A/N: Whoa. 14 reviews already?! Did I ever tell you guys that I love you? I do. Lovelovelovelovelove.
Disclaimer: J.K owns all her characters. I own any original characters I may decide to throw into the fray...uh, yeah.
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"Severus?"
The words echoed throughout Severus' head, causing an aching pain each side when it did. He slowly opened his eyes - he was still on the sofa, though the pains in his arm and leg were considerably less noticeable, though they did sting a little with every oulse that ran through his body. He saw Remus' face swim over him, his face awashed with concern. Severus sat up, with little difficulty. Remus' shoulder had been healed, and was resting in a bandage for support.
"Werewolf...what-" the memories of what had happened suddenly came flooding back to him, causing another ache in his head,
"Werewolf, is Harry-?"
"Harry's fine, Severus. He's still asleep, as far as I know. We took him upstairs. You can go check on him if you want."
Severus lifted his legs over the stack of pillows lined up at the bottom of the sofa and slowly got up. He swayed a little, but nothing too dizzying kept him from striding over to the staircase and procceding to climb it, the steps creeking everytime he put his weight on them.
"Werewolf, which one is he in?"
"The second one on the left. It's the most comfortable and the one with the most light."
Severus climbed a few more steps, waking up some angry potraits ("Damn staircases, can't you wizards apparate up them instead?!") and walked along the dusty corridor to the second door on the left. He took a deep breath before slowly opening it (and to his surprise it didn't make a creeking sound like almost everything else in the house did), and walked inside. The only bed that was in there was empty.
"Potter....Harry?"
Severus looked around, and found a shivering bundle of rags in the corner. He slowly walked over to it, and placed a hand on top of the rags and pulled back the sheet.
Harry seemed to be asleep, though shivering madly. He was hugging his knees to his chest in a somewhat protective manner. His face was sheet white, even whiter than what Severus' skin naturally was.
Severus' face dropped. He looked at the floor, then at Harry, and decided to carry him back to his bed.
As soon as Severus placed his hands under Harry's knees to pick him up though, Harry awoke with a start, and shouted loudly at the top of his lungs.
Severus jumped a foot into the air and stumbled backwards. He simply stared at Harry for a second, before snapping out of his stupor and rushing forward to try and calm him down.
"Harry, Harry, shush-"
"No, not the belt, not the belt...never..." Harry still had his eyes shut - Severus figured he must be having a nightmare. Severus placed his arms on Harry's shoulders and shook them.
"Harry!!"
At that moment Harry's eyes snapped open - the colour still hadn't returned to them, and they remained a dull grey-green.
It took Harry a moment to realise where he was, before remembering when he had stayed here when a number of adults, including Snape, were having a meeting downstairs.
"...Proffesor? What am I..." Harry looked at his hands, as if something disgusting were on them. He raised them to his face and cupped his facial features into his palms.
And Harry cried.
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Here was Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, Quidditch hero, defeater of Voldemort on a number of occasions, crying his eyes out in front of - on to - Proffesor Severus Snape, the most (or one of) despised teacher in Hogwarts. Harry had his face in his hands, with his forehead on Proffesor Snape's chest.
"Harry..."
Severus patted Harry's head once, before realising just what he was doing and raised Harry's head with his fingers on Hary's chin - he wasn't about to turn caramel on Potter just yet.
"Harry, whats wrong?"
Harry blew his nose on the sheets, and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands, "Vernon. He....haunts me. In my sleep. He won't leave me alone. He's still out to get me."
"Harry, no ones coming to get you. Not while...the Werewolf and the Order and..." Severus hesitated, "...not while I'm here."
Severus stopped - Did I just say that? He thought frantically. He looked Harry in the eyes.
"Harry, I know you don't like it, but let me use Legilimency on your mind...it might get things off your chest. A Bit...yes?"
Harry nodded weakly. Severus bore into his eyes, like he usually did at school, but not in his usual menacing way. A number of images flashed through his mind...when Vernon had ripped up Harry's photo album containing all his pictures of his friends and parents, when they had him at knife point when he refused to make them their dinner, when he watched Vernon customising the belt...
It seemed Harry also saw these images, because right after the belt image, he flinched. He also whimpered, and did a terrible job of hiding it. It was obvious he didn't want to see his least favourite teacher seeing him cry.
"Harry, get into bed and get some rest. I have some things to do."
Harry tried feebly to get up from his corner of the room, but slipped back down the wall. Severus put his left hand under Harry's knees and his right under his arms, and carried him over to the bed. He pulled the sheet over him, and Harry only twirled the corner of the quilt around his finger.
"...Proffesor Snape? I don't want to be a bother. I know you don't like me."
Severus spun around, a look of hurt on his face, "Harry...you're not being a bother. Not one bit. Get some sleep, I'll be back later. Werewo...Remus and Molly are downstairs, if you need someone to talk to."
Severus looked out of the window for a brief second, before apparating out of the room, taking some of the air surrounding him with him, resultng in a 'pop'.
