HPFFCHP2

Harry ripped his hand away from Severus and started crying. He still couldn't breathe properly and started choking on his tears.
Someone say "Anapneo!" and the boy felt his airways clear instantaneously. He drew a few shaky breaths and started to calm down, though he was still crying.

Severus could have kicked himself but instead settled for slapping his hand to his face. 'Of course! How could I forget he never apparated before. It's official. I'm an idiot!'

He carefully approached the boy, ignoring the man next to him, and knelt down

"Harry, I'm sorry I scared you. I knew you never did that before but I forgot. Everything is alright. You're safe here and nothing can hurt you."

"What.. What just happened, sir? What was that? And where.. Where are we?"

The small boy felt overwhelmed and even though he tried to calm down, he couldn't stop shaking. He snuck a glance at Sirena. She seemed worried about him but the crushing blackness hadn't fazed her at all. 'Stop being such a baby! Sirena's a girl and she's not crying! Stop now!'

The two men watched as the boy bowed his head, ashamed of his tears but unable to stop them. Sirena embraced her new friend and let him cry on her shoulder until he calmed down somewhat. Suddenly Harry felt so tired. All the excitement of the day had been to much and he collapsed.

Severus caught him just as the door to the room opened.

"What is going on here, love. I heard a child crying and I – Oh dear, Severus what happened?Give him here."

Before he could answer, woman swept the small child into her arms. She carefully cradled the boy to her chest, noting how frail and light he was. When she saw his bruises, she gasped. The blonde turned her big blue eyes on her friend in a silent demand for answers.

"Later. Cissa. I swear, I'll tell you everything. But for now I think he needs to sleep. Could you take Sirena as well?" Narcissa Malfoy, née Black, had spent the better part of her childhood picking up the meaning behind what was being said to her. She understood the veiled dismissal, as well as the reason behind it, and, with a nod of her head, had her god daughter follow her out of the room.

Severus fell into one of the lavish armchairs by the fire and instantly an elf appeared with a tumbler of firewhiskey. He thanked the small creature, downed the burning liquid and requested another one. As soon as his wish had been granted the other man settled into the second armchair nursing his own beverage.

"That bad, huh?"

"You've no idea, Lucius."

Lucius, Lord Malfoy watched him intently for a minute or so and then let his gaze rest on the fire.

"Well, how about you tell me where you stumbled upon the elusive Mr. Potter. Wasn't he supposed to be hidden from the Wizarding World?"

Severus looked old. And tired.

"I found a malnourished and abused boy being tormented by his cousin, who probably weighs more than the two of us combined. I've heard my life's story rehashed by a five year old. But one thing doesn't make sense..."

Lucius grimaced. He knew what his friend had suffered through in his childhood home. He prompted the younger man to go on.

"Well, Lily and I had that fight that lasted for the better part of fifth year. In the summer after, I couldn't take it any more and went to her house to make up."

"Yes, I know the story so far."
"Shut up, slick!" The blond man smirked, but complied.

"When she finally forgave me, I was at her house every day and learned that the fight we'd had was the reason she reconciled with her sister. It hadn't been easy but after both of them yelled at the other for hours, they found some common ground and before the summer was out, they were the best of friends again. I have dozens of letters from Lily that tell how much Petunia loved Harry and I have pictures as well. I know her. She wouldn't stand by and watch a child get hurt, much less participate, but today Harry told me the exact opposite. I don't understand what happened in five years to change her so."

"Well, I don't know her, Sev, but grief can have many ugly faces. Maybe she blames him for her sisters death?" Severus contemplated that for a moment.

"No.", he shook his head vehemently,"No, she wouldn't take it out on a defenceless child. She wasn't my best friend, I didn't know her like I knew Lily. But I'm absolutely certain she's not capable of that. She's not the type to raise her hand in anger." The dark haired man looked at loss. He was truly and absolutely baffled at what he learned today.

Lucius steepled his fingers before his face. "Well my friend, let us think. If she's not the person Harry described, there must be something going on that nobody knows about."

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Narcissa swiftly carried her new charge down the halls of Malfoy manor, Sirena in her wake. She could have taken Harry to one of the many guest room, but she needed to talk to her son. She assumed Harry would stay for a while and needed to lay down some rules for the children.
When she entered her son's spacious room he was playing with some house elves.

'Ah, pirates again' she thought with a smile when he turned to her. The little boy was wearing a black felt tricorn and the illusion of a raggedy, smoking beard. When he saw what his mother carried, he instantly stopped playing.

"Draco, go fetch a pair of your pyjamas please." Narcissa laid Harry down on her son's bed and undressed him. Both children standing at her side sharply drew breath at the sight of the frail boy's body.
He was covered in grime and bruises.

"Draco, pyjamas. Sisa, get the bruise salve please." While Draco hurried to his dresser one of the house elves popped away and reappeared seconds later carrying a small pot. The blond witch pointed her wand at the unconscious boy "Scourgify"
The grime disappeared and she started dabbing ointment on the various bruises.

"Mummy, what happened to him?" Draco's eyes were wide as he handed her the pyjamas. He was paler than usual. 'Well what did you expect, Cissa? He never saw what some people are capable of.'

