Towards the Light

by Mione5

Harry came back from his summer at the Dursleys very different from when he left...and not in a good way. What happened and who's to blame! HP/SS Slash

2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer – Nothing but Tosca is mine.

Chapter 2 – The Truth About Tosca.

'Albus, what in Merlin's name happened? You don't think Voldemort...' McGonagall trailed off.

'No, the Dark Lord did not do this.' Snape said firmly, his eyes never leaving the damaged face of the sixteen year old.

'How can you know?' McGonagall shot back. 'He doesn't tell you everything.'

'Because he wouldn't have let him live.' The potions master snapped back, finally tearing his eyes away and glaring at the elderly witch.

'Enough.' Dumbledore interrupted them turning to the medi-witch. 'How bad is it, Poppy?'

'I don't think I've seen anything like it.' Poppy admitted as her wand swept up and down Harry's still form. Another flick of her wand banished all his clothes but his underwear and they were able to see the full extent of the injuries he had suffered. It was also when they noticed Tosca who had stayed curled out of sight on Harry's upper arm.

'Oh my.' Poppy said leaping back from the bed.

Tosca didn't move, her eyes trained on the four humans as her tongue darted out trying to detect if anything was nearby that would hurt her master.

'Ah, now that's a problem.' Dumbledore said slowly.

'Just stun it.' Snape growled.

'I would prefer to do something else.'

'What?'

Dumbledore slowly raised his wand, looking directly into the snake's eyes. 'Legillimens.' He whispered; the others in the room waiting impatiently.

Several minutes later he closed his eyes and dropped his wand.

'Albus?' McGonagall said hesitantly.

'My office.'

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Poppy remained in the hospital wing with Harry trying to assess and repair his injuries at a safe enough distance not to arouse the ire of snake that remained tightly curled around Harry's arm.

McGonagall and Snape waited as Dumbledore pulled a number of silver strands from his temple and placed them in the shallow bowl before stirring it several times.

'Brace yourself.' He said ominously before dropping his nose into the bowl, his body following shortly thereafter.

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Snape and McGonagall landed just as Vernon burst through what must have been Harry's bedroom door, grabbing the Boy-Who-Lived by the scruff of his neck and dragging him from the room, the door slamming shut behind him. They all watched as the little snake practically launched itself across the room from where it had been playing with a tiny mouse in the corner but was unable to reach the door before it closed.

They continued to watch as it slithered backwards and forwards, as if pacing, for what seemed like hours, even with the speeded up time of the pensieve. In the meantime they looked around at the bare cell like room that was Harry's. Snape looked curiously at the headmaster whose face held a guilty expression but the expression vanished a moment later making the potions master wonder if he'd seen it in the first place. Suddenly the door was thrown open once again and Harry was tossed bodily into the room before it was slammed shut behind him.

They watched in discomfort as Harry slowly and painfully pushed himself up off the ground and dragged himself over to the bed.

'Merlin.' McGonagall whispered, her hands covering her mouth in horror at the now visible burn on the back of Harry's right shoulder. It was in the shape of a coil ring, like a muggle stove plate and what was left of his tatty shirt was singed into the skin around it.

'What happened, Little One?' They heard the snake hiss, all three rather shocked at being able to understand the Parseltongue.

The watched as Harry swallowed heavily and used his other arm to pry up a loose floorboard. 'I accidentally burnt their dinner.' He hissed back, his voice rasping hoarsely even in Parseltongue and the professors could tell he had been screaming.

The snake didn't seem to make a comment, instead dipping its tail into a large jar Harry had just pulled out of the hole in the floor and covering it in the salve that it contained before slithering up Harry's arm and beginning to lather the hideous mark. It was obvious that the little snake had done this before but it took many trips before it had finished and Harry barely had the strength to close the jar and put it away, clumsily fitting the board back in place and collapsing to the floor.

'Thank you, Tosca.' They heard Harry hiss before his eyes closed. Tosca dabbed gently at Harry's tearstained cheek with his tongue before curling up on his arm. They waited for several minutes more and finally the memory finished.

Unfortunately it was replaced by another one.

