Chapter Seven:
Suspicions
A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! This story will be wrapped up (probably by chapter 10) so if you want a sequel let me know :)
Remember: Things get harder before they get easier ;) don't hate me. . .
Savoren.
Harry glanced at his watch and let out a panicked cry. He is ten minutes late for them to leave for supper and he still needs to get cleaned up!
With his heart pounding away in his chest, Harry hurried to say goodbye to Hedwig and then ran off towards the teacher wing. As he slid around a corner he ran into Professor McGonagall. With his eyes locked on the floor he quickly apologized and tried to keep running on.
Minerva pursed her lips together into a tight line, "Mr. Potter!" When he froze a good ten feet away from her, she smirked, satisfied that he listened. As she closed the gap between herself and her student she wracked her brain as to why the boy was in such a hurry. "You know better than to run in the corridors, Mr. Potter. Why are you in such a rush?"
His racing heart started to ache. He gave a fast shake of his head, "Look, I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall but I need to go. I'm late!"
Taking in his pale face and panicked expression, Minerva took pity on the boy. "Here, I will walk you home. Perhaps she will be lenient with you if I tell her that you were with me."
Biting his lip, Harry stayed silent but walked with her anyway. She's going to kill me.
Glancing to the side, Minerva eyed the boy closely. "Merlin, Mr. Potter, take a deep breath and get a hold of your breathing. You're acting as if being late for supper is the end of the world." When Harry didn't respond she pushed further, "How much trouble are you going to be in?" She scanned his face closely and frowned when she noticed his face pale even more. "Well, Mr. Potter?"
Taking in a shuddering breath, Harry mumbled, "Just a lot." He started to feel fidgety and impatient: Why are we walking so damn slow?!
Minerva's frown deepened, "Details, Mr. Potter."
Harry glanced at her, a frown etched on his face. "Why?" Silence is key to my survival, he mentally reminded himself.
She let out a deep sigh, almost as if to tell Harry that his question is ridiculous and he should already know the answer. "Why? So I can talk her out of it or talk her into giving you a lesser punishment."
Harry nibbled on the bottom of his lip as he thought through what she said to him. "Why are you doing this for me?" He looked up at her, finally locking eyes.
She stared into his fear-filled emerald eyes and felt her heart clench with worry. "I find it unfair that you were taken out of your muggle home and given to a heartless woman like your guardian. She is strict and down-right terrifying. I trust her with you as much as I'd trust He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named babysitting my great-nieces and nephews!" Her heart clenched with worry as she watched Harry look away.
Passing the portrait of lions (the entrance to her own private quarters), Minerva knew they would be arriving at the Umbridge quarters soon. She eyed him closely and slowed her pace, asking, "Do you like living with her, Mr. Potter?"
Coming to the portrait of a kitten, Harry sighed as he watched the kitten disappear through the cat-door, probably to go tell Umbridge that he was finally home (she can speak cat, right? Probably.) Knowing the portrait would be thrown open at any second, Harry turned and looked at his Head of House to answer her question. He shook his head and whispered, "I hate it."
Before Minerva could reply to her student the portrait threw open to reveal an irate woman. Minerva forced herself not to shrink away, if Harry has to face this woman every single day, she can face her now. "I'm sorry Mr. Potter is late, he-" she lost her voice as she watched with wide-eyes as Umbridge snatched out and spun Harry to the side, landing a dozen of hard smacks against his bottom.
Embarrassed and ashamed, Harry dropped his eyes and blinked hard to keep the tears from falling. "I-I'm-" he was cut off as she grabbed his ear in a death-grip and pulled him closer to her. If he let his guard down he would be visibly shaking in fear.
She glared daggers at him, "What rule do we have in this family, Harry James Potter?!" When he didn't answer right away she pinched his ear harder.
Tears burned his eyes and, much to his embarrassment, a few started to make their way down his cheeks. He forced himself not to look at his Head of House because if he did he would probably throw up from embarrassment! "D-don't be late, m-mum."
Minerva felt as if she would never get used to hearing Potter calling this retched woman his mum but right now she had more worrisome issues than what Potter was calling his guardian.
Pushing him inside the quarters, Dolores shouted after him,"Get in there and clean yourself up! We are going to be late! You have no idea how much trouble you are in young man!" She finally stopped yelling and let out a deep, ragged breath. Looking at her co-worker, Dolores let out a tired sigh, "Thank you for bringing him home." She narrowed her eyes at Harry when he didn't move.
