Lucius was just sitting down at the table, planning on having a nice and quiet breakfast, when he heard the floo activate from the other room. Sighing, he put dowb the fork he had just picked up and went went into the other room, grumbling about 'rude people' and 'he should lock the blasted floo'.

"This had better be impor..." The rest of words died on his lips when he saw Severus Snape standing in the room, a look of guilt and worry on his face. The Potions Master never showed emotion, so the fact that he was showing not one, but two, worried Lucius. For a moment, all they did was stare at each other.

"Can I help you with something, Severus?" Lucius broke the silence and Severus nodded.

"Harry Potter is in the Hospital Wing and I need your help." Lucius just nodded.

"Let me tell Narcissa and I will meet you there."

"The floo will be open for another ten minutes." And Severus was gone. Lucius set off in search of his wife.

"Narcissa," he said, entering the library. She looked up from her book and smiled. The smile dimmed when she saw his face. They may not have been in love but she was his best friend and the one he trusted more than anyone, except maybe Severus.

When she had been a seventh year, and he was fresh out of school, his parents had held their annual Christmas ball. They had both left the party, her because she didn't really know anyone and him because he was sick of all the girls throwing themselves at him. They'd ended up going to the same place, the library. They'd started talking and he found that he really enjoyed her company. It was late, they'd both been drinking, and he kissed her. One thing led to another and she'd gotten pregnant. Not wanting their grandchild to be labeled a bastard, both sets of parents had negotiated a marriage contract. One of the clauses of the contract was that they had to remain married until Draco's twelfth birthday, at which time they were free to end the marriage. Being an honorable man, Lucius had stayed faithful and so had Narcissa.

"Lucius, what's wrong?" Narcissa had set her book down and was lightly touching his arm in concern.

"I have to go to Hogwarts. Draco's fine," he added quickly, seeing her eyes widen in alarm. "It's Harry Potter. He's in the Hospital Wing." Narcissa looked confused but he just kissed her cheek. "I'll be back soon." He checked his watch and saw that he only had a few minutes so he left quickly and made his way back to the fireplace.

"Thank Merlin you're here," were the first words out of Severus's mouth the minute Lucius stepped out of Madame Pomfrey's office. "He won't let either of us any closer so we can fully examine him. Draco said he sort of trusted you at the station..." His voice trailed off but Lucius nodded his understanding and stepped over to the bed. The small boy was trembling so hard it looked like he was having a seizure, tears streaming down his face and clinging to Draco's hand. The blonde was currently glaring at Severus.

"Of course he doesn't trust you, Professor." The venom in his voice as he used his Godfather's formal title wasn't lost on Lucius. "After the way you've treated him." Lucius turned his icy blue eyes on Severus, who gulped and wouldn't meet his eyes.

"We will be talking about this later," the Malfoy Heir said softly, his voice not betraying his anger as he didn't want to further scare Harry. Severus slowly nodded and Lucius turned back to the boys. "Harry," he said gently. The boy looked over at him. "Would it be alright if I held you while Professor Snape and Madame Pomfrey examined you?" Harry's eyes flew to Severus and then back to Lucius and he shook his head so hard Lucius was worried he'd give himself whiplash.

"I promise he won't hurt you," Lucius said in the same soft voice. "In fact, he won't even touch you. Madame Pomfrey will examine you and he's just going to watch, so he can instruct on what potions to use." Harry quietly studied him for a moment, his tears and shaking subsiding for the time being, and then slowly nodded. Lucius got on the bed behind Harry and gently pulled Harry into his lap, ignoring the small flinch. He gently carded his fingers through Harry's hair, relaxing him, and nodded at Madame Pomfrey. She walked over and Harry finally released the blanket, allowing it to just cover his lap. She was just about to take his shirt off when Lucius stopped her.

"Draco, go wait in the hall." He didn't think his son would be ready to see whatever it was they were about to uncover. He was only eleven, after all. Draco obeyed, knowing better than to argue at a time like this. Once he was gone, Lucius nodded for to continue.

