When Potter turned around, Snape was shocked to see how pale and sweaty he was.

"I'm coming back from my detention with Umbridge, sir." He said politely, without any hint of disrespect.

"You are?"

"Yes, sir. She felt the need to punish me for longer tonight. I'm sure you would approve." Something seemed even more off about Potter tonight than during the day.

He looked over him closely.

There was nothing out of the ordinary. His robes were a bit disheveled, but aside from the pale and sweaty complexion and the darkened patch of robes near his right hand, everything seemed normal...

The right hand? He looked at it more closely. The robe sleeve was pulled down extremely low, so that his right hand was a bundle of fabric that the hand seemed to hold onto dear life just to hide itself out of view.

"Potter, let me see your right hand." He said commandingly.

"Sir?" Potter pretended not to understand him, his brows furrowed.

"Hold out your right hand."

"There's no reason to look at it. It's just a hand." And then he started to walk backwards saying, "I really should go now, Professor. You can ask Professor Umbridge about the specifics of the detention if you don't believe me." And with that, he turned around swiftly.

If Snape hadn't anticipated it, he couldn't have grabbed his arm and yanked him back around.

"Not so fast, Potter." He said viciously. "I asked you a question."

He didn't wait for an answer, but simply grabbed his right hand and started trying to pry the robes away from the fingers that desperately clung to it.

Even though Potter tried to resist him verbally and physically, it wasn't much use. The small, skinny boy had no power over a tall, full-grown man.

"Let me go!!" He repeated over and over again now in anger and defiance. FINALLY SOME REACTION. He would have smirked, had the bloody hand not come into view in that exact moment.

Snape paled as he inspected it further. The entire hand was hidden from view underneath several layers of blood, which had all dried at different times. It seemed like the hand had been bleeding continuously over the past hours.

He realised that there was a spot where the hand was still bleeding. He muttered a quick cleansing spell and almost had to take a step back when he saw the angry red sentence in Potter's handwriting on the back of his hand. It was still releasing worryingly high amounts of blood at a very fast pace.

So Potter was capable enough to cast an undetectable glamour charm. He had underestimated him.

Or perhaps someone else had done it for him.

But that was beside the point...

"How long has Professor Umbridge been using a blood quill in her detentions?" He spat the name in contempt, practically radiating anger.

Potter seemed taken aback and spooked out by it.

"Err, she only just used it today." Potter lied.

"Do Not take me for a fool, Potter." He sneered at the boy, crossing his arms. "The wounds wouldn't be this deep, if it had only been used today." Why was Potter lying about this? Surely, he would want Umbridge to be punished for what she had done to him...?

Was it the famous Gryffindor pride? Another sneered insult tugged on his lips, but it wouldn't do him any good in this situation.

Potter was losing blood very fast and Snape wanted to get Potter to the hospital wing before he...

As if on cue, Potter swayed dangerously.

"Potter!" Snape said in alarm, grabbing his right shoulder tightly to hold him upright.

Potter blinked a few times. "I'm fine Professor."

"Of course you are." He said sarcastically. "That's why you would have lost consciousness without my aid. Because you are FINE." He spat the last word like a curse.

"We are going to the hospital wing." He led him firmly by the shoulder. Potter looked like he would try to bolt any second if he didn't, despite the boy's draining energy.

Besides, it wouldn't do anyone any good if the boy-who-lived injured himself by fainting.

Luckily no people were around to see this peculiar scenario.

And the hospital wing was only one floor away.

"Whatever reason made you believe this keeping silent about this was the solution?" Snape asked. He needed to keep Potter from falling over, even if that meant talking to him. And he had to admit, he WAS curious. "Did you want to play the tragic hero?"

Potter glared at him. The effect was lost though, since he was still too weary and unsteady to look threatening at all. Potter looked a lot younger and more amusing this way.

"I...I didn't want her to win." He said between gasps for air. "This was between the two of us and I didn't want anyone else to be hurt because of this. Besides... nothing can be changed anyway. It would cause more harm than good if I told anyone." And he shrugged as if this way of thinking was the most normal thing in the world.

"That is...an extremely foolish thing to do." Snape said, looking over at Potter again.

He didn't seem to be lying. But he still got the feeling that he was hiding something. Still, even if this was only part of the truth, it was disturbing already.

"And selfish. Didn't you think of all the other people she might have been hurting during these detentions?"

"She wasn't... I had detention with her every day this term... she didn't have time for anyone else." Potter proclaimed protectively. He seemed delirious now and didn't appear to know what he was telling his most hated (or maybe second

most hated) Professor.

Snape decided to take a chance and ask something that he would never have asked any other time. But Potter probably wouldn't remember this anyway.

"And your suffering is less important than other people's?"

"Yes." Snape was taken aback by the fast answer. "Of course it is." That was...unexpected.

