Acceptance
Chapter Two: Rescuing Harry
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am making no money, etc. Let this apply to the whole story.
A/N: I would like to thank my bff, my 'sis', my 'sam', by beta, HarryEstel, for everything she has done for this story and me.
A/N 2: Incase you all haven't noticed, this is AU!
It was early the next morning when Severus Snape apparated to the end of Privet Drive. He had a camera around his neck and a notebook in his hand. He was dressed in a black button down shirt, black pants, and black shoes. His hair was no longer greasy and tied at the nape of his neck. He resolutely strode up to number four and rang the doorbell.
An enormous man with a huge moustache opened the door. "Yes?"
"Are you Vernon Dursley?" Snape asked.
"I am. Can I help you?" he asked again.
"My name is Tobias, and I am a reporter with the Surrey Evening Times and I am writing a piece about typical suburban life. I was wondering if I could spend the day with you and your family to observe you, and then I will include your family in the column I am writing."
Dursley's face spit into a smile, and he opened the door wider. "Please, come in."
"Thank you. A very tasteful home you have here, Mr. Dursley."
Dursley apparently didn't notice the sarcasm, because his smile never faltered. H said, "Thank you, very much. My wife, Petunia . . ."
But he never finished the sentence. The sound of plastic hitting tile, and a soft gasp made its way down to the entry way. Dursley's smile finally faltered. "Excuse me, please," he said, and he disappeared up the stairs.
Meanwhile, upstairs, before Snape arrived
Harry was scrubbing the shower with a large cleaning brush. However he wasn't doing a very good job because he couldn't seem to stop his hands from shaking. Since the beginning of summer, he'd been seeing almost nightly Death Eater meetings. The cruciatus was often used, and Harry felt it as though it'd been placed directly on him. He usually wound up screaming and would wake up his 'relatives.' Uncle Vernon would come down and try to beat him, but he was usually too tired to give Harry much more than a slap.
Many muggles had been placed under the curse; they usually ended up dying, either by prolonged exposure to the cruciatus, or the avada kedavra. This only served to add to Harry's already guilt ridden conscience: more people were dying because of him. But muggles weren't the only ones to be placed under the craciatus. Many Death Eaters were placed under it as well.
Some nights, the Death Eaters would just torture muggles, what they called sport. Other nights, they would have a meeting, and then torture muggles. Whenever they would torture muggles, Snape was either not there (if they were just having 'sport') or leave, if there was a meeting first.
He'd never really tried to move around in the vision, but two nights ago, when Voldemort was just talking to the Death Eaters, he got up the nerve to move around. He made sure no one could see him, and last night, when a little muggle girl was under the cruciatus, he put himself over the little girl to try and shield her. It did nothing to shield her; it only caused him more pain. He couldn't move from on top of her, and finally passed out. Since that was just last night his hands were shaking violently. He'd been under the curse so much, he almost felt like he was still under it, even when he was doing his chores. Last night was so horrible, he was surprised he could hold the brush at all, let alone scrub.
Just then, the doorbell rang. He strained to hear who it was. When Snape's voice came floating up the stairs to him, he dropped the brush and let out a small gasp. What was Hogwart's most feared and hated professor, the man who had gone out of his way to make is four years at Hogwarts as bad as they could be, doing HERE?
His train of thought was abruptly cut off when he heard Uncle Vernon pounding up the stairs. His Uncle came into the bathroom, grabbed Harry by the hair, and pulled him out of the shower. "If I hear one more peep out of you, you won't get fed for a month, and you most certainly will NOT be going back to that FREAK school of yours," Uncle Vernon said in a dangerously low hiss.
Harry could barely manage a weak "Yes, Uncle Vernon." Uncle Vernon let go of Harry's hair so roughly, Harry was practically slammed to the back of the shower, and banged his head. He slid down onto the cold floor, and thanked Merlin when he passed into unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, down stairs…
Severus was thoroughly confused by what had just happened. He strained his hearing but could hear nothing until he heard a thump, and a soft, barely noticeable crack. Severus involuntarily flinched. The crack sounded a little too much like the crack of a bone for his comfort.
