A/N: TW: abuse

"Seriously?!" Harry looked to Stanley and Ernest. "Snape? Out of anyone, literally ANYONE in the entire wizarding world, you got SNAPE?! Why? What did I do to deserve this?"

The dark wizard simply stared at the boy. Stanley shrugged. "Look kid, most people have floos, or they apparate, or they fly their brooms. We have a pretty limited number of people who we cater too, and you were really specific about the kind of person you wanted. He fits the bill." He turned to Snape and tipped his hat. "Call us when you're ready."

The young man slipped back inside the bus and the doors closed behind him. In a flash the bus was off again. Harry stared at Snape then groaned. "Fine!" He started to storm back to the house but realized that perhaps he could use this opportunity to ask the question about fire that he'd missed on the last day of school. The doorknob felt particularly cold as he twisted it. "This way, Professor Snape." He said as he opened the front door to the house.

"If you're quite done with your tantrum." Severus said with a scowl as he entered the house. "You're lucky I even answered the call to begin with."

Harry growled and rolled his eyes, then ushered his cousin inside after the man. He started to lead them to the living room, then remembered that Petunia was due back at any moment. He instead took them both upstairs. "Dudley, can we use your bedroom?"

"PFF! No!" Dudley stated very matter-of-factly. "You may know this freak, but I don't, there's no way I'm letting him in my room."

Both Severus and Harry glowered to Dudley. Harry looked to say something, when Snape stepped up to him instead. "Little boy, I suggest you refrain from name calling. You may get away with it on other pompous little children such as Potter, but I can assure you, I will not tolerate such insolence. Do I make myself clear?"

Dudley swallowed thickly and he nodded rather fast. "Y-Yes Sir!" He said as he began to tremble. Harry scoffed. Dudley looked back to his cousin. "He's still not coming in my room."

Harry was about to dispute this idea when he heard the front door rattle. "My room! Now!" He whispered as he shoved the two others in there. Severus looked as though he were going to chide Harry as well, when Harry brought up his hand around the man's mouth and shook his head no. "You don't understand." He whispered very quietly. "I'm sorry Sir, I truly am, but you need to be quiet."

"Duddy-kins! I'm home with your cake deary!" Petunia called.

"I'll be down in a minute mum! I'm finishing up a game!" Dudley called.

"Where is that little cretin?" Petunia muttered. "Duddy-wuddy? Have you seen the boy?"

"Uhh, yeah, I told him to get me my bike from the shed! He's pumping the tires and washing it off." Dudley lied as he swallowed thickly.

"Oh of course. I'm so happy to hear you're going for exercise baby!" She said, then started to hum to herself as she meandered for the living room. Soon the far-away sound of a phone call rang out, and the two boys sighed in relief.

Harry finally removed his hand from Snape's mouth. He looked utterly terrified, red in the face, eyes a bit puffy. If one didn't know any better, the 12 year old looked as though he might almost shed a tear. "I have two questions for you, Professor. The first is a must, I need you to figure out if Dudley's magic. He held my wand and it did magic, so I think he might be, but I need it confirmed. Nobody can know right now, please, punish me all you want in school, but right now, please, please be quiet." He said in a low whisper.

Dudley tugged on Harry's shirt. "The bathroom window's free, you can climb out there to come inside. Use that magic cleany thing on the bike to make mum think that's what you were doing, okay?"

Harry nodded then as quietly as he could, scrambled from his room.

Severus stared at Dudley for a moment, then looked back to the door, then back to Dudley. "Did I see a large number of locks on the outside of Potter's door?" He asked.

Dudley nodded.

"Why?" Snape asked simply.

Dudley swallowed thickly. "So he can't get out at night when mum and dad are asleep."

Severus nodded as he pulled out his wand. "So Potter sneaks out of the house?"

"No..." Dudley shook his head. "That was just put up a few weeks ago to keep him from getting to his magic stuff while he was home for the summer."

The motion in the man stopped for a moment. He gave a sideways glance towards the child. "Hold out your palm." He stated quietly. He recited a small incantation over the boy's hand and it began to spark a little.

From below, the back door opened. Harry rolled the bicycle up to the door and left it on the little stone patio. "Dudley I finished you-"

"Hold on dear. I must call you back." Petunia's cheery voice called as she hung up the phone. The entire atmosphere changed as the woman with such a small frame caused such a large noise from stomping through the house. "There you are!" She shrieked angrily. "The lawn is half mowed, there are dishes from Duddy's breakfast still left in the sink, and you haven't even started on the upstairs chores yet! You know Vernon will be home early today, this house is to be spotless! No supper for you tonight, you little freak. And if you expect to get any breakfast tomorrow morning, you'll have your list finished by the time Vernon gets home!"

A resounding smack was heard as the woman's hand hit Harry on the face. "Y-Yes Aunt Petunia." He said meekly, barely audible to upstairs.

Severus looked from his spell towards the door and his scowl deepened. He glanced back to Dudley. "This is... normal?" He asked as he tried to still himself. Dudley simply nodded and glanced down to the bed. Severus looked to the boy's hand as the sparks finally died down and a small puff of purple smoke appeared. "Congratulations, you're a wizard." Severus deadpanned.

