I own nothing, just the plot.

Chapter 6

When Severus opened the book to the first page he noticed a familiar handwriting. He had been grading papers with that same scrawl on it for almost seven years. But this handwriting was quite a bit messier than even the eleven year old Harry's handwriting was. So he was obviously younger than that when this was written. Severus settled himself in a chair, took a deep breath and began to read. The first entry in the journal read:

'I'm sorry I didn't start writing in you sooner. Dudley decided to take you and throw you in a puddle. I had to wait until you were dry. It took a few days but at least I have you now. Because of you I now have a friend so today is the best day of my life. We are in my room now. Don't mind the thumping, that's just the Dursley's going up and down the stairs. It can get noisy sometimes when Dudley jumps up and down on the stairs but at least it's bigger than my last room. I can almost lie all the way down without having my knees bent. My last room was the cabinet under the sink but Aunt Petunia thought that I would mess up the plumbing under there so they moved me. Uncle Vernon didn't want to move his golf clubs that were in here but Petunia insisted. I don't know why he has the golf clubs, I have never seen him use them, at least not for golf that is. He has used them to punish me a few times, at least they are upstairs now. He won't use the energy to walk upstairs just to get something to beat me with. When I was woken up by Aunt Petunia this morning I had to make everyone breakfast. Dudley wanted waffles, Uncle Vernon wanted sausage and eggs and Aunt Petunia wanted oatmeal. I tried to make an extra waffle for myself but Dudley ate his and still wanted more so he took mine. Uncle Vernon made me sit on the floor to eat the oatmeal Petunia didn't want because he found a small eggshell in his eggs. I will try to be more careful next time. It would be easier to cook if I were more than a head taller than the stove. But the oatmeal was okay. I have learned how to make it pretty well since that's all I get most of the time. The Dursley's say that I don't do enough to earn anything better to eat. There was one time when uncle Vernon dropped a piece of bacon on the floor and let me eat it, well, made me eat it. But it was good. That was the first time I had ever had bacon, probably because Uncle Vernon doesn't usually drop his food. After breakfast I washed all of the dishes, swept and mopped the floor, vacuumed all of the carpets and rugs, washed Uncle Vernon's car, mowed and raked the lawn, cleaned Dudley's room and took out the trash. At least tomorrow will be better since I have to go to school, so I will only have to do chores after I get home, And Uncle Vernon always locks me in my room to get my homework done. They don't want anyone coming to the house because I'm not turning in my work. They could care less about my grades. I'm getting tired now so I'm going to go to sleep. I will try to write in you tomorrow. Goodnight journal. Love, Harry.

Severus was shocked. The man that had defeated the Dark Lord had been treated as a slave. 'So that is what Harry meant when he had said "enslaved me".' Severus thought.

He wanted to go to Harry right away and talk to him about how poorly they had treated him, but he thought better of it. Severus took a deep breath and continued reading the journal. The next several entries were much like the first, Harry doing chores, cleaning up after all of these lazy muggles. There was even on entry when Harry mentioned that he was forced to do Dudley's science project for him because all he wanted to do was watch the T.V. From what Severus had read so far, this cousin of Harry's didn't sound too bright to begin with.

Severus was over half way through the journal when one particular entry caught his attention. He was so mad when he read it that his blood was practically boiling. Said entry read:

Hello journal, today was not a good day. This is the worse day I have had since I started writing in you. Today at school Dudley and his friends got caught beating me in one of the schools locker room. Dudley and his friends got suspended from school for a whole week. Uncle Vernon was not happy that I got Dudley suspended from school. Uncle Vernon insisted that I stay home too, and the school agreed since by that time my eye was almost swollen shut, still is. As soon as we got home, Aunt Petunia stated loving all over Dudley since it was all my fault. Today, Uncle Vernon did use the energy to get something to beat me with, which happened to be his golf clubs. He hit me five times with each club. Then when he was done he made me clean my blood off of them with bleach. I had to do it with my bare hands. They are so raw and sore. I am in pain by must picking up my pen. But I had to tell you what happened. After I cleaned the clubs they locked me in here. I am so hungry. I haven't had anything to eat since the spare oatmeal this morning. I am going to try and go to sleep now. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Severus wanted to run to Harry and comfort him. Instead he read on. The next few entries were no better. They had kept Harry locked in the cupboard under the stairs for the next two days. By the time they had let him out he was covered in his own urine and feces. And when they opened the door to let him out, Vernon had beaten him again because of the smell.

