"God-dammit!" Severus hissed through his clenched jaw, "These wards are impossible!"

He finally got through the last one. Dumbledore must have forgotten he was technically a death eater. The wards were set in place to keep out anyone who had the death-eater brand, and unfortunately Severus did, but Dumbledore knew this, and it didn't explain why it had taken Severus an extra fifteen minutes to get through the wards set up. It was almost as if Dumbledore didn't want him to check on Harry, just a record of it to show to the ministry.

But Severus and Draco had both heard the scream, and Severus sent him upstairs to look while he tore through the lower half of the house. Finally he had finished going through every room, and he was about to go up the stairs to search with Draco, but as he made his way from the kitchen to the stairs he heard a small cry of pain. He froze, listening for it again, it never sounded. Instead, he noticed a small cupboard under the stairs, it had several locks on it. With dread blossoming in his stomach he whispered

"Alohomora."

At first sight, he would have thought there was nothing aside from the pile of rags in the corner. But then it shifted,

"Harry?" he asked and, the boy curled up against the edge of the cupboard

"Don't, please" his voice came out in one anguished breath

"Harry, I have to pick you up," he slid his arms under the boy, Harry gave a bit of a struggle, but that seemed to be too much for his body, and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Severus called for Draco to meet him outside, when he came out of the door to meet Severus he didn't even notice Harry for a few seconds.

"Is that-?" he began and Severus nodded, cutting him off. He had sent his patronus to Dumbledore, the doe would return any minute with him, and Dumbledore would heal Harry with a quick wave of his wand. But when his patronus returned that was not the case at all. Dumbledore apparated next to Severus, scaring Draco to his wit's end.

"Severus!" he hissed, and he was given a look of confusion. Grudgingly he explained, "Harry can't leave his relative's home until he has come of age, it is the only thing that will protect him Voldemort over his summer vacation."

Severus gaped at the supposedly "wise" man,

"But his relatives are the ones who did this! How is he safer here than at Hogwarts?" Dumbledore looked knowingly at him,

"Ah, but you don't know it was his relatives, it could have been a scuffle with the neighborhood boys, and Death Eaters have found ways into Hogwarts, so that isn't an option. Now, I command you to put that boy where you found him."

Severus shook his head, all Dumbledore aimed to do was preserve the Golden Boy, not the one underneath.

"Now, you know what power I hold against you." he seethed, and Severus gave in, if Dumbledore alerted Voldemort of his being a spy, that was the end of him.

"Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said, "I will erase your memory promptly, but it will take about an hour to complete, as I will be filling in the empty spot as well, so do you need to use the toilet before we begin?"

Draco hesitated, not knowing what to do, but then nodded.

"Very well, go use the toilet, Severus, go make sure he doesn't try anything funny." Severus nodded, heading back inside, but really he was looking around the house for anything more evidence if he had to prove his case, not paying an ounce of attention to Draco.

Unaware to anyone there, since both Severus and Dumbledore assumed Draco was a heartless Slytherin who hated every bone in Harry Potter's body. But he did feel sympathy towards the younger boy, and he knew Severus had his life in Voldemort's hands at the moment, so it was his responsibility to do something. So he went to Harry's room upstairs, although it was more like a jail cell, with one bed, a dresser, and a bucket in the corner.

He took some of the blood on the concrete floor and grabbed a piece of parchment from Harry's Hogwarts trunk in the corner and wrote Harry's name in all capitals, in blood, on it. He then rolled it up and tied it to Harry's owl, sending it off to the only boys in Hogwarts Draco was sure could rescue Harry, and the only boys he was sure Harry could trust. Fred & George Weasley.

When he was done "going to the toilet", he returned, Dumbledore immediately sat him down and began clearing his memory, though not before a strict warning to Severus not to mention anything about this occurrence to Draco, one sentence even suggesting what had happened that night, could cause someone with a mind so strong, such as Draco, to remember.

Harry was returned to his cupboard, but unknown to anyone, the next morning his cousin Dudley came to check on him, worried that Harry had been missing late the other night. Harry hadn't seen Dudley before the previous summer, and he was drastically changed. He had lost the whale appearance, instead, he was well… ripped. He had also lost the attitude, and had realized that Harry was a human being, and so he did what he did after every one of Harry's abuse sessions. He picked him up, checked his pulse, then brought him to the bathroom to clean his wounds, something he would never admit to, as long as he lived.


Hi again! Yep, I know the update was quick but it was a 3 day weekend, so aside from hiking my dogs this was probably the most entertaining thing I could do. Riplie