AN: OH MY, SO MANY REVIEWS AND STORY ALERTS AND STORY FAVORITES! THANK YOU ALL! YOU HAVE NO IDEA THE ECSTASY I WAS IN WHEN I GOT HOME AND SAW MY INBOX FLOODED! HERE IS THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR YOU:)

Chapter 2

Severus Snape was sleeping, which was rare in itself for the dark Potions Master rarely had time for such "trivial things". Nonetheless he was peacefully sleeping before the wards on his quarters shimmered and sat up, suddenly very alert. He slowly got out of bed and wordlessly checked his wards and noted there was another magical being in his living room. He knew it wasn't Albus (his wards allowed Albus in without a problem) and it wasn't Lucius (he would never be so rude as to not owl beforehand). Anyone else would have had to be a stranger, for Severus didn't get friendly with many people. Angrily he made sure he had his wand and he slunk into his living room. Hesitantly he stepped around his black leather couch and gasped when he saw a small black haired child. Slowly, slower than he'd ever moved, he reached out and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, turned to see the child, and jerked awake.

Severus laid in bed, staring at his ceiling, trying to calm his racing heart. This dream was strange, for he never remembered his dreams… Then a sudden thought occurred, maybe it wasn't a dream.

Severus hurried out of bed and into the living room, peering around the couch to where the boy was in his dreams to find the spot empty. Severus sighed heavily. His dreams hardly, if ever, made him think it was real; but this dream left him wondering. Who was this boy? Where did he come from? What did he want? What did it mean?

He sighed again and reached for his cloak, slipped it on his shoulders, and stepped out into the hall. He stared at the rock walls and turned sharply on his heels to the left, heading toward the Great Hall. He wasn't sure why he was going to the Great Hall, he just knew that's where he wanted to be.

Once there Severus had no idea what to do. He could call for a house-elf and ask for something to eat, but he wasn't hungry. He could grade papers, except he'd already done them all last night. Severus looked around the room, keen eyes searching every corner, every dark shadow, as was habit. That's when Severus saw it; the dark haired boy. He took three long strides toward him, to demand to know who he was, when he realized it was just Filches' old mop he'd left in the corner of the room. Disappointment turned to annoyance as he realized what this dream was doing to him, making him imagine things…

He caught movement at the Great Hall entrance and he turned around, wand out, his lips pulled into snarl. When he saw the long white beard, he lowered his wand, and his gaze.

"Albus," He greeted as he turned to study the mop once more.

"Severus, my boy, what on Earth brings you out of bed at this hour?"

"I just had a… funny… dream, is all."

"One must not dwell on dreams-"

"Yes, Albus, I know. I was with you when you thought of that particular saying, remember?" A small smile graced Severus' lips and Albus smiled softly back.

"I seem to have overlooked that particular detail in my memory," he said to humor the boy before him. Severus smiled distractedly as he looked around the dark room once more. "Tell me, my boy, what was it about?"

"There was a little boy, with black hair, that had managed to breach through my wards. But I awoke before I could see his face." Severus looked up at his mentor, "What does that mean?"

"From what I understand?" Severus nodded, "Nothing; absolutely nothing. The dream was just that- a dream." Severus again nodded, unable to shake the feeling that the dream was anything but a normal dream.

"Headmaster? What are you doing up at this hour?" Albus smiled secretively.

"I had a strong need for a cup of tea and I hoped another would join me," He raised his eyebrows in suggestion and Severus nodded.

"I suppose. But you won't tell me the real reason why are you up will you?" Albus smiled but said nothing as the dark man joined him and they began walking toward the Headmaster's Office. They walked in companionable silence and the gargoyles stepped out of the way at Albus' wave. Arriving in Albus' office Severus took his customary seat in the dark purple chair and Albus sat across from him.

"You seem troubled over the past week, Severus. And unless this was a reoccurring dream, what is upsetting you?"

"It's… it's nothing Albus," Albus reached over and patted Severus' arm.

"If you want to talk about it at another time, I'll be here."