This seemed to be several weeks later as Harry looked even more unkempt, unwashed and unfed than the previous one.

This time Harry was asleep as footsteps sounded outside his door. Tosca hissed sharply to wake him, giving him time to protect his head before the slap that was aimed his way actually landed. This time as Harry was dragged from the room, Tosca remained curled out of sight on his arm.

'Bloody worthless freak.' Vernon thundered as he stomped down the steps and into the kitchen. Harry's left elbow, which they noticed was incredibly swollen, clutched in his meaty hand.

'You lazy little freak, you think I work hard all day, spending my money clothing and feeding you so you can lie around and do nothing.' He roared, spittle flying from his mouth and his face a shade of puce none of them had seen before. 'You have to earn your keep. Now get out there and mow the lawn. I have guests coming for afternoon tea and I want that garden spotless.'

Harry, who had been surreptitiously pressing his left arm against his side in an effort to cradle it without showing any weakness to his uncle, nodded. 'Yes, Uncle Vernon.' He whispered and yelped when his Uncle threw him out the back door and slammed it behind him.

'His Uncle obviously has issues.' Snape said dryly.

'Hush.' McGonagall scolded.

They watched as Harry got gingerly to his feet and headed towards the small garden shed at the back. He opened the door and pulled out a lawn mower and then spent almost an hour trying to start it. Between his left arm and his right shoulder he was without the strength to pull the cord that would have started it. They could see him struggling not to scream or cry and all three almost jumped out of their skin when the back door slammed open once again and Vernon Dursley stormed out.

They watched as Harry's face drained of blood and he sank to the ground, making himself smaller.

'What the hell do you think you're doing sitting around?' Vernon spat, keeping his voice down in case the neighbours heard. 'You're a good for nothing worthless piece of rubbish just like your parents. Freaks the lot of you. I clothe and feed you and this is how you repay me, by sitting on your arse all day. I knew I should have left you on the doorstep for the rats all those years ago. You've been nothing but a burden. Do you hear that? You're a burden. A parasite on hardworking normal people. A stupid worthless freak!' The last word was bellowed as Vernon raised a foot and kicked Harry sharply in the rib.

The three professors heard a bone crack and Harry cried out. Vernon glanced around as Harry whimpered before he bent down and grabbed Harry by the hair.

'You want something to cry about, Boy?' He spat. 'I'll give you something to bloody cry about.'

Vernon's meaty hand reached into the shed, grabbing a jar and tossing the contents directly in Harry's eyes.

'You'll never go back to that freaky school of yours now.' Vernon crowed as Harry practically howled. 'They won't take you if you're blind, even if you are a freak; and I bet even they can't fix this.' He added reaching down and grabbing Harry by the throat, which had the added bonus, for Vernon anyway, of silencing Harry's rapidly increasing cries before stalking to the house and inside, dragging Harry behind him. Dumbledore and the others hurried after him and watched as he threw the Boy-Who-Lived into a tiny cupboard under the stairs and locked the door.

'I hope you enjoy you're old bedroom, Boy, cause you're going to be in it a very long time.' Vernon chortled.

The memory faded once again and the three found themselves standing back in Dumbledore's office.

'Dear god.' McGonagall breathed. 'How long has that been going on?'

'I don't know.' Dumbledore murmured.

'Did he say that cupboard was Potter's bedroom?' Snape asked curiously.

'What was that stuff he threw at Harry?' McGonagall asked, changing the subject and not answering the question as she vaguely remembered the address on Harry's Hogwarts letter six years ago.

'I do not know, Minerva.' Albus said softly.

Snape sniffed. 'I will need to check several things but looking at the colour and consistency when he threw it as well as Potter's reaction to it my guess would be muggle battery acid. And if that is true then the fat muggle is quite correct. There is nothing we can do.'

'It's permanent? Surely there is something we can do.'

Snape could hear the hope in the headmaster's voice and hated having to dash it so. Well, not really. 'I'm afraid so.' He murmured.

Dumbledore sat heavily in his chair. 'How did it get to this…this far?' He breathed.

'You had no way of knowing, Albus. Unless Harry had told you, you couldn't have known.' Minerva said soothingly.

