Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter that privilege belongs to JK Rowling
Warning: This story mentions abuse and has male on male sex themes so if you don't like it then I suggest you stop reading it
Pairings: HP/SS, RW/HG, NL/LL, DM/PP, GW/DT
Summary: Harry is being abused by his relatives, The Weasley's are mad at Harry for hurting Ginny, Severus Snape gets de-aged and has a surprising sorting. There are no horocrux in this story. AU, OOC.
Beta: bluetoads.
A/N: This is not a different chapter to the original one I had posted, it has only been beta-read by my beta-reader why is making their way through the whole story.
HPSSHPSSHPSS
Severus woke up early as he always did. He quickly cast a tempus to see what time it was and sure enough it was 5:33am and he slowly and quietly dragged himself out of bed so as not to wake up his roommate, gathered his Gryffindor robes and toiletries and headed for the showers.
As he walked past Harry's bed he noticed that the bed was empty and wondered where the boy was but then again he was suppose to be Severus Snape, Potion Master, greasy git, dungeon bat, who was suppose not to care about his students especially one Harry Potter.
He quickly showered and got dressed before heading out to the common room which was completely empty.
He stood in the middle of the common room deciding whether or not he should go after the boy. If he decided to go look for the boy it could take him until breakfast to find him and he wouldn't know where to begin any way, but on the other hand if he did find Potter he could learn where the boy goes to, how he gets there and that way when he returned to his normal self he could catch Potter out all the time issuing him detentions and massive house points lost, with that in mind Severus smirked to himself and headed out of Gryffindor tower and down to his beloved dungeons to start the task of finding a cure for his current predicament and then later on throughout the day he would silently cast a tracking spell on Harry so he would know where the boy was, especially in the mornings and his night time wonderings.
HPSSHPSSHPSS
Harry woke up screaming his head off, he had no idea what time it was or anything but he knew he would never be able to go back to sleep after a nightmare or a vision. Harry was not sure what to call them but they were both just as bad as the other.
He struggled to get out of bed and had a quick shower, got dressed and went back to his dorm to see that Lionel was still asleep. Even in the dark Harry could make out his features and stared at the boy for a little while before he left Gryffindor tower.
He thought about heading up to the astronomy tower but the trek up there was going to be hard so he decided to head down towards the great hall knowing a place he could have some peace and quiet until breakfast was served.
Harry spent the next couple of hours hiding behind the statue of Gallant Gregory, he knew sometime soon he would have to approach Hermione and Ron about what happened at the end of last year and he was not looking forward to it.
He knew Ron was still mad at him for breaking Ginny's heart and he knew it was wrong what he did, but at the time it seemed like a good idea but now he regretted it and he missed his friendship with Ron and Hermione terribly.
He also knew he was going to have to tell them that he was gay. Hermione he hoped would take the news well; she was smart, logical and understanding. Ron on the other hand was not going to take it too well for he was very prejudiced. Harry had heard him bagging people who were gay and saying there was no place for those sort of people in the world.
Then there was Lionel. Harry instantly felt attracted to him, but once again he had to keep it to himself as Lionel was new to the school and the last thing he wants was some freak fag chasing him.
Life was not fair to Harry, if it's not one thing it was another and he really wished that for once things would be normal for him.
All he wants is someone to love and to love him back, to accept him as Harry not the Boy-Who-Lived, who was destined to kill He-Who -Must –Not-Be-Named but alas, that was not going to happen other than his friends everybody else only saw his scar.
Except his so called relatives who saw fit to beat him, starve him, abuse him and degrade him whenever they saw fit which was everyday he was there, but no matter at least when school finishes he can go wherever he wanted, to that is if Dumbledore will let him.
Then the biggest hurdle for Harry that was stopping him from doing anything he wanted to do was Voldemort. He had to kill him, no questions asked; he had to get rid of the most evil wizard that lived and he had no idea how.
Harry was brought out of his musing by the sound of footsteps and talking coming from other students who must be making their way down for breakfast and as quickly and painlessly as possible he got up and headed to the hall himself.
Harry made his way into the great hall and headed over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Neville.
"Hiya Harry" Neville said greeting him excitedly.
"Hay Neville, how was your summer?" Harry asked getting a slice of toast and a coffee.
"Great, Gran took me to see the Helga's Greenhouse which is famous for her herbology plants and Professor Sprout was there and she was categorizing some of the plants and she let me help" Neville said excitedly as he mention his holidays.
Harry was happy for Neville for he was now dating Luna and had a great future as a herbologist.
