Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: Wow, thank you so much for the encouraging reviews! They made me so happy!

Almost 15 years later:

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Surrey and fifteen year old Harry Potter was spending it cleaning out the attic per Aunt Petunia's instructions. It was hot and dusty and he desperately would have loved a glass of water but he kept working, knowing better than to make complaints. If anything, it helped to keep his mind off other things. Such as the disaster at the Department of Mysteries, Sirius falling through the veil, Voldemort, Cedric…he gladly accepted the distraction. It had only been a couple weeks into summer and he still couldn't sleep because of the nightmares, he couldn't eat although that wasn't a problem since he barely got fed anyway. He had received a letter from Ron saying he and his family were trying to get Dumbledore to let Harry come to the burrow for the summer. Harry had sent a reply back with Hedwig that he hoped it would be soon and asked for Hedwig to stay at the Burrow for the summer. He hadn't wanted her to be locked up here and figured she would be happier and safer staying with the Weasley's. Harry hoped Dumbledore agreed, he could tell already that it would be a rough summer here with the Dursley's. They were still mad about the Dementor attack on Dudley last summer as well as all the previous incidents the summers before. His Aunt spoke more hatefully to him than normal and his Uncle had an ugly look in his eyes whenever he looked at Harry, more than usual. Dudley had simply been quiet around him.

Harry sighed and grabbed a small battered box that was in the back of the attic and sat down to go through it. When he opened the box he first saw a picture of two young girls, one with short blonde hair and a pinched look on her face and the other girl had long red hair and a smile. Harry took a sharp intake of breath at the familiar green eyes. It was his mother as a child and the other girl was obviously Aunt Petunia. He grinned. This was the first picture he had seen of his mother as a child. He was surprised Aunt Petunia had it; she had never shared any pictures of his mother with him. He had no doubt that if he showed it to her she would rip it up or burn it to hurt him. Harry slipped the photo into his pocket. He would keep it. He could always cut Aunt Petunia out of it later. He reached into the box once more and pulled out a soft blue blanket with the name Harry stitched into it. His baby blanket? Harry looked at it thoughtfully and had a vague memory of holding onto it in his cupboard as a small child and his Aunt taking it away as punishment. Punishment for what he couldn't remember. Breathing too loud? Eating a bit of bread? Harry gave a shrug, happy that he had it back now. It would be nice to have at least one thing of his childhood. Harry pulled out another item which was a necklace. The pendent was a porcelain doe. Harry held it in his hand. It was warm to the touch. He wondered if it had been his mother's or Aunt Petunia's. Or perhaps it had belonged to his grandmother? He thought about putting it back since he didn't know if it would be right to take it but he hesitated. It felt…familiar somehow which was completely weird. Maybe it had been Mum's, he reasoned to himself. If this necklace had been hers, it would be nice to have it as a keepsake. He had his dad's invisibility cloak and the Marauders Map so it would be nice to have something of his mum's as well. Harry smiled to himself as he set the necklace on the blanket. Who knew cleaning the attic could be so rewarding? He now had a childhood picture of his mother, his baby blanket and a necklace that may have been his mum's as well. Thinking he had seen something else inside, he reached in to check the box when a shrill voice interrupted him.

"Boy, aren't you done up there yet? You need to start on dinner!"

"Be right down Aunt Petunia!" Harry called back, rolling his eyes. He wondered if he would get any dinner tonight, not that he really cared about eating even though he was starting to feel weak from lack of sleep and food. The attic looked much better so maybe he would be allowed some leftovers at least, even if it was hard to eat. He quickly put the blanket, photo, and necklace back in the box and went to hide it in his room before running down the stairs to begin his relative's dinner. He tried to push away the thoughts of Sirius and the confrontation with Voldemort by throwing all his attention into making a nice dinner that he may or may not get to have.