Snape snorted loudly.

'What?' The elderly witch snapped back at him.

'You only had to look at him to know something was going on.' The potions master said knowingly. 'You can't tell me a well loved sixteen year old would be as short and scrawny as he is, especially with the genes he carries around. He came back every holiday far thinner than when he left and other than school robes and those atrocious jumpers the Weasley matriarch sends him every Christmas I've never seen him in anything that even resembles something that may have actually been bought for him. He jumps at the slightest noise and you look at the speed with which he attached himself to Black.' He sneered with distain. 'Giving his heart to the first person to show him any form of parental love, it's a classic sign of neglect and abuse.'

'Why didn't you say anything?' Minerva asked.

Snape shrugged. 'Why should I? He wasn't my responsibility. He was yours.' He said smirked.

Dumbledore snapped out of his shocked stupor and actually glared at the younger man. 'Well he is now.' The headmaster actually growled.

Snape cocked an eyebrow, thinking he must have heard him wrong. 'I'm sorry. Pardon?'

'Harry Potter in now your responsibility.' Dumbledore repeated.

The eyebrow remained cocked and he stared incredulously back at the headmaster. 'What? Why? I hate the bloody brat.'

'No, you don't. You hated James, and now, because of that hatred, Harry lies blind and alone in a hospital bed.'

'I don't want to have anything to do with the golden boy. You look after him, Albus; then you can spoil him all you like.' The potions master sneered.

'Exactly, and that is what anyone else will do. Harry will need to be strong, he will need to fight, he will need to be trained and my, or Minerva's, or any of his friends' mothering will not get him there.'

Minerva opened her mouth to disagree but closed it again at a signal to stay silent.

'No.' Snape hissed. 'I will not. Nothing you can say will make me agree.' The black robed man folded his arms and glared at the headmaster.

Dumbledore looked at his young professor calculatingly and Snape had the feeling he was being sized up almost as a meal. 'If you do this for me, Severus, I will release you from your current positions.' He said slowly.

Both Snape and McGonagall gaped at the elderly wizard. No only did that mean Snape was free from teaching potions and could take up the DADA position next year but he was also free from spying on the Dark Lord. 'What of the information I collect?' Snape asked, alluding to the latter of his two roles.

Dumbledore looked at him for a moment and hesitated before speaking. 'If we don't get Harry strong enough to fight Tom Riddle your information will be of no use anyway.' It was a close as the headmaster would come to telling them the truth contained in the prophecy.

Snape glanced out the window and over the grounds of Hogwarts. 'I'll have total control?' he questioned.

'Yes.'

'I can train him how I see fit?'

'Yes.'

'Albus, I must insist.' Minerva broke in but Dumbledore held up a hand to silence her.

Snape turned back and glanced between the two his eyes finally stopping on the Head of Gryffindor House. 'No interference from anyone?' he raised an eyebrow.

Dumbledore hesitated. 'No.' he said finally.

Snape's face threatened to break out into a decidedly malicious grin but he swallowed it quickly. It wouldn't do to show just how happy he was to finally get a chance to get back at James Potter, even if it was vicariously through the dead man's son.

'Fine.' He said curtly.

Dumbledore gave a smile of his own. 'Wonderful, I'll arrange for Harry to be moved into your quarters by the end of the day.'

Snape's head snapped around. 'What?'

There was a light in Dumbledore's eyes that Snape decided he really didn't like. 'Well, you can't expect to train the boy properly, Severus, with him up in Gryffindor Tower.' The old man said steadily.

'Albus.' Minerva burst out in a hiss. 'I don't think that placing Harry in his rooms, what with his...proclivities, would be beneficial to the boy.'

Severus lip curled. 'Would that be my...proclivities you're referring to, Minerva, or the wonder boy's?'

'Severus!'

'Enough.' Dumbledore's firm voice silenced them both instantly. 'Minerva, Harry will remain a member of Gryffindor House however he will not remain in the tower. It is too dangerous for one thing.'

'And he's not.' The witch muttered.

Dumbledore ignored it. 'Now Severus, when Tom calls and he will the moment he finds out about this you, are not to go. Do you understand? I have others that can gather the information we need. Are we clear on that?'

