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Note that this chapter is kind of somber, but it will get happier! I promise! Inevitably there will be happiness! I'm not one for depression and writing it isn't my forte – so it will get better for poor Harry! I promise!)
In the Midst of the Night
Chapter 4 – Sanctuary Amongst Garbage Cans
Severus was left startled and starting after the boy as the child weaved between the people on the busy streets of Diagon Alley. What was it that the Potter boy had said? Green light? Scary man who hurts people with his wooden stick? His stomach churned with the meaning behind the Harry's earlier words. What had the child saw?
He sighed and ran a hand through his midnight black hair. What was he to do now? It was lucky that he had walked over when he saw Draco standing outside the bookstore by himself and Harry had been there as well. But now that the child had run off again, he wasn't quite sure he'd be as lucky as he was before. For a while, he stood in the middle of the street looking around with his arms crossed and a dark scowl upon his face.
After a moment, he pulled his ebony black wand out and muttered, "Point me." There was a faint tug and Severus followed it. He was led towards the end of Diagon Alley and when the spell ended, he repeated the words once more. The jerk towards a darker alley made his insides wrench and he cautiously trailed the pull of the spell.
Vaguely, the professor wondered what harm could befall a child in Knockturn Alley at this time of day. Already the sun was beginning to set and it painted an array of blues and purples across the sky where the faint twinkling of the stars could be seen. By nightfall, the scavenger hags and necromancers would be on the prowl. Who knew what else would be out at that time?
~*~
Harry sniffed as the breeze nipped at him playfully. He wore only his new, light robes and the outfit Madam Malkin had had him try on. With a shiver, he wiped away what traces were left of his tears. It was getting dark now and he felt particularly lonely in the solitary alley he had hidden away in. Slowly, he stood up and found himself gasping painfully as he leaned against the brick wall for balance. His earlier excursion had left his weak muscles sore while his invisible welts and bruises were trying what self-control he had left.
Despite his will, still more tears fell freely from his seemingly glittering emerald green eyes. With his other sleeve, he wiped them away and looked around, an arising sense of distress welling within him.
He ran away – again. What had he been thinking? – blurting out the nonsense about the green light and the scary man with the dreadful wooden stick? Harry knew what the consequences of such talk were and yet he let the wicked words spill so effortlessly from his lips. He didn't even know the man! Sure, he had billowing black robes that looked sinister, yet familiar all at once. And all right, so he came from a mysterious school called Hoggerts, a name that sent waves of warmth through him, but why was any of that important? – it wasn't! The boy didn't know a single solid fact about Professor Severus Snape!
Yet why was it that that was the sole person he now wished to find most?
Harry treaded down the alley with a cautious air thick about him. Shadows seemed to creep around him and he felt as if he was being watched. Though, whenever he turned around, there was never anyone there. The winds were howling now and made the hairs on the nape of his neck stand and he shivered – though not from the cold. There was something…
"Child," hummed a soft lilting voice nearby. The boy jumped and whirled to his right where he saw a hunched woman cloaked in thick black robes. "Why are you wandering all alone? It's dangerous in Knockturn Alley at night," crooned the stranger. She advanced slowly as if she were floating rather than walking. "Who knows what lingers, waiting for unwary drifters…"
Her voice had dropped leisurely into a calm whisper and Harry stood transfixed at the figure. In his peripheral vision, the child saw a green haze, creeping stealthily towards him. Quickly, he turned to dash away with a sudden swell of fright arising within him. The ache at his side was protesting again, he noticed as still more panic crawled revoltingly in his stomach. He put his hand to the hidden contusion as if to ward away the pain, but all it did was slow the pace at which he ran so desperately.
It was almost as if he could feel the stranger chasing him, but when he chanced a backward glance, there was no one to be seen. The agony in his side seemed to throb twice as painfully and with tears welling in response to the smarting bruise, he slowed his gait to a careful trot. His instincts bid him to keep running away, to leave the scary feeling behind, but his body rebelled forcefully. It was too much effort for such a tiny creature and he was now feeling for the foolery of his reckless exertion.
Emerald eyes scanned the near empty street for a safe place to hide. He had run away from the orphanage many a time and was skilled in finding refuges in sheltered corners and alleys. Harry spotted a cluster of glinting silver garbage cans nearby and made his way towards them, making sure to keep wary eyes out for the terrifying woman who sang her words and others that might wish to do him harm.
