Author's Note: Part of the reason this story is rated M is because I delve into the idea that Harry was an abused child. The muse required I take it further than JKR. If you are unsettled by such things, you'll want to skip this chapter. I hope you don't, however. The next scenes solidify the bond between the three. Many thanks to Wizard Smurf for catching errors and inconsistencies both big and small.

Chapter 9

The three approached 4 Privet Drive. Charity knocked on the door while Severus discreetly attempted to look through the front window. There was no answer. She knocked again.

"See Professor Burbage. I told you! The boy is not answering."

Charity turned to Arabella, not wanting to dismiss the woman out of hand.

"Let's not panic, Mrs. Figg. He may not even be here. Professor Snape…" Severus joined Charity on the stoop, "would you go around – see if you can get in through the back?"

Severus nodded and pulled a fountain pen from his pocket. Removing the glamour from the Muggle pen, he took the path along the far side of the house to the back garden, his wand now at the ready. A few minutes later, he opened the door from the inside. Charity stepped through the threshold.

"Mrs. Figg, we don't want to draw any attention, please step inside," Charity instructed. The older woman complied.

The Dursleys home was tidy, but it was the middle of summer and the air smelled slightly stale as if the windows had not been opened for many days. Charity fished in her bag and drew her wand. Placing her bag down, she started up the stairs. Off the landing there was a bathroom and three relatively large bedrooms – a master suite, a young boy's bedroom, and a playroom filled with toys. As she moved from room to room, she looked through all the drawers and closets; they were mostly bare, except for a few clothes and a relatively large cardboard box in the master bedroom. Charity pulled the box out and pried it open. It was filled with letters, 100s of them, all from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Blast!

"Professor Snape!" Charity called, "Up here!"

Severus ran up the stairs to find Charity crouched down, looking through the letters. She handed a few to him.

"This isn't good," he said aloud.

"No, it's not!" she responded curtly.

Charity got up and moved back down the stairs, a few letters in hand. Severus followed.

"Mrs. Figg, I need you to go home and contact Professor Dumbledore. Tell him the letters were never opened. Take these. If he comes to see you, show them to him."

Arabella, who had been standing in the foyer, took the letters quietly and quickly left. Severus was watching Charity closely. He had not expected her to take charge of the situation. Clearly, all her years in a high-profile position in the Muggle and Wizarding world had prepared her well. Her new students wouldn't stand a chance.

"Did you look around down here, Professor Snape?" she inquired, interrupting his train of thought.

"Yes. The toilet, kitchen, sitting room, and dining room are all clear."

"Did you check the fridge?"

"Yes…it's almost empty."

Charity sighed.

"None of this makes sense. Mrs. Figg was rather certain they didn't take the boy with them when they left. Where could he have gone? He's got to be here! Is there a cellar?"

Severus shook his head.

Just in case, Charity opened the closet in the hallway and pushed back a few of the jackets that had been left behind. Nothing.

Feeling a bit unnerved, Charity called for the boy.

"Harry? Harry Potter? Are you here?"

The floor buckled in response.

"Did you feel that?"

Severus nodded.

"Harry? Where are you?"

The floor groaned again. Both Charity and Severus followed the sound to a broom closet under the stairs. The door was padlocked. Dread ran up Charity's spine.

"He can't be locked in there, can he?" she asked Severus, apprehensive of his answer.

Severus drew his wand. "Confringo," he shouted.

Immediately, the lock blasted off the door. A weak cry could be heard from inside the cupboard. Charity sprang forward, deliberately turning the knob, and pulling on the door. It was jammed. She tried again.

"Help me!" she cried, urgency flooding her voice. Severus sheathed his wand, stepped in front of her, and tried the door. It gave way.

The closet was completely dark, but the smell of sweat, urine, and feces spoke of untold horror. Severus groped around looking for a light switch. His hand hit a chain dangling from the inclined ceiling. He tugged on it, and drew in a breath at what the light illuminated.

A very small boy was lying on a torn and soiled mattress. Severus knelt down and touched the child's leg. The child moaned causing the young wizard to draw his hand back abruptly.

Charity placed her hand on Severus' shoulder and pulled him back.

"Let me, Professor. I'm smaller."

Severus hesitated, but stood and moved aside, making way for her to partially crawl into the closet.

Charity almost wretched at the smell. The boy's mattress was stained with piss and dark waste matter. There were drawings on the walls and a tattered baby blanket in the corner. She tried to touch the child on the leg, as Severus had, but he moaned louder.

"It's ok, luv. It's ok," she soothed. "May I see your leg?"

Charity drew the child's pant let up and found a thin leg and festering wounds. That was the smell she couldn't place…rotting flesh. She grimaced.

"Merlin! What happened to you?"

The child murmured in response, as Charity pulled the cuff of his trousers back down.

"Ok Harry…we can take care of that soon. Can you turn over for me first?"

Harry tried to turn, but was too weak. Charity moved further into the rancid closet and turned the child over onto his back. He cried out in pain. Hearing the child cry Severus joined Charity as best he could in the cupboard.

"Professor…I don't think he's had any water for days. He's cramping from dehydration. We need to get some fluid into him…right now!"

Severus didn't hesitate. He backed out quickly and conjured a glass of water laced with a ratio of sugar and salt. Charity clambered even further into the closet and maneuvered herself behind the child in order to help him sit up. She reached out her hand and Severus handed her the glass.

"Harry…can you drink for me, luv?"

She put the rim of the glass to the child's lips. He did his best to sip, but his tongue was somewhat swollen and most of the liquid fell down his chin. The child coughed and sputtered.

"It's ok, Harry…just take another sip." He did.