"What about you Harry? What did you do?" Neville asked before taking a mouthful of porridge.
"Not much" Harry said not really wanting Neville to hear about how he got beaten every day.
"Did you get to do your apparition test? I didn't see you there with the rest of us" Neville asked while continuing eating.
"Yeah I did but I had to do it away from everyone else and Snape had to take me" Harry said.
"Bummer, I suppose you don't know what happen to Snape? I mean if he took you for your test whatever happened to him must have happened afterwards"
"I guess" Harry said not really concerned about his Professor as he was too busy watching Lionel come in and sitting with him.
"Lionel" Harry said
"Harry" Severus replied taking note of Harry appearance. To him Harry seemed normal but something was bothering him and he couldn't figure out what and decided to have his breakfast while contemplating Harry.
Harry watched as he saw a flash of curiosity in Lionel's eyes before he started to serve himself some breakfast.
Harry saw Ron and Hermione come in and decided to go and face the music.
"Hi Ron, Hermione" Harry said tentatively not sure of what reaction he was going to get.
"What do you want Harry" Ron said with as much venom as possible for he was still angry at Harry for how he treated his sister and before he could say anything Ron slammed his shoulder as he walked past to sit down and start his breakfast without giving Harry a second look.
Harry then turned back to Hermione who was still standing there studying him as if he was a puzzle.
"He's still angry at you" She said.
"I can see that Hermione" He said sadly looking back at his friend then back at Hermione.
"Give him time Harry he will come around".
"Yeah" Harry said quietly.
"You know Ron Harry, once he settles down he will come around" Hermione said trying to cheer up her friend.
"I know Hermione but it's been two months" Harry said aware of what Hermione was trying to do.
"I know it has Harry but you did hurt Ginny pretty bad when you broke up with her and that didn't go down well with Ron or the rest of the Weasley's" Hermione stated.
"I know Hermione; it's just that I had to break up with her".
"Why Harry? That's what has left everyone really confused as to why all of a sudden you broke up with Ginny" Hermione said crossing her arms as she was now going to interrogate him.
"It's just...well... I...ummm" Harry stuttered not sure how to tell his friend that he was gay.
"What Harry?"
Harry thought about how he was going to tell Hermione but not here in the great hall in front of everybody but knew that Hermione will keep at him until he told her.
"Not here" Harry said quietly as Professor McGonagall approached them and gave then their timetable for the year.
Harry groaned when he saw he had a double period of potions first up.
"Ok then meet in moaning Myrtle's bathroom after lunch"
Harry quickly looked at his class schedule and saw that he had a free period.
"Fine" He said and went back to the table and grabbed his bag before he headed off to his potion class.
HPSSHPSSHPSS
Severus was eating his breakfast when he felt Harry get up and watched the boy go over to Weasley and Granger.
He watched as Ron got angry and barged Harry with his shoulder and he noticed the hurt look on Harry's face just before he turned back and spoke to the know it all Granger.
Severus couldn't make out what they were saying but judging from body language it wasn't a good conversation.
He knew something had happened with the golden trio at the end of term but he didn't care what but now, watching them there was still a lot of tension.
Severus kept watch on Harry and Granger and after they finished talking Harry collected his stuff and headed out the door to the dungeons Severus assumed since Potions was first on the list.
He was about to get up when Hermione sat down and spoke to Ron.
"I'm meeting him later" Hermione said.
"Why would you do that for Hermione? Especially after what he did to Ginny" Ron said viciously.
"Ronald don't be like that, he is your best friend" Hermione said.
"Was Hermione, Was but after he hurt Ginny I don't want to even know him".
"Ronald..."
"Hermione listen..."
"No you listen Ronald, I am meeting with him today to talk to him and perhaps get an explanation from him about why he did what he did"
"Do what you want, I'm heading to the pitch" Ron said getting up and left. Severus took that as his cue to leave as well, wondering what the hell Harry had done to them for the golden trio was inseparable.
Severus stopped suddenly wondering at what point he started to refer to Potter as Harry, shaking his head he continued on down to his classroom wondering what brought about the change in him.
HPSSHPSSHPSS
The day so far was a drag for Harry, Potions was even a bore as Professor Slughorn decided they had to review what they had learned last year, but the upside was that Harry got to sit next to Lionel but that was the only thing that was exciting as his classes dragged on dreading his meeting with Hermione.
When the bell rang for lunch he let out a sigh as he made his way to the bathroom on the second floor where he was suppose to meet Hermione for he was not hungry and feeling very anxious about the meeting.
