Harry sat cornered in the bathroom, knees drawn close against his chest as he tried to ignore the loud banging on the door and the ache to the side of his face.
He'd panicked. He chose to turn and run but Emwood always walked behind him and the only place to run was into the toilet.
"Don't get cocky boy! Open this door!" The kind old man was gone for now, banging loudly onto the door. Each blow caused the door crackle. Even though Harry knew that the door wouldn't break under a mere couple of kicks, it still made him flinch harshly every time the crackle was the loudest.
He needed to get out of here… he couldn't stand being here anymore.
The banging stopped.
He felt himself become tense, every muscle on his body felt tight as if he was ready to bolt. His heart raced because he knew he had nowhere to run. A wizard was easy to fight against. Magic was his weapon. Against a muggle… he could get in more trouble for defending himself. The cat would be out of the bag in the tribunal and last year was proof that he could not use magic to protect himself.
"Harry… why are you so worried? You came. You could have not come. But you did. You missed me too didn't you?" The man stated, his voice back to a normal tone of voice. He spoke with conviction, with so much confidence that Harry doubted himself.
He definitely did not miss him. What was the man saying?
"Harry, open the door. Come on, are you hungry? We could have breakfast together first if you'd like."
Harry held himself tighter, rage, self-loathing and disgust swirling in his stomach. The more the other talked the more Harry realised how utterly pathetic he'd been in the past years.
"I'm not hungry." Harry said. It was the first thing he managed to say since he locked himself in the toilet.
"We can have lunch together later then. Come open the door."
Harry sluggishly got up and walked to the door, shaky hand reaching for the lock on the door. He turned it. Before he could regret it, the door opened and there was nothing guarding him against the muggle. Emwood looked at him with that kind expression that just made Harry want to punch him. He reached out and touched Harry's face where it ached.
"See what you made me do? Are you going to be a good boy?" Harry didn't answer. His eyes were locked onto the third button of the other's shirt. His normally defiant nature was out of the window and his eyes felt too heavy to look up beyond that third button down.
Suddenly Emwood toppled back harshly and Harry saw that it was Snape who had pulled the man away from him. Harry remained frozen. Was he hallucinating? Was he blocking out what was really happening? There was no way Snape could be here. It was too good to be true.
oOoOoOo oOoOoOo oOoOoOo
Severus stormed into the locked bedroom with a non-verbal alohamora. His stomach twisted seeing the man in question, the sick muggle he'd seen in Potter's memories. And now he had his hands on the boy.
Rage coursed through him. Before he knew it he was across the room and pulled the muggle back harshly.
"What the-?" Severus cut off the man's question and swung his fist with as much force as he could muster against Emwood's face.
"How dare you lay your hands on him you disgusting-" Severus couldn't even finish his own sentence because he had an urge to punch him again that he did not hold back. This time he broke the monster's nose which made Emwood cry out and cradle his face.
"-arry! Call the police!" Emwood said.
"Don't talk to him! Don't ever talk to him again!" Another satisfying punch. His knuckles ached but it just fuelled him on. Could he kill the man on fist blows alone? He certainly hoped so.
Potter didn't move from where he was and Severus did look up to check on him. Potter's face was blank as he stared at him. Severus saw the bruise forming on the side of Harry's face from what seemed like a previous punch from a heavy-handed person.
"Get out of my house!" Emwood yelled, managing to land a blow that threw Severus back. So that was where Potter got the bruise from. The muggle tried to take advantage of the brief seconds of disorientation but Severus was faster and he dodged the incoming punch which threw the bleeding man off balance. It served to enrage the muggle even more and he said something he definitely shouldn't have. "He wanted it! He's sixteen you know! That's perfectly legal!"
Severus felt blinded by rage. Severus punched the man viciously again and again, ignoring the man's flailing.
"Stop! Stop! You're going to kill him… please!" He didn't even notice when Potter started speaking to him, but he did notice the teen's arms that wrapped around him from behind.
His blood stained fist stopped before he could hit the man again. He was still alive but now a whimpering, bleeding mess on the floor.
"Don't ever try to come near the boy again. Or I won't hesitate to kill you." He hissed at him and got up, turning around to face the boy. Potter looked panicked, eyes wide though gleaming with unshed tears. "Let's get out of here." He said and placed an arm around the boy's shoulders, pulling him along. Before leaving the house he washed his hands on the kitchen sink before leaving the house with him.
"Snape… why…?" Potter managed to force out halfway to the Dursley home. He turned to him and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders, looking him in the eye to make sure the other got the full meaning of his words.
"Did you really think, knowing what I did, that I would just abandon you here?" He asked. "You may hate me as much as I hate the fool I was all those years back but that will never be a reason for me to just let anything happen to you."
Potter looked down, as if unable or unwilling to process or accept those words. To accept that he truly cared.
"They'll blame me… I was supposed to paint the-"
"I won't let anyone blame you for anything. Now. Let's get your things." He said.
"What? Why?"
"…You're staying with me. You can kick a fuss all you want but I need you where I can make sure you're being taken care of."
"You… want to take me in?" Harry mumbled. "D-Dumbledore wouldn't allow it I… the blood wards…"
"Yes... well, I already spoke to the headmaster before we had our last argument. He said, when I insisted, that I could take you in, so long as you accepted the full truth of how I came to be a spy." He said. "Things have changed and I'm taking you whether you-"
Potter cut him off and just hugged him tightly for a few seconds before pulling away, face red and looking away. "Ok. Let's get my things." He mumbled and walked on ahead. Severus pushed the awkwardness back and nodded.
"Yes… let's."
