Lost and Found
Chapter 1
AN: I own nothing but the satisfaction of writing up random thoughts and plots revolving around our favorite characters.
There was a time when nothing made much sense. It was a time when every little action was seen as freakish and wrong. I could do no good, no matter how hard I tried. I dream of a time when someone will come to the door and ask to take me away. The hope of such an occurrence is dimming the more time passes. I do not know how much longer I can go on this way. My body aches, my bones make noise when I move, My stomach gurgles and contracts from hunger. My hair is lank and greasy, in as much need of a wash as the rest of me. Dirt and blood cover my body and there is nothing I can do but lay here in my cupboard and hope that someone will come save me.
In a hospital room in another city a woman stirs for the first time in years. No one knows her name, only that they are to watch her and keep her out but alive. It had been too long between doses of the medication that kept her so completely out; the regular healer in charge of her case had fallen ill and she had been assigned to someone new who hadn't been given orders on dosing her into a coma. The more she woke, the more her mind tried to move her body. There was something she had to do, if only she could remember it clearly.
In the Scottish Highlands a man bent over his cauldrons, hair tied back with a simple elastic to get it out of the way. He would never let his students see him this casual, this focused. When he lost himself in his work, like now, his movements changed. His body flowed with every movement he made. He moved between his cauldrons, storage cupboards, and ingredient preparation like a dancer; nothing else mattered or registered as if in a world of his own. He had shrugged off his heavy teaching robes for more maneuverable clothing. The clothing, consisting of shirt and trousers, were relatively simple and normal till you noticed the small runes embroidered all over them. One of his best friends, his only love, created the runic sequence and arrays to work together and keep him as safe as the heavy potions robes other potion masters wore. He blew a loose strand of hair out of his face and continued to work on restocking the hospital wing.
None of the three knew of their connection or what their futures would soon bring. One was connected to both of the others by love, yet one remembers not and the other was simply too young to know. With the luck of one illness three lives will, hopefully, soon be reunited as one.
One woman stood over a still figure in a cupboard. It was a typical boot cupboard under the stairs, but it was all her husband would allow the child. She appeared to go along with his views and punishments, but lately it had gotten where she could no longer ignore it. As the years wore on she had noticed the changes appearing in the child, how he simply didn't fit with what she remembered the man her sister married looking like. Of course, that wedding still made little sense to her since she clearly recalled being present when Lily and the Snape boy ran off to Gretna Green to marry. In fact, she had drove them. She may not have liked the boy much, but he made her sister smile and laugh and that was all she cared about. Their relationship had been mending till that second wedding with the Potter creep.
As she took a deep breath she stilled herself for what she was to do. Her son had begun to question things when they got worse, at least until after she had been hit for his questions. She motioned her son over, accepting the fleece blanket from his hands before he moved back. Carefully, ever so carefully, she wrapped the blanket around her little nephew before she picked him up. Her son led the way as she left the house. Their things, those they truly wanted were already packed in the car. Once her son and nephew were settled in their seats, her nephew as softly secure as she could make him, she got in and set out for Spinners End. She was sure the Snape boy still lived there. As she drove, she could only hope he would listen to her before slamming the door in her face; the life of that little boy in the backseat depended on him helping, on her suspicions being right.
She drove through the night, stopping for something to eat once. She had merely run into a little road side place and bought a couple to go orders. A little something her son could eat in the car, some finger friendly fish and chips for herself that she could eat as she drove, and a thin broth like soup which she did her best to get her nephew to sip at periodically. She was so proud of her son when he offered to try and get Harry to sip some periodically so that he could eat something and she didn't have to stop. He didn't take nearly enough of the soup and it worried her all the more. The morning sun was cresting over the horizon when she pulled into the town, her memories taking her to Spinners End with ease. When she pulled to a stop she whispered for them to stay in the car before she got out and walked up to the front door of the Snape boys house. With a deep breath she raised a shaky hand and knocked sharply. She prayed for Harry's sake he was home and awake.
The man in the castle had just took a sip of his morning coffee when an alarm attached to his magic set off, informing him someone was knocking at his front door. It wasn't the door to his chambers here, that he would have heard, but the door to his house. He frowned and downed his coffee with a sigh before he went to his floo. He stepped in after grabbing a handful of floo powder. With a call of his address he was gone, appearing in his home fireplace only to be assaulted by frantic knocking at his front door. He moved to it quickly, sneer in place and harsh comment on his lips and he yanked it open quickly. Those words died as he saw who was there, saw the bruise on her face and collar bone, the cut on her cheek and the split lip. Then his eyes looked behind her where he saw a young boy calling and waving frantically at the woman in front of him. "Tuney?" Confusion laced his voice as he glanced between the two oddities in front of his home.