With the shirt out of the way, all the adults could do was stare. Bruises in varying colors and sizes marred the pale flesh. He had a cut that went from his chest to just above his belly button. The worst bruise on his front was the one that Lucius and Draco had seen at the station, though it was bigger than they had originally thought and was clearly in the shape of fingers, wrapped around his throat. Someone had definitely choked him.

Gently turning him, they saw that his back was even worse. He had whip marks that looked like they came from a belt, more bruising, and the word Freak carved across his shoulder blades. Quickly and efficiently, Madame Pomfrey healed the wounds. She didn't really need Severus's help, which was probably a good thing because the man looked like he was in shock.

Once his front and back were healed, leaving him with faded bruises and a scar where the cut had been, Lucius gently helped Harry back into his shirt. Madame Pomfrey handed the boy a potion for any internal bleeding and then a dreamless sleep potion.

"The next part will be the hardest and it's probably better that he's asleep for that," she answered Lucius's unasked question but he just raised an eyebrow, silently reminding her that he never read the medical report. "The scan showed sexual abuse," she said softly and Lucius sucked in a breath. He looked down at the child he was cradling and unconsciously held him tighter. Madame Pomfrey removed the blanket, and then his pants, and again they were left staring.

There were dark purple bruises in the shape of hands on either side of his ribcage, as though someone had forcefully held him down. Turning him over again, there was clear anal tearing. With tears in her eyes, Madame Pomfrey patched him up. When she was done, Lucius slid out from under Harry and gently tucked him in. Then he turned to Severus, eyes flashing dangerously.

"We need to talk," he said in a deceptively calm voice. Severus blinked as he slowly came out of the trance he was in. He just nodded and turned to lead Lucius to his quarters. When they got into the hall, Draco jumped up from where he was sitting on the floor.

"What took you so long?" he demanded. "Is Harry going to be okay?"

"Harry is sleeping right now," Lucius responded. "Go to class. You can visit him later." Severus quickly wrote a pass for the class Draco had already missed and to excuse him for the tardiness of the class he was currently supposed to be in and Draco took off. The two men continued to Severus's quarters. As soon as they were inside, Lucius quickly put up several silencing charms and rounded on Severus.

"What did you do?" Lucius was barely refraining from shouting. "That boy is terrified of you Severus!" Severus sighed and slumped into a chair, covering his face with his hands. Lucius remained standing in front of him. "You know what it's like to be abused, Severus. You know what it's like to be bullied, to be hated simply for being different."

"Lucius..."

"No, Severus," the blonde cut him off. "I warned you but you didn't listen." Severus finally lost his temper as he jumped to his feet, his fists clenched and his eyes narrowed.

"You didn't tell me he was abused, Lucius!" he shouted. "You know what his father did to me, what they did to me. You can't just expect me to let go of that hate overnight!"

"I did tell you he wasn't his father!" Lucius yelled back. "Merlin, Severus, anyone with two eyes could see he's been abused. The stuttering, the shy almost skittish behavior, the flinching, what did you think it all meant?"

"His father was a master at manipulating people," Severus replied but this time, his voice was almost a whisper. "I thought he was playing Draco and I was not going to stand by and watch my Godson get hurt!" He rubbed his face with a hand and then sighed, looking at Lucius with a pained expression. "I can never say how sorry I am, but now I have to fix this. I am going to fix this." He started for the door. Lucius placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Just be delicate. Those...those monsters starved, beat, and raped him. They burned his school things and then his owl. He'd known nothing but hate and torture." Severus looked at him with wide eyes.

"In his first class, I accused him of thinking he was above the rules because he wasn't taking notes and you're telling me he didn't have any supplies?" Lucius nodded.

"Like I said, be delicate. You're going to have to earn his trust and at this point, I'm not even sure if that's possible."