"Potter, you-" But Potter wasn't listening anymore. His eyes were closed and he was falling to the floor before Snape could even utter a cushioning or levitating charm.

That's why all he could do was catch the boy, who was surprisingly very light.

He looked down at Potter, checking for a pulse. He exhaled in relief when he felt that the boy's heart was still beating, albeit worryingly slowly.

Luckily, the hospital wing wasn't far away. He levitated Potter and hurried to it as fast as he could.

"Severus! What is the meaning of this?" Poppy asked as he entered, before seeing the skinny boy he was levitating behind him.

Her alarms had alerted her to someone entering.

"What happened?" She asked when she set eyes on the boy and started examining him.

"Professor Umbridge used a blood quill on him." He didn't bother to hide his fury.

"That is... that means..." She paled as she summoned the necessary potions to get the boy into a stable condition.

"You should record his injuries." Snape said. "And a written diagnostic charm for every non accidental injury. That will be enough evidence to get her at least fired. And if it isn't, my memories will help."

"Severus, you know that I need the consent of a guardian for that unless-"

"...There is enough evidence for abuse committed by them." Severus finished. "You forget, Poppy, that it can also be used to determine the severity of the injuries should the student's life be in danger."

"But-"

"In this case, we should definitely use the charm just to make sure. There ARE signs of abuse. Just not committed by the guardians, but a professor."

This evidence was necessary to get rid of Umbridge.

Not even the corrupt ministry could bend that.

A history of all non accidental injuries, was the most trusted record of all.

Once Harry was stable, Pomfrey waved her wand over the unconscious boy.

It looked like a slow breeze was moving all over his body and Poppy knew that it would record every non accidental injury Harry had ever suffered in his life.

The written diagnostic charm only worked that way.

And Poppy couldn't say she wanted it any other way. She had always had her suspicions about the boy's home life, but never had enough proof to do one.

A parchment appeared in her hands with letters quickly filling it. The parchment grew as the entries grew.

It showed the date and exact type of injury.

Poppy sighed gravely as she read through it. Though she had expected it, the extent of what had been going on was heartbreaking.

This attracted Snape's attention and he started reading it over her shoulder.

A gasp almost escaped his lips when he read through the various burns, welts, bruises and broken bones that had been inflicted to Harry Potter over the years. They painted the picture of a very abusive home life. Snape wanted so badly to think that Potter just got into a lot of fights with other children, but the frequency and exact date of the injuries was evidence against that.

He was startled by what he saw.

Once the parchment was finished, she waved a wand to make a copy of it. Then she returned to her office, Snape following without question, closing the door behind him.

"The domestic abuse has to be reported separately." At least some good had come out of this whole blood quill fiasco.

There was no way Harry would be allowed to stay with his current guardians after this.

"You have to be discreet about this," Snape warned, trying to sound as if this whole thing hadn't shaken him to the core.

He wasn't an occlumens for nothing. "If this gets out to the press-"

"Harry doesn't like attention, Severus!" She exclaimed. "Especially not THIS kind!"

"That wasn't what I was referring to." He said dangerously. "If you had been as kind as to hear me out, you might have realised it." He paused for a moment, then continued, "It isn't advisable for this to leek out to the press, because it would make it easier for the ministry to discredit Potter's and Albus' credibility. Potter would be seen as an abused child who tells lies to get the attention he never had when he was small. And Albus... would be discredited for leaving him there without checkups." His anger welled up at even thinking about that.

It seemed like Poppy felt the same way. "Well, he would certainly deserve that!"

"This isn't about what he would deserve. This is about the war, and Albus plays a key role in it."

There was a moment of silence in which Poppy seemed to be going over everything that they had just discussed.

"I know, Severus..." Poppy sighed finally. "It's just that, I want someone to pay for it. I want him to know that it was wrong." Snape didn't know which 'him' she was referring to exactly. But judging from the protective tone of voice, it was Potter.

He put that information into the back of his mind for later consideration.

"The harm our esteemed defence Professor caused should be enough to get her to Azkaban." It didn't matter what the ministry did, hours of torture daily for the past month were impossible to overlook. Snape still couldn't believe Potter went through that without complaining to anyone.

Though, maybe it wasn't surprising, considering what stood on the rest of the parchment.

Umbridge's misdeeds would come to life.

And they were documented on this very fake-proof parchment. There was a spell the ministry could use to control its credibility.

The only problem was... "This has to be sent in anonymously." He announced. In order for it to work, every part of the parchment had to be seen. Only that way could it be proven as unmistakably real.

"What about Professor Umbridge?" She spat the name. "Won't she mention whose it was at her trial?"

"Yes..." Snape said pensively. "That is why we should have unspeakables write a written confirmation of its credibility and then only show that part."

PMFAF

When Harry woke up, he didn't want to open his eyes.

He felt so comfortable, so numb.