Doors rustled and for a few moments everything was quiet. Suddenly a shriek came from the back yard. "BOY COME HERE!" Petunia called angrily into the house. Hurried footsteps could be heard. Muffled talking began, then Snape cast another spell. Suddenly it was as though the two were right there near Snape and Dudley. Petunia's voice cracked. "-side of my house? What did you do?! More of that- that magic? Aren't you old enough to control it?"

"I-I didn't mean to!" Harry said as he moved away. "It was an accident! That's why they call it accidental magic, you aren't able to control it."

Another smack sounded, and this time a small scuffle. The two made their way to the shed and suddenly a loud clatter of objects falling sounded off as Harry let out a pained yelp. "CLEAN IT UP!" Petunia shrieked. "You're going to the cupboard tonight." She slammed the door to the shed behind her and wandered back into the house where she resumed her phone call.

Harry began to sniffle a bit as he tried to stand up. "Ow!" He winced. "Oh my god, oh my god, I can't bleed on their stuff." He scrambled out onto the grass, and his breathing became erratic. "He's gonna kill me." Harry's voice broke a little near the end.

Severus sat still, stony cold. He recited another incantation which turned off the sound spell he'd done earlier, then looked to Dudley. "The cupboard?" He asked, wand pointed to the child.

"H-His old room... sir." Dudley said.

"Elaborate."

Dudley pulled Harry's wadded up pillowcase which he used in place of a pillow onto his lap. "He got this room last year, cause the magic school sent him letters addressed to 'the cupboard under the stairs' so mum and dad got scared someone was watching them. They gave him a room finally, this one. When they're really mad at him they make him sleep in the cupboard since then."

"Locked?" Severus asked simply as he looked to the door.

"Yeah..."

The dark wizard took in a deep inhale then he let it out slowly. He nodded towards Dudley. A flash of pale light came from the man's wand as suddenly a doe appeared. "During a routine home visit to a muggle-wizard household, underage subject was found to be in danger due to the mistreatment by their guardians. The guardians responsible for mistreatment of the individual will be obliviated as per protocol, and all children will be seized immediately rehomed. Secondary underage subject thought to be muggle found to be wizarding. They will be rehomed together. All subjects will remain, against protocol, anonymous due to extreme circumstances surrounding their identity. I take full responsibility for rehoming them, and will send a progress report one week from today."

Dudley tensed as Snape sent off the doe to go wherever it was supposed to go. "Rehomed? You can't rehome me! You're not the police!"

Severus tilted his head towards Dudley and blinked at the boy. "Would you rather I get the police involved? Your parents would spend at least the next 15 years in prison. With this they simply forget you two exist and continue to live their pitiful lives in relative peace." He looked away as Dudley shrunk in shame. Severus stood and made his way to the door. "Stay here."

He walked across the top of the staircase and stared down. He couldn't see much into the living room, but he could hear the woman talking on her phone once more to someone. Very quietly the man descended the stairway. He made his way to the doorway and raised his wand to the woman who had her back turned. "Obliviate." He called.

She noticed too little too late. As Petunia was in a state of confusion, he slipped a very small vial out of his robes . With a sickening pop the cork was pulled out and he forced some of the liquid down her throat. Quickly she fell asleep and he hung up the phone. He laid her out on the sofa, then, for good measure, smacked her across the face. "Wench." He spat, then made his way outside.

"Child!" Severus called upstairs. "Come out back immediately." Snape made his way to the back door and opened it, then walked towards the shed. He opened the door to it and was actually taken aback at what he found.

Harry had a small knife sticking out of his right arm. A blood soaked homemade bandage made from the boy's now ripped shirt kept it from leaking everywhere as Harry frantically tried to put back everything that had fallen in the collision. "M'sorry!" He cried out as he heard the door behind him open. "I'm going as fast as I can, I'll get it done!"

Fear etched into his face as he turned to see Snape standing there instead. He stopped putting things back then began to breathe much faster. "It's okay! Don't worry, I'll fix this." Harry said with a nod as he began to shake. "It's just a little scratch, it's not too bad, pretend you didn't see anything. We can... we can all go back to normal, I'll fix this."

"Stop." Snape told him as Dudley approached from behind. "You're coming with me. We're going inside to wait for your uncle to return. During that time your wounds will be seen to." He looked to the boy behind him. "You are to make something to eat while we wait. When was the last time Potter ate?"

Dudley shrugged and Harry shook his head. "This- This morning. I had breakfast."

"You weren't allowed!" Dudley said.

"It was the stuff that was getting thrown out. It didn't matter it was spoiled anyway." Harry admitted.

Tension grew between the three as they stared between one another. Finally Severus pointed towards the house and looked at Dudley. "Go. Food. Now." He looked back to Harry and helped the shaking boy up as Harry's cousin ran off for the house. "Your aunt doesn't know who you are anymore, you or him. We'll do the same to your uncle when he arrives home." Snape informed him as they made their way towards the house as well. Harry started to try to pull away and say something when Snape interrupted him. "Don't argue with me boy, I'm not in the mood for it.