-1TrustBy BertaS2007

Description: Description- One act of trust on the part of someone who has no reason to trust can change everything. Severus Snape finally sees Lily in her son.

Disclaimer: I own nothing in relation to the Harry Potter universe.

Trust

Harry Potter, teen age wizard was once again at his Aunt's house on Privet Drive. Not only was he there but, he was once again allowed no real communication with his friends and once again he was in mourning. He had watched his godfather fall through the veil only a few short weeks before.

During the time Harry has been at his relative's house this year he had spoken with Hedwig at length. He had spoken of Sirius, of all the good things he could remember as well as some of the bad. And somehow, Hedwig had made him feel, if not better, at least able to cope. Perhaps it was just that she was a very good listener.

The Dursleys were expecting one of Vernon's clients for a dinner and Harry was in his room, having been ordered again to pretend he didn't exist. He had cleaned the house after having been allowed to eat a rather large breakfast, well, for at the Dursleys it was large. And he had the promise of eating the leftovers this evening. Therefore, just as he released Hedwig to take his twice weekly 'I'm okay' note to the order, he was surprised to hear his uncle bellow, demanding his presence in the living room.

As it turned out, Vernon's client was Lucius Malfoy accompanied by his sister-in-law Bellatrix Lestrange. How they managed to posed as Muggles long enough to make it into the house was beyond Harry.

As soon as Harry had made it to the ground floor his arm was grabbed in a bruising grip and Vernon was shoving him into Malfoy's grasp. The blond wizard quickly forced Harry to touch a Port-key and he was whisk away to a dark dank cell. As usual, Harry sprawled gracelessly on arrival.

A snort from the darker portion of the cell caused Harry to scramble to his feet and peer around warily. Three stone walls, ceiling, and floor, the last wall was simply close set iron bars with no visible door. The shadows along the back wall seemed to coalesce into a black draped seated human form.

"Mr. Potter, would you care to explain, yourself?" the shape sneered in a voice that Harry was all to familiar with.

Harry relaxed slightly as he slumped, leaning against the wall of the cell furthest from his cell mate. "My Uncle is an idiot."

The man still sitting in the gloom snorted, "That, does not explain your presence, in the dungeon of Malfoy Manor."

"Actually Snape, yeah, it does." Harry shook his head, shrugged, and sighed, "He sold me out. Malfoy is probably killing him and my aunt right now," he huffed angrily before sighing. "May I ask what brings you to," he glanced around, "these fabulous accommodations?"

"Hmmm, you are most likely correct." Snape sighed, "To answer your question, Lucius seems to believe he has proof that I am a spy for the Order of the Phoenix." Snape shifted slightly on what Harry now realized was a narrow bench, "I was under the impression I was to be the main event at the next dark revel." He shrugged, "Pity, that seems a bit unlikely now." He said with only the slightest of smirks.

Harry crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm sure you will be a wonderful warm up exercise for those privileged Death Eater attendees." He said sarcastically as he looked around the cell. It was about the same size as his bedroom at the Dursleys but seemed bigger as the only thing in it other than Snape and himself was the bench that Snape was currently sitting in the middle of. It was big enough for them both to sit comfortably but would be to small for either of them to actually sleep on. He frowned, the other man had not really moved and looked exhausted. "How long has he had you locked in here, Professor?"

Snape snorted, "Since the evening after the Express left Hogwarts?" he sighed, "How many days does that make, six or seven?" He was trying to remember how many times someone had thrown something resembling food into the cell with him.

Harry's eyes went wide, "Professor, that…" he stepped closer to the man. "Schools been out for almost three weeks now." He said softly as he frowned.

Snape blinked, "I see," he snorted, "that would mean, they have brought food," he sneered half-heartedly, "if that is what you wish to call it, every third day or so." He spoke dully before smirking slightly, "No wonder I'm a bit," he tilted his head to one side looking at the boy, "peckish."

Harry smiled a little at what had to be the most massive understatement he had ever heard and moved closer intending to sit, "Budge over a little Professor."

"Mr. Potter, it would be better if you stayed over there." Snape gestured imperiously at the far side of the small space.

"But why, I want to sit down." Harry said petulantly as he stood next to the seated man.

Harry saw the Potions Master shudder as he answered, "Because I get testy when I am hungry, Mr. Potter." He knew he seemed unreasonable, but even from where he was he could smell the boy.

"Don't we all?" Harry snapped in irritation, "But you being hungry doesn't explain why I can't sit down." His voice rose almost making the end of the sentence into a question.