/

Harry woke up the next morning, his stomach growling. He had only been given a bit of salad and half a roll for dinner as his Aunt and Uncle had been angry that he had slightly burnt the chicken. His mind had kept replaying images of Sirius falling through the veil that he had not been paying enough attention. Harry stretched and then winced as his right arm still throbbed from where Uncle Vernon had grabbed and shaken him for "ruining their dinner" as he had shouted. Harry rubbed his arm absently as his green eyes focused on the bookshelf that held broken toys from Dudley. He had hidden the box he found in the attic in there and decided to put it in his duffel bag. He wanted to be packed and ready for when he got word that he could go to the Burrow. The only thing he didn't have access to was his school trunk, which sat locked in the cupboard as usual. Harry sighed and rubbed his arm again. He desperately wanted out of this house but he was nervous to go to the Burrow. He knew his friends would want to know how he was holding up but he didn't want to talk about Sirius, about how he had gotten Sirius killed. The truth was he felt numb. If only he had paid more attention in his occlumency lessons. If only Snape had been somewhat bearable during those lessons. If only he hadn't looked in the potion master's pensive, as seeing his father and Sirius bully the teenage Snape still made him feel ill. He never thought he would see the day where he felt bad for Snape and yet he did, as he himself had been a victim of bullying his whole life.

The Dursley's, out for the day, had said they would be leaving behind a list of chores that were to be done before they got back. Not wanting to risk their wrath, Harry dressed and headed downstairs to get started. Seeing the list on the refrigerator, Harry noted the warning written at the top that he was not to eat anything until they could inspect his work and that they would know if he did. Harry knew they would too. They put high security padlocks on all of the pantries and the refrigerator when they went out and he was home alone. They knew he couldn't do magic so there was no way to open them unless he tried to break them. Two hours into his chores Harry was feeling faint, the hunger pains becoming more intense and his arm was throbbing. He could also feel a headache starting, likely from being so hungry. He tried to ignore the hunger and focus on his work.

Harry was in the middle of polishing the coffee table when the Dursley's suddenly opened the front door. They had said they would be gone until dinner, he hadn't had time to finish his list of chores. He looked up in a slight panic.

"Boy, why doesn't the lawn looked mowed and the hedges clipped?" Uncle Vernon demanded as soon as he saw him.

"I thought you would be gone longer and the list is rather long. I have been working hard the last few hours." Harry said honestly, trying not to look nervous at the angry look on Uncle Vernon's face.

"Humph," Aunt Petunia said, glancing around the impeccably clean living room. "It doesn't look like you've done much to me." She sniffed as she made her way to the kitchen.

Harry's mouth dropped open in shock, although he shouldn't have been surprised. They never acted like he did a good job on anything. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Dudley looked like he wanted to protest what his mother had said but before Harry could ponder on that, his Uncle started talking.

"You have a lot of work to do, freak. The least you can do is earn your keep," Uncle Vernon practically yelled at Harry. "Get outside!" He grabbed Harry by his hurt arm to throw him out the front door, causing Harry to yelp in pain. "Shut up! After almost getting my son killed last summer, you should be grateful that we let you come back!"

"Dad," Dudley took a hesitant step forward.

"And let's not forget the summer before that when your freaky friends caused his tongue to grow four feet long!" Uncle Vernon continued, not appearing to hear his son. "Before that, you blew up my sister!" He was shouting by now.

Harry stood on the porch holding his arm and fighting back the tears of pain that threatened to fall from his eyes. Just apologize and maybe he will be nicer, Harry thought dizzily. "She deserved it." Oops, that came out wrong. Uncle Vernon's face turned purple with anger and he pushed Harry off the porch. "How dare you, you freak! Who do you think you are?"

I don't know anymore after hearing that prophecy, Harry thought weakly.

"Dad, stop!" Dudley finally said, looking upset.

Uncle Vernon glanced at his son and then focused back on Harry, his eyes filled with hate. "You're upsetting Dudley yet again! That's it! Enough is enough!" Vernon roared. He grabbed Harry and once again threw him, only this time back into the house. "Get your things. I want you gone!"

Petunia, who had come running when she heard her husband yelling, scowled at Harry. "You really are a horrible boy. Must you upset my family so much? We can't even get a good night's sleep because of you yelling in the middle of the night!" She spat.

Harry backed away from his aunt and uncle, the front door still wide open. "I-I've had some bad dreams. I didn't mean to wake anyone." He stammered.

"Aww, bad dreams? Poor boy," Uncle Vernon taunted. He backhanded Harry, causing him to fall to the ground. "Get your things and get out. And if I see you again I may just take out my rifle and shoot you!" He smirked. "Maybe I should do that now and make the world a better place by getting rid of a freak." He added maliciously.