'Crystal.'

'I don't want you to go out of some misguided sense of duty.' Dumbledore went on.

'I don't have a sense of duty.'

'You'll get no arguments there.' Minerva grumbled.

Snape smirked at the woman. 'I'd be happy never to see the snake faced bastard again in this lifetime.'

'No, you'll see him plenty in hell.'

'Stop that.' Dumbledore finally scolded her but Snape didn't even seem to care. He wanted the torture...er...training to begin.

Night and day in his rooms, with no interference from anyone; and the wonder boy blind and at his mercy.

Things were looking up.

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And so, while Harry was still asleep he was moved to the spare room in Snape's dungeon suite that had previously been the man's study.

Poppy had fixed his elbow as best she could and after being shown the burn on Harry's back had repaired that too. But Snape had been right, there was nothing that could be done for the hideous scars on his face or the lack of sight that the boy now had.

Knowing the boy would not wake until early in the evening and as classes had resumed after lunch, Snape taught his two afternoon classes, his mind racing with plans and possibilities.

The students continued questioning him but he told them the headmaster would make an announcement at dinner before taking points, although not from Slytherin of course.

He returned shortly after five, knowing the Boy-Who-Lived would soon wake and settled down on a chair in the corner, his eyes on his target.

He didn't have to wait long, less than an hour later Harry began to stir and Snape smirked in anticipation.

'What the hell am I doing down here?' Harry said bluntly, startling the other man. When Snape didn't respond Harry spoke again. 'I may have lost my sight, Professor, but I still have my sense of smell. What am I doing here?'

Snape raised an eyebrow. Maybe the boy wasn't the dunderhead he pretended to be. He had woken almost instantly and within moments worked out exactly where he was.

'The headmaster has given you to me.' Snape said silkily.

'Excuse me?'

'Given you to me, Potter.' Snape said again.

'I reiterate, excuse me?'

'Do you even know what reiterate means, Potter?'

Harry's jaw clenched momentarily. 'Yes, would you like me to spell it too?' He said sarcastically.

Snape grinned. Who knew the tiger had real teeth? Time to find out just how sharp they really were. 'No need, Potter. I'm sure I can look it up in the dictionary.' He said lightly wondering just how the boy would take the comment. Ah, just as he thought he would.

Harry frowned and dropped his eyes, but it was only for a moment, then he raised his head and the milky white and green eyes glared at him as if knowing exactly where he was. 'I doubt you'd own anything as mundane as a dictionary, Snape. I'm sure you've memorized every word ever written in that oversized greasy head of yours.' Harry snarled. 'Besides a muggle dictionary would not go down so well with that bastardized excuse for human life you grovel at the feet of and call Master, now would it?' He scoffed.

Oh, ho, ho. My, they were sharp indeed. 'Bravo, Potter.' He drawled.

'Fuck off, Snape.' Harry bit out before turning on his side away from the older man.

Snape grinned; this was going to be so much fun, and that was without the added bonus of not having to spy anymore. He got up and moved to stand over the boy, reaching out to grab his shoulder. He was surprised that the boy didn't flinch but then he heard the soft soothing hissing of the snake that was now curled around Potter's neck.

'Get rid of it, Potter.' He snapped. Now the boy flinched.

'No.' Harry retorted but Snape could hear the fear in his voice.

'I'll not have pets in my rooms. Get rid of it, or I'll do it for you.'

Harry finally rolled over, his expression fearful. 'Don't please.' He pleaded softly.

'Potter.' Snape growled.

'Please.' Potter whispered. Snape reached out and grabbed the little snake behind the head and tossed it across the room where it hit the wall and fell to the ground with a dull thud. It was only stunned but Harry couldn't know that as he slid off the bed and reached out towards where he knew Tosca now lay.

'Tosca.' Harry hissed. 'Tosca, please.' Tears were trailing down his cheeks as he crawled slowly across the room. Snape shivered at the Parseltongue until Harry's fingers finally reached out and felt the tiny snake in front of him, his head was almost on the stone floor as he gingerly picked Tosca up and cradled the limp form to his chest. He turned dull eyes back to where Snape stood.