Dursley came thundering back down the stairs with a smile on his face. "So Tobias, let me show you around the house."
Severus allowed himself to be ushered into the living room. He was extremely surprised by the sight him. All over the room there were still pictures of an extremely fat boy, who looked remarkably like a pig, at various stages of life. There was not one picture of Potter. Severus decided he'd better be careful not to mention Potter. He was starting to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Weren't they supposed to be worshipping the boy?
"Where are your wife and son, Mr. Dursley?"
"They are out grocery shopping, they should be back any moment," Dursley said with a smile on his face. Right on cue, the front door opened. "There they are now."
The pair went back the entry. Petunia had her mouth open, like she was about to say something very loud, but stopped at the sight of Severus. "Petunia, Dudley, this is Tobias. Tobias, meet my wife, Petunia, and my son, Dudley." They all shook hands politely. Severus was shocked to see the morbidly obese child. There was no single child at Hogwarts who weighed half of what this boy did. He was also shocked by Petunia. He could see absolutely no resemblance to the beautiful redhead he knew at Hogwarts. Dursley explained what Severus was doing there.
Petunia and Dudley smiled even wider. "Dudley, dear, why don't you help me out and bring in the bags," she said. Severus could hear an undercurrent of…warning maybe, in her voice.
"Why don't you make Ha…" the boy started to say.
He was cut off, however, when Petunia said in a syrupy-sweet voice, "Dudley, mind your manners. We have a guest in the house. Please, go get the groceries from the car."
"Fine, whatever," pigboy said, and proceeded to grumble all the way to the garage.
"Come Tobias, let me show you the kitchen." Petunia said.
Severus let himself be guided into the kitchen. Once there, Dursley excused himself again. He was left alone with Petunia, who started talking about very inane things. Severus completely tuned her out, and instead focused on trying to hear what Dursley was doing; he could hear the man thundering up the stairs, and down the hall. He then heard him come back down the stairs. The cupboard under the stairs was opened, and then something heavy was tossed in, followed by another soft crack before the door was closed again.
Severus was beginning to wonder if Potter really was in the house. He used a nonverbal spell that would sense if there's anyone one else magical in the area. To his surprise, shock, and horror, he did sense someone magical in the cupboard under the stairs.
But why would that oaf, Dursley, put Potter under the stairs? Something very strange has to be going on, Severus thought.
He didn't have the chance to ponder this at the moment, because, just then, Dursley and Dudley walked in, both out of breath. It was fairly obvious as to why the younger Dursley was out of breath: the pig-boy was carrying one large grocery bag in each hand, and this was probably a lot of exercise for him. But why the older Dursley would be out of breath baffled Severus.
The day wore on annoyingly slow, too slow for the impatient Potion's Master. He took pictures and notes, asked questions, and observed the 'normal' family. If he hadn't known there was a fourteen-year-old wizard in the cupboard under the stairs, he would have thought his was a normal household. Finally, after dinner, he said his good-byes and left. But rather than apparate back to Hogwarts, he crouched in the bushes outside, waiting for them to fall asleep so he could do what he came here to do.
While waiting, Severus analyzed the situation. It was indefinitely clear to him that the Potter boy was not at all being pampered. Those very clear and audible cracks still rang inside his skull. Reaching up and feeling the back of his own head, Severus traced a very old scar. Memories threatening to overwhelm him, he cleared his mind of all thought and feeling. Refusing to dwell on the possibilities, Severus simply waited and allowed the irritation at his present situation to consume him.
He waited about an hour after the lights upstairs went out before he finally moved out of his hiding spot. He was just about to Alohomora the front door when he felt the familiar pain on his arm that meant the Dark Lord was summoning him. He softly cursed, walked beyond the apparation boundaries of the house, apparated to Hogwarts, ran faster than he'd ever run before to the dungeons to grab is cloak and mask, ran even faster to beyond the apparation boundaries of Hogwarts, paused to catch his breath, and put on his mask and cloak before apparating to the Dark Lord.
He arrived in the so-called throne room of the Dark Lord's headquarters. It took the ex-Death Eater less than half a second to realize that he was the only one there. He knelt down in front of the Dark Lord, and kissed the hem of his robe before backing up while remaining crouched.
