Chapter 11

Severus quickly noted who was present in Headquarters. Not seeing Albus, he turned back to the floo and called the headmaster's office in Hogwarts.

The old man was sitting at his desk, sucking happily on one of those damned muggle sweets. His gaze moved to the floo, smiling widely once he saw Severus there.

"Severus!" he beamed. "What can I do for you?"

"You are required immediately at Headquarters, privately," he informed. "I have news on Potter."

Dumbledore's eyes sharpened at the mention of Potter. He stood and came quickly over to the floo.

"Have you found him?" he asked desperately. "Is he well? Where is he? Where has he been?"

Severus interrupted the rush of questions, "I need to speak to you in private before you announce anything."

Leaving the floo, he saw the others present staring at him and the small cat questioningly. He stared back blankly, moving the cat out of view further under his robes.

Dumbledore came through the floo, and with a calm nod to the others, led Severus to a private room. He quickly warded the room against potential eavesdroppers. He looked at Severus expectantly.

Taking a fortifying breath, he removed the despondent cat from his robes and placed him on a chair nearby. Potter curled into himself.

"Hello, Riju," Dumbledore greeted fondly.

"Potter," Severus corrected shortly. Dumbledore looked at him for a moment before understanding lit up his blue eyes. He gaze snapped to the black cat.

"Harry?" he asked hopefully. He only received a small nod in response. The absurdity of the situation sent him into a fit of laughter. Severus frowned, not seeing any humour in the situation. Potter had nearly died several times since he had come to Severus, actually died last night for what had felt like hours. Potter seemed to agree as he curled himself into a tight ball, hiding his face.

As his laughter died down to chuckled, he saw the unimpressed look on Severus' face.

"Come now, Severus. You must see the irony of it all," he reasoned with a final chuckle.

"This is no laughing matter, Albus," he snapped.

Dumbledore raised his hands in surrender. His attention returned to Potter.

"Now Harry, let us get you back on your own two feet," he paused and gave Potter and Severus an apologetic grimace, "I apologize for my unintended insensitive remark."

The cat merely nodded cheerlessly. Dumbledore pulled out his wand and cast the animagus reversal spell. The two men watched as the small form grew until Riju was replaced with a ragged, skinny looking Potter. Taking note of his missing leg, Dumbledore transfigured a crutch similar to Severus' and handed it to the boy.

Dumbledore greeted him happily with sparkling eyes, "It's good to see you, Harry."

Potter stayed silent, nodding and sending Severus unsure glances. Severus stayed silent as well, avoiding eye contact. Potter sighed a full body sigh and faced Dumbledore.

"Can you tell me what happened to you, Harry?" Dumbledore questioned, looking encouragingly at Potter.

"I was..." he started, his voice coming out in a broken whisper from disuse. He cleared his throat and began again.

"I was at my relatives when everything suddenly went black," he started. Dumbledore seemed to be eating up the words ,always eager for a mystery, but Severus could tell that Potter had left quite a few important things out.

'Come on old man, use that Legilimency you're so fond of,' Severus thought bitterly. Severus wanted to do exactly that but it felt wrong to use it after their terrible Occlumency lessons last semester. He figured that though Harry hadn't learned anything productive, he would be able to sense when Severus' now familiar mind was invading his own. He didn't want to break whatever trust was left between them so Severus let Potter continue on without comment.

"The next thing I knew I was alone in the woods," he explained. "I had no idea who I was. I was just some cat apparently. I began to wander around looking for food, but my leg got trapped in something," he said gesturing at his missing leg. "My first instinct was to panic and ended up badly damaging my right leg."

"Sounds like a case of powerful accidental magic," Dumbledore ruminated. "Was there anything you can think of that would have caused this episode?"

Harry merely shook his head in the negative.

Severus noticed Potter's hands were in constant motion, fidgeting relentlessly in his lap. His eyes, while refusing any and all eye contact, were darting about the room indicating a lie. Severus knew he needed to speak to Potter alone. He was surprised and disappointed that the apparently not-so-omniscient Albus Dumbledore was accepting the words as the absolute truth.

Potter continued on. Severus was curious as to how he had come to the terrible state he'd been found in.

"From then on I had a terrible time getting any food. I was too slow to hunt and because of some of the neighbourhood kids, I was afraid of being near humans," he said softly, tears forming in his dull green eyes. His fidgeting hands stopped for a few moments to rest on his flat stomach in remembrance of the terrible hunger. Severus remembered the skeletal form clearly.

"After that, I just wandered from place to place for I don't know how long," Potter said absently wiping the tears that had escaped with shaking hands. "I was so so hungry all the time and I could feel my body getting weaker. I slept a lot to escape the pain in my stomach," he frowned. "I often found myself in other animals' territories and was attacked several times. Not only was I starving," his fist clenched on his stomach, "but I was covered in bites and scratches and my leg was getting badly infected."

"I must have found my way into Professor Snape's hometown at some point," he mumbled. "By that time, I couldn't feel my leg anymore and everything was too hot. I guess I hadn't eaten anything in nearly a week and I could hardly stand. I found myself face-to-face with a bunch of stray dogs. I was able to gather as much energy as I could and ran. They were faster than me and caught me a couple times. I was able to escape one last time and entered the gate of a nearby house," here he glanced quickly at Severus. "I couldn't make myself move anymore though and gave up. Next thing I knew, I was staring at Professor Snape, no idea I already knew him from before," he finished.

"The wards surrounding my house prevents anyone or anything with ill-intent from passing through the gate surrounding the property," Severus informed him.

"Lucky I chose the right property to collapse in," he gave Severus a weak half-hearted grin.

"Lucky indeed," Severus agreed with a small nod.

Dumbledore put a hand on Potter's shoulder, not noticing the flinch the action caused.

"If it were earlier in the summer, I would take you back to your relatives so you'd be within the protection of the blood wards," Severus observed Potter's minute cringe at the prospect. Another thing to add to the list of things to talk to Potter about when they were alone. "As it is, school will begin shortly. I would have you stay here at headquarters but somehow after last semester I doubt you'd be comfortable here."

As if a light flicked on in his head, memories of his godfather's death came back to him all at once. Severus watched as an expression of immense guilt crossed Potters features. The expression had something in Severus, something he'd only felt with Riju, itching to comfort the boy. He arms twitched in an aborted attempt to reach out for Potter. He held them back.

The twitch caught Dumbledore's attention and mischievous twinkle entered his eyes.

"Since you've already been taken care of by Severus for so long," he said with a sly smile, "we might as well place you with him until the new school year."

He looked to Severus for his usual complaints but Severus found he didn't mind much at all. He simply nodded his agreement. Potter glanced at him nervously. While Potter had always seemed nervous around him, he hoped Riju's new fear of him hadn't been carried over to Potter. The idea of the boy being afraid of him rubbed him the wrong way. Just the same way as he felt at the thought of Riju fearing him.

Dumbledore clapped loudly, causing another flinch from Potter. Severus wanted to get them back home to treat Potter's wounds and to sit him down for a serious talk.

"If we are finished here?" Severus asked expectantly.

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore said. "I will call a full Order meeting and keep everyone in the kitchen while the two of you leave. I will inform the others that Harry has been found and moved to a safe place."

Potter shot the headmaster a quick thankful look. Severus nodded his thanks as well.

"Give me twenty minutes to gather the meeting, then you may sneak out," he explained as he exited the room, closing the door softly behind him.