'You bastard, don't you understand.' He whispered tearfully. 'She was all I had left.' Harry leant back against the wall, keeping Tosca in his arms as he brought his knees up to his chest and dropped his head as if shielding both himself and the snake.

Snape stood still for a moment; the broken expression on Harry's face something he never expected to see from the Boy-Who-Lived. He may have wanted to do nothing but torment the boy for the past five years but it was only because the young man in full flight was, magically, such a sight to behold. It shook him marginally that it took so little to turn off that anger and replace it with despair. Unable to think of a response Snape turned on his heel and left the room.

'I'm sorry Tosca.' Harry cried. 'I'm sorry.'

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Snape sat in the living room listening to the boy apologise over and over to his snake for something he didn't do.

The beginning of the conversation had gone well. Snape would have hated doing this if Potter had just become a fearful, whimpering child. Well, not hated, but it certainly would have taken some of the fun out of it, but no, the spirit was still there. The defiance was there, and the boy seemed to have tempered both with an impressive turn of phrase that made Snape think he may actually enjoy conversing properly with the brat at some later point. Hopefully when he grew up and had finally destroyed the other bane of Snape's existence.

But the end had been a disaster.

Snape couldn't work out how the boy had become so attached to a snake even if he was a Parseltongue. Of course the Dark Lord was attached to Nagini, but the snake had been with him for more than thirty years.

Suddenly something occurred to him and he quickly stood and swept from the room.

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The journey back to Albus' office passed quickly with the three short cuts he took and within minutes he was giving the password to the gargoyle and ascending the steps. He knew the headmaster would still be at dinner but he also knew the pensieve would have been right where the man had left it. He guessed that Dumbledore would have watched those memories several times during the afternoon. He swirled the bowl with his wand and dropped in.

He watched through the first two memories once again, waiting to see if there was more. Sure enough, they followed several moments later. Snape watched as the Boy-Who-Lived struggled through the last two weeks of his summer holidays. Cutting himself with knives and burning himself with pans as he tried to fulfill his duties as house elf without divulging the fact that he couldn't actually see. Snape guessed that his Uncle knew anyway. You couldn't have missed it with the scars and the milky green haze over the boy's eyes; not that the boy could see this himself. The fat muggle seemed to take great pleasure in tormenting the boy as did his whale of a son. They'd move chairs and close doors hoping the boy would run into them. It was at that point that Snape finally realised the true value of the little snake that remained curled out of sight.

The snake may not have protected the boy from the muggles directly but it was how those further accidents and torments never actually came to fruition. The whale like muggle would move a chair several feet sideways as the boy approached but at a hiss from the little snake the boy would deftly sidestep it and place what ever it had been he was carrying neatly on the table.

Snape listened as the snake kept up and almost running commentary.

'Half-step left.'

'A foot in front of you.'

'Stop, go right.'

Snape couldn't believe the snake was that intelligent but it clearly proved that it was; and it was also the only reason the Boy-Who-Lived had actually survived those final two weeks. The potions master could see the malicious glint that lit the fat muggle's eyes every time he laid them on the boy and Snape knew that any incident, accidental or not, would have been dealt with severely, whether or not the boy could see.

It was also how the boy had managed to fool his friends and others for almost twenty four hours from the moment he stepped through the barrier to platform nine and three quarters.

With a sigh he gladly left the memory and landed back in the office. He walked rather slowly back down to the dungeons mulling over what he had seen.

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Harry had fallen back asleep when he stepped into the boy's room and with a wave of his wand Snape set him back into the bed. He noticed the snake, still cradled to the boy's chest had yet to wake and with another sigh he enervated it and waited. It seemed to blink several times and raise its head, deep black eyes, much like his own, staring back at him as if in reproach.

'I'm sorry.' Snape said quietly, unsure if the snake could understand him or not, before spinning on his heel and leaving the room.

At the rapidly fading footsteps milky green eyes opened and a small smirk tugged at Harry's lips. 'Goodnight Tosca.' He hissed softly and waited as the snake hissed in response before closing his eyes once more.

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