The old saying that children learned when they were very young came to mind. "Never speak to strangers," instructed a very masculine male voice. One would believe that it was the voice of the raven haired child's inner father. Being so bold and baritone, it was just the ticket to strangely comfort poor little Harry. He rubbed away scorching crystalline tears that had not ceased to fall from his verdant colored eyes and sniffed almost inaudibly as to not attract attention from any other wanderers on the lonely street.
I mustn't – mustn't ever talk to strangers again, he repeated, trying to shrink within himself behind the trashcans.
His mind drifted to the very last time he had tried to run away after an unmerciful beating from Mr. McKinnon. Harry had raced away that night through the window commonly used as an escape route by the boys. The orphanage master, however, never bothered to barricade it. With no where to go and no notion on how to survive, his charges always returned, despite the fact that a thorough thrashing would welcome them. At least the dreadful place offered food and shelter – of which neither were accessible on the streets of muggle Manchester to the sheltered orphaned boys of St. Mary's.
On the night that the just-turned six year old Harry Potter ran away through the carelessly open window, he had roamed the midnight street with a sense of temporary freedom. Just barely healed from a birthday surprise from Mr. McKinnon, he walked with soreness stirring in his muscles down to his very bones. The night was much like the one today and it was nearing autumn so the weather was chilly, but not cold. The clothes that Harry wore (new and stolen from the laundry before his escape) did little to keep away the chill, but he hadn't minded – the feeling of liberty was wide awake in him and he was content just to be away from the horrible orphanage that was his unwanted home.
Still a child, he had known what dangers lay in walking by oneself in the night streets of the lower area in Manchester, yet the stories fabricated by the elder and more experienced boys of the orphanage lay unheeded in the carefree and momentarily satisfied child. His walk, regardless of a slight limp from a sprained ankle, was lighthearted and spirited. He was a happy boy on the day only a week after a previously forgotten sixth birthday.
Never did he notice that he had wandered down a strange lane and, unbeknownst to him, a shifty figure watched him under a hood of a ragged cloak just one block ahead.
When the hand snaked around his mouth from the alley and the free arm wrapped around his waist, Harry was too stunned for even a small shout of surprise to escape his already covered lips. He was dragged forcefully and painfully into the deserted alley where even cats and rats dared not to tread. When he struggled, the arm fastened more tightly across his abdomen making his ribs cry in protest and so he stiffly let himself be drawn away – out of sight of whoever might wish to help a pathetic street urchin.
He was thrown unceremoniously against the brick wall of the passage and he slumped upon the filthy ground, wide emerald eyes looking in fright at the seemingly giant of a man that towered above him.
"All 'lone at nigh', youngster?" drawled the stranger, and the child could smell the reek of alcohol.
Harry hadn't responded and was forcefully pulled almost off his feet as the man gripped his collar with a strength that had terrified the boy. A whimper had escaped his lips and he could still remember the burning sensation that smoldered on his cheek after a particularly severe backhanded strike.
He hadn't whimpered again afterwards.
The next morning, he was found by a patrolling policeman. The young officer, new at his job, had called for backup at the horrendous sight of the ruthlessly beaten child of whom he wasn't sure was still alive and hours later, Harry lay on a hospital bed, feeling almost comfortable despite his pains. He later learned that the new police officer had resigned after seeing such a brutal display and had visited the child to say that if such things were what he would witness on a day to day basis, the job was not one he wished to have.
After a few days and many instructions on how to quicken the healing process by the kind nurse that had watched after him, Harry was left in Mr. McKinnon's care. The boy had admitted to running away from the orphanage and once back home, days later, another beating – worse than usual – would ensue.
Harry never ran away again after that.
He sat there amongst the trashcans and thanked the heavens for a hiding place at the moment, despite that rancid smell that emitted from his protectors. If he were to be abducted like before, he doubted he would be so lucky as to have another officer discover him. This place was one that Harry had never seen or been to before and the people that had been littered about the street earlier were ones that children were always taught to be wary of.
No one would care for a misplaced child in this place, though Harry with a shudder. And no one would come after me if I was seized again. It was a thought that sent more tears to well in his eyes and he wrapped his arms about himself. For a long time he sat there, just thinking random thoughts with his mind running through the events of that day.
Maybe it was all just a dream. Maybe it was something he had just made up. At least, he hoped it was. Perhaps he would be awoken by Aden in the middle of the night – back home at the orphanage. Could this just be a nightmare?
