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Degree of Fear
By OcelotKitten
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Between the flares of rushing flames, glimpses out of many fireplaces could be seen. A house . . . a business . . . another house . . . then the Hogwarts hearths began appearing. Snape watched carefully and when he saw the Hogwarts Infirmary, he stepped out, gently pulling Harry with him. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office at the noise, and cried out in shock. She was horrified at the boy's condition, and barraged Snape with questions about what had happened to him as she bundled the boy into a spare bed. Snape only got out of the Infirmary after insisting that he had to meet with Dumbledore, and promising to return as soon as possible to answer all her questions. Pomfrey relented when he reminded her that the stairwell to Dumbledore's office was very close by, and he would be back quickly. Having finally made it out, Snape made his way to Dumbledore's office. The sleepy gargoyle guarding the door was at first inclined to be surly, but it moved aside at Snape's use of the password (Sugar Quills), and Snape stepped onto the moving staircase.
As soon as Snape entered the office, Dumbledore's pet phoenix, Fawkes, fluttered over to him. The bird began singing mournfully, sensing the Potion Master's mood. Snape stroked the bird's head for a moment, as Dumbledore watched him questioningly. "I take it the news is not good, Severus?" Dumbledore said. Snape shook his head slowly, "No, Albus, it is not." He related everything that had happened with the Dursley's, as Dumbledore listened, speechless. When Snape had finished, Albus sat for a moment in silence. Even the paintings on the walls seemed speechless about what they had heard. Then, Dumbledore seemed to find his voice and said, quietly, "Severus, I am shocked. I knew that those people weren't the best we could have left him with when he was young, but I thought that they would be best considering that they were the only family he had. Now, I can't help but feel responsible for placing him in that situation."
"You couldn't have known, Albus. None of us could have," Snape said softly, "If he had taken his owl with him, he could have gotten word to us, but he left her with Hagrid, knowing what it would be like with his . . . family." Snape spat the last word like a curse.
"Indeed," Dumbledore said, "Well, there is nothing for it now, he is here, and here he shall remain unless and until we can find a place for him."
"I feel somewhat responsible for him, Albus," Snape said hesitantly. A raised eyebrow was Dumbledore's only response. Snape continued, "I treated him so badly for so long, keeping alive ancient grudges, and now I can't help thinking that I never gave him enough of a chance while I was trying to make sure that he didn't get too much of one. Seeing him today like that . . . I don't know, I'm finding it hard to hate him anymore."
"I had no idea that it would come in this way, but do you know that was my intention in having you check on him? To perhaps have your opinion of him change."
Snape snorted, "Yes, I thought as much."
"Well, after all that's happened to him, he's going to need a friend until the summer ends, and his classmates come back. Severus, this may be the perfect chance for you and he to learn to get along."
Snape was at first offended by the idea, and almost said so, but something in the back of his mind gave him pause. His reaction was instinctive, but as he thought about it, Snape realized that he didn't find the idea of a summer spent in the company of Harry Potter quite so abhorrent as he once had. Granted, the idea didn't exactly appeal to him, but no more so than it would have been with any other student. 'What's happening to me?' Snape wondered, 'There was a time when the notion of me voluntarily spending even two minutes with Potter was ludicrous.' Such thoughts also brought up the uncomfortable question of why Snape had helped Potter in the first place, and Snape wasn't quite ready to deal with that yet. Which was a bit sad, he mused, what was second nature to so many, to help one in need, when done by him, was a noteworthy occurrence, and needed scrutiny.
Suddenly, he became aware of Dumbledore still watching him, waiting for his response. He said, "Sorry, Albus. Perhaps you are right." A small smile ghosted across his face, "Although it will be strange when the students come back, they are so used to he and I being at each other's throats."
It was plain that Dumbledore hadn't expected to have Snape's agreement with so little fight. He smiled, obviously pleased, and said, "They should be about finished with him in the infirmary, why don't you go check on him."
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AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter one, even when I had upload problems, and everything was globbed together. I know that I'm not explaining much about Snape's motivation (I don't think even he knows yet), or about why Vernon was so nasty to Harry even in front of Snape (there is a reason, I promise). Never fear, all will be explained. And this is not just another "Snape-Saves-Harry" story. I am really trying to make it different from those that I've read. And for those of you wishing that Snape had simply beaten the snot out of Dursley, don't worry, he's gettign what's coming to him.
Degree of Fear
By OcelotKitten
__________
Between the flares of rushing flames, glimpses out of many fireplaces could be seen. A house . . . a business . . . another house . . . then the Hogwarts hearths began appearing. Snape watched carefully and when he saw the Hogwarts Infirmary, he stepped out, gently pulling Harry with him. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office at the noise, and cried out in shock. She was horrified at the boy's condition, and barraged Snape with questions about what had happened to him as she bundled the boy into a spare bed. Snape only got out of the Infirmary after insisting that he had to meet with Dumbledore, and promising to return as soon as possible to answer all her questions. Pomfrey relented when he reminded her that the stairwell to Dumbledore's office was very close by, and he would be back quickly. Having finally made it out, Snape made his way to Dumbledore's office. The sleepy gargoyle guarding the door was at first inclined to be surly, but it moved aside at Snape's use of the password (Sugar Quills), and Snape stepped onto the moving staircase.
As soon as Snape entered the office, Dumbledore's pet phoenix, Fawkes, fluttered over to him. The bird began singing mournfully, sensing the Potion Master's mood. Snape stroked the bird's head for a moment, as Dumbledore watched him questioningly. "I take it the news is not good, Severus?" Dumbledore said. Snape shook his head slowly, "No, Albus, it is not." He related everything that had happened with the Dursley's, as Dumbledore listened, speechless. When Snape had finished, Albus sat for a moment in silence. Even the paintings on the walls seemed speechless about what they had heard. Then, Dumbledore seemed to find his voice and said, quietly, "Severus, I am shocked. I knew that those people weren't the best we could have left him with when he was young, but I thought that they would be best considering that they were the only family he had. Now, I can't help but feel responsible for placing him in that situation."
"You couldn't have known, Albus. None of us could have," Snape said softly, "If he had taken his owl with him, he could have gotten word to us, but he left her with Hagrid, knowing what it would be like with his . . . family." Snape spat the last word like a curse.
"Indeed," Dumbledore said, "Well, there is nothing for it now, he is here, and here he shall remain unless and until we can find a place for him."
"I feel somewhat responsible for him, Albus," Snape said hesitantly. A raised eyebrow was Dumbledore's only response. Snape continued, "I treated him so badly for so long, keeping alive ancient grudges, and now I can't help thinking that I never gave him enough of a chance while I was trying to make sure that he didn't get too much of one. Seeing him today like that . . . I don't know, I'm finding it hard to hate him anymore."
"I had no idea that it would come in this way, but do you know that was my intention in having you check on him? To perhaps have your opinion of him change."
Snape snorted, "Yes, I thought as much."
"Well, after all that's happened to him, he's going to need a friend until the summer ends, and his classmates come back. Severus, this may be the perfect chance for you and he to learn to get along."
Snape was at first offended by the idea, and almost said so, but something in the back of his mind gave him pause. His reaction was instinctive, but as he thought about it, Snape realized that he didn't find the idea of a summer spent in the company of Harry Potter quite so abhorrent as he once had. Granted, the idea didn't exactly appeal to him, but no more so than it would have been with any other student. 'What's happening to me?' Snape wondered, 'There was a time when the notion of me voluntarily spending even two minutes with Potter was ludicrous.' Such thoughts also brought up the uncomfortable question of why Snape had helped Potter in the first place, and Snape wasn't quite ready to deal with that yet. Which was a bit sad, he mused, what was second nature to so many, to help one in need, when done by him, was a noteworthy occurrence, and needed scrutiny.
Suddenly, he became aware of Dumbledore still watching him, waiting for his response. He said, "Sorry, Albus. Perhaps you are right." A small smile ghosted across his face, "Although it will be strange when the students come back, they are so used to he and I being at each other's throats."
It was plain that Dumbledore hadn't expected to have Snape's agreement with so little fight. He smiled, obviously pleased, and said, "They should be about finished with him in the infirmary, why don't you go check on him."
__________
AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter one, even when I had upload problems, and everything was globbed together. I know that I'm not explaining much about Snape's motivation (I don't think even he knows yet), or about why Vernon was so nasty to Harry even in front of Snape (there is a reason, I promise). Never fear, all will be explained. And this is not just another "Snape-Saves-Harry" story. I am really trying to make it different from those that I've read. And for those of you wishing that Snape had simply beaten the snot out of Dursley, don't worry, he's gettign what's coming to him.