Chapter 3:
Severus sneered at the surroundings the portkey brought him to. Looking around he tried to find a way out of the dark, damp alleyway. Finding a light opening he quickly followed it until he came out between two ordinary muggle buildings.
'Great', Severus thought, 'Dumbledore could have at least told me where to go' Irritated with the man, Severus went over to the nearest muggle asking for directions.
Following the muggles directions the house he came to was just an ordinary brick house. Severus walked up to the brown wooden door and knocked on it, waiting impatiently he soon heard shuffling around the other side of the door until someone opened it.
"Who are you?" A really unhealthily large boy mumbled whilst eating a chocolate bar.
Disgusted with this boy's attitude already, Severus pulled a face towards the boy. He knew he would have to be somewhat civil towards the boy as this was Dudley Dursley, the boy who he was going to be teaching as well as Potter.
"Hello, is Mr or Mrs Dursley about? I am Craig Thomas, I was hired as a tutor for the next 5 weeks."
Dudley realised who he was and pulled a fake smile at the man "Oh your Mr Thomas come in, we have been expecting you. May I take your coat?" he asked trying to act polite.
Severus looked down at the boy until he shook of his outer coat and gave it to the boy to place on the rack.
"MUM, DAD, the teacher is here!" bellowed the boy. Severus winced at loud he was shouting 'Was there any need when the house is not even that big' he thought.
A few seconds later an even larger man came squeezing himself through the door. 'Well his son certainly takes after his father' Severus thought amused. 'I'm surprised this man hasn't popped, he looks like a walrus'.
"Mr Thomas, what a pleasure to finally meet you. Ah, I see you have already met our little Dudders, wonderful he is, you won't have any trouble teaching him, knows everything, such a cleaver boy. It's our nephew you should be worrying about. Nasty piece of work he is, if you ever have any trouble with him during his stay you inform me. I will sort him out." Severus couldn't help but find double meaning in the man's words. At least he now knows Potter is just as arrogant as he is in school, it's such a shame that he couldn't treat him the same, otherwise he would give away his identity if he started to hate the boy before the muggle disguise met him.
Pushing past the purple faced man was Petunia Dursley. 'This woman has not seemed to have change one bit' Severus thought 'she still looks like a horse, you wouldn't even think she was related to Lily'.
"Vernon! You shouldn't worry the man before he has even met the boy" Petunia warned him. Turning towards Severus she introduced herself "Lovely to meet you Mr Thomas, if you follow me up the stairs I will show you the room you will be staying in for the time being".
Severus climbed up the stairs after her until they came face to face with a plain white door, he noticed the door had several locks on it 'a bit weird having locks on the outside of a door isn't it?' he thought to himself confused.
"This is the room. I am sorry if it is a bit small to your liking, it's the only room left in the house but don't worry you are free to walk around the house whenever you want" petunia smiled "I'll leave you to unpack now, after you have settled in come downstairs for some tea and we will discuss the lessons which are going to take place. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask." She quietly left the room and shut the door behind her.
Severus gave a loud sigh before dropping his bag in the middle of the bed. 'This is where I'm staying. You would think they would give this place a clean and decorate before putting a guest in here'. Severus decided he better get unpacked quick because this room was making him feel claustrophobic.
After unpacking he took out his wand and muttered simple cleaning spells under his breath to at least tidy the place up a bit. Looking under the bed for any dirt he came across a wobbly and worn away floorboard. Curious with himself he dug his long fingertips between the cracks and pulled up the wood and placed it at the side. Lighting his wand with a whispered 'lumos' he placed the end of it inside the hole. Squinting at the bright light he managed to make out a leather bound book deep into the floor, rolling up his sleeve he placed his hand into the hole and pulled out the book. Flipping the book over in his hands, Severus placed it onto the bed before replacing the floorboard. Getting up from his crouch on the floor he sat on the end of the bed before inspecting the book some more.
Having realised that he has spent nearly 30 minutes in his room, Severus decided to look at the book later. Putting the book into the worn bedside cabinet draw he walked out his room, down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Cup of tea Mr Thomas? Or Craig, what shall we do you want us to call you?" Petunia asked politely.
"Yes please Mrs Dursley, only one sugar for me and you can address me with Craig, may I call you Petunia?"
Petunia nodded towards Severus before turning to the kettle to boil the water for the drinks.
"If you will excuse me one second I shall get you the children and you can introduce yourself to them, you can get to know them better too".
Coming back through the kitchen door less than 30 seconds later he saw the same boy who answered the door in toe of the woman and not far behind Potter.
Dudley was eating another chocolate bar and had completely missed half of his mouth as chocolate was smeared around his face 'you would think he had the decency to clean himself up'. Dudley sat opposite Severus, smiled towards him and held out his hand. "Please to meet you sir, I am Dudley Dursley." Severus took the boys big sweaty hand and winced as the melted chocolate clung to his own hand.
It was Potters turn next, turning towards the boy he looked him up and down. 'He could have at least tidied himself up. He looks like he has just come of the street from chimney sweeping.' The clothes he was in looked as if they once fit his cousin. They were worn away and filth was stuck to them. He then looked at the boy's face, the first thing he noticed was a blackening bruise on his neck. 'Probably been fighting, just a double of his father' Severus thought repulsed at the boys resemblance. Severus also noticed how the boy's glasses were broken 'has he not even grown out of them yet? He has had them for 5 years.'