She looked up at him, honest surprise for the name he called her causing a slight upturn of her lips. "Sev, I, I need your help. Vernon, he went too far. He hid it so well for so long and some things I could overlook and deny but the last few years it has gotten harder and now..." She glanced at the car, her voice catching and lowering. "I may be thin but I can take the hits. He, Sev he is just a child. He's so small and I couldn't do nothing anymore and even Dudley started seeing things were wrong. Every time I try to take him to a hospital or even a police station begging them to help and take Vernon away things go black for a while and then we're back at home and there's no evidence we ever left. I couldn't think of anywhere else to go and I, I swear he isn't that Potter creeps son. I don't know how Lily got married twice but I took you both when you ran away to get married as soon as you could at Gretna Green. I know you love her so please, I beg you help her son, your son. Please Sev, he's so hurt." She chewed on her lip in worry, not caring or noticing she was making the injury to it worse.
He took in her words and his eyes widened a fraction. The shock only lasted a few seconds before he was pushing her inside his house and rushing over to the car parked on the street. He opened the door and looked at the healthier of the two boys. "Get inside with your mother, now." His words were short but the boy nodded and raced to get into the house. A breath was let loose in a rattle as he took in the fleece wrapped child in the car before him. He didn't appear to be awake, but he was reassured by the slight rise and fall of his little chest. Unbuckling the child and gently lifting him free of the car was done with bated breath. His eyes closed for a few seconds as a little head tilted to his shoulder before unconsciously burrowing lightly into his neck. He was thankful for how few still lived in the area and the earliness of the day as he shut the car door with his hip and strode swiftly towards his house. Once inside he moved to his couch, settling the boy down for a few moments. That done, he flicked his wand out and waved it in several patterns. The door shut and locked, the coffee table raised, widened and lengthened. Another few flicks and a side table was raised up and he was placing the potion pouch that had come to his hand on it. He absently caught a fresh sheet that he draped over the makeshift table before he turned to the little one on the couch. With careful hands he unfolded the blanket and carefully moved him onto the table. He glanced up then and looked to Petunia. She nodded and took her son into another room which he knew to be his kitchen. The other child didn't need to see anymore than he already had.
He took a deep breath and slowly began undressing the child to see the full damage. He made a mental note of what he would need, water and clean cloths to wash him with was one. He didn't think he could do this alone, yet he didn't dare call Poppy after what little Petunia had said before he pushed her inside. Taking a deep breath he laid the fleece blanket over the child and called out the name Dobby. When the house elf appeared he glared at it and demanded it bring his mistress here no matter what she was currently doing, to tell her a life depended on it if she refused to come. What he got was an entire Malfoy family standing in his living room. He looked to Lucius, glancing at the child on the table. "Draco doesn't need to see this. The boys Aunt is in the kitchen with her son. She could use this and a spell herself. I know you're capable of doing that." He nodded towards the kitchen as he handed a bruise salve to Lucius. He was relieved when all the man did was nod, take it and lead his son into the other room. That done he looked to a worried looking Narcissa, took a breath and removed the fleece. His voice was quiet and weak sounding. "She says she is convinced he is mine, that she remembers me wedding his mother. Cissa I can't, I can't do it on my own it's too much. Please, help me save him."
Harry took that moment to let out a little pained whimper, bright green eyes opening blearily to stare upwards at them. A soft smile graced his lips as a shaky and barely there voice spoke. "Pretty angels, come to take me to mummy? I no hurt anymore soon?" He looked at them pleadingly, his eyes wide and somehow still a touch innocent.
Narcissa glanced at Severus worriedly before she nodded. She lent down, hearing Severus release a breath. She wiped a hand over the boys brow a little before placing a gentle and light kiss there. Her voice was soft and a kind smile lit her face. "We will make the pain go away, make you better. It isn't time to see your mummy just yet sweetie. You just hang in there ok? We will make the hurt go away, I promise." She smiled brighter as he nodded and closed his eyes, his breathing evening slightly as he seemed to be asleep once more. "We need to work fast. Run a diagnostic while I start cleaning him so we can actually see the damage to fix it." She had started conjuring a bowl, a clean cloth, and sterilized water into the bowl without waiting for his response. She knew he would do it and they needed to get him clean to not only see the wounds but to stave off anymore infection; she was almost certain there was some present, open wounds and dirt don't mix well after all. It would be a tough day, but by the time night fell they would have most of the immediate problems taken care of and the rest underway. Harry would be out of the danger zone and right now, that was all that was important. Only time would truly help the little boy heal fully, time and love.
Back in that Saint Mungos private room the woman's hand twitched, her eyes flying open as she screamed. She screamed just two words before she fell into a fitful, but natural, sleep. Those words you ask? Well, they were these that were heard over the ward. "My Baby!" Healers were confused as they rushed to see to the woman who many had thought was in a condition worse than the Longbottom couple. It would appear that Mother Magic was truly blessing this woman, as none of the old mans spies were in that day. There was no one to stop the people helping her wake, allowing her to remember what had happened. No one to stop her speaking damning words.