Severus nodded and stared into his murky tea. Albus really was no good at making the drink but he loved making it, so Severus drank it, and all the refills Albus insists he have. It would do neither of them any good to go and hurt the older man's feelings. They sat like that until the morning sun lit the grounds with a pink glow and a fiery orange light warmed up the room. Severus found comfort in Albus' presents and he found himself relaxing as his thoughts seemed to order themselves during these meetings. He was thankful that the day was a Saturday and he had no classes to teach, for he wasn't sure he could motivate himself to leave his mentor to go to a roomful of idiots.

"Albus?" A knock sounded at the door and Severus looked up sharply. Albus glanced at the clock and smiled.

"Ah, Minnie. Come on in!" Albus said as he stood and took a step toward the door. Minerva walked in and hugged Albus. "Severus will be joining us for tea today, won't you Severus?" Minerva's eyes widened in surprise as Severus stood up.

"I would love to but I have some potions Madam Pomfrey needed by this evening which I must attend to. Good-bye Albus, Minerva." Severus dismissed himself and walked down to his dungeons, luckily avoiding any of the little demons that roamed the school. He hadn't been lying, he have potions he needed to make for Poppy, and when he looked into his potion's stock he cursed under his breath. He was out of Punticle Root. Sighing in annoyance he readied his floo network. That was the last time he allowed students to use his own private stock. In utter irritation Severus flooed over to Arabella Figgs house. There was a small –illegal- shop in one of the alley ways near her home (invisible to muggles of course).

"Oh, Professor Snape. Oh good, Dumbledore has sent you has he?" Severus looked at the old woman.

"No, why would he have sent me?" He snapped; he just wanted Punticle Root.

"I think you better see for yourself," Ms. Figg walked over to her window and pulled aside the curtain. Across the street there was a small boy, maybe four, playing in the dirt. Severus sighed in aggravation.

"And?" He drawled. Ms. Figg stared at him in disbelief.

"Go over and see for yourself. Once you see, you can tell that old brute that I'm not 'over reacting'!" She huffed and opened the door. Severus looked warily at the squib and casted an 'inva-me' charm and a 'notice-me-not' charm before making his way across the lawn. As he grew nearer, his heart began to beat faster. He recognized this boy. The boy looked like the boy from his dream! When he got behind the small child, he reached down with a shaking hand. His narrow hand almost made contact with the child's small shoulders when another boy rounded the corner of the house, causing Severus to withdraw his hand.

"Hey Harry, come around back. I wanna show you somethin'." The boy, Harry, looked from the blonde boy to the dirt he was in, and back to the blonde boy again.

"I can't right now, Dudley. Maybe later?" Harry said as he pulled at some weeds with his left hand.

"No," Dudley said with a nasally whine. "I want you to come, now!"

"Dudley I have to get this done," Harry said softly.

"No! Harry! Come right now!" Dudley shouted.

"Please Dudley, be quiet. I'll come when I'm done. I just have this small patch left, alright? But please be quiet," Harry shivered at his own thoughts and Dudley came towards him. Harry scooted into the bushes side.

"If I help you, will you come around back?" Harry nodded.

"But we have to be quiet."

"Okay," the blonde boy agreed and knelt down into the flowerbed and began tearing out what Harry instructed him to. When the garden was de-weeded Severus followed the boys around back, intrigued. A woman, whose neck reminded Severus of a giraffe, had just stepped outside as the two children were rounding the house.

"Dudley," she shrieked. "Why are you covered in dirt?"

"I was helping Harry." The blonde boy said and grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him toward the back of the yard. Harry cried out and tried to yank his hand out of the other boys grip. Dudley let go, eyes wide. The woman ran off the porch and scooped Dudley up.

"I don't want you to help the freak. Is that understood? Mummy doesn't want you to get hurt. I don't want to see you touching the freak either. Understand Dudley?" The boy looked down at Harry from his mother's arms.

"I just wanted to show him the snake I found."

"Well go call Piers. I'm sure he'd love to see the snake." Dudley's eyes lit up as he scrambled down and ran into the house, not giving Harry a second glance.

"You," she hissed and Harry looked up with fear in his eyes. "You tricked Dudley into doing your chore didn't you!" The woman didn't wait for an answer before she slapped the black haired child on the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. To avoid a face plant, Harry had pushed his hands against the ground and cried out again.

"Be quiet!" The woman scolded and raised her hand again.

