A/N: Surprised from that last chapter? The best is yet to come! Rose and I were very happy to have all of your reviews; they were very kind and we thank you lots. hugs everyone Now, on to what's happening next: Sev's reaction!

Disclaimer: Lalala, we don't own it, lalala.

Last chapter:

Severus was lost. "Ligamentum Frater?" he repeated.

"Literally translated it means bond brother. You two are now brothers in everything but blood."

Chapter 4-Yes, Perceptions CAN Change

"WHAT!?!" He couldn't have heard right, there was no possible way this was happening to him. He was...was bonded to...to Potter...His mind just could not wrap itself around that notion. The Potter he loathed with every ounce of his being was now his...his...brother. He shot a truly awful and evil death glare at the Headmaster for whom he bestowed full responsibility of this disastrous event.

Albus sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He should have known Severus would be difficult, why was he so surprised? Perhaps some part of him had held out hope that the man would be happy to have someone to look after and talk too besides Albus. By the man's murderous expression, he was absolutely wrong. "Severus, please calm down," he tried to soothe the man by putting a hand on his shoulder only to have it shrugged off.

"I will not calm down. Are you trying to tell me I am bonded to Potter? Bloody, arrogant, big-headed Potter?!?!" It just didn't seem conceivable; the Fates must really hate him. Which deity had he pissed off enough to do this to him?

While Albus cared for Severus very much, even thought of him as his son, he would not tolerate this behavior. Harry was just as important to him and none of those things that Severus proclaimed him to be. Why couldn't the man see reason?

"Severus, be reasonable; Harry is neither arrogant nor big-headed. And yes, you are bonded---and you know nothing of your bond brother."

As if on cue, and before Severus could say anything, Harry started twitching and whimpering, clutching the Potions Master's black robes all the tighter. Severus struggled under the weight and the boy's hold but soon found his world fading into darkness. Eventually someone deemed it time for him to see again and he found himself in a small muggle kitchen where the smells of fresh bacon and eggs were so enticing that his mouth began to water. He shook himself from his thoughts (and ignored is rumbling stomach, he hadn't been able to bring himself to eat dinner) he concentrated on his surroundings. It was, as he had previously observed, obviously muggle and a quick glance out the window brought to mind a suburb; none of that helped much at the moment however.

"So just where the hell am I?" he muttered to himself as he returned to examining the small space, this time focusing on the stove where more of the delectable smells were originating. It was then that he spotted Harry keeping a watchful eye on the two skillets. Curious despite himself as to what the boy was doing (though he would never admit it to anyone but Merlin himself) he moved to stand at the boy's shoulder. Harry, he was surprised to see, maneuvered the food around with the ease of an expert. By the sheer amount of food the man knew it wasn't for him alone; the boy was rail thin at the best of times, wraith-like at worst. Much like he was, Severus thought with a grim smile. The way he moved told the man that he did this quite often, even if he as only seven in this memory (as this obviously was.) Now why in the world had he been pulled into this, Severus wondered.

The quiet peace (and Severus's musing) was shattered in the next instant when the entire house began to shake as someone pounded (surely they weren't just walking?) down the stairs. The Potions Master was startled not only by this but the expression of absolute terror on the boy's face. What had caused that?

A second later he found out why.

"Boy!" The purple-faced muggle roared, seizing Harry by the shoulder and tossing him to the ground. Severus winced when he thought he heard a crack. "Why isn't breakfast finished? I will not have my family starve while we wait on your lazy ass!"

Little Harry cowered away from the man, eyes darting around the room for some means of escape. Severus, instincts that he didn't know he had aroused, reached for him but could do nothing but watch in horror as the boy's relative (must have been his uncle) beat the boy into "submission." After a time Harry stopped fighting, emerald eyes becoming glassy. Something deep within Severus grew numb at that sight, finding it much to like his own past for comfort.