But Harry, wishing hard though he may have been, knew that this was not so. His nightmares consisted only of the green light, the scary man, and the wooden stick. Nothing else plagued his subconscious mind except the fear stirred by the strangely familiar and frightening 'magic'.
How long would he sit there, amongst the trashcans that were his haven? Where would he go? Surely Mr. McKinnon wouldn't take him back – not after what had occurred just that morning…would he? Harry shook his head, reminding himself that high hopes for a wretched orphan such as he were always dashed to the ground – further into a merciless, bottomless pit.
But it was hard for him to keep another thread of faith swell in his heart. Perhaps…No, thought Harry forcefully. No, no, no! I mustn't think such things, I mustn't, mustn't, mustn't! Yet, the sliver of hope would not go away.
Would the strange…what was the word? Ah, yes, 'wizard', was what the man had called himself. Would the strange wizard come to his rescue again? Would the man named Professor Severus Snape of Hoggerts School of Crafts and Wizardry save him from the despair that had enveloped him? He was someone who sent a familiar feeling throughout the child. The man sent waves of warmth rushing through the boy whenever the word Hoggerts fell so easily from his lips. Perhaps it wasn't too much to hope for? Perhaps the Professor would come for him…
Harry squeezed himself further against the wall when a prickly sensation tickled his spine. That feeling of fear he had felt earlier was back, and it sent heaps of shivers running down his body. His eyes were wide, trying to see everything in the midst of the night and dread welled in his chest when he saw a recognizable hunched form making its way towards him.
Eyes like a cat's peered brightly and directly at him – red with slits of black running down the middle of the eerie pupils. He could almost taste and smell the smirk of victory as the woman who sang her words sauntered closer with the air of triumph swirling about her.
"Why did you run, my pet?" she whispered and her voice soared by like soothing summer breezes, yet Harry felt the black coldness of ice within the depths of her tone. A hand slipped free of the pure darkness that seemed to be her cloak and it reached towards him. The paleness of it was staggering and the child, captivated by her voice, could only stare as she loomed closer. She grasped onto his shoulder with a force that snapped Harry from his trance and he bit down on his lip. It seemed as if every ache and pain he felt just after Mr. McKinnon had given him a thrashing after dropping the plates was multiplied by the thousands. His scream of pain reverberated down the alley and ricocheted off the brick walls.
In a flash Harry had jumped up, the woman releasing him in her surprise, and pushed past the garbage cans that had been a momentary asylum from his terrible reality. He raced away but felt as if he was getting nowhere, for the melodic tinkle of laughter from the woman who sang her words was always just at his feet.
"You needn't be frightened," he thought he heard her say, but he wasn't sure. All he could hear was the loud thumping of his heart; it was beating so hard that he thought it might burst against the chest on which it pulsed so painfully. He didn't notice the tears that slipped down his dirt caked face, nor did he detect the still clanging trashcans he had knocked so hastily aside.
All that Harry could discern was that he was running – running for his life.
~*~
Professor Snape had only been fifteen minutes into his search when the idea of leaving the blasted Potter child in Knockturn Alley had assaulted his already vexed mind. The thought did well in putting a smirk upon his face (take that James Potter!), but his inner Albus swiped the spiteful scheme away in a flash.
Quite reluctant of reporting his failure to the only person he trusted and respected, he languidly pulled a pad of parchment from one of his many pockets, and a quill to match. His eyes scanned the street and landed upon a familiar store. It was simply named 'Owlery'. Severus walked in with a purposeful stride, writing his note quickly. He demanded Jerold's fastest owl and being a known man in this end of town, he was served at once. With an owl to Dumbledore on its way, the potions professor let a sigh of fatigue escape his lips as he left the owlery.
He was tired and his potions book was still idle from disuse in the dungeons. Now he would have to have either a night tossing and turning, thinking of the unmade potion, or he would simply have to spend those same hours making the potion he had been deprived of brewing earlier.
Both seemed like unappealing choices and he owed them both to Harry bloody Potter.
It seemed like hours on end that he trotted through Knockturn Alley. The point me spell was good for one thing – bringing the wielder into a more general area in which to search. Severus nearly growled with frustration and could tell that the spell would do no more. He had used it to the point of exhaustion and once the peak was reached, it would fail to accomplish its task in confusion – the magic pushed so fully to its length. Once when he was a boy, this was still a lesson unlearned and he had gotten himself into a further maze of his manor's forest than he had started in.