The piercing look made Harry run for it. He hurried into the quarters and rushed to get cleaned up for supper.
Finally pulling herself out of her shocked stance, Minerva glared at her, "Surely you won't be punishing him more?"
Dolores glared right back and stood up straighter to make herself feel taller, "Mr. Potter's punishment is not even close to being finished. It would be best if you stayed out of my family's business. Potter knew the rules and yet he blatantly disobeyed them. He now has the face the punishment for his actions." Before the lady could keep talking, Dolores slammed the portrait shut and stomped into the living room. she paced back and forth, impatiently waiting for her ward to come out from cleaning up.
Albus felt himself growing rather annoyed that every single one of his Professors have came to him with their concerns about Harry Potter. I don't have time for this, I need to keep my hands clean. "What now, Minerva?" He continued to walk in a brisk pace down the long corridor. They have less than three minutes to get to the Great Hall for supper.
Minerva glared at him, "What is wrong with you, Albus?! This is Harry we are talking about! She hurt him!"
Albus made no expression so show he seemed worried, "Punishments tend to hurt, Minerva."
Angry, she snatched out and grabbed his forearm, forcing him to stop. "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore!"
Fully chastised, Albus stopped walking and rose his eyebrows at her. "Yes, Minerva?"
"She was violent with him! Yes, a spanking is well-deserved sometimes but she was heartless about it and pinched his ear in a vicious grip. This was harsher than should have been, Albus!" Minerva tried to express her concern but only felt herself growing frustrated by his lack of empathy and understanding. "Just watch my memory! You will understand once you see it! She's a horrendous woman, Albus! You need to get her out of this castle, the students don't deserve to deal with her."
Albus huffed and resumed his walking. "You know I cannot do anything about Dolores Umbridge, Minerva - stop pressing the issue. As for your memory, I will get Severus and Remus. After supper we will go to my office and pull your memory to investigate it. If what I see is troubling to me then I will confront her. However, if what I see is only a punishment then we will leave the issue be. Am I understood, Minerva? Harry is but a teenager, he makes mistakes and has to face the consequences sometimes."
Minerva stared at him, confused with how he is acting. "I thought you loved him like a son, Albus. Why are you acting this way towards him? You're distancing yourself when he needs you the most."
Albus opened the Great Hall doors and waited for her to enter first. "I do love him, Minerva, but there is nothing I can do."
Minerva glared at him and snapped under her breath so the students didn't hear her, "You can do something about it but you're choosing to be a coward!" With that she stomped up to the Head Table and took her seat.
Sighing, Albus glanced at the students near them, his eyes briefly locking with Hermione Granger's before he hurried up to his seat. There is still an entire sorting to sit through yet and he already wanted to return to his quarters and drown himself in a bottle of rum.
Glancing at the clock on the fireplace mantel, Dolores pursed her lips and glared down at the crying boy bent over the back of the couch. "You may stand and compose yourself, Mr. Potter. I want you to go wash your face off while I return the cane to my office. As soon as I return we need to leave for the Great Hall." She watched as Harry ran off toward the loo, tears still streaming down his pink cheeks. Letting out a deep, tired sigh, Dolores picked the cane back up and swished it through the air once, walking toward her office. "Teenagers are hard to raise," she mumbled.
In the loo Harry scrubbed at his face with cold water, trying to ignore the painful thumping in his backside. I hate how I can never tell what kind of punishment I'm going to get. Why can't she just stick with one thing? How was being late worthy of the cane but lying to her about being awake this morning didn't warrant anything? Why doesn't anything ever make sense?!
His thoughts were interrupted by a pounding on the loo door, "Potter hurry up! The First Years are probably already finished being sorted by now!" There was a moments pause before she snapped, "Don't make me come in there, Harry James!"
Shuddering in fear, Harry looked at his reflection in the mirror. Life sucks. Drying his face off quickly, he opened the loo door and stepped past his annoyed guardian. "I'm sorry, m-mum."
Dolores didn't respond, instead she spun on her heel and led Harry out of their quarters.
The walk to the Great Hall was silent and highly uncomfortable for Harry. As they approached the doors, Dolores abruptly stopped and gripped Harry's forearm causing him to wince in pain. She glared at him fiercely and said between clenched teeth, her grip all the while tightening, "I'm going to let you sit with your friends tonight. Screw up, Potter, and you'll be seated at my side for the rest of the school year. Am I clear?"