Before he walked in he checked to make sure that no one was following him. Once he deemed it safe he went into the bathroom taking particular notice of the wash basins, the entrance to the chamber of secrets, the chamber that he and Ron went down in his second year to save Ginny.
The same bathroom that the three of them brewed the polyjuice potion and snuck into the Slytherin common room to find out if Malfoy knew who the heir of Slytherin was.
It seemed life was much simpler then but now things were complicated. He let out a small sigh.
"Feels like only yesterday we were here brewing a potion" Hermione said startling Harry for he didn't hear her come in, but then again he was so lost in his thoughts Voldemort himself could have snuck in and killed him and he would be none the wiser about it...
"You startled me Hermione" Harry said looking over at her.
"You seemed lost in your thoughts Harry".
"I was just remembering what happened in our second year when life seemed simple".
"But it wasn't Harry, never for you"
"No, not then and not even now" He said sadly.
"What's changed Harry?" She asked coming over to place a hand on his shoulder.
"Us, life, I guess we grew up".
They both stood in silence remembering what were once happy times but they were nothing more than memories now.
"Harry"
"Yes Hermione"
"What happen between you and Ginny? You weren't together for long before you broke it off with her and without really telling her a reason." Hermione started "She was really happy when you both got together for she really was in love with you but you seemed distant and then you broke it off, for no reason what so ever.
You know Ginny was devastated, she cried all the way back on the train and when we got to the platform, it was then that Ron and the rest of the family found out that you broke it off with her and Ron wanted to kill you for hurting her and so did the twins and Mrs Weasley as well, you know how they all are when it comes to Ginny, they are very protective of her and look out to anyone who hurts her like you found out that day."
"That was the worst day of my life when Mrs Weasley told me I was no longer welcomed and everyone agreeing with her." Harry said still remembering Mrs Weasley yelling at him for breaking Ginny's heart the way he did and for Harry that was the beginning of the summer from hell.
"Then why Harry?"
"I should have never gotten with her in the first place" Harry said crossing over to the other side of the room away from Hermione.
"Why do you say that Harry?" Hermione asked, she was very curious of what her friend was thinking.
"I thought if I got with Ginny it would change things but it didn't. It was only hurting me, which resulted in me hurting Ginny and losing the Weasley's"
"How was being with Ginny hurting you Harry?"
"Because I was denying myself what I really wanted from a relationship".
"Harry what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I was never attracted to her".
"If you weren't attracted to her Harry, then why go out with her?"
"I went out with her because I wanted to be normal, in a normal relationship but it was all wrong".
"Wrong Harry, what was wrong with it?"
"Don't you get it Hermione, I was not attracted to Ginny or any girl for that matter" Harry said seeing the look of disgust that washed over Hermione's face when she realized that Harry was interest in men.
"Are telling me that you are attracted to guys, Harry?" Hermione said a bit mortified that her friend was a homosexual.
"Yes Hermione I am. I realized over the last year that I was gay but was denying it to myself and everyone around me".
"And now Harry?"
"Now I accept who I am and I no longer deny the fact that I am gay".
"That is so wrong Harry being with someone of the same sex".
"Why Hermione, why it wrong that I like men, please tell me what is the difference?"
"Harry you should be with a girl that is the way it is meant to work, its sick wanting to be with another boy Harry its sick!"
"Why, I don't see the difference between me loving another man when it feels so natural to me".
"It's not natural Harry don't you see, it has to be a sickness, I need to look it up in the library and see if we can find a way to make you see that what you are feeling is not normal".
"It's not a sickness Hermione..." Harry said walking over to her.
"Stay away from me Harry...I have to leave...Now" Hermione said and ran out of the girl's bathroom.
Harry was stunned to say the least, he actually expected Hermione to be more open minded about homosexuality, but instead she saw it as a sickness and had to go and research it to see if she could find a way for him to be like them, liking the opposite sex but Harry knew it wasn't a sickness, it was his natural sexual drive.
He stood on the spot for about fifteen minutes feeling extremely hurt at Hermione's reaction for he had hoped she would understand and then when she tells Ron he would lose everybody for Ron and a couple of other's were prejudiced and then his thoughts drifted to Lionel, thinking he also would be disgusted to know that his roommate was gay.
Harry was refusing to let himself cry and let a sigh out before he left to head back to his dorm and skip the rest of his classes for the day.
HPSSHPSSHPSS
Severus could not believe how boring of a teacher Horace was, so instead of taking notes he worked on possible theories to see if he could find an antidote for his current predicament.