So it was that Severus walked dejectedly about, his ill-tempered aura even more pronounced than usual. In his wandering, he seemed to have overlooked that the sun had disappeared past the horizon and only a blanket of darkness covered the city with almost indecipherable specks of light twinkling down at him as if in a taunting manner. The moon was a weak crescent that barely emitted its usual luster of luminescence. It seemed as if it was disheartened by the overwhelming cloak of black that was the midnight sky.
He sighed, on the verge of giving up his search for the insolent brat called Harry Potter when he heard a scream pierce the night and a clang of trashcans a distance away. Metal clashed against metal and he heard the bustle of what sounded like a frightened animal scurrying away.
What he found was a child racing down the street as if from Satan himself.
Severus took an involuntary step backwards and stared past the figure he recognized as Harry at the surreally glowing Specter that glided behind him. He brandished his ebony wand. "Potter, move!" he yelled and saw the boy fall upon the ground before he let loose the words that would destroy a dark shadow creature – however powerful – from the mortal world. Instead of the green light that the child was used to seeing, crimson light, deep as the color of blood, jetted from the end of his wand.
A shriek even worse than the first cry he had taken to be Harry's exploded from the phantom's lips as the crimson light seemed to eat away at the glowing brilliant white light that she was made of. He grasped his wand tightly, willing himself to ignore the tantalizing Specter's Shriek, and forced more of his power into the spell. Her eyes so red sparkled malevolently at him and she cut her scream off to curse him in her banishment, but the blood red light crawled into her mouth. Her horrible eyes widened and she seemed to grow brighter before Severus' spell of crimson death exploded within her, splintering her glowing white image into sheer splinters of her former form. Only the echo of the Specter's Shriek was left in her wake.
Professor Snape wiped sweat from his brow from the effort of holding such a spell in place for how long he did – though only a minute did it take up. His breaths were ragged but still he made his way down the street to check on the boy.
Harry still lay upon the ground, unmoved from the position from whence he fell. Severus knelt down and shook the boy's shoulder roughly, whatever tranquility left within his person dispersed at the sight of the Specter. The boy was limp to touch and the man was surprised to see the child's face purple with bruises. With slow gasps escaping his lips, Severus could tell that Harry was alive. Magical residue was left around the boy and the elder man's eyes rose in a mixture of astonishment and wonder.
"Concealment charms," he muttered to himself, confusion plain in his voice. He sighed and shook his head before slipping his hands under the boy and hoisting him up with a grunt. Near weightless, Harry was not a burden to carry to the nearest floo sector.
The duo soon arrived within the headmaster's office. Severus saw Albus stand quickly in surprise as the normally twinkling blue eyes dimmed once they were set upon the unconscious boy in his former student's arms. Agreement was flashed in their eyes and they left the room, their destination the Hospital Wing.
Once there, Albus rushed to awaken Madam Pomfrey as Severus gently placed Harry upon the bed. The child was as white as the sheets on which he lay and his breathing seemed to be even more labored than they had been when he lay unmoving upon the cobblestones of Knockturn Alley. Poppy Pomfrey was quick to get to work in a dire situation – she was one of the best healers in the magical community and didn't ask questions until after a patient was stabilized. With a stern look shot towards the two men standing anxiously to the side (one more obviously distressed than the other), she began drawing sigils of power in the air and runes of healing as well. Dumbledore and Severus walked together out of the room.
Albus looked to his ex-pupil with grief swelling in the depths of his sapphire blue eyes. "How could I have let this happen, Severus?" he wondered, shaking his head. "Was I so blind in my search for the boy?"
Severus, as much as he wanted to comfort his mentor, had urgent news. "He has practiced magic, Albus," said the man softly. The headmaster looked up quickly. "I hadn't seen any of his injuries at first glance at the orphanages – only when he collapsed later. He used concealing charms to hide his wounds."
The elder man sighed and looked as if the weight of the world hung upon his shoulders. "Some children see things in the fire or levitate their pets when their magic awakens within them…Harry Potter hides all traces of a beating," he murmured solemnly, almost to himself.
It was a hard thing to hear, even for Severus, in spite of his rough upbringing. Needless to say, he responded curtly. "I've a potion to brew in the dungeons, headmaster," said the potions master. "If you'll excuse me…?"