Severus wanted to read no more but forced himself to get through the rest of the journal. Harry had been beaten numerous times , locked in his "room" without water or food for days at a time, and forced to do everything for his so called family. It was disgusting the way they treated him. Didn't they know that if it weren't for Harry that they would have been either slaves for Voldemort of dead?

Then Severus came to an abrupt realization. He had treated Harry like he had been raised as a spoiled brat before he came to Hogwarts. The boy had always had nice clothes and robes, so he just assumed that Harry was as arrogant as his father.

Severus felt horrible. He didn't know how Harry could ever speak to him, he was just as bad as the Dursley's. He got up from where he was sitting and walked to the door that lead to the room where Harry was. Severus slowly opened the door not entirely ready to look Harry in the eye.

Harry was still sitting at the desk but he had already put all of his things away. Now he just sat there staring down at his hands.

Severus took another deep breath and slowly walked over to where Harry could just see him out of the corner of his eye. Severus reached out to touch Harry's shoulder, he hesitated slightly and then his hand closed the short distance and gently laid his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Harry, I…" Severus started, he wasn't usually at a loss for words but he just didn't know what to say.

Harry broke the short silence. "You look at me differently now don't you?" Harry said this without removing his eyes from staring at his hands.

"Yes. But it's not what you think. Harry, I am so sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"That's not what I mean, I am sorry for the way I have treated you over the years. You didn't deserve that."

"I have already forgiven you for that, besides, you don't treat me that way anymore."

"I know." Said Severus, "But it was not forgiveness that I asked for, I'm asking you now, even though I do not deserve it."

"The Dursley's are the ones that should ask for forgiveness, not you. But if it means that much to you, I forgive you." Harry looked into Severus' eyes as he said this and at that moment a weight was lifted off of both men's shoulders.

Severus couldn't help but to pull Harry to his feet to hug and comfort him. Harry was a bit shocked at first but them relaxed into the embrace. He knew that Severus meant him no harm.

After a few moments Severus took a step back and gazed into Harry's eyes. "How old were you when you wrote this?" Severus asked.

"I was about eight I think." Harry answered. "Why?"

"I can't believe that someone would treat a child that way, especially family."

"They are not my family. They never were and they never will be."

"I can understand why you would feel that way after what I just read."

"They always saw me as a burden, before I arrived here at Hogwarts I never was able to celebrate Christmas or birthdays. I'm just glad that I never have to go back there."

Severus' heart bled for the man that stood in front of him. "You have had a hard life, but that's all over now, you can be happy now Harry. You deserve it." Severus tried to assure him.

"It isn't that easy." Harry told Severus. "I still have nightmares, almost every night. Sometimes it's about Voldemort and sometimes it's flashbacks from when I was at the Dursley's. That is mainly what I wright about in my journals now are my dreams."

"I could give you some dreamless sleep potions if you would like." Severus offered.

"It doesn't do any good. I use to take them all of the time but eventually they didn't work anymore and my dreams became worse. It's as if they were making up for lost time or something. At least I know now when I wake up they are only dreams. I at least have some comfort from that."

"For all of the pain and grief I have put you through you should hate me. I know that you said you have already forgiven me but I will try to make it up to you, somehow."

"Actually, just being able to talk with you about everything has helped. I feel a bit better already. Thanks for not giving up on me."

"I will never give up on you Harry."

Harry and Severus smiled at each other for a few moments. Severus happened to glance up at the clock and noticed how late it was. "Come on, why don't I walk you to the Great Hall. It's almost time for dinner."

"Okay, but can I come back after dinner so that we can talk some more?"

"I don't see why not since there are no classes tomorrow. But what are you going to tell Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger?"

"I don't know. Probably not much, they usually don't bug me too much about things. They know that I will talk to them when I'm ready."

The two men at his point were already headed to the Great Hall as they continued their conversation.

"Do you feel as if I pressured you to talk before you were ready?" Severus asked.

"Well," Harry thought for a moment, then continued, "yeah, but not in a bad way. You gave me an alternative to talking. I would have been too ashamed to actually tell you. But now that it's out there I think that I could actually talk to you about it."

The two men stopped outside the doors to the Great Hall and Severus told Harry, "Come up to the Head Table and get me once you are done with dinner. Then we will walk back down to my chambers together."

"Okay, thank you Severus."

"You're welcome Harry."

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