Severus noticed how the boy limped when he stumbled over to the table. "Hello sir, my name is Harry Potter." the boy whispered shyly, looking down at the table whilst running his fingertips across the cracks in the wood.
'This boy has no manners, by the time I'm gone I am going to sort him out' Severus thought angrily.
As if Petunia could read minds she told Potter of "We brought you up with manners boy and you will use them. Look at Mr Thomas whilst speaking to him."
Scared, Potter looked in Severus's eyes and repeated what he said. Severus took the boys small hand in his own and shook it. He couldn't help think that the boy seemed to be far away as his eyes were not paying attention to him. He almost looked lost, his green eyes had no life in them as if he had given up on something.
'What am I thinking' Severus thought 'the boy is just the same as he always is'.
Severus nodded towards both the boys before introducing himself "Good to meet you both. I am Craig Thomas and I shall be your tutor for the next 5 weeks, you will address me as Mr Thomas as I am staying here. You will treat me with respect and I shall treat you fairly, I will be teaching you maths and English to get you both ready for your next year at school. Is there any questions?" Both the boys shook their heads "Ok your first lesson will start tomorrow at 11 am, they will take place in here and please do not be late." With that both the boys got up and walked out of the kitchen.
Severus thanked Petunia for the drink and made his way back upstairs into his 'room'.
'Well, that went well' Severus mused, he had managed to restrain himself from throwing insults at Potter. Severus couldn't help think that something there was something different about the boy, 'he looked so lost' he thought 'Well obviously he has just lost his godfather, the boy is going to be upset.' Shaking his head to lose the thoughts of the boy Severus decided to investigate on the leather book he had found.
Harry had just came out of the kitchen from meeting his new tutor, he couldn't help but think that there was something familiar about the man, as if he had met him somewhere before but he knew he had never seen him in his life.
Harry knew he wasn't welcome in the Dursley's house, or if he stayed inside to long uncle Vernon would throw insults at him so he decided he would spend the rest of the day outside seeing as no one has gave him any chores to do. He wished they did because his thoughts were invading his head now and Harry wanted to keep himself busy to stop his mind wondering.
A month today it has been. A month since Harry got his own godfather killed. His friends Ron and Hermione would always tell him it wasn't his fault but he know deep down it was, if he took Dumbledore's advice to learn occlumency from Snape none of this would have happened. Snape wasn't making any sense to him when telling him to block his mind. Harry hated himself now more than Snape hated him.
Snape had always hated Harry, ever since the first time they saw each other at the sorting. After the pensieve accident last term Harry now knew why. Snape thought Harry was a clone of his father but he had never gotten to now Harry so he didn't know Harry was nothing like his father.
Harry hated it when his thoughts clouded his mind like this, it was hard for him to think straight. He needed a sharp object. He knew it wasn't a good idea to go back inside the house Harry made his way over to the shed in the corner of the garden. Opening the door Harry looked around the shed for anything sharp and clean, coming across a pair of new scissors he took them. 'Perfect' Harry thought. Making his way back out the shed again he found a hidden place between the side of the shed and the fence he squeezed himself between the gap and opened the new scissors.
Harry hated doing this but he knew it was the only way he could take away the pain of his thoughts. The physical pain always took away the emotional pain for a few hours. Rolling up his sleeve he pealed of the bandage he had placed on his cut wrists this morning and placed it towards the side knowing he would need it later. He traced the scars with his fingertips before bringing the sharp scissor blade to his wrist.
Pressing the blade down until his wrist bled Harry gave a small gasp and smiled whilst trying to hold back tears from the pain. He gently guided the blade down his wrist before starting it over again. He could feel his pain leaving his body the more and more times he made the thin cuts.
"I'm sorry Sirius" he whispered into the air. Harry could feel tears running down his face until the salty drop made its way into his partly opened mouth. "I'm sorry for not being a good godson. I'm sorry Cedric for not trying to save your life and I'm sorry mum and dad for not being the son you wanted. I hate my life, why did you all have to die for me? I wish it was me instead of all of you. Why can't someone out there love me? Why am I always hated? Why can't I just end my life?" he said shakily. The physical pain clouded his emotions now and he gently took the blade out of his skin before placing the bandage over his new cuts. He put the scissors in the waistband of his pants before pulling himself up from the floor, wincing when he put slight pressure on his leg.
He hobbled back over to the house before tip toeing his way into the kitchen for a glass of water. He didn't see his uncle sat on the dining chair as he made himself a drink
"What do you think you are doing?" his uncle whispered deadly into Harry's ear.
From fright, Harry dropped the glass onto the floor and the glass shattered onto the floor and shards of glass flung out in every direction.
"I'm sorry, I'll clean everything up. I only wanted a drink" Harry gasped when his uncle slapped him across his face.
"Too right you will clean it up. I was hoping you wouldn't do anything stupid whilst Mr Thomas was here but you didn't listen. Clean it up and get into your cupboard before anything else happens you little freak" Vernon spat.
Harry quickly done what he was told before dragging his was back into the cramped cupboard this was now his room for the next upcoming weeks. The cupboard was too small for him now so Harry curled himself in a ball, closed his eyes before rocking himself into a sleep.