Snape's eyes flashed and his lips curled back as he snarled, "Your food isn't trying to sit beside you!" His eyes went round and he slapped his hand over his mouth as he turned away. Now sitting sideways on the bench he seemed to hunch in on himself as he leaned one shoulder against the wall.

He had not been quick enough to keep Harry from seeing the razor sharp fangs or the look of true hunger on his face.

Harry had taken a half step back, blinking in confusion for a moment. "Professor?" he ask hesitantly. "I never believed them you know. The rumors, I mean." He sighed, "You really are a vampire?" It almost wasn't a question. He started to reach out and lay his hand on the man's shoulder in an attempt to get him to turn back around, but stopped.

Snape sighed, "I am not." He sounded tired even to himself.

Harry frowned, "Professor, I saw." Harry was going over in his mind all the information he could remember about vampires. None of it was very comforting.

The older man snorted as he nodded, "Habit, Mr. Potter. You are now one of four that have and two of those are dead and one would be better off so." He sighed again. "I am not a vampire." He held up his hand to forestall the boy's comments. "I am what the wizards who became the first vampires were trying to emulate. I am," he spoke a word that Harry didn't understand. "Occasionally called a 'day walker' or 'borne vampire' although neither of those is actually accurate."

"But you do drink blood?" Harry questioned without moving.

"Yes, Mr. Potter," Snape nodded sighing, "and at the moment I am quite hungry, so stay on the other side of the room." He didn't think he would loose control but it was possible if he went long enough, especially as he had also had very little normal food.

Harry was surprised that Snape seemed concerned for him. "How much blood are we talking, Sir? A little bit or a lot? Are there other consequences such as being turned into a vampire or do you become excessively violent?"

"I do not… a liter maybe two." He shook his head sighing again, "Is there a point to this line of questioning, Potter? As I am not in any mood talk to you about the facts of life."

"Yes, there is." Harry came to a decision and laying one hand on the black clad shoulder as he thrust his other in front of the man's face. "I'd rather feed you willingly now, than wait till you loose it and rip out my throat." He paused a second, "Oh and on that other subject," He smirked "Sirius gave me, waaay more information on that, than I will take care to ever need to know."

Snape could do nothing but stare at the pulse point on the boy's wrist for what seemed like a very long time. He started to shake his head as what the boy had said began to sink in.

"It's okay." Harry said softly as he moved his forearm closer, "There is no point in both of us being hungry." He was standing close enough to feel the man shaking, "You'll want to hold my arm, in case I jerk or try to pull away. Not that I intend to but," he shrugged a little, "it is a natural reaction to pain."

Snape looked up at the boy's face and Harry smiled slightly. "And I don't want to hurt your teeth."

Snape clamped his lips shut and Harry smiled widened a bit, "It's not going to cause me any lasting harm, is it?" He knew that his aunt donated to the local blood bank every other month and took no hurt from it, so he assumed that the loss of a liter or two shouldn't bother him too much.

Snape shook his head as he took hold of Harry's wrist and turned back to stare once again at the pulse point, "You are certain of this, Mr. Potter?" he whispered. He was surprised and a bit awed that the boy would make such an offer. It was unusual to find a wizard willing to donate even small amounts of blood for potions. It was in fact almost unheard of and he had never actually fed from a wizard, hunting almost exclusively in Muggle areas.

"Yeah." Harry said and Snape licked the area he thought the vein would be, feeling for it with his tongue. Harry gave a shaky little laugh, "Just promise you'll stop if I like, faint or something, okay?"

Snape nodded and with a small growl quickly sank his fangs in to find the vein.

"Ah," Harry quickly cut off the cry of pain to breath deeply.

Snape gripped the wrist a bit tighter even though the boy had not actually tried to pull away and he made an interrogatory noise even as he sucked greedily on the wounds he had made.

"S'okay," Harry reassured, "Just hurt a little more than I was expecting." He moved his free hand, "Easy now," he stroked the man's hair as he tried to control his own breathing. "Slow down, we have plenty of time," the man's hair was softer than he thought it would be. "No need to give yourself indigestion." Snape was now making little pleasure noises as Harry continued to stroke his hair and speak soothingly, "Easy, that's it. Does it taste good?"

Harry could see Snape's eyes occasionally looking up through his lashes, "It's okay for you to enjoy it." Soon he found himself leaning against Snape's shoulder while still caressing the back of his head. He whispered, "You should probably stop now, I'm feeling a bit light-headed."

"I know." Snape mumbled as he continued to lick the blood off of Harry's arm, healing the wounds his teeth had made. Eventually Snape let go of his arm and looked up.

