Original: 2011
Grammar/spelling edit: 2015.
'Who are these people? Why are they looking over me? I can feel them, they're blocking the light. They have a feeling around them, I can feel it... It's in the air... Is this just another thing spawned from my freakishness? Are they going to hurt me?'
Harry was scared. He didn't know what was happening. He couldn't see so he closed his eyes; he opened his mouth and tried to speak, but only a small whimper came out. His panic levels rose to an extreme, unable to voice his concerns. The people around him began to speak in comforting voices, seeking to reassure him.
"...He seems to be completely awake now. Harry, can you hear me? If you can, open your eyes again," Madame Pomfrey said. She was worried. Was he in pain? Could he hear her?
Severus's thoughts were on the same path. Would Harry be okay? Would he be able to do magic? Well, that was a stupid thought, of course he would be able to. ...Wouldn't he? Could Harry talk, even a little, more than just whimpers? Could he hear at all?
He was reassured when Harry opened his eyes, revealing those beautiful glazed over green eyes with no pupils. He knew, if he had simply only looked into Harry's eyes when he first saw him, he would know he was broken. Those eyes... That poor child's broken eyes...
Severus nearly teared up. Who would do such a thing? What kind of monster could have gone so far as to do break this child? Harry's eyes showed many things... Many horrible things.
Lost innocence... Lost childhood... Had even ever had a childhood? Of course not... It pained Severus to just look into his eyes, but they were so beautifully broken that he just couldn't look away... To Severus Harry was a fallen angel. Put on this world as innocent and perfect ever, but like anything fallen, he had to be broken.
Why was Harry's life destined to be that way? Severus knew that now he had custody of the child, that would all change. He would never let anyone hurt this child ever again, the child wouldn't be touched without Harry's consent, and no one would be able to touch this child with malicious intent. Ever.
Harry's eyes were opened, and nearly everyone in the room sighed with relief. At least he could hear them. Now, they needed to know something even more important.
"Harry, are you in any pain? One blink for yes, two blinks for no," Dumbledore said softly, his wise old eyes staring softly at Harry, concerned for the sad young boy.
Harry hesitated. Were they testing him? He knew freaks like him weren't allowed to say if they were in pain or not. Actually, he felt a lot better than he did before, yet he still hurt. His eyes were stinging, his throat burning, his head pounding... His chest hurt. Badly, but he knew that they would just hurt him. He knew this, he was a freak, he didn't deserve anything, so he blinked.
Once.
He braced himself for the oncoming punch or kick or whatever they would do to him. He curled into a ball, scrunched up his eyes, and bit his lip.
Harry was confused when no one touched him. No punch, no kick, no nothing. Maybe they were playing a trick on him. They were pretending to care for him so that he would be fooled, so they could hurt him more.
So when he heard someone take a step towards him, he bolted. He swung out of bed, and ran. He tripped over beds, always regaining his balance before the people who were chasing him could catch him. He knocked down items, he had no idea what they were, but he didn't care. He needed to get out of there. Now.
He couldn't see, so it was harder to find an exit, but he was fast. They almost caught him once, but he slipped under whoever's arm it was, and searched for an escape route.
He felt something hit his back, but it wasn't an object. He wasn't exactly sure what it was, but he fell forward and crashed into the wall. He knew it! He knew they were only there to hurt him. Someone yanked him up by his collar.
"Got him!" Someone said, a new voice that he hadn't heard before. It was gruff and deep, but he didn't care what the man's voice sounded like- he was being strangled! As he choked, his eyes began to water.
Immediately he was snatched out the man's hands, and Harry flinched again. Whoever was holding him was gentle, as to not hurt him, but this was another one of their tricks, wasn't it? He shook in whoever's arms he was in, and tried to squirm away. He couldn't take it. The whole room froze as they heard the small sound.
"Let me go. Please, please, please! I won't do it again! I'm sorry- I'm sorry... Don't hurt me, I won't do it again, I promise! I'm trying to not be a freak, but I can't- please- I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...," The small boy sobbed out in desperation, curling up tighter into Severus's arms so as to shield himself from the reign of terror sure to be inflicted upon him.
A freak? Is that what Harry thought he was? Everyone in the room stared, looking sadly. Severus was horrified.
"Oh, Harry... Harry, we aren't going to hurt you. You have to tell us if you're in pain or not, so we can help you," Severus whispered as gently as possible.
Harry mumbled, "Freaks don't deserve to be helped. They're not good for anything..."