Eventually the beefy monster ceased his punishment and let Harry to salvage what he could. Severus sank to his knees beside the boy and reached out to touch him once more. When his hand met the shoulder Harry became a teenager, fourteen or fifteen by the Potions Master's estimate, obviously during the summer before his fifth year. He was on his knees, scrubbing the floor clean of his own blood. Severus shivered as he gazed swept over the boy; there was no shirt to hide his scarred back and chest. Onyx eyes grew wider still when the large uncle entered with no warning, this time with a whale-like teenager in tow; this one had to be Harry's cousin. The whale kicked the bucket of soapy pink water aside and pinned Harry to the floor while the uncle heated something up on the stove. The Gryffindor squirmed for all that he was worth under his cousin but only succeeded in hurting himself more. When the uncle finally revealed what his tool of punishment was, Severus snarled in rage, leaping to his feet.

"You BASTARD! Don't you dare do...." He trailed off as the man walked through him and whipped around just in time to see the man apply the red-hot poker to Harry's back. The dark-haired boy's screams of agony echoed so loudly within the man's ears he was sure his ear drums would burst. This "punishment" went on several more times before either relative was satisfied enough to leave Harry to lick his wounds.

Severus looked deep into the emerald eyes, seeing the tears leak from them. Already he could feel some part of him, his heart (when did he get one of those?) begin to beat again, and beat for this young child. Slowly, ever so slowly Harry pulled himself up and made a move to treat the serious burn but the horse-faced aunt swept into the kitchen and screeched at him to clean up his mess. The boy fell to his knees with a wince and went back to scrubbing and Severus felt his world fading back to reality.

"THAT SODDING, ARROGANT, ASININE, BIG-HEADED, FUCKING.....!" The curse words poured like water from Severus's lips as he woke to find himself back in the Headmaster's Tower.

Albus, taken aback by this sudden outburst and not at all certain who it was directed at, blinked at the man in utter astonishment. He'd never heard such colorful language from Severus before. He was going to have to stop the man soon or the paint would start to peal from the portraits present.

"PIECE OF WORTHLESS SHIT WHO HAS ONLY HALF THE BRAIN LONGBOTTOM DOES....!"

Oh yes, that was quite enough. "Erm, Severus---something wrong? For a moment I was afraid you'd lost consciousness."

The Headmaster's comment brought the Potions Master from his thoughts of revenge, but instead of calming him down, merely gave him a new target. Onyx eyes narrowed; had it not been Albus who insisted that Potter return to those repulsive excuses for lower life forms that posed as humans every summer? Albus was certainly the one who had left the boy with them in the first place. Was he involved in any of this?

"Did you know?" Severus demanded with a hiss, clutching the boy in his arms rather tightly.

Albus was beginning to become worried; something truly awful must have happened to cause Severus to lose his temper on such a grand scale. It had been many years since he had seen that happen and he was not looking forward to witnessing it again. "Know what? Severus, what's the matter?"

If it was possible, the Headmaster's innocent nature only added fuel to Severus's fury. He had to have known, surely Potter would have come to him, whining about how he was treated. He began to shake with the effort to contain his emotions as he drew the small body closer to his. "Don't play innocent, old man! The Dursleys! Did you know what they were doing to him?"

Albus was at a loss; he had no idea of what Severus was speaking of but apparently what ever it was it involved Harry and it had angered the Potions Master enough to bring him to this state. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he paled lightly and shook his head, hoping Severus would at least enlighten him.

Seeing Albus's sincerely confused reaction allowed the dark-haired man to contain his temper somewhat but the lack of space not filled by anger was soon taken over by disbelief. Potter hadn't run to Dumbledore? But why on Earth not? It was the logical thing to do and if they pissed off a powerful wizard such as Albus Dumbledore, they would never have touched the boy in anger again. Severus's shoulders slumped; there was no way Albus could have been aware of this, he would not have allowed it to continue this long if he had. He turned the disbelieving gaze on his friend. "You mean he didn't tell you? Not even a hint?"

The Headmaster was truly scared now. What ever Severus was about to tell him he was not going to like. At all. "What happened?"

The Potions Master realized that he had to tell his friend. After the Dursleys, Albus was the next person in line to become Harry's guardian and if he wanted to see that done he would have to reveal the boy's secret. Feeling like he was betraying someone's confidence he silently raised Harry's shirt to reveal all.

