Author's Note: Holy toe socks, look at the length of this chapter!