Albus looked at him blankly for a moment before the corners of his eyes creased with the hints of a smile. "At least some things always stay constant, eh, Severus?" It was more of a relieved statement than a curious question and the younger man smiled one of his rare smiles.
And with that, in a swirl of billowing black robes, Professor Severus Snape, potions master of Hoggerts School of Crafts and Wizardry, turned and walked away.
~*~
Author's Note: (this is the end of the chapter by the way)
Hi again! Finally, another chapter! I'm terribly sorry for such a long wait! For this spring break we went on a trip to Florida for the week and though I had planned to have this chapter out before I left, it was only half a page finished on Friday (and it was a bad half of a page, by the way).
Hopefully it turned out all right…to me, it sounded awfully sad! Depressing really if you think about it. Anyway, tell me what you think! I can't believe it, I have 76 reviews after only three chapters! Perhaps this story is interesting after all, eh? Lol I'm glad you like it! Please join my mailing list! Info about it is at the beginning of this chapter.
There is a plot, ladies and gentlemen, readers of my story! I promise and I'm thinking and thinking about it. Hopefully it'll be clever and interesting…lol, I can only hope. I love plots like that. We'll see how smart I am when I write when this is all over – probably, my disguise of being intelligent will slip away and you'll find the naked truth – that I'm an awful plot developer!
Actually, at the end of this chap, I was going to have Severus faint – just to have him faint. It didn't work out that way – he told me he would never faint and thus I had to hand over the ending to him. He's rather quite insistent about things and rather funny when he gets in a huff (looks like a ruffled chicken he does!), I had to hand it over! He just insisted on the billowing black robes too – what a dramatic! (my silliness is clogging my brain. Sorry!)
If you have any questions, just ask!
Ok, I'm just taking up space so…
On to the responses to reviews!!!! (Note that in the last chapter I didn't get to respond very much – it was because I was up late finishing that chapter and mommy was kicking me off the computer, sorry!)
Immortal Rose: :o) you liked Draco, did you? I'm glad! I wasn't quite sure how I was going to portray him (he's one of my fave characters so hopefully he'll be in the story more…), but the words just slipped from my fingers and resulted in what you read in chapter three. I wanted to make him a cutie…hopefully I succeeded. Thanks!
Fallen Dragon: thanks for the compliment about the story! Sorry the update came so late!
Tick Tock: hehe, glad you think it's sweet! This chapter is sinister though, not quite so sweet as much as bitter sweet…did that make sense? lol
Diagonalist: YAY! You thought the chapter was good! I've read your stories and loved them unquestionably and I'm honored that you read and reviewed my story! Lol, ok. Yes, Severus is rather dull about dealing with Harry, but all he can see when he looks at the boy is a miniature James Potter. He doesn't want to be nice to the boy at all…yet he expects Harry to stay put at trying times when the signs of abuse are clear before him! I wonder if it's my lack of skill in explaining or if it's Severus' character that makes him that way…lol. Don't worry, don't worry – as you can see, Harry's in safe hands now at least. The fun part, and rough part I admit, will come soon enough. Thanks!
Kateri: Yes, Harry is a very poor child! I sympathize for him. :o) I'm glad you sympathize for Severus too! Lol, he's doing something he really doesn't want to do and for him, he's doing a rather okay job of it, no?
Kenomee: I'm glad you're following the story and I'm immensely happy that you reviewed! It makes me relieved that you think I'm portraying Harry well. In this chapter, Severus saw the reason for which the injuries that Harry acquired were invisible. :o) I wanted Severus and Draco to be on positive terms and quite warm ones from the beginning. Draco seems so lonely, despite the fact that he has two mindless lackeys in the books, and I wanted him to have a friend, someone he could turn to. Thanks!
Rayvern: Thanks for pointing that out! It's worded strangely and after reading it in context again, I found that it does sound strange. I'll be sure to have that fixed when I get the chance. Thanks again for notifying me about that error!
Jade: Yay! You think this story is original? That's a relief – I tried putting a twist in the story in this chapter. I wanted something different. Your review sent a burden flying off my back!
