Draco found his hand moving to pet the dark tresses. God they were silky, Draco felt an inexplicable urge to wrap himself around the sleeping angel and never let go and still moving in a sleep-like state of shock Draco did just that. He lay down next to Harry bloody Potter and gathered the boy into his arms before falling promptly into the most restful sleep he'd had in the past few weeks.