Harry smiled softly and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and with his other hand still on the back of Snape's head he gently wiped a small amount of blood from his chin. Snape blinked, he was as surprised by the boy's kindness as by his original offer.

Severus Snape had never been a particularly kind person himself and did not really understand it in others. However the boy's actions reminded him of Lily.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp squeal of metal on metal and he turned quickly trying to look down the corridor outside their cell.

Snape stood abruptly pulling Potter with him into the darkest corner of the cell.

Harry was surprised by the Professor's quick movement as he had not heard the noises and questioned, "Professor?"

Snape whispered, "They are coming," as he backed further in to the shadows.

Harry shuddered, "That's weird." The shadows around them seemed to change color, they became more vibrant. The cell seemed to be far away down a tunnel of sorts.

Severus looked around, quickly turned the boy and threw him over his shoulder before whirling and running at top speed. Flitting from one shadow to the next, sometimes having to dodge and make right angle turns to stay in the darkest areas, to remain unseen.

Harry had caught a glimpse of an amused smile on his potions professor's face before finding himself being carried like a sack of meal over the man's shoulder. What followed was a kaleidoscope of blurred, upside-down images that were mostly obscured by the man's billowing clothing.

When Snape finally stopped Harry was dizzy and a little disoriented form blood loss and the difficulty of breathing in the position he had been in while being carried through a place that humans were not meant to be.

Snape was actually surprised that the boy was still conscious let alone mostly coherent.

Snape was also having a bit of difficulty, in that he was breathing hard leaning over with his hands on his knees and his head hanging down.

Harry whispered, "Where are we?" before actually looking around.

Snape shook his head, "I am uncertain." He straitened looking around, "I was trying to get to my home but I believe I have gotten turned about some how." He rubbed his face and shook his head in an attempt to clear his thinking.

"Shadow-walking is not a talent I employ often, especially for long distances as it takes a good bit of concentration to find your way and rather a bit more power than I usually have available." He blinked several times, "I doubt I will be able to do it again as I am," he almost grinned, "feeling quite intoxicated."

Harry frowned as he stood up from where he had sprawled when Snape put him down and looked around, "It's alright Professor, I know where we are. Come on." He beckoned the older man to the back door of the house next to the one who's tree shadowed garden they had stopped in. The houses all seemed to look the same to Snape just squares of brick and wood. He was a little shocked that the Golden Boy of Gryffindor would just walk in to someone's home but followed quickly.

They went through an extremely clean kitchen into an equally clean hall, Snape glanced into a lounge as they turned to go up the stares. There was a multitude of still pictures, mostly of a hugely obese blond child. Potter immediately turned left and went to the end of the hall to a door with a cat flap and multiple locks on the outside.

"Potter where…?"

Harry shook his head as he opened the door, "You brought me to the one place I would prefer never to see again." He walked across the room and picked something up off the desk. "Welcome to my… room, Professor." He looked disgusted and embarrassed.

Snape looked around stunned. This was Potter's home? There was very little in the room that he wouldn't classify as rubbish. Potter moved around the room tossing random things in to the trunk that sat open in the middle of the small space.

"But…?" Snape continued to look around bewildered, "I thought…"

Harry's chuckle held no mirth, "Yeah, I know. I'm a Potter, my relatives should fall all over themselves to make me happy? You have obviously never met my Aunt Petunia."

Severus' head came up and he stepped back as though he had just run headlong into a brick wall. "He gave you to Petunia?"

Harry was looking at him oddly when a noise in the hall caused them both to whirl toward the door.

"So, you're back?" The thin, long necked woman sneered. "And brought another of your unnatural freaky friends with you."

Snape looked the woman up and down and drawled, "Hello Petty." He purposely used the diminutive that was Lily's favorite nickname for her sister. And coincidentally, Petunia's least favorite, "If I had thought about it, I would have realized that he was brought to you." He shook his head as his eyes narrowed, "I would have come sooner, but then, I was assured that he was being well cared for." He looked around the room and sneered, "Apparently, I was lied to."

The look on the woman's face was priceless, "You, you're that… that boy?" She shuddered taking two steps back and reaching in to her blouse to bring out the small silver cross she always wore. "Get out of my house." Her voice shook, "Harry come away from him. You don't know what he is."

Harry tilted his head at Snape, "Why am I surprised that you know my aunt?" He sighed, "I suppose she is the forth, the one that you didn't mention."

Snape just hummed as he inclined his head, "Please finish packing Harry, you will not be returning." His eyes never left Petunia's.

Harry smiled and slammed the lid to his trunk, "Good. Let's go."

A/N: I don't think there is any more to this, but you never know.

BertaS

Trust

page 8