Thank you to the beta of this chapter, Faykan

Chapter two - The Power of the Broken

Severus stood at his guest bedroom door staring at Harry, who was sleeping in a modified hospital bed that was brought down just a few days ago.

Poppy decided Severus quarters would be best for Harry, as there would be no source of bright light to hurt his sensitive eyes. But with his quarters also came with the bitter cold so Harry was dressed in layers since he had no body fat to keep himself warm.

Severus closed his eyes and let out a long breath as he thought about the last few days.

Harry was put into a medically induced coma so his body had the time to heal and so he wouldn't feel any pain as they worked. Poppy was unsure about giving Harry any unneeded potions because of the boy's small size. Harry was supposed to be seven years of age but he looked like a five-year-old and weighed even less.

A feeding tube had been placed in and Harry was now on a twenty-four hour feed until he gained some weight, although Poppy had to place it on a slow feed as to not upset the boy's stomach. In Severus opinion it wasn't doing anything for Harry's stomach, and within a few days Harry had every side effect that came with a feeding tube.

Casts covered both his legs as both of his tibias and fibulas were broken, he could still hear the sickening sound of the bones snapping as Poppy was forced to break them and set them probably if Harry ever had a chance of walking again.

It has been a few hours since Poppy gave Harry the potion to wake him from his coma. Severus had been standing here at the door since then, waiting for a sign that Harry was waking up.

Arm restraints were placed on Harry, to prevent him from attempting to pull the feeding tube out, rip off the bandages, or harm himself in any other way. An IV port was even placed in his neck to keep Harry from pulling it out of his hand if he struggled.

Severus didn't know what he should expect to see when Harry woke up. Poppy told him that Harry was suffering from autism caused by extreme emotional trauma, Poppy said that it was possible for the boy's state to improve but the likelihood of it wasn't good.

For the past few days Severus has been reading up on autism, and he believed he would have a good handle on the more severe aspects, but he still wasn't sure about the whole thing. He tried several times to get a hold of Albus, but with it being summer it was impossible, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to see the man at the moment.

Every year Minerva ask Albus how Harry was doing and every year Albus said he was healthy and was doing just fine. Clearly, Albus had never checked up on the boy.

Flashes of Minerva crying and falling over Harry's body, wrapping her arms around him as she cried came back to his mind. He knew how much Minerva had cared for the Potters, how much she cared for Harry. Everyone cared for them and everyone had been heartbroken when it was discovered that they were killed. With this new development, it felt like all that hope they had for Harry was being taken away from them again.

…

The first thing Harry became aware of when waking up was his pain, or more accurately the lack of pain, followed quickly by how warm he was. He tried to listen to his surroundings but he couldn't hear anything, not even the sound of the leaky pipe that always kept him company.

He slowly opened his eyes surprise to find himself someplace completely new, and that confused him since he never left the basement. Sometimes he was let out of his cage if he was making too much noise but he was never allowed upstairs.

Harry let out a small whimper as he tried to lift up his hands to try to find out what was sticking to his face only to find that he couldn't. He tried to move his legs, but even that was a challenge.

Suddenly a dark man appeared by his side reaching out one of his hands.

Harry let out a loud scream as the hand came towards him, his breathing becoming fast and unsteady.

…

Severus couldn't help but to flinch back as Harry screamed, something inside him felt frozen as he brain felt like it was ready to explode. Bringing his hands up to his ears as he winced in pain as he heard many things made of glass shattering, scattering glass all over the floor throughout his quarters.

He slowly made his way over to the table and filled one of the surviving syringes up with a calming potion before swiftly making his way back to Harry and inserting the syringe into the IV port. The explosion of raw magical power got to him before he could press the potion into the tubes, and he let out a scream as he fell to his knees, passing out on the spot.