Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other wonderful creations from J.K.R.'s brilliant mind.
A/N: This takes place during Harry's sixth year. This story is rated M due to non-con, language, torture scenes, and slash(in later chapters)
Snape's thoughts will be shown in italics
Chap. 14 Going for a Swim
They had only arrived at the cottage a week and a half ago, and Snape was already losing his patience with the pair of trouble makers. So far, they were the cause of two exploded potions, one broken window, and a half-drowned cat (Harry had thrown the stray off the end of the deck and into the water to see if it could swim, much to Draco's amusement).
Currently, the potions master was at work in his lab, re-brewing the two potions that had exploded the day before when the boys had snuck in to have a look around and Harry had accidentally dropped the cookie he had into one of the two cauldrons. Some of the ruined potion from the first cauldron got thrown into the second cauldron by the force of the explosion and it went up as well, sending smoke and ill-smelling fumes into the air. Luckily, the pair had ducked beneath the work table in time to avoid getting any of either concoction thrown on them.
Just as Snape poured in the powdered beetle eyes, he heard a quick succession of thwacks and then wild laughter. He raced out of his lab, through the kitchen, and into the foyer to see Harry lying sprawled across the floor at the bottom of the stairs, clutching a long thin cushion from one of the deckchairs outside in his tightly clasped fingers. Harry rolled across the floor as he laughed and Snape looked up to the top of the stairs to see Draco quickly putting a similar cushion behind his back, despite its size making it plainly obvious. Snape then sent a glare his way strong enough to make Draco falter and take a step back.
After making sure Draco was properly cowed, Snape turned his attention to Harry who was just now picking himself off the floor. "What have the two of you been doing?!"
Harry ignored the hostile tone and answered happily, "Me and Draco was sledding." Harry held the cushion high and asked, "You want to see? It's a lot of fun!" Harry started to head up the stairs for another go at it but stopped when Snape grabbed his shoulder tightly. Harry's eyes grew wide and he turned to look over his shoulder. Snape had his eyes closed and was breathing deeply in an effort to calm himself. When he finally spoke again, it was through gritted teeth. "It is time for the two of you to take yourselves outside."
The pair quickly headed out the door and towards the woods for a bit of exploring as Snape made his way back to his lab, muttering under his breath the entire way. By the time he got there, smoke was billowing out of one of the cauldrons. He gave it a wave of his wand, banishing the contents before reaching for the shelf with the supplies he would need to restart the potion for the third time.
As he grabbed his knife to chop the daisy roots, he glanced out the window and saw the boys sitting by the lake, throwing stones into the water. He turned his gaze back to his work and after some time passed and he finally got the last of his ingredients prepared, he looked back out of the window to see what the pair was up to. He was not happy at all with what he saw.
The two boys were dragging the small boat they had found in the garden shed towards the water and had already gotten it as far as halfway down the length of the dock. Snape put a stasis spell on his potions, for he had no intention of having to make them all over again, and he headed out the door.
He walked at a quick pace and when he saw that they had gotten the boat into the water, he broke into a jog. He called out to the boys to "Stop!" But Draco was already in the process of helping Harry down into the boat from where he stood on the dock. At Snape's shout, the pair looked in his direction. In shock of having been caught in their misdeed, Draco threw his hands into the air, unintentionally releasing Harry's hand from his grip. Snape watched horrified as Harry lost his balance and fell head first into the water with a great splash. He yelped in surprise as he hit the cold water, but his voice was abruptly cut short as he sunk beneath the surface of the water.
Snape took off in a dead run, shedding the heavy cloak he usually wore when he was doing his brewing onto the grass as he went. Draco was crouched at the edge of the dock still in shock at what was happening. Without a moment's hesitation, Snape dived off the dock and into the water. A few moments later, he resurfaced for air. Draco felt sickened as he watched his godfather dive once again under the surface in his search for Harry.