Mikee: Hehe, I remember your last review! Very polite with the 'thank you's, you are, and it doesn't go unappreciated I assure you. :o) At Madam Malkin's I wanted to portray Harry as a muggle boy first seeing magic – he was that very thing anyway! Severus was too busy thinking about how much he loathed the boy that he didn't explain a whit about magic to Harry. If he had, perhaps the child wouldn't have run away from him in Ollivanders, no? Yay! You liked the Draco encounter! (I'm going to start calling it that, it's mentioned quite a lot by people… ' the Draco encounter'…lol, it has a ring to it!) Yes, I pictured him as a stiff child and by how much he mentions his father in the books, I made sure to keep him dependent (is that the word I want? I'm not sure) on his father's influence. 'Father says this…father says that…' You know the drill. Thanks for the review! I believe your answers in the review are in this chapter. :o)
Elfmoon87: Hehe! I figured that I'd apply Harry's dreams to what he was seeing around him – it's much the same isn't it? – if you can guess what his dreams are about, it's rather apparent I think. I'm glad you liked Draco! It was too hard to resist him acting like an adorable child and hugging someone he views as a confidante and a favorite uncle…lol :o)
Jlilies: thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked it and here is another chapter, even after so long a wait.
Melissa Jooty: Yes, I believe that Harry is doomed to have a rough upbringing – unless of course he doesn't (that doesn't make sense…). I'm glad he's cute, I love childish behavior. I myself am as short as they come and am in love with Disney movies and pooh bear so I'm not against it at all :o) it's rather quite fun – I suppose I'm one of those unwilling to grow up…another peter pan if you will, though my name is Sea Chelle, nicknamed many things, Smalls and Mikachu among them. I'm not opposed to childish things, I love them. (excuse my silliness, this review seems to be writing itself! And the author would be the goofy part of me I guess. It's not my fault I assure you.) I'm interested in his soon to be developing relationship with Severus. At the moment, I'm not quite sure how that will go, but they'll tell me sooner or later. Snape is, right now, hard to talk to – only wanting to brew that blasted potion he's forever thinking about. Glad you liked Draco! He was fun.
Lady Foxfire: Haha! Your review was funny. I'm glad you like Harry's reactions! Your pen name is familiar, have you reviewed one of my stories before? Perhaps I've read one of yours…I'm not quite sure…
Yiota: I'm glad you like my story! Hmm…I was rather worried about my portrayals of the characters. I suppose that I developed them in contradiction to their cannon personalities. I was afraid of this! Ah, well, it's rather hard to write as if I was in another author's shoes – it's difficult for me (especially) to follow the guidelines set down by others in concordance to what others see the characters as. Oh, well. Your philosophy of Harry is astonishing, really. I like it, even if my story contends to the theory. It was really intelligent sounding though – I like intelligent sounding things. (there I go sounding stupid again. Forgive me.) Thanks for the review!
Barbara: Two in a row! I'm glad you liked the story too! Most of the…what do you call them? They aren't flames but… I shall call them squabbles. Spread the word if you will! I rather like it…I found it in MWord's thesaurus so I hold no claims to it. Let the grapevine do its work. Anyway, most of these squabbles pertain to Draco and his personality. I suppose I did a wrong with him? I don't know though, it's how I like him…not truly evil and annoying like a little brother who I see as a mosquito that I keep swatting at and won't go away. Anyway…yes, poor Harry! I don't think Severus will ever be nice. Severus and 'nice' don't seem to go together very well. Perhaps understanding would be better…? But I don't think he's very capable of that either. Thanks!
Them Girl: Another reviewer I recognize! I'm glad you think Snape was in character. Do you still think so? Even after this chapter? You are the second one to sympathize with our dear Severus – yes, the abused child is rather a handful. Lol :o) You've got to love the kid though I guess. Thanks!
Tantz: Hello again! Lol, I believe that your cliffhangers are worse than mine! First you pull the reader in, then spit them back out leaving them…(ah, I see why they're called cliffhangers now…) hanging! (That's not meant to sound bad, it's really astonishing how writers accomplish them really – you're very good at it and I admire you for it.) Anyway, glad you liked Draco :o) – and his relationship with Severus!
El Borla Cynara: I'M SORRY! I don't know how I could have skipped your review! (Oh, for shame, Sea Chelle!) How absolutely horrible of me! Thank you for reviewing though! I'm terribly sorry! Oh, how awful of me! I'm glad you reviewed last chapter though, and thank you for telling me! I'm delighted that you like the story so far and here is another chapter for you :o) Lo siento again! By the way, is your pen name in Spanish? I'm currently taking Spanish 3 and some of the vocabulary pops out of my mouth. I was just curious is all. Thanks again, and sorry!