Harry was sitting next to him constantly fidgeting throughout the lesson and Severus figured it must be because of his meeting with his friend Granger and Severus was really curious about why it was causing him so much anxiety.
He knew he shouldn't do it but he can't resist on building his ammo up against the son of his arch enemy and decided that he would get to the bathroom of Moaning Myrtle and hide so he could listen into their conversation.
Once morning classes were over Severus headed straight to Myrtle's bathroom and hid in one of the cubicles and waited.
Severus did not have to wait long until he heard someone come in, he wasn't sure if it was Harry or Granger so he sat quietly with his feet crossed on top of the toilet seat for he didn't want whoever it was out there to discover him ease dropping on their conversation.
Then after a few minutes he heard the other person come in.
"Feels like only yesterday we were here brewing a potion" He heard Hermione say, wondering what potion they were talking about and why they were brewing one in here.
"You startled me Hermione" Harry replied, so it was Harry who came in first and not paying attention to what going on around him, Severus thought to himself as he listened in on their conversation that the boy needs to work on his vigilance.
The next part of the conversation was a bit boring for Severus and he was beginning to think it was a waste of time doing what he was doing but he couldn't go anywhere so he had to wait it out.
Then the conversation changed when Hermione asked what happened between Harry and Ginny saying how happy Ginny was, happy that they were together and how distant Harry was through the relationship and then she went on to say how upset Ginny and the rest of the Weasley clan was when he broke it off with Ginny and yet this still didn't interest Severus at all hearing about Harry's love life.
The next part of the conversation confused Severus when Harry said it was the worst day of his life that when the Weasley's no longer welcomed him and he was saying that it was a mistake that he went out with Miss Weasley because he wasn't attracted to her and he only did because he wanted a normal relationship but it felt wrong.
Severus couldn't understand what he meant by a normal relationship, but as Harry was trying to tell her that he wasn't attracted to Miss Weasley at all Severus had a sneaking suspicion that the boy who lived was a homosexual and he knew that like the muggle world, the wizarding world does not look favorable upon homosexuals and Severus knew from experience that people can and will turn against you for it.
"Yes Hermione I am. I realized over the last year that I was gay but was denying it" Severus heard Harry admit that he was gay and had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to end well.
"And now Harry?"
"Now I accept who I am".
"That is so wrong Harry being with someone of the same sex".
"Why Hermione what is the difference?"
"Harry you should be with a girl that is the way it's meant to work its sick wanting to be with another boy Harry its sick!"
"Why, I don't see the difference between me loving another man when it feels so natural to me"
"It's not natural Harry, it has to be a sickness, and I need to look it up in the library".
"It's not a sickness Hermione..."
"Stay away from me Harry...I have to leave...Now".
For the first time in the seven years he had known Harry, he actually felt something for the boy. He knew how hard it was coming out to your friends that you are gay for he lost some friends because of it and now it seems Harry was going to lose his friends as well and he needed their support now more than ever.
Severus' original plan of getting ammo to use against the boy was thrown out the window, there was no way he could do that to Harry since Harry has only offered him friendship and here he was trying to get ways to hurt him but he couldn't do that anymore, instead he decided to be the friend that Harry needed.
Severus uncrossed his legs and stood up relieved that he could finally stretch them and then stuck his head out of the cubicle to see that Harry was still standing there looking totally defeated and alone.
Although Granger is a smart girl and all but, when it comes to matter's like this, she was in the dark completely especially if she thinks that homosexuality is a sickness when it's not; is clearly mistaken. And what's more is that she thinks she will be able to find a cure for it, she needs to think again for your sexual preference is what comes naturally to people and there is no way to change who you are.
Severus watched Harry standing in the middle of the bathroom looking as if someone just killed his best friend.
Harry looked so sad and lost Severus couldn't help but sympathized with the boy for he knew how cruel people can be against what they don't understand.
Severus, still watching Harry, decided he must help him understand that not everyone is like that and get Harry to understand that he can have anyone his heart desires as he was attractive, good looking, kind hearted, smart, brave, loyal and don't forget those gorgeous green eyes.
Then like a herd of hippogriffs hitting, Severus realized that he was attracted to Harry as well and this wasn't good for him. He could not develop feelings for the Boy-Who-Lived for he was Severus Snape, greasy git of the dungeons and Harry believes him to be Lionel Prince, his roommate and technically he was almost twenty years older than Harry.
A few minutes later Harry left and Severus waited for about another five minutes before feeling rather dejected at the last revelations about Harry but also his feelings towards the boy.
TBC...
