In the hospital wing the morning passed quickly. Both Harry and Snape had spent most of it reading their respective books with limited speech passing between them. What did though was almost free of the usual antagonism; of course there was the odd comment, but they had a hint of something else behind it. Harry was amazed to see that the surly potions master had a decent if somewhat dark sense of humour, which he hid well in most circumstances but came out at odd intervals. It was almost like the whole 'bastard bat of the dungeons' persona was just a mask and the real Severus Snape was someone totally different and almost normal. That mask was well set though, sitting just below the surface ready to reappear at the first sign of disturbance. Harry was fairly sure of that fact, having seen glimpses of it when he started to speak. Snape forced it back down each time when he failed to deliver a nasty comment or insult. Carefully they had stuck to talking about things that had no actual relevance to anything outside.
Severus too had been observing Harry's behaviour closely. He was wondering how the boy had failed to show the usual signs of abuse and started to keep a watch for the normal behaviours. After a while he realised that they were indeed present, just very much muted. When he went to speak or reply he tensed as if waiting for the blow that was sure to follow and the same tension appeared whenever Severus made an unexpected movement. The boys self control was phenomenal in this aspect now that he was awake, even he had to admit that. However it didn't stop him from following that up with the thought that if he had even the slightest amount of the same control and discipline when it came to other areas such as school work he might succeed in learning more. The nastiness of the remark made him feel a little better about being civil on the outside, it was potter after all. It would not do to get out of practice of insulting the boy and end up getting in trouble for it later.
By the time they had ordered lunch both had some what settled with the knowledge that nothing too bad would be coming from the other. Neither had let his guard down too far though and they continued to watch each others reactions. After the dishes were sent back to the kitchen they settled back down Severus to his book and Harry for a nap.
Almost as soon as Harry had dozed off he started to move again twitching and shaking, his breathing getting rougher. Muttering quietly he flinched to one side, landing again on an injury. Severus pulled out his wand quickly and cast a full body bind on him before settling back in his seat. Nightmares were some thing that he could relate to, they had affected him for years. He could no longer remember what it was like to go a full night without one of them and yet he could still remember the first one clearly. It had been after his first revel as a death eater almost two months after he had been marked, three before his 16th birthday. That night he had seen the true extent of what his potions could be used for and just some of the horrors the he not only had to face, but had to inflict on others. The worst part though, the true cause of his nightly torments were the victims themselves. They had been a pair of muggleborns who had been married a few months after graduation two years before. Them and their five month old son had been caught trying to flee from their burning home and they had lasted almost two days before they were killed. Being the holidays, he and the rest of the recruits from his class were forced to stay the entire time to fully 'enjoy' the spectacle. That night at the base he had not slept at all and the first night back at his home was the start of what had become a normality.
He started thinking back at some of the things that they had done, especially to the infant and was glad when Dumbledore saw fit to show his face in the wing. At the approaching sound of his feet he gratefully pulled his thoughts back to the present situation. Seeing as it was the holidays, the headmaster had not bothered to control some of his more eccentric urges and Snape had to forcefully refrain from shuddering at the rich lavender and Gryffindor red robes he was wearing.
"how is he going Severus?" the old man asked as soon as he entered.
"I have him under the body bind again to stop him thrashing around. Physically he almost has enough energy back in him to have another try at healing those broken bones. I will give him a potion for that if Pomfrey is not back tonight." The headmaster looked at his boys with a slightly calculating glint in his eye.
"how long has he been sleeping for?"
Casting a quick tempus he answered. "almost an hour but he has been struggling against the body bind for most of that and it won't have done him much good." The twinkle in the old mans eyes became more noticeable at this statement and Snape started to wonder what he had let himself in for when the reply came.
"well then. I would say that when he finally wakes he will have absolutely no interest in sleeping again for a while and may actually be interested in sitting some where different, he never has liked this place much. Didn't you say before that you urgently needed to get on with the potions for the school year? I think that it would be a perfect opportunity to start, if you move Harry's bed to the corner of your personal lab and place some basic wards around him I believe that he would be happy to stay there. It would be a change of scenery and he would be reading if he stayed here anyway so I don't think it will be that much of a problem."
Snape glared at Dumbledore, that interfering old coot! Why did he always have to interfere with every thing that he possibly could? It was bad enough that he was forced to supervise the brat in the hospital wing but to have to put up with an invasion of his private space too was pushing the limits. While he had to admit to himself that the boy was trying not to be too much of a nuisance, making it rather easy to get along with, not that he would never let he old man know, I didn't make a difference. He was by nature a withdrawn person and the thought of allowing anyone even Draco Malfoy into his personal space was instantly fought by his whole self. If a Slytherin couldn't go then there was on way that he would let a Gryffindor, the golden boy at that into those rooms.