Severus couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. The child, Lily's child, was scrawny, his dark brown hair slightly brittle and his eyes sunken. He had on a pair of oversized glasses and lying there with his head against Charity's shoulder, he looked just like James, only sick and skinny and sallow. He listened to Charity cooing to the child, enticing him to drink. The child seemed to settle somewhat in her arms.

"We need to get him to St. Mungo's. I'm afraid for him."

"It's not safe for him to go there."

"It wasn't safe for him here!" she spat. "We need to remove him from this nightmare. He's skin and bones, Professor."

Severus considered what she was saying. That bitch Petunia Dursley had locked her nephew in the cupboard under the stairs and left him there to die. He could feel a rage brewing in him. He was going to kill her and her buffoon of a husband, of that, he felt sure.

"We can take him to Spinner's End," he replied, concealing his anger.

"Are the wards strong enough there?"

"I'll reinforce them."

The young witch nodded her agreement.

"Harry, luv, we're going to have to move you somewhere else. I need you to be strong, ok? Will you do that?"

The child stopped his sip and nodded. Charity brushed his hair back and encouraged him to take another sip.

"We won't move until you finish this glass, ok?"

The child nodded again, rubbing his dry lips together. He took another sip.

"Mr. Potter," Severus began, "can you tell me how many days you've been in this cupboard?"

Harry didn't respond, but simply turned away in shame. It had to be at least three days. Considering that the child was already thin according to Arabella and the closet was hot, it wouldn't take much to do him in without food or water.

"It's alright, child," Severus encouraged. "We can get to the bottom of this later. Right now, we need you to drink."

Harry took the last few sips from the glass, tilting his neck as much as he could to get the last drops.

"That's good," Charity soothed. "Do you want some more?" Harry shook his head.

"Ok...we're going to lift you out now. Take some deep breaths, luv. As many as you can."

Harry did his best as Severus placed one arm under Harry's legs and another around his shoulders. Charity reinforced Severus' hold as he scooted out of the closet with the child in his arms. Harry whimpered in pain as Severus shifted the boy's weight in his arms. He was 11 years old, but looked no bigger than eight. Charity scrambled out of the smelly closet. Severus was holding Harry close to his body. As the boy's head leaned against the Potions professor's chest, he began to nod off.

Charity tapped Harry's shoulder as he lay in Severus' arms.

"Harry…I need you to stay awake! Would you do that for me?"

The child's eyes flickered open, startling Charity. Behind over-sized, crooked glasses were Lily's beautiful, doe-like green eyes. 'Those eyes will be Severus' undoing!' she mused absently.

"We can't carry him out like this, Ms. Burbage," Severus remarked. "We will be noticed."

"Well, we don't have a choice. We can disillusion him and carry him with a hovering charm to the apparation point. When you're ready to apparate, just hold him tightly to you and hope he can hang on."

Severus nodded his agreement.

Charity looked at her dress. It was filthy. She pulled her now-sheathed wand out of its holster and performed a scouring charm on her clothes as Harry was murmuring on Severus' shoulder.

Severus walked Harry over to the sitting room settee, placed him down gently, and then performed the hovering charm. Charity followed Severus and performed the scouring charm on him. They both looked refreshed, though no charm could undo what they had just witnessed.

"Should we go out the back?" Charity asked.

"Yes. We really don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

"What about Mrs. Figg?"

"We can't worry with her right now. Albus will let her know where Harry is," he finished.

Charity nodded and grabbed her shoulder bag.

Severus moved Harry toward the back door in the kitchen. Before they left, Charity performed the disillusionment charm on the child's body as well as a "notice me not" charm on the two of them. As they exited 4 Privet Drive, Charity kept a watchful eye to see if anyone was looking. It was so early in the day most of the Dursleys neighbours were still at work. Making their way back to the apparation point, each retained their respective spells only removing them once behind the bushes. Severus took Harry back up into his arms.

"Harry," Charity implored, "hold on, luv. Hold on!"

Crack! Crack! They safely landed in Severus' home. Charity found her bearings and checked on Harry as he lay against her professor's chest. The child was barely awake, but he had done as she'd asked.

"I'm going to put him in my old bedroom," Severus told her.

"Of course. I'm going to get him another glass of water. Do you have any food?"

"No. I haven't been here in quite some time."

"It's fine, he probably couldn't keep anything down right now anyway. I'll join you in a minute."

Severus took the boy to his old room and placed him down on the bed. He studied the child. He looked so much like James…only thin and very, very filthy.

"Mr. Potter," Severus began, "we're going to make this right," he promised.

Harry was trying to swallow, but was having difficulty as if his tongue was stuck to his soft palate. Severus bent over and rubbed the child's shoulder noting that Charity hadn't joined them.

"I'm going to bring you something to drink, Mr. Potter. I will be right back."

Severus made his way to the kitchen and found Charity hunched over the table. She was crying.

"Ms. Burbage."

Charity started and wiped her eyes quickly. Severus moved toward her, but she shifted away, pulling out a chair from the kitchen table – she needed a physical object to keep her distance from him. Severus stopped his approach.

"Ms. Burbage…" he tried again.

"Tell me how could anyone do that to a child?" she snapped.

"I don't know," he responded sadly.

"Lily and James would be mortified! Mortified!"

Severus cringed at her truthful words.

"I don't care how long it takes, Professor Snape, but as soon as the child is well, I am going to hunt that woman down and I am going to kill Petunia Dursley," she declared.

Severus caught Charity's eye – her eyes were both wild and serious. Suddenly, her face turned to flint as she picked up the glass of water, and stepped past her teacher on the other side of the chair.