Time seemed to go by very slowly for Draco as he stood on the edge and peered into the murky water below. Suddenly, Snape's head broke the surface of the water almost ten feet from where Harry had fallen in at. A moment later, Snape pulled his arms upwards and Harry's head bobbed to the surface as well. The boy started gasping and spluttering in an effort to get oxygen to his deprived lungs as Snape pulled him towards the shore.
When the two of them reached close enough to the shoreline to stand up in the water, Snape swung Harry's exhausted body into his arms and carried him out of the lake and up the hillside, Draco following behind in silent shame. As Snape placed Harry in the soft grass in the field beside the house, he noticed the boy was crying while still taking breaths in great shuddering gasps. Snape knelt down to check on Harry's condition and as soon as he got close, Harry leapt into his arms, wrapping his own thin arms around Snape's neck as he sobbed into the man's shoulder.
As the two sat in the grass, Draco trudged over to where Snape's potions cloak lay forgotten by the lake. He scooped up the heavy garment and made his way back over to where the pair were sitting. Without even making eye-contact, Draco held the cloak out to his godfather, who in turn, placed it around Harry's shivering form. After wrapping the boy up, Snape scooped him up and carried him into the house and up the stairs. Draco followed them in but sat at the kitchen table as the others left the room.
By the time the two reached Harry's bedroom, he had stopped his crying and was now resting bonelessly and still in Snape's arms. The man carried his charge into the bathroom and sat the boy on the closed seat of the toilet as he ran some warm water for a bath. Snape glanced over his shoulder as the water was ran and saw that Harry was staring down at his lap, unaware of the things going on around him. When the bath was ready, he helped Harry pull off his sopping wet clothes and took him by the arm to lead him into the water. As Harry was turned around and led toward the tub, he finally paid attention to what was happening and shouted out, "No!"
He flung himself at his 'Dad' and started to cry again.
"What's wrong, Harry? What is it?"
"Please," Harry spoke through his sobs, "Please don't make me get in the water, Daddy, please."
The soft spoken pleas made Snape's stomach clench painfully in pity for the boy. "It's o.k., Harry. You don't have to take a bath, but you do have to wash off. How about a shower instead?"
Harry made no reply other than a quick nod of his head. Snape drained the tub and started a shower for the boy and after Harry stepped into the tub, Snape gathered a clean set of clothes and a fresh towel which he placed on the countertop where Harry would easily see them. He then left the bathroom, shut the door, and called for a house elf, instructing it to keep an eye on Harry and to assist him with his shower.
In about ten minutes, the bathroom door creaked open and Harry shuffled in, yawning loudly into the stillness of the room. Snape led the boy to the bed and Harry gratefully sank down on the soft mattress, exhausted by the day's events. As Snape turned around to pick out a book to read, he glanced over his shoulder and found Harry already sound asleep. He placed the book back on the shelf and then walked down the stairs to find Draco still sitting at the kitchen table and staring off into space.
Draco was so deeply engrossed in his thoughts that he was surprised when he heard the sound of scraping along the floor as his godfather pulled a chair out from the table to sit down. Draco cast his eyes over to see the disappointed look on the man's face before staring down at the table top. Snape was the first to break the silence.
"What you did today was very foolish."
"But I didn't think it would…" Draco began but was then cut off from saying more as Snape interrupted.
"Exactly, you didn't think. Draco, you may both technically be the same age, but he is not the same as you. He has to re-learn everything about obeying rules and about making good decisions. You wouldn't take a six year old on a boat like that, would you? Did you even ask him if he knew how to swim?"
Draco hung his head in shame, it had never occurred to him to think about it like that before. Snape offered him no reprieve as the lecture continued.
"Harry almost drowned today. If I hadn't come when I did, he would be dead right now.
Draco flinched at the harsh words and as tears gathered in Draco's eyes, he looked pleadingly towards Snape and said, "You've got to believe me Severus, I didn't think anything bad would happen."
"But it did."