"No."
"but come on my lad, it will be beneficial for both sides surely you can see that."
"Albus, what I can see is an invasion. Don't take it as a direct insult to potter or anyone in particular but I have allowed no one in that room except for you and that was because I couldn't keep you out. Not even Draco has seen the inside of my lab or my rooms, that is what I use my office for. That is what I tried to tell you years ago when you gave me the job, I am one of the worst people to take on a job to do with interaction, teaching is bad enough. Will you please leave this idea alone."
Dumbledore looked at the younger man, some of the twinkle fading from his eye. He had known him since he was eleven and in those years a lot had changed but one thing that hadn't was the automatic mistrust of anything human. Unfortunately, Hogwarts had compounded the problem instead of resolving it, with his fellow students often ganging up on him and teaching had not worked either. By providing an inhospitable face to the world, one that when shown to the younger population was sure to bring with it a reputation he had driven every one away from him. It was almost guaranteed that no matter where a new teacher or student had come from they would have heard of him before they arrived and most never even bothered to approach him anymore. In the entire time that Albus had known him the only person he had gotten close to other than the headmaster himself had abandoned him in a time of need. After that it had taken a lot of effort on Albus's behalf to get back through the strengthened barriers which were instantly enforced. Even now he couldn't say with certainty that he was actually through and that after the next incident would still be.
With a mental shake Albus pulled his mind back to the present, realising that he had been silent for too long and Severus thought that he had won. The relief was plain in his eye, wether or not it appeared on his face. Maybe he was pushing them too hard. Deciding to settle on a compromise he responded.
"Well then, how about this then? Work in your office or even the classroom or student labs but take Harry with you. He needs to be watched and I have got a mountain of paperwork which needs to be dealt with today."
"What about Minerva or one of the other teachers? Why can't they look after the boy?"
"Minerva is dealing with the acceptance letters and has owls coming in and out of her office constantly and none of the other teachers are on the grounds at the moment."
"That still doesn't answer the question. Even you could look after him while you work after all, all you asked me to do is put him in a corner with a book."
"Ahh yes, but with you he would be down in the dungeons. We really don't need it to get out to the wizarding population that their boy savoir has been abused and the floo has been worked over time in both of the offices. It would be better to have him out of the way of all that while he heals." The glare that Severus levelled at him was impressive he had to admit but it meant that he had won the battle.
"Fine then. I will take the brat down to the student lab but don't expect any more than that." Snape was fuming. The manipulative old man had managed to again out manoeuvre him. Letting that information get out to the general population was a bad idea, not only would it send them into panicky chaos it might very well compromise his position with the dark lord. Therefore it would be best if the brat was down in the dungeons out of the way.
"Thankyou my boy. It is all that I will ask of you for now." With that Albus turned and walked out, his lurid robes changing to more normal colours as he opened the door.
as the door closed Severus realised that he was standing and settled himself back in the chair he had previously occupied. The boy was again struggling against the hex, sweat beading on his forehead and eyes flickering behind closed lids. He was going to wake soon, Severus could tell. He had gotten physically worked up, whimpering and if it weren't for the body bind, thrashing all over the place. Deciding to get it over and done with he picked up his wand and spelled some cold water on the boy, causing his eyes to fling open. A simple drying charm later and he decided to release the body bind, the brat looked alert enough that he wouldn't move too much when he got the chance. Not waiting for him to say anything Severus started talking.
"The headmaster has decided that I am to make a start on the potions for this place." He said with a look of distaste on his face. "he has ordered that I take you with me so I can supervise you as I work." Having seen the look on the potions masters face Harry kept his eyes low.
"yes, sir."
"I am going to cast an obscuring charm on you and levitate you down to the student laboratory where I can work. Will you hold still or would you prefer that I stun you until we arrive?" Harry looked at Snape in surprise, why was he asking for an opinion? Usually he wouldn't bother.
"I don't want to be stunned but it will hurt too much to be moved so maybe…" he swallowed the terror he could feel rising in his throat at the thought of what he was suggesting. "Maybe it would be best if you put the full body bind on me again."
"as you wish." He stood and collected the books from the night stand, shrinking them and putting them in his pocket before turning back towards Harry. "Petrificus totalis, wingardium leviosa." As the second charm lifted him off the bed Snape took the trailing blanket and flicked the sides over so it was wrapped around him before tacking it there with a charm and casting the obscuring charm over him. Another handy little charm set it to follow him out of the hospital wing and through the corridors. As he turned to leave an insistent hooting broke out, and Potters owl opened its wings to fly after him. Stunning her he dropped her on top of her master and extended the charms to cover her too. Totally ignoring the other owl he turned on his heel and stalked from the room, making his way down to the dungeons.