"Harry, you have to listen to us. You are not a freak. No one here thinks you're a freak. You are not useless. We will help you when you need it. Harry, you need to tell us if you are in pain right now, and you need to tell us whenever you're in pain," Someone Harry hadn't heard before chimed in.
It wasn't the man who had picked up and tried to hurt him... The voice was much gentler. But... how did this man know his name?
Harry made up his mind. Maybe they weren't going to hurt him... And if they did... Then he guessed he'd just have to take it, like he always did. Being punished wasn't anything new to him of course.
"It hurts," He whimpered.
Once the words were spoken, everyone was by Severus's side in a minute, trying to see what was wrong with the boy and what they could do to help.
"Get out of the way!" Poppy Pomfrey said, pushing people out of the way so she could see. She didn't dare take the little boy from the arms of the black haired potions master.
"Tell me what hurts, Harry, and I'll try to fix it," She said kindly. Harry didn't know whether to trust her or not, but for now he decided just to take risks. That's what he'd been doing all day anyway. Though, should he take the risk? Just as it was stated before, he had been taking them all day. What happened if he took too many and they decided to give him back to the Dursleys? He flinched. He didn't want that. He never wanted to go back there so he decided to tell the nice sounding woman what hurt.
"Alright, honey, I'm going to fix it for you, okay? Severus you need to put him down on the bed, so I can help him. Severus. Alright, Harry, this won't hurt a bit."
And it didn't. He was shocked. He wasn't in any pain. He felt better than he did in his entire life! It felt like he could talk without hurting anymore, and his eyes didn't sting, although he couldn't see still, that was okay. He was in no pain! No one had ever been this nice to him before!
A small smile appeared on his face, and everyone in the room looked on in shock. The sight was so... pure.
"Thank you," Harry mumbled softly. He felt overjoyed. He could talk again! His smile immediately fell. Everyone in the room wondered why, until he got off the bed and fell to his knees and elbows on the floor. They were all horrified at what he said next.
"I'm ready for my punishment," The small boy said quietly. He had realized it after he found he could talk. It was a test. He wasn't supposed to talk, and now they were going to hurt him- he knew he shouldn't have trusted them!
Kingsley Shacklebolt was shocked, his deep-set eyes burning with unshed tears. His heart gave a sharp pang, but he simply stared at the boy, wishing he wouldn't have picked up the boy so suddenly like he did. He honestly didn't mean to hurt him.
Tears spilled over Remus's face as he stared at his two best friends' child on the floor. His eyes had been filled with tears when he had to tell Harry he wasn't a freak, but this was over the line. He, like everyone in the room, wanted to comfort the boy, but he was too stricken to move. A small sob escaped him, and he clutched onto Sirius who was standing next to him, looking sadly at his godson. Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus, trying to comfort him, but to Sirius it just felt like he was trying to comfort himself.
Molly Weasley had tears falling down her face, and she had been crying from the beginning. She had children, seven in fact, and it pained her so much to see a child like this. This could be her child! What would have happened if one of her children were hurt like this? She wanted to protect her two little boys' eyes, but she found she couldn't move. She had flooed over when she heard that Lily and James Potter's son was in the hospital wing from abuse, and her twin boys followed her, probably wanting to get into more trouble.
Fred and George were crying too. The little boy looking so sad, and he was all beaten up and hurt... Who did this to him? They wanted to protect this boy, never wanted to let him get hurt ever again. They needed to find out who did this to him and hurt them just as bad! The two red headed twins may have only been nine years old, but underneath the jokes and pranks, they were mature. No one could tell them apart, not even their own mother, and that hurt. They never wanted this boy to feel pain ever again. If he did, there would be hell to pay.
Severus was about to go and comfort the six year old boy, to reassure him of the fact that they were not going to hurt him, but two students beat him to it.
Fred and George Weasley kneeled next to Harry, and Harry stiffened. "Please sit up," Fred whispered. "We won't hurt you," George whispered, just as softly as his brother.
After a little more coercing from the two, Harry finally sat up on his knees in front of the two boys. Harry's head didn't even reach their chests. Normally, that would have made Fred and George giggle, but they didn't find anything funny about this situation.
They both wrapped their arms around Harry's petite body gently, and buried their heads into each side of his neck, halfway closing their light blue eyes. Harry's eyes filled up with tears as the two twin boys spoke in unison.
"It'll all be okay. We promise."