"I know… But you don't think I would knowingly let Harry get hurt like that do you? He's my only friend." The last few words were said in a whisper as Draco dropped his head into his hands. Although he could hear nothing from the boy, the silent shaking of his shoulders let Snape know that Draco was crying. Snape let his stern expression soften in the face of Draco's remorse.
After a few moments, Draco looked up and quietly stated, "He's the first real friend I've ever had." Then after a short pause, Draco gave a small weak chuckle and asked "I sound pretty pitiful, don't I?"
"It's all right, Draco." Snape reassured him, "I'm proud to see you not following as closely in your father's footsteps as I feared you would. Despite what they may have told you, caring about someone is not a weakness."
Even as he said the words, he realized they applied to himself as well. And he had to admit, even if only to himself, that he had grown to care about Harry Potter.
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A/N: Please send me reviews. I've got to know what you think about this story. Plus, encouragement helps me write faster! Also, I've finally adjusted my account to allow anonymous reviews, so now everyone can let their opinion be known!
Next chapter you will all get to meet Dr. William Stiner!
Last of all, I would now like to post what I wrote in response to one of my reviewers. I hope it will clear up any questions or doubts my readers may have about this story.
Sydney Alexis:
Thank you for your lengthy and honest review. As I've mentioned before, this is the first fic I've ever written, and as such, I'm still learning. I'll have to admit, I went into this thing not as prepared as I should have been. I guess I was just eager to write my ideas down. In fact, when this story is completed, I may go back and re-write the first few chapters, because I feel that they could improve.
Now, to address some of your concerns...
Dumbledore didn't selectively erase only certain memories because too much time had gone by since Harry was first captured. In the Harry Potter books, J.K.Rowling always had the memory charms placed directly after the event that needed to be erased, so I didn't feel it was plausible that Dumbledore would be able to erase weeks worth of memories. I also feel that the decision had to be made quickly so that Harry would have time to heal, both physically and mentally. I don't think temporarily blocking the memories would have helped either, because the things he had experienced would have forever changed his personality regardless. I do foster care and I've dealt with many children who were raped or sexually abused and it has a profound effect on them. In fact, if I could, I would give them a fresh start just as I have for Harry in my story.
I agree that it is our experiences in life that make us who we are, but perhaps Dumbledore thought that Harry would develop a stronger, more self-assured personality if he 'grew up' with more positive role models and the proper type of discipline. I believe that Dumbledore would see this as a chance to give Harry a bit of peace in his life; after all, I think he had earned it after the many harrowing experiences he's had. And I do have a plan for Voldemort's defeat...But I don't want to share it as it would give away too much of the story line.
Snape is not caring for Harry to merely make him into a weapon. True, he did not go into it willingly, but time has a way of changing things, and I'm counting on the parental connection that Harry has to Snape to come into play later in the story. Over all, I believe that the adults in this story are just doing what they believe is right in regards to Harry's well-being rather then being motivated by the war with Voldemort and his followers.
Lastly, Harry's magical training can't start until he reaches a mental age of at least 11, the same age as the first years that come to Hogwarts to begin their magical training for the first time. Please remember that, although he was mentally de-aged, it had no effect on his physical body. He is capable at learning at an accelerated rate due to this. Also, they erased his memories, not things that his body was able to do. For example, he never truly lost the ability to walk because his body already knew how; it did not rely on memories to do so. Remember how it was mentioned in the beginning chapters of the story that the repeated Crucio curses he was exposed to caused a break down of some of his nerves. That was the main cause of his needing to go through physical therapy. So, he can do the things he was able to do before, he just doesn't remember doing them. That will allow him to develop, mentally, at a rate of about one year for every month that goes by.
I hope I've addressed all of your concerns. Please feel free to let me know what you think of future chapters as I value your opinion. Besides, this website was started with the original goal of allowing beginner writers, such as myself, the opportunity to practice and hone our writing skills in a place that will allow others to critique our work. Thank you once again for your review. I look forward to reading your next one.
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