Phoenix Flight: Yes, Harry did 'let the cat out of the bag' as you put it so perfectly! He blurted out what he saw in his dreams to Severus! Oh horror. Ah well, perhaps the tide will calm, he tends to overreact doesn't he? Sadly, in this chapter, the two don't get to discuss it. It even seems as if Severus forgets about it in the action – don't worry! It has only momentarily slipped his mind! Thanks!
Izean: I remember you too! Your pen name is so original, how could I forget it? (unless I'm remembering it out of thin air and I really don't recognize your pen name…) yay! I'm glad you don't think that the last chapter was awful! – and this one? Awful, awful? Or rather, depressing and sinister? (I'm sounding silly again! Sorry! It still isn't my fault.) 'The Draco encounter' is mentioned again! Yes, it was different from the books, I rather tried to make it like that because I believe that Draco is putting on a show – a rather good one though, eh? I liked how Mikee mentioned it earlier – Draco is a stiff child, no? hehe, thanks!
Geministarz: haha! Chibi-Harry…what a wonderful thing to call the child! It's a rather cute name! lol I remember your pen name as well! Again, unless it is being remembered out of thin air too. Thanks!
Amy Potter 13: a new reviewer in our midst, ladies and gentlemen! (am I right? Hopefully, how awful if I'm not! Perhaps today I'm pulling lots of things out of thin air. Where has my mind gone? Ah, I know, it's still in Florida along with all the clothes I didn't buy because I was feeling lazy. How stupid of me.) Hurray! I'm glad you liked the story!
Soul: hmm…I'm not quite sure I can see what you mean by Severus seeming like Harry's father. Please enlighten me! I wouldn't want to send that picture out to anyone!
Kitty: lol, yes, very, very poor Harry…especially after this chapter, eh? I'm delighted to know that you think my story is interesting so far! Hopefully that won't change after this chapter.
Anora: Thanks for your review! I'm trying to explain the reactions of things, but it's HARD! Lol, I don't know how some authors do it so well! Thanks again!
Usagibuffy: yay! You loved it! A new twist, you say? That's phrased nicely :o)
Barbara: hmm, are you the same as the other one? Yes, a pause did Severus have. Wooden sticks indeed eh? And green light? Yes. :o) lol!
Charm1219: hehe, short and to the point aren't we? Bravo! Though, as an author, I must admit that I prefer longer reviews – that isn't an insinuation at all! Lol, ok, perhaps I should stop talking…writing now? Thanks!!!!!!!
Carey Miles: I agree with your sentiment about SS and HP. Yes, I also agree that Draco's appearance was, sadly, a very short one! He's one of my faves too! Don't worry, our favorite blonde will make a bigger debut! I hope. Harry got a wand because…well, I suppose I should write about that first…sorry! Thanks!
Crup: haha, cliffhanger! This one isn't one, lol. Cliffhangers are fun though! They give me something to work with! Sometimes I get writers block if I don't have excitement at the end of a chapter. Don't worry, I don't believe this will be the case. We've still got to get Severus talking with Harry, no? As for Harry and Draco becoming friends…that's rather hard to foresee…I suppose we shall have to find out! Thanks!
Feye Morgan: I'm glad you think my story is good! However, if you wish it, I can name many that are a hundred times better! I shall email you titles if you wish :o) But I'm ecstatic that you liked mine!!!!!!
Bailyy: I'm happy that you like Harry! Hehe, here's another chapter for you! Thanks for your review!
Phoenix Tears Type 6: Yes, he is clueless isn't he? I wanted to show what he would act like before he found out about all of that. Another chapter for you as well! Thanks!
Meg: Mil gracias, chica! I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for reviewing!
LilBratyChild: Thanks! I'm delighted to know that you think that this is a great story! Haha! Yay!
Dragon Bad Faith: lol! I got your review the moment after I posted chapter four! Hopefully you caught it…:o) thanks for reviewing!
RaistlinofMetallica: lol, your review was another funny one! Glad you like the story so far. I guess this chapter shows you more about what happened to make Harry the way he is and explains a bit about why he is how he is…thanks!
Thanks for all your reviews everyone! I think the responses are longer than the chapter itself…lol! Remember the word squabbles! Isn't it fun? Reminds me of chickens. Anyway, thanks again!
Lotsa love,
Sea Chelle