Albus could not help but stare in disbelief at the sight in front of him. Harry's back (and by the way some scars trailed around the front, his chest as well) was a canvas of old scars and faded welts as well as a massive burn scar that went from his lower back up to his shoulders, spelling out FREAK in the damaged flesh. He reached out to hesitantly touch the scar before the implications came crashing down on him and he looked up at Severus, his cerulean blue eyes flashing dangerously. "They did this?" The Potions Master nodded. "How do you know?"

Severus sneered. "One of your 'side effects,' I saw his memories."

"That's what he was suffering from only moments before?" The other nodded and Albus sighed. "Well at least he seems to have calmed down now."

Albus always seemed to have a way of changing the situation, even if he only used words. Because after he said this, Harry slowly began to wake. Keeping his eyes closed the boy let out a contented sigh, happy for the rare opportunity to be surrounded by such comforting warmth. He opened his eyes, expecting to see Pomfrey standing over him, heating his blankets. In fact he would have sooner expected to see Voldemort and Umbridge ballroom dancing in frilly pink tutus before he saw himself clutching the robes of the Potions Master. He jumped back as fast as his body would allow, wondering how he had ended up laying on Snape's chest, clutching Snape's robes, using the Snape like a bloody teddy bear..."Pr—professor?"

Slowly sitting up, wincing as he did so, Snape returned the boy's gaze steadily. With those memories so fresh in his mind he could not force himself to be horrible to the boy and instead (much to his horror) found himself speaking civilly. "Mr. Potter, are you feeling better?"

Harry stared at the man with an open mouth. He knew he was performing a wonderful interpretation of a fish but somehow he couldn't bring himself to care. Who the hell was this man and what had he done with Severus Snape! Nodding slightly Harry said, "Actually, sir, I am."

This was his chance; Albus knew he had to tell Harry now while Severus was still in a somewhat amiable mood. If he waited too long it would slip away and possibly never regained. "Harry, there is something you need to know..."

Severus anticipated his friend's move and cut him off at the pass. "HOWEVER well you think you are, you still need to go down to Madame Pomfrey." He turned a pointed glare in Albus's direction, a clear message to keep quiet.

Albus frowned at the man but nodded all the same. "You should indeed pay a visit. Do you think you will be able to make it on your own?"

Harry looked back and forth between the men suspiciously for a moment. He had the oddest feeling that they were trying to hide something from him. Or, more to the point, Professor Snape was trying to hide something. Deciding not to dwell on it for now he got to his feet and took a few hesitant steps to practice. After a few feet and no falling he turned back. "I believe so, sir."

Albus nodded toward the door. "Then go now, tell her I would like you to stay the night. If she asks if anything further has happened, just inform her that I would like you to be observed for the night and ask for a sleeping potion."

Harry restrained a sigh; he was being left out of the loop again. It was beginning to get damn annoying. But he was not about to disobey the Headmaster over something so trivial. "Yes, sir." He nodded to both professors respectively before leaving the Tower with slow deliberate, steps.

The second the secret passage closed Severus rounded on the Headmaster. "Albus, do not tell him...anything."

Albus stared at the stubborn man in disbelief. While he had figured that he would not want Harry to know right away, he hadn't believed that he'd want to keep the boy totally ignorant about the entire situation. "You will have to tell him something and soon. The compulsions between the two of you will grow. We don't even know the full extent of what this bond will do to the two of you. It could be dangerous not to tell him."

The onyx eyes never wavered; his man was made up and he was not about to let the other change it. "I don't care, I do not want him to know."

The Headmaster, in an uncharacteristic bout of frustration, threw up his hands and glared at the dark-haired man. "Very well, Severus, I will respect your wishes. However," he held up a warning finger, "do not come complaining to me later when it begins."

Snarling a bit the Potions Master gathered his robes up and swept to the door. "Remember, not a word," he reminded before he slammed the door shut behind him.

Albus sighed and rubbed his temples. This was going to be a loooong year.

End of chapter 4

A/N: We all knew Severus was stubborn right? YEP! Well, it's only going to get worse before it gets better as the 'symptoms' of the bond start to set in not only in Severus but in poor ignorant Harry who may think he's going crazy before he ever finds out what is going on. Well, I must ask you to review so that I may see what you think. Tis but a little that I ask of ye.

PLEASE REVIEW!!!