"Petrificus Totalus," Severus whispered and the woman froze and fell to the ground. Harry looked up sharply and began shaking even harder. Severus disabled the charms he put on himself and cleared his throat. Harry's head snapped around toward the sound and paled.

"I-I-I," Harry tried to think of an explanation for the man who obviously saw him do something freaky. Severus kneeled down to Harry's level.

"What's your name?" He tried to make his voice as less threatening as possible but seeing the boy shiver, he knew he was unsuccessful.

"Please, sir. I-I don't know what happened to her. She was just about to-" Harry froze then. The man had to have also seen Petunia hit him. Oh, he was in for it now.

"She was about to what?" Severus' voice came out as a deadly whisper and Harry flinched back.

"I'm sorry sir," he squeaked.

"What for?" Harry shrugged; he never knew what he was supposed to apologize for and now wasn't any different.

"Can I see your hands?" Harry's heart raced. He didn't want to show the man his hands but he couldn't disobey. Slowly he showed the man his left hand and hoped the man would be satisfied with that, but he wasn't.

"And the other." Severus placed the boy's small hands in his open palm and reached out for the other hand. Once he pulled it up, the boy looked away and Severus hissed. Three of the fingers were swollen and pointing in odd angles.

"Who did this to you?" Harry bit his lip and shook his head. There was no way he was going to tell this stranger. He may be a bad boy but he could follow rules. The man took out a stick from his sleeve and Harry jerked his hands back and scooted away.

"Child, come here." Severus said softly but Harry shook his head. "Please, I won't harm you. I want to fix your fingers." Harry gave Severus a long hard look and when Severus didn't move from his crouch, Harry walked back over to Severus. Severus looked at the fingers and clicked his tongue.

"This is in need of greater expertise. Will you allow me to take you to my home so I can fix your fingers?" Harry wondered if this man was a kidnapper. He'd heard about them on the telly but then again, if the man was a kidnapper, he'd be taken away. So Harry nodded.

"Good," the man said and lifted Harry with easy and walked across the street to Ms. Figgs house. Harry struggled softly. He couldn't let Ms. Figg see him like this, she'd know who did it for sure, but the man tightened his arms around Harry and he stopped struggling as they walked in the door.

"Professor Snape? Didn't I tell you? Absolutely horrid that lot is! And I told Dumbledore, I did. I told him every month. 'Something's not right over there,' I'd say, 'not right at all.' And do you know what he'd tell me, that old coot? He'd say, 'It's for the greater good!'" Ms. Figg said, deepening her high voice to imitate Albus. "The greater good. There is no greater good if a child is being abused…" her voice abruptly stopped when she saw what Severus carried in his arms.

"Yes, and I will have a very long talk with him but I'd appreciate it if we could use your floo." Harry saw Ms. Figg start her fire and he had a very unsettling thought, what if they threw him in the fire? Uncle Vernon had often told Harry he wished he would burn but he'd never actually burnt him.

"Child, I it will be easier if you close your eyes." Harry could feel the man's voice rumbling and Harry shut his eyes as he was told, but fear still clawed at his heart. As the man stepped into the flames, Harry clung to Severus' robe tightly.

When they stepped out in his chambers, Severus sat Harry down on his leather couch.

"Stay right here." Harry nodded, and Severus walked out the door and glided down the halls to the Hospital Wing.

"Poppy, are you terribly busy?" Severus asked as he stepped into her office.

"Not at the moment, Severus, why? Is one of your snakes injured?" She stood and walked over to him before he could reply.

"Not exactly but I am in need of your assistance." Poppy followed him down into the dungeons, into his quarters and a small gasp escaped her lips at the small child on his couch.

"This is Harry and I fear his fingers are out of my comfort zone." Harry snapped his head up at hearing his name. How did this man know his name? Severus caught sight of the boy's eyes and stepped over to his couch.

"Look at me," he said roughly and the child's gaze flickered to him and Severus' breath hitched. Green eyes. Lily's green eyes. 'I hear he has his mother's eyes' he remembered hearing Albus say. No. This wasn't Lily's child. Lily's child would be well cared for, this wasn't her child. It couldn't be possible. Yet the boy had her eyes. And his name was the same. No, no this couldn't be. And that was the last conscious thought Severus had before he fainted into the couch.

AN: So what do you think? Still typical, I know, but I must build up:) Hope it lived up to expectations.