Whimpering, Harry tried to free his arm, "I understand, m-mum. P-please, you're hurting me!"
She immediately let his arm go but leveled him with a stern look, "Silence, Potter. Never forget it!" With that, she opened the Great Hall doors and entered.
Harry immediately felt awkward as the hall fell silent and everyone turned to stare at them. His eyes traveled the Gryffindor table until they landed on his best friends; he hurried to the empty spot between them and gently lowered himself down on the bench. He forced the pain to not show on his face.
He didn't have time to fully make himself comfortable as Hermione jumped him with questions, "Why haven't you responded to any of our letters?! Mr. Weasley had to tell us where you were! Do you have any idea how worried we were?!"
Harry cringed, Why do I keep getting yelled at? "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I wasn't allowed."
Ron moved his glare to the pink toad-looking woman sitting at the Head Table. "What a bitch."
Shifting his weight on the bench, Harry let out a deep sigh and looked down the table, "How many new cubs did we get?"
Hermione eyed his movements closely, a suspicious look etched on her face. "Six."
Harry cringed at her look, "Stop staring at me like that."
"What's wrong with you? Why do you keep moving?" Hermione demanded.
Intrigued, Ron eyed him closer. "You're acting like you got your ass blistered," seeing his best friend's face turn a bright red, Ron's eyes went wide and he immediately tried to fix his mistake. "Which is perfectly normal when you have strict parents! Trust me. I got my butt handed to me just a few weeks ago." He glanced at Hermione, hoping she would contribute.
Hermione frowned, not understanding what Ron wanted her to do. "I don't think that's normal. . . I've never been hit by my parents! Grounded, sure, but never sp- um, hit."
Still blushing deeply, Harry dropped his eyes to the table, no longer hungry.
Ron glared at her, "Gee, thanks Hermione." Looking back at his best mate, Ron reassured him, "Honestly, Harry, it's normal. Nothing about Hermione is normal so don't take her word for it, okay?" Finally, he made a smile grow on Harry's sad face. He smiled, satisfied with himself. "What did you do?"
Harry glanced around them to make sure they hadn't caught anyone's attention, then he answered him. "I was late."
Ron frowned and glanced at Hermione. "What else?"
Now it was Harry's turn to frown. "Nothing?"
Hermione bit her lip, "Seriously?"
Harry huffed, "What is wrong with you two?"
"Well, that's not a good enough reason to get punished like that, mate," Ron answered.
The food finally appeared and Harry took this moment to get them to stop talking about the awkward situation, "Foods here, time to eat!"
Ron sighed and exchanged another tired worried look with Hermione. "Is she abusing you? You realize that there is a fine line between abuse and corporal punishment, right?"
Harry nodded as he filled his plate, "I'm done discussing this, Ron."
They fell into an uncomfortable silence for a while until they had less than five minutes left of supper.
"Are you coming back to the Gryffindor Tower?" Hermione asked and then finished off the rest of her cup of pumpkin juice.
Harry shook his head, "I have to sleep in my room in the teacher wing."
Ron's eyes shined with curiosity, "What does that wing look like? Does Snape live there too or does he live in the dungeons?"
Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Um, I think so. I think they all live there."
Before Ron could reply Harry felt a hand land on his shoulder. Turning, he frowned deeply when he saw Snape standing behind him. "Yes, Professor?" Why is his hand STILL on my shoulder?
Severus eyed the boy closely, concern obvious on his face as he eyed him up and down, "You need to come with the Headmaster, Professor McGonagall, Mr. Lupin and I to the Headmaster's office."
Harry bit his lip and glanced toward his guardian, "I have to go home after this." I already got in trouble once.
Understanding, Severus quickly reassured him, "Your guardian already knows. I promised to have you home before lights out."
He STILL has his hand on my shoulder! Harry fidgeted a little, "Yes, sir."
Realizing he was still touching the boy, Severus immediately removed his hand and took a step back. "Then come, Potter, we have much to discuss."
Sighing, Harry carefully stood from the uncomfortable bench and headed for the Great Hall doors, fully aware that he was being watched by all four adults and his guardian.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I know I stopped at an odd spot but I wanted to get this out here and I have an exam to study for :)
Savoren.