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"Petunia, it's that freak again! Get the-"
Vernon's call for his rifle went unfinished, as Severus had him up in a chokehold against the wall. His eyes bore into Vernon's, revealing his memories....the day they found Harry on the doorstep, the day they celebrated his fifth birthday by giving him paperclip and locking him in the cupboard, the day when he tried to shoot Hedwig, while Harry screamed for him to stop...
Severus smirked evily.
"So, so...whadda ya gonna do to me now, freak? Gonna pull a rabbit out of a hat and hope I'm allergic to them?£ Vernon seethed, just as evily.
"Give me a moment. Hmm, let me think, which curse should I use? Oh, there's so many painful ones...but, hmm, I think i might have just the one," Severus replied, half sarcastically and half evilly.
"Relivio Crucio o Harry Potter!"
Vernon suddenly started screaming as what seemed as loud as a jet plane taking off. He suddenly stopped, and dropped to the floor, twitching and rolling over in pain. He was actually crying, too.
Severus smirked so evily it wasn't human.
"Oh, and incase you're interested, that's a rather recently discovered curse. It lets you relieves all the physical and emotional pains of a person, in this case, Harry Potter. So. You know how much pain you've caused him now? Not that you'll be able to do any more damage, we're going to keep him far, FAR away from you. And if you come within a mile of him, I'll know, and you WILL be sorry."
Vernon was still rolling around on the floor screaming, but Severus was sure he had heard. He looked around the room - the muggle house itself was quite sophisticated.
Something shining in the light caught Severus' eye. He walked over to the bottom of the fireplace and picked up a small glossy piece of paper - a photo, in fact. James and Lily Potter were pictured in it, holding a baby Harry Potter in their arms, with a train station in the background.
Severus smiled, warmth spreading throughout his body. He couldn't hide it. Even if James had made his life hell in earth, it was certainly a happy little memory. He quickly wiped the smile off his face and turned it into a smirk. He turned around to face Dudley Dursley, an obese little boy with the face of a pig.
"Hmm...'cording to what I saw, you caused quite a little havoc with Harry too. I think you should have a little of this, but I feel it would further warp you're already warped, evil mind. So I think it take it down a notch. Consider yourself lucky. Crucio."
Severus said the spell almost lazily, as the bolt hit Dudley in his thigh. He fell to the floor, twitching and writhering in pain, along with Venron who was still shouting considerably loud.
He was enjoying them suffer so much, he didn't hear Petunia come down the stairs, armed with Vernon's rifle. And she was crazy enough to do it, too.
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Ooooooooooh! Bad Petunia! smack Don't you dare lay a finger on my Sevvie! NO!
Disclaimer: J.K owns all her characters. I own any original characters I may decide to throw into the fray...uh, yeah.
- - - - - - - -
"Severus?"
The words echoed throughout Severus' head, causing an aching pain each side when it did. He slowly opened his eyes - he was still on the sofa, though the pains in his arm and leg were considerably less noticeable, though they did sting a little with every oulse that ran through his body. He saw Remus' face swim over him, his face awashed with concern. Severus sat up, with little difficulty. Remus' shoulder had been healed, and was resting in a bandage for support.
"Werewolf...what-" the memories of what had happened suddenly came flooding back to him, causing another ache in his head,
"Werewolf, is Harry-?"
"Harry's fine, Severus. He's still asleep, as far as I know. We took him upstairs. You can go check on him if you want."
Severus lifted his legs over the stack of pillows lined up at the bottom of the sofa and slowly got up. He swayed a little, but nothing too dizzying kept him from striding over to the staircase and procceding to climb it, the steps creeking everytime he put his weight on them.
"Werewolf, which one is he in?"
"The second one on the left. It's the most comfortable and the one with the most light."
Severus climbed a few more steps, waking up some angry potraits ("Damn staircases, can't you wizards apparate up them instead?!") and walked along the dusty corridor to the second door on the left. He took a deep breath before slowly opening it (and to his surprise it didn't make a creeking sound like almost everything else in the house did), and walked inside. The only bed that was in there was empty.
"Potter....Harry?"
Severus looked around, and found a shivering bundle of rags in the corner. He slowly walked over to it, and placed a hand on top of the rags and pulled back the sheet.
Harry seemed to be asleep, though shivering madly. He was hugging his knees to his chest in a somewhat protective manner. His face was sheet white, even whiter than what Severus' skin naturally was.
Severus' face dropped. He looked at the floor, then at Harry, and decided to carry him back to his bed.
As soon as Severus placed his hands under Harry's knees to pick him up though, Harry awoke with a start, and shouted loudly at the top of his lungs.
Severus jumped a foot into the air and stumbled backwards. He simply stared at Harry for a second, before snapping out of his stupor and rushing forward to try and calm him down.
"Harry, Harry, shush-"
"No, not the belt, not the belt...never..." Harry still had his eyes shut - Severus figured he must be having a nightmare. Severus placed his arms on Harry's shoulders and shook them.
"Harry!!"
At that moment Harry's eyes snapped open - the colour still hadn't returned to them, and they remained a dull grey-green.