Harry's eyes widened. Was his Uncle serious? "You-you wouldn't." He wished he had his wand and wondered if he could get away with summoning it. He didn't want problems with the ministry for doing underage magic again, yet it was a better alternative to being killed by his furious uncle.

Uncle Vernon's eyes were crazed with anger and his Aunt was laughing as he grabbed Harry by the throat. "Don't test me boy! The world would be a better place without the likes of you!" His hands squeezed tighter.

"Let him go!" A deep authoritative voice said from behind them.

Startled, Vernon dropped Harry, who laid on the ground gasping for air, and saw a furious looking tall man dressed all in black holding him at wand point. Vernon's eyes widened. Attacking a defenseless teenager was one thing; a full grown angry wizard was another.

"Step away from him. Now!" The man hissed in a voice like ice.

Vernon was frozen in shock and fear and the next thing he knew he was thrown through the air and landed hard against the wall. Petunia shrieked and ran to him to see if he was okay. Dudley took a step towards Harry but stopped when the angry wizard snarled at him.

"I-I just wanted to see if he was okay," Dudley whispered. He had changed since last summer, though his parents didn't want to see it. He no longer thought it was funny to bully Harry or see him starved or hurt by his parents. What he had faced last summer had shown him the truth of the person he had become as well as who Harry really was. Harry could have left him to those horrible creatures that had made him feel so hopeless and cold and instead, Harry had stayed and helped him even though Dudley had been bullying him only moments before.

Harry looked up from the ground caught between the surprise that his cousin seemed to actually care and shock at seeing his potions professor in the Dursley's home. "Professor Snape?" Harry said, putting a hand on his cheek which was stinging painfully. It had been awhile since his Uncle had hit him and he had forgotten how much it hurt.

Severus Snape immediately crouched down to his student, noting the flinch the boy gave. He was sickened by what he had just witnessed. How did I miss the signs? He wondered. "Mr. Potter if I may see your cheek please," He said in a controlled voice. This was certainly the last thing he had expected to witness when he had come here.

Harry gave a start and then slowly turned his face so his professor could examine the bruise that was forming. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Severus asked.

"My arm," Harry admitted and then winced when he saw the nasty look his aunt and uncle gave him.

Severus waved his wand over it and then frowned. "Hairline fracture. What happened?" Not that I can't guess, he thought sarcastically. He glowered at the Dursley's.

Harry hesitated. He didn't even know why Professor Snape was here. "I-I fell sir."

Severus flashed his dark eyes onto Harry. "Do not lie to me!" He hissed. "I will not tolerate it!" He would not stand for Harry making excuses for his abusive relatives. He regretted his tone when Harry paled but he was having a hard time controlling his temper as it was.

Harry flushed and looked away. Of all the adults to find him in this condition why did it have to be the adult who hated him?

"My Dad shook him by the arm last night. Hard. And then he pushed Harry to where he fell on it today," Dudley spoke up, his voice trembling slightly.

"Dudley!" Petunia and Vernon cried in shock.

Dudley looked sadly at his parents. "He needs to know so he can help Harry. You hurt him!"

"What did you do freak? Put a spell on my son?" Vernon got up with the help of his wife and then faced his nephew, his hands clenched into fists.

Severus helped Harry up, concerned about how unsteady the boy was. The quick diagnostic he had subtly run had also showed that the boy was malnourished and beyond exhausted. "Perhaps your son is tired of seeing his parents abuse his cousin," Severus said, turning away from Harry who was leaning against the doorway. "How dare you treat your nephew like this? He was left here for you to care for him, not abuse him!"

"We never asked for him or wanted him," Petunia spat out. Her eyes suddenly widened in recognition. "Severus Snape," She whispered. She narrowed her eyes. "How dare you come uninvited into my home? Get out!" She ordered.

Severus pointed his wand at her throat and she visibly paled. "Do not give me orders Tuney," He sneered. "I do not know why I am so shocked at what I saw here today. You were hateful as a child too."

"And you were just a nasty little boy from the wrong side of town. You and Lily thought you were so special with your little powers. Well, now I have the power. I'm the one in control," Petunia sounded smug. If they only knew what I know, she thought cruelly.

"I have no idea what you are going on about but then, you always were deluded weren't you? Acting like you were better than you were? Pathetic," Severus said with disgust in his voice.

