"I will NOT be DISRESPECTED in my house by something like you!" He yelled in frustration. That freak dares run away from us after we cared for him for all these years and now he was blatantly disrespecting his orders. He had enough of this nonsense and ungratefulness. But Vernon knew exactly what he was going to do now to make that disgusting excuse of a boy learn some respect. It was the only way.
Harry's whole body was pulsing with pain. He could smell his own blood and sweat as he lay on the ground in his room. He didn't have the strength to get up into his bed, both mentally and physically. He just laid there with streams of tears coming out of his eyes, however he wasn't moving or making any sound. He couldn't. Harry was sure he had a huge bruise under his right eye. He could feel blood coming from his nose and from the side of his head. The parts of his body that hurt the most were the sides of his back. His uncle had repeatedly kicked him there, Harry could only remember dipping into and out of consciousness. Every time he would become conscious again he would be knocked out because of another kick or punch. The pain was too much for his body to handle. When his uncle had finally stopped beating him he could vaguely remember being pulled up the stairs and kicked into the room with another blow to his back.
Harry used the last of his strength to haul himself into a crawling position and drag himself to his bed. He let himself drop onto his bed and felt a pain which was worse than the beatings shoot up the side of his back. He let out a weak groan and fell asleep to get away from the pain for a while. His dream was about the Prince's Manor and seeing Snape again. He longed for the man more than anything right now. For some reason his presence was very comforting, Harry found that out on the night two days ago when he had his nightmare. As he was dreaming of the summer with his godfather, his muscles relaxed in his sleep. And although Harry would probably not admit it, he felt safe with the thought of being with Snape soon.
The Prince Manor was still surprisingly intact, Severus had spent most of that day using different cleaning and reversal spells to get rid of the mess that was on the floor. The Manor still had the huge library with hundreds of old books about many different things. Severus remembered himself being intrigued at the huge library when he visited the house in his childhood with his grandmother. His grandmother and himself shared a very special bond. She was always there for him when he was young until her death when he was eight. She helped him through his father's abuse while she was still alive. Severus doesn't know what he would have done without her.
At this point Severus was wondering what else to do to design and decorate Harry's room with. It was a decently sized room with a double bed at the back of the left wall. He had put a big desk to the far right of his bed, the boy would need it this summer since Severus intended on boosting Harry's Potions skills, he planned on assigning Harry an essay a week. Severus hung huge drapes of red and gold along the ceiling and walls, he thought Harry might appreciate that. He put a little shelf beside Harry's bed with the few pictures that he had of Lily. He allowed the familiar feeling of longing he had for Lily come back to him for a few seconds.
He was happy that Nibby was here, even though she was a house elf, she was still good company. She could never stop talking. Despite that she was really helpful, house elves knew more about housekeeping and cleaning magic than any wizard. The next day he would focus on setting up a training area for Harry, he did have a lot of garden land to work with. The house was literally in the middle of nowhere so he had all the space he needed. There were also very old shields and protective magic surrounding the house, muggles couldn't find it and Severus had cast a Fidelius Charm with himself as secret keeper, so he would definitely not be disturbed.
Harry awoke late in the morning. He didn't get much sleep at all because he kept waking up due to the pain on his back. Harry assumed that his uncle would completely ignore him now just like Petunia and Dudley had in the car. He was quite wrong. He could hear his uncle yell his name. He slid off of his bed and started stalking down the stairs. He tried to keep his back as straight as possible to reduce pain.
"Today, you will sweep, hoover and mop the kitchen and dining area. Don't dare leave a speck of dust, boy, or I will show you what an actual punishment is. Last night was nothing." His uncle said with malice in his tone.
Harry gulped when his uncle said that last night was nothing. He didn't think a beating could get much worse. "Yes, uncle" Harry said powerlessly. He knew he couldn't do anything about the situation he was in. He had to endure this for at least a month. Probably more if Snape decided he didn't want him anymore. Harry forgot to ask about breakfast, but he assumed that he would not be eating for quite some time.
With that, his uncle walked away and started watching TV in the living room with Dudley. For some reason Dudley was staring at Harry. He thought he could see a look of sympathy in his cousins eyes. Odd. Harry made his way to his old cupboard, which was where the house keeping items were kept and then he started sweeping. It was the afternoon by the time he was finished. It took so long because he swept the place three or four extra times to make sure that there was no dust or dirt at all. It hurt quite a bit to sweep but what could happen if it wasn't cleaned properly would probably be worse. His stomach was openly complaining now, he was very hungry but he didn't dare take food unless he was given some. He needed to do everything to avoid another beating.
Severus and Nibby were trying their best to cut down the ridiculously long grass that had grown over the years. Severus at first used Sectumsempra to trim the grass to a reasonable height and then Nibby used elfish magic to cut it down even more. They worked well together and soon the grass was completely cut down to where it should be. The house looked a lot nicer with the grass beside it at a normal height. Next he went up to the library to sort out the books. He used a couple of Accio charms to summon all of the different categories into different piles. He had two main piles, old Potions books and Dark Magic books. He made sections and soon everything was neatly organised. He put the Dark Magic books up to the highest shelves so that Harry could never reach them. He would also warn the boy upon showing him the library that he is never to touch those books. It will be a test to his insufferable Gryffindor curiosity.
Another thing that Severus did with the library was add a huge desk right behind the even bigger window. Beside his big desk, he placed a smaller desk which was meant for Harry. This way they could both learn to work together. And hopefully the silences the two share in the future will be less awkward because they will be used to it.
Severus found himself really looking forward to having the boy over. He was going to look into visiting him once, just to see how he is doing. He ought to ask Harry what date he would like for Severus to come over, so he wrote a quick letter asking Harry if he would want him to visit and when. He gave the letter to his owl, whose feathers were completely black and sent it off after giving it some extra water and food.
A few days later Harry was still following the same routine as his first day. He now had to do chores that didn't even need to be done. He had to clean the floor every day and his uncle took out every piece of clothing that they owned (which is a lot) and made him iron and fold them every day. It was his fifth day without any food in his system. He had been drinking a lot of water from the tap in the bathroom to keep himself hydrated and his stomach occupied. He was starting to noticeably lose weight and any muscle that he had gained from Quidditch. He started wondering why accidental magic didn't save him on the day of his beating, when he was at Hogwarts his accidental magic had managed to explode things just from him feeling angry.
When Harry had finished his chores for the day he went to his room and got into his bed. He curled into a ball and cried soundlessly into his pillow because of the pain in his stomach from the hunger he felt. It felt like there was a knot in there and it was getting pulled tighter by the minute. It was a different kind of pain. He had already lost all hope of getting food until something quite unexpected happened.
There was a soft knock on his door. He went over and opened it to see Dudley standing there, looking kind of embarrassed. He was holding a plate with bread and some butter.
"I.. I just thought you might be hungry." Dudley said having that weird look of sympathy in his eyes which Harry was not accustomed to. He handed Harry the plate and started walking away to his room on the other side of the hallway.
"Thank you." Harry called after his cousin. This was a miracle. Harry wasted no more time, he sat down on his bed and started eating the food he was given. It was the best bread he had ever tasted, probably because he hadn't eaten in so long. The plate was empty within a minute and Harry was satisfied, although he thought that he probably should have rationed the little food he had.
Having some food in his stomach for the first time in around five days made Harry very tired. He drifted off into sleep and had the dream that he so often experienced, how life would be like at the Prince's Manor. That dream gave him motivation to keep going and staying strong. It reminded him that being at the Dursley's was not permanent and soon he would be with someone who really wants him. The person who his mother wanted him to be with.
Thank you for reading, sorry that this chapter is kind of short.