Disclaimer: Own Harry Potter I do not. Claiming I do path to the jailhouse is.

A Life Alone
Chapter Eleven
By Loony

Harry glared at the nurse and muffled something through his gag. He hoped that she would take the hint and take it off him. His binds were cutting into his skin, barely refraining from drawing blood. Unfortunately before the nurse could do anything "Severus" spoke.

"Get the headmaster." It was clear that he was in a state of forced calm.

The nurse looked ready to have a nervous break down. "B-but if that's… Harry Potter! He's tied up? Who did this to you? We must see to his injuries!" She was rambling now and Harry realised that he would get no assistance from her. She was obviously a friend of some sort to the wizard in black not to mention she was becoming more than a little hysterical which, Harry couldn't help thinking, was very unprofessional.

"Get the headmaster now!" Severus turned towards Harry as the nurse shuffled out the room muttering fervently. "Now you will not speak of anything that happened tonight. I will tell the story without your interruption and you will go along with everything I say. Got that?"

If he could have spoken through his gag, he would have sworn at him. Severus had some nerve. First he attacked him and Mir, then he had the audacity to expect him to do what he wanted? Harry glared at him and struggled some more against his bindings. Severus gave a flick of his wand and the gag disappeared. "Got that?" he repeated threateningly. Harry spat at his face and was about to reply when the door burst open revealing an old man standing there. He had a long silver beard and twinkling blue eyes, which were hiding behind half moon spectacles. His eyes gave him a slight maddening look.

"Is he here? You found him?" he spoke very quickly, almost desperately. He scanned the room frantically and finally his eyes rested upon Harry who was trying to shrink away from him but failing miserably. "Harry my boy!" the old man exclaimed. "What has happened to you? What has happened to you? We're so fortunate that Severus managed to rescue you! But, why, you're all tied up!" He pulled a long wooden wand out of his long robes and was about to give it a wave when Severus interrupted.

"I don't think that's wise, Headmaster," he said, his lip curling. "Potter is not safe."

"Nonsense," the old man said. "Harry is but a child. He could not possibly be a danger to anyone," and leaving no room for argument, he gave a wave of his wand and the ropes binding Harry fell away.

Harry leapt to his feet instantly. Severus would pay for taking Harry there, oh yes. Harry would make sure of that. He pulled a thin blade out from his pocket. He had never had cause to use it before but he decided that now was the time he would put it to use. Before anyone could say or do anything Harry had launched himself at Severus again but Severus had been anticipating an attack such as this and quickly raised a shield to protect himself. The only flaw was that Severus had not known Harry had a knife on him. Harry threw the knife at him but it missed by several inches or so and went skidding across the surgically white floor. He dove after it and not stopping as he picked it up, ran behind one of the beds. Wands from Severus and the wizened old man were raised at him. Rather than hold his knife out as a threat, Harry raised the shining blade to his own throat as a warning, knowing very well that this would have a much better effect.

"Now Harry," the old man said gently. "Put the knife down. We aren't here to hurt you we're here to help."

It took all of Harry's strength to resist throwing the knife at him. Who was he to tell him what to do? It was clear to Harry that he was the manipulative man whom he had heard so much about before Aunt Petunia died. "Who the hell are you?" Harry asked. It would do well to know his name even if he couldn't speak it for fear of someone nearby hearing and reporting to him. If he was going to find a way to escape he would have to know everything he could about everything.

"I am Professor Dumbledore, Harry, and this is Professor Snape," he indicated Severus. "And this is Madam Pomfrey." He indicated the nurse who was still gibbering slightly. "If you just hand the knife to us, we can help you. Harming yourself won't solve anything."

Harry sneered. "Snape?" he laughed. "Isn't that a town somewhere? Oh yeah now I remember. Bad sewage there." He didn't move the knife. His arm was throbbing slightly from holding it there but that didn't matter now.

Snape made a noise somewhere between a growl and a howl of fury. "Potter, give us the knife now or I'll make you."

Dumbledore looked at Snape warningly. "Now, now Severus. It won't do us any good to be rash." He turned back to Harry who was silently edging towards the window. "Okay Harry," he said in a caring tone. "You can keep your knife just take it away from your throat and everything will be alright."

Harry froze enraged. "Why should I? What have you ever done for me?" He knew full well what Dumbledore had done. He had sent an innocent man to prison, set his parents up for death and had Aunt Petunia killed!

"I placed you into the care of your aunt but I see now that that was a mistake. She wasn't of sound mind. I also sent many skilled witches and wizards out to find you and look! It paid off. Soon you will be able to lead a nice normal life away from the horrors which you have experienced this past year." He raised a wrinkled hand out for Harry to take. "I mean you no harm Harry."

"Liar!" Harry hissed venomously. He couldn't believe the nerve of this man. "My aunt had nothing wrong with her! You killed her. She was trying to protect me! From you! How dare you claim you sent people to find me? Didn't do a very thorough job did they? Can't have tried very hard could you? Didn't tell you how he found me did he?" Harry pointed at Snape. "Didn't tell you that when he found me he tried to kill me, did he? Didn't tell you that he tried to murder my friend? Liar!" Harry found that once he had started saying everything that had been bottled up inside of him for so long that it was very hard to stop. He hated Dumbledore with all his being. "Maybe I didn't want to be found. Ever think of that? Maybe I was happy, away from you. "

Dumbledore looked at Snape alarmed. "Is this true?" he asked.

Snape sent Harry a glare so fierce that most men would have shrunk back under it. Harry however, stood tall and proud, the knife still pressed against his throat. "Of course it's not!" he spat. "I simply stunned his friend and was attempting to do the same to Potter but someone kept jumping off of buildings and running away."

"But Severus," Dumbledore said slowly. "Why were you attempting to stun them in the first place? Surely it would have been more sensible to ask them nicely rather than scare them half to death."

"I didn't know it was Potter until after he ran from me," Snape sighed. "I found him because he and some of his little friends were trying to steal your car." He handed the keys back to Dumbledore who raised his eyebrows at Harry.

Harry took a step away from them. "So what if I was? It don't matter. The point is I ain't staying here. Least of all with you," he pointed the knife at Dumbledore.

"I'm sorry then Harry," said the old man sadly. "But I can't let you leave. It's a dangerous world out there and much more so for you. We can't afford to lose you again. There are dangers that you couldn't possibly know of."

"I've seen plenty of dangers. I'd rather face them all again if it were a choice between you or them."

"I'm so sorry Harry." Dumbledore pointed his wand towards Harry and cried, "Stupefy!"

A beam of red light soared towards Harry's chest. I can't stay here, thought Harry. I need to see if Mir's okay. It's my fault if he's not. I put him in danger. I'm going to get out of here if it's the last thing I do. And the beam of light hit Harry square in the chest and the last thing he saw before all went black was the sorrowful face of Dumbledore, the glaring face of Snape and the uneasy face of Madam Pomfrey.