Voldemort said in a low and dangerous voice "You're late Severus. And you know how much I hate people being late, don't you. Crucio." Snape was glad he didn't hold the curse for that long or hard. "I shall give you one chance to explain," Voldemort said.
"I was making your potion, sir. Had I left when you summoned me, it would have exploded, and I would have had to start from scratch," Snape lied effortlessly.
" And when will your newest creation be ready?" Voldemort inquired.
"About a week more, my Lord," Severus replied.
"You're on task then. Good. Have you managed to find out where Potter lives, yet?"
"No, not yet my Lord. I don't want to look suspicious, which it would look if I asked for my most hated student's address."
"I do not tolerate failure. Crucio" This time, the curse was held much longer, and was much more painful. But Severus refused to give the man the pleasure of hearing him scream.
By the time the curse was lifted off him, Severus realized he was lying on the floor. It took him awhile to stand up, and when he did, he found he was shaking.
"You disappoint me, Severus. I expect to know the next meeting where the boy lives; otherwise I will devise a much harsher punishment."
"Yes, my Lord. Forgive me, my Lord. I will not disappoint you," Snape said, trying to sound truly sorry.
"Dismissed," the Dark Lord said with a flick of his hand.
Severus bowed low before apparating to Potter's house once again. He made his way to the door, and this time was able to Alohomora the front door. He pushed it silently open. The first thing he decided to do was get the trunk and birdcage. He remembered how the bottom stair squeaked, so he effortlessly stepped over it. He opened the junk room, shrunk the trunk and birdcage. He then noticed a Firebolt near his feet, so he shrunk that as well. He put all three in his pocket, left the room, and closed the door. He made his way silently down the stairs, skipped the bottom stair, undid the lock on the cupboard, and opened the door. He whispered lumos.
To say the sight that greeted him shocked him would have been the understatement of the year. Curled up in a fetal position was a boy that barely resembled the Potter Severus knew. This boy was violently shaking. His face was so gaunt it looked as though he hadn't eaten in a couple weeks, and he had bags so bad under his eyes so bad it looked as though he hadn't slept for at least a week. The clothes looked huge. Probably the pig-boy's. Didn't they even bother buying him clothes?
He glanced around the rest of the cupboard. All he saw was another set of humungous clothes, a broken pair of glasses, a photo album, and a wand. Severus grabbed the last two, shrunk them, and put them in a pocket a long with the other shrunk items. He grabbed the broken glasses, and whispered occulous reparo, and the glasses were fixed. He bent down to put them on Potter, who moaned and pulled his head back.
"This is insanity," Severus muttered. He reached his hand out to shake the boy, who scooted father back into the cupboard. He whispered, "Potter, Potter wake up. Potter," Severus hissed. Potter managed to open one bleary eye before closing it again. "No, no, no Potter, don't fall back asleep. Potter," Severus hissed again.
Potter managed to barely open both eyes. "Pro—Pro- Professor? Wh—What?"
"What's the matter, Potter, can't speak in complete sentences?" Severus said sarcastically.
"Why—Why—Why'd you come back?" Potter barley managed to say.
"You didn't honestly think I'd leave you here, did you?" Potter managed a one armed shrug. Severus let out a breath. "Come on, Potter, you're coming with me," Severus said, and with that, he reached into the cupboard and started to pick up the boy. Potter hissed in pain, and Severus withdrew. "Would you rather me stupefy you?" Severus asked.
Not wanting to seem weak in front of his professor, Harry shook his head. Severus reached in and managed to lift the shaking boy all the way out. Potter had bit his tongue to prevent him from making any noise, but he couldn't prevent a soft moan. Severus was flabbergasted by how little he weighed.
"Merlin, Potter did they feed you at all?"
Potter just shook his head. "Wait, my album," Harry whispered.
"Relax, Potter, I've already got it," Severus said sarcastically. Potter nodded, and passed out. Severus went out the front door he never closed, and apparated to Hogwarts.
End Ch. 2
I have no idea if the Surrey Evening Times is a real publication or not. If it is, I obviously have nothing to do with it.
Please don't forget to review!