He must have been using the quill a lot to achieve this level of emotionlessness.

Then it hit him.

The quill! Snape! He remembered Snape finding out about it... but everything else after it seemed fuzzy and distorted. What had he told Snape?!

He sat up instantly, his calmness completely forgotten.

"Harry! You're awake!" Someone said. "I think you should lie down." It was Hermione's voice.

"Yeah, mate." Ron added. "You don't want Pomfrey on your case." He looked towards the voices. He couldn't make out anything besides red and bushy hair.

"Oh... wait," Hermione said, holding something out to him. "Here you go."

He gladly put his glasses on and looked around. "Why am I in the hospital wing?"

"Er...well... I think you lost a lot of blood during one of your detentions with Umbridge." Ron's ears turned red. "That toad-faced bitch finally got what was coming for her!"

Hermione, for once, didn't have any reaction towards his choice of words.

What was going on?

His confusion must have shown on his face, because Hermione spoke up, "You won't like this, but everyone knows of your detentions with her."

"What?!" He asked, shocked and furious. "How?" He had an idea, a dreadful one, but he still hoped that wasn't what he thought it was...

"There was an article about it after Umbridge's trial-" Ron tried to explain.

"What trial?" He asked, getting more and more overwhelmed.

Hermione and Ron shared a look, which Harry hated.

"After what she's done to you... all this time..." Hermione said, clearly upset about it. "Getting you in a coma due to severe blood loss for a week-"

"A week?!" Harry asked incredulously. He couldn't believe this. This couldn't be happening.

Hermione just nodded. "Well, the ministry couldn't let this continue and had to dismiss her from the job."

"She should have been sent to Azkaban if you ask me." Ron said angrily.

Harry frowned at him.

It looked bad, but it wasn't that bad.

Certainly, no one, not even the toad whom he loathed should be sent to Azkaban over him.

Especially since he had actually liked it.

Hermione gulped and Harry knew that he wouldn't like what she was about to say next. "So, there was an article in the prophet about how you didn't say anything for a month, because you wanted to use your injuries to get attention from everyone once it was found out. They made it all about you and not the ministry."

Why? Why did they have to spread lies about him? Why couldn't they just leave him alone? He clenched his fists in anger.

He longed to use the quill already. To make this anger go away.

And to have some semblance of control, when the ministry controlled how everyone saw him!

"Why did this have to come out?" He asked in frustration. "Why did Snape have to take this so damn seriously!"

It was all Snape's fault. He bet the man did this just to destroy his life.

If he hadn't forced him to show him his hand this wouldn't have happened.

Everything could have continued the way it had been.

There wouldn't be a bloody article about him in the prophet! His friends wouldn't look at him so pityingly!

And most importantly, he wouldn't have lost the only thing that seemed to give him at least a bit of relief from this chaos that had become his life!

"Are you serious Harry?" Hermione asked incredulously. "He saved your life."

Snape might have saved his life, but he would have gladly died if it had meant that none of this would have happened!

For a moment, he was shocked at that

thought.

It must have been his anger speaking.

"Yeah, I know, but he still shouldn't have told the whole world."

"It wasn't him, it was the trial that a reporter witnessed." Hermione defended. Then she looked very concerned again and it made Harry uncomfortable. "And you should have told us yourself Harry! You shouldn't have lied to us about them! We were so worried when we heard about what happened..."

"Yeah, mate, you could have trusted us." Ron added.

"Er...I'm sorry, I didn't want to worry you." Harry mumbled, looking away from their worried expressions. It was so hard to take that.

"It's okay, Harry." Hermione said, putting a comforting hand on his, making him look up while trying to suppress a flinch. "But promise you'll tell us if someone's hurting you from now on."

Well, he couldn't promise that. The Dursleys were bound to hurt him again and he was certainly not going to tell anyone. "Promise."

Ron and Hermione smiled at him and Harry forced himself to return the gesture.

"Mr. Potter," Madame Pomfrey said, coming into view. "You are finally awake, I see."

Harry wondered why she hadn't come out earlier. Maybe she had wanted to give them some time alone?

She checked over him, then said. "It appears that you're doing quite well. All you need is rest and many good meals." She looked at the two pointedly when she said rest, but they didn't seem to get the message. "This rest should be taken ALONE."

"But-"

"You can come to see him again tomorrow." Hermione and Ron left reluctantly, knowing that arguing wouldn't help.

"How long do I have to stay here?" Harry asked urgently, sitting up straighter.

Pomfrey gently pushed him down into a lying position.

"Only a few more days, if you REST."

She gave him some disgusting potions and instructions not to leave the bed. Harry had enough time to see one of his school books lying on one of the chairs, before sleep claimed him.

He wondered if there was some dreamless sleep potion mixed into all the other potions. Maybe not and he was just exhausted.

He dreamed about using the blood quill again.

J