"You were the one who thought you were better than you are. So tell me, are you a drunken bum like your father Snape?" Petunia shot back. She regretted it when soap bubbles began to fill her mouth and she started coughing and sputtering.

"It always truly amazed me how unlike your sister you were," Severus said with a look of loathing. "How Lily could be so kind and you so spiteful. Really, is it any wonder why your parents were more proud of her than they were of you?"

Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing or hearing. Professor Snape was actually defending him and it sounded like he had known his mother and aunt when they were children, before Hogwarts. "Professor, what are you doing here? Is something wrong? Is it Vold-"

"Merlin Potter, be quiet!" Severus snapped, though his tone was not as harsh as it usually was when he was talking to Harry. "Where are your things?" He demanded.

"My things?" Harry repeated, still feeling utterly confused as well as dizzy.

Severus closed his eyes for a moment. "Did I stutter Potter? Your belongings! Where are they?"

"I have a duffel bag and Hedwig's cage upstairs and my school trunk is locked in my cupboard under the stairs," Harry said with a glance at his Aunt and Uncle. His lips twitched a bit at Aunt Petunia still coughing up bubbles.

Severus raised his eyebrows. His cupboard? He suddenly remembered seeing a younger Potter in a dark, cramped space crying during their occlumency lessons. "Accio Harry Potter's duffel bag and cage." The blue duffel bag and cage flew down the stairs and Severus caught it easily, quickly shrinking both items and putting it in his pocket.

Vernon began yelling in anger. "How dare you do that freaky stuff in our home? It's-it's unnatural! And fix whatever hocus pocus you did on my wife!"

"Shut up you pathetic muggle," Severus growled. It was taking all of his strength not to go completely death eater on them. He couldn't help for a moment but be reminded of his own childhood and having a bruised face and being hated by someone who was supposed to take care of him. How did this happen to Potter of all people? He was supposed to be coddled and spoiled at home just like he was in school!

Severus went to the cupboard under the stairs and muttered a quick Alohomora and the door slammed open. He levitated the trunk to him and once again cast the shrinking spell so he could easily carry it. He turned back to Harry's relatives. "There is no excuse for what you have done. When you took Potter in, it was with the belief that you would care for him and raise him as your own. Your son seems to grasp that concept yet I can see you two are too consumed in your ignorance to do the same. However, you will now know the suffering you have put your nephew through. At least in your dreams, that is." He smirked at Petunia who was trying to speak yet couldn't as the spell he cast on her previously had not worn off yet. He waved his wand in front of the elder Dursley's and murmured, "Desperatione et somniatores." He gave a considering look at Vernon and with a wave of his wand, the large man went flying into the cupboard with the door slamming shut and locking.

Dudley's eyes widened and he took a step back, convinced that he would be next.

Harry's mouth was hanging open as he heard his uncle shouting from the cupboard. "What did you cast?" He asked as his professor.

Severus stood next to Harry. "A spell that will cause them to have nightmares feeling everything you have felt in this house. They will not be able to sleep at all without experiencing what you endured. It will wear off when they feel true remorse, if they ever do." He glanced at Dudley. "The rest of what I cast should wear off in an hour. It would appear that you already know how he was treated was wrong."

Dudley nodded shakily. "I-I do know," He looked at Harry. "Thanks for saving me last summer. I'm sorry I was such a jerk." He said quietly.

Harry was momentarily speechless. Could this day get any crazier? Snape was here and hexing his aunt and uncle for their treatment of him and now Dudley was apologizing? What was next, Voldemort sending flowers and asking to be friends? Harry shook his head slightly. "No problem Big D." He gave a tentative grin.

"It's time to go. I'm going to place a disillusionment charm on you until we can apparate." Severus said, tapping his wand gently against Harry's head causing him to feel a tingling sensation. He put his hand on Harry's shoulder and led him out of the house, leaving Vernon wailing, Petunia sputtering and Dudley looking after them in fascination.

HPHPHPHP

Severus led Harry down the sidewalk until they came across a small alley. He removed the charm from Harry and then held out his arm. "Take hold of my arm Mr. Potter."

Harry tentatively grabbed the offered arm and with a pop they were gone.

TBC: Reviews are very much appreciated! =)