Disclaimer: In case you didn't already know this, it all belongs to JKR (hence fan-fiction)
Thank you to everyone who reviewed – it made me smile every time I received one! Thank you to LillianaSnape212 for your advice and to ALALVA for pointing out that the Order of the Phoenix isn't mentioned until the fifth book. For this story I am imagining that the Order still got together frequently because of the remaining death eaters. So thank you and on with the next chapter!
Chapter 3: He then sits next to me, "Mr Potter, perhaps we should talk about your relatives". Oh dear.
"Ha...Mr Potter. How long have your relatives been mistreating you?"
"They don't Sir. You must be mistaken." He looks at me with a mocking expression as if to say I am not stupid. I try again.
"Honestly, Uncle Vernon just got a little angry. I was being cheeky and..." he interrupts
"Don't you dare imply that this is your own fault! Child abuse is wrong. No, do not argue. That's what this is Harry, child abuse and I won't let you go back there. You need to tell me what happened. I know you don't trust me, I obviously haven't given you any reason to trust me but I want you to know that my opinion of you has changed completely."
"Why don't we try again? How long have your relatives been mistreating you?" He looks at me and waits patiently whilst I try to decipher my thoughts. His use of my first name did not go unnoticed and I begin to think that he is finally seeing me instead of my father.
"Uh, they don't really abuse me. No honest Sir, this was the first time that he's ever gotten this angry. Normally I just get thrown into my cupboard for a few days but he was furious this time." I glance up to his face and whilst his expression is blank I note concern in his unfathomable eyes. I drop my face again. He reaches down and tips my face back up to meet his eyes, the feel of his hand on my face, gently raising my face causes a tear to roll down my face. Mortified I rub at my eyes internally begging them to stop, this is another thing Professor Snape will mock me for.
Abruptly I remember about Ron and Hermione. What will I tell them? I suddenly start finding it hard to breath and my chest clenches painfully. Then I am aware of somebody rubbing circles on my back and telling me to concentrate on my breathing, in and out, in and out. When I finally can see clearly again I am mortified to find myself sitting on the professor's knee, the blanket from the bed wrapped around my waist and my head leaning against his, surprisingly muscular, chest. He smells faintly of cinnamon and fumes, it calms me down. I make to get off his lap and one strong arm pulls me back.
"Calm down first. You're fine. Why don't you tell me what caused that little panic attack eh?" I peek into his face, looking for any signs of him laughing but he seems to be truly concerned.
"I was thinking about what I am going to tell Ron and Hermione." I look down and once more he gently pushes my face upwards to meet his eyes.
"Don't be ashamed Harry. You've done nothing wrong. They're your friends, they will understand I promise." At this I wonder why he is being so nice. Even this makes me start crying again. Yet he doesn't thrust me off his knee, instead he pulls out a handkerchief and wipes my face clean.
"Calm down. Yes really, it's fine. I understand you must be feeling upset and confused to say the least. I have been through this all before. There is a reason many children come to Hogwarts with Slytherin qualities. Defiant, a drive to succeed, cunning and ambitious, these are qualities that many children posses as a result of a bad childhood. They will do anything to stop the abuse. Every year I discover abused children. Did you ever wonder why my Slytherins are so loyal to me? Many are healed each year when they come back to school and I do everything in my power to prevent them from getting hurt again. I will do this with you; I only wish we had discovered this sooner." He mutters the last line quietly but I still here.
Sniffing, I lift my head. "The sorting hat wanted me in Slytherin" I mutter softly. "Really? Maybe you should have let it. Each year all of my Slytherins have a full medical and any wounds they arrive at school with are healed. We would have discovered that you were unhappy at home a lot sooner." At this he gently lifts me up and puts me on the floor.
"Your wounds are healed now, but you will need the jar of healing salve re-applied twice a day. Here are some clothes, why don't you get dressed and we can go for a walk." When he puts me down I notice for the first time that he isn't wearing robes. He is casually dressed in a pair of blue faded denim jeans and a green shirt. His hair isn't greasy and it is pulled back at the base of his neck in to a ponytail. He actually looks quite fashionable. I look at the clothes, I will look awful next to him in Dudley's old cast offs. As I look I notice that these aren't Dudley's old clothes, in fact, they look new.
"I took the liberty of buying a few sets of clothes. Obviously you will want to choose your own so I simply brought you some to be getting on with". This again brings tears to my eyes. Why am I crying so easily? I never cry, not when Uncle Vernon bad mouths my parents, not when I was in primary school and broke my arm, not even when he was whipping me, screamed yes but not cried.
He wipes a tear from my face and looks me straight in the eyes. "Don't be ashamed to cry, I promise I won't taunt you about it, nobody will ever know." At this I break down and he holds me in his arms for what seems like forever until I finally stop crying. When I draw away I notice his shirt is completely wet, but he simply dries it with his wand and calmly holds my arms. "As I said, don't worry about crying. Go and wash your face, get dressed and we can go for a quick walk. I'm sure you're already sick of the hospital wing". At that he walks into the office and I scamper off to the toilets to get ready.