And it was true. She and Lucius tried to shield their son, and by extension Sirena, from all harm, wanting to preserve their innocence as long as humanly possible. She knew of course, that in a world such as theirs, where death is as easy as saying two words, she couldn't keep them oblivious forever.
But she still tried.
These children kneeling next to her where so pure, so innocent.
And now, because of the boy lying on the bed, she had to shatter some of their illusions.

The young woman remained silent, while she dressed Harry and then tucked the covers around him. He was getting restless, apparently not used to the soft touch. Draco suddenly jumped up and ran to the corner where his toys lay. When he returned, the little blonde had a stuffed Hippogriff chick in his hands. He approached the bed nervously, apparently unsure of how to give it to the boy without waking him. He gave the plushie to his mother, who tucked it into the boys arms.

"That was very nice of you, sweetheart." Draco smiled a bit.

"Poofie helps me sleep, so Gary should help him."

'I never did figure out why in the name of Merlin that boy called his Hippogriff 'Gary'. We don't even know anyone named Gary!' She motioned for the children to settle down in front of the bed and sat down on the edge of it. She started stroking Harry's hair from his forehead and the boy tensed up for a minute. Then he simply relaxed as the gentle hand continued its ministrations.

"Listen children, Harry will probably be staying with us for a while. That means that you have to obey certain rules around him. The bruises he had come from his family." Here Draco gasped, looking outraged. Sirena, having heard this before, just looked sad.

"Draco, hush. We don't want to wake him just yet. Now the first rule, no scaring, especially you Draco. I know you like to do that with your friends, but when a child has been hurt like Harry was, it scares easily. You are going to have to be careful around him. Don't suddenly touch him or you might get hurt when his magic defends itself, understood?" The little boy and girl nodded seriously. They liked to be spoken to as if they were adults.

"The second rule is: no prying. Harry will tell you about his home when he is ready. And the last rule for now is the most important. If Harry gets hurt or scared you will call for me or your fathers. If we aren't nearby, call a house elf to fetch us. It may seem silly to you but Harry will not trust us 'Grown-ups' right away. He might try and hide what's bothering him. Can you remember these rules?"

"Yes, mummy. Where will Harry stay?"

"I'm not sure yet sweetie. We'll see"

Harry had been sleeping peacefully throughout the talk but now he started shivering. He pushed away from the hand stroking him and curled into a small ball. He was whimpering, saying things that sounded like:
"Please, no more..Aunt Petunia, help me! Please, Uncle.. Please, I'll be a good boy! NO! NO; STOP! PLEASE!" Harry had become louder till he was screaming.

The boy was thrashing around on the bed, sobbing hysterically. Narcissa tried to wake him but he fought off her hands in panic.

"Sisa! Take the Children away! Pookie, get Lucius! NOW!"

While Pookie just popped away, Sisa gathered Sirena and Draco around her and vanished.

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Lucius almost dropped his glass, when his wife's elf appeared in front of him.

"Master, you comes quick! Mistress Cissy be needing your help with young Master Harry!"

Lucius and Severus bolted from the room. Halfway down the hall both men heard the ear-splitting screams. When they burst into the room Narcissa was frantically trying to calm Harry down.

It wasn't working.

"Please, Severus. Pull him out!"

Severus place one hand on the child's forehead. Harry tried to get away from the touch but the blonde couple were holding him down on the bed. Severus took a calming breath and allowed himself to be pulled into the nightmare.

Chaos. That was the first thing he noticed. Many different colours flew by, random flashes of light. Then the scene manifested. He was in a sitting room. The colouring of the room was strangely threatening. A fat, huge man was shouting at a small boy. A vein on that monsters temple was throbbing. The boy was crying, beyond hysterical. Then a woman. Petunia. But she looked different. Prettier, more normal. She threw herself between the man and boy. She was shouting too, but aggressive. Behind her the boy curled into a ball. The man rose a huge fist and struck her down. He advanced on the boy. Menacing.

Fear. Pain. No more..

Severus reached for the boy, picked him up. The man was coming. Severus drew his wand, shot a spell. Then darkness..

The dark-haired wizard pulled out of Harry's mind. The boy seemed to be coming to. He jerked awake and looked around frantically. Narcissa pulled him in her arms and he clung to her as he cried. The adults looked at each other, all three at loss for words.

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Later that evening the children were playing in Draco's room under the watchful eyes of Sisa. The adults were sitting across the hall in Narcissa's study. All three of them were holding on to their glasses, the men whiskey and the witch elf made wine.
They needed it.

Severus had just told the other two what he had seen in the nightmare. Now they had to interpret what they had.

"What bothers me is the part about his aunt."
"What do you mean, love." Lucius saw that his wife was on to something. She just couldn't make sense of it yet.

"Well, Sev told us that the man, Vernon, he was a monster in the boys mind. Huge, imposing and threatening. That I understand. The man beat him, he is a monster. But the Aunt.. In the dream Petunia looked different. Like there was something fading and reappearing over her face, and, in the boy's mind, looked more normal, more herself. But Sev told us that Harry said his Aunt hates him as well. Also after she is struck down she simply vanishes. It just seems.. It looks like we're missing something."

Severus had also been thinking. He had a few theories but he'd need proof. Listening to Narcissa only confirmed that. He downed the contents of his tumbler and stood.

"You're right, Cissa. We are missing something. And now we'll go find some answers."

Lucius and Narcissa stood as well summoning their cloaks.

"Splendid!" The blonde man exclaimed. "Late-night house call!"