It took Harry a moment to realise where he was, before remembering when he had stayed here when a number of adults, including Snape, were having a meeting downstairs.
"...Proffesor? What am I..." Harry looked at his hands, as if something disgusting were on them. He raised them to his face and cupped his facial features into his palms.
And Harry cried.
- - - - - - - -
Here was Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, Quidditch hero, defeater of Voldemort on a number of occasions, crying his eyes out in front of - on to - Proffesor Severus Snape, the most (or one of) despised teacher in Hogwarts. Harry had his face in his hands, with his forehead on Proffesor Snape's chest.
"Harry..."
Severus patted Harry's head once, before realising just what he was doing and raised Harry's head with his fingers on Hary's chin - he wasn't about to turn caramel on Potter just yet.
"Harry, whats wrong?"
Harry blew his nose on the sheets, and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands, "Vernon. He....haunts me. In my sleep. He won't leave me alone. He's still out to get me."
"Harry, no ones coming to get you. Not while...the Werewolf and the Order and..." Severus hesitated, "...not while I'm here."
Severus stopped - Did I just say that? He thought frantically. He looked Harry in the eyes.
"Harry, I know you don't like it, but let me use Legilimency on your mind...it might get things off your chest. A Bit...yes?"
Harry nodded weakly. Severus bore into his eyes, like he usually did at school, but not in his usual menacing way. A number of images flashed through his mind...when Vernon had ripped up Harry's photo album containing all his pictures of his friends and parents, when they had him at knife point when he refused to make them their dinner, when he watched Vernon customising the belt...
It seemed Harry also saw these images, because right after the belt image, he flinched. He also whimpered, and did a terrible job of hiding it. It was obvious he didn't want to see his least favourite teacher seeing him cry.
"Harry, get into bed and get some rest. I have some things to do."
Harry tried feebly to get up from his corner of the room, but slipped back down the wall. Severus put his left hand under Harry's knees and his right under his arms, and carried him over to the bed. He pulled the sheet over him, and Harry only twirled the corner of the quilt around his finger.
"...Proffesor Snape? I don't want to be a bother. I know you don't like me."
Severus spun around, a look of hurt on his face, "Harry...you're not being a bother. Not one bit. Get some sleep, I'll be back later. Werewo...Remus and Molly are downstairs, if you need someone to talk to."
Severus looked out of the window for a brief second, before apparating out of the room, taking some of the air surrounding him with him, resultng in a 'pop'.
- - - - - - - -
"Petunia, it's that freak again! Get the-"
Vernon's call for his rifle went unfinished, as Severus had him up in a chokehold against the wall. His eyes bore into Vernon's, revealing his memories....the day they found Harry on the doorstep, the day they celebrated his fifth birthday by giving him paperclip and locking him in the cupboard, the day when he tried to shoot Hedwig, while Harry screamed for him to stop...
Severus smirked evily.
"So, so...whadda ya gonna do to me now, freak? Gonna pull a rabbit out of a hat and hope I'm allergic to them?£ Vernon seethed, just as evily.
"Give me a moment. Hmm, let me think, which curse should I use? Oh, there's so many painful ones...but, hmm, I think i might have just the one," Severus replied, half sarcastically and half evilly.
"Relivio Crucio o Harry Potter!"
Vernon suddenly started screaming as what seemed as loud as a jet plane taking off. He suddenly stopped, and dropped to the floor, twitching and rolling over in pain. He was actually crying, too.
Severus smirked so evily it wasn't human.
"Oh, and incase you're interested, that's a rather recently discovered curse. It lets you relieves all the physical and emotional pains of a person, in this case, Harry Potter. So. You know how much pain you've caused him now? Not that you'll be able to do any more damage, we're going to keep him far, FAR away from you. And if you come within a mile of him, I'll know, and you WILL be sorry."
Vernon was still rolling around on the floor screaming, but Severus was sure he had heard. He looked around the room - the muggle house itself was quite sophisticated.
Something shining in the light caught Severus' eye. He walked over to the bottom of the fireplace and picked up a small glossy piece of paper - a photo, in fact. James and Lily Potter were pictured in it, holding a baby Harry Potter in their arms, with a train station in the background.
Severus smiled, warmth spreading throughout his body. He couldn't hide it. Even if James had made his life hell in earth, it was certainly a happy little memory. He quickly wiped the smile off his face and turned it into a smirk. He turned around to face Dudley Dursley, an obese little boy with the face of a pig.
"Hmm...'cording to what I saw, you caused quite a little havoc with Harry too. I think you should have a little of this, but I feel it would further warp you're already warped, evil mind. So I think it take it down a notch. Consider yourself lucky. Crucio."
Severus said the spell almost lazily, as the bolt hit Dudley in his thigh. He fell to the floor, twitching and writhering in pain, along with Venron who was still shouting considerably loud.
He was enjoying them suffer so much, he didn't hear Petunia come down the stairs, armed with Vernon's rifle. And she was crazy enough to do it, too.
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Ooooooooooh! Bad Petunia! smack Don't you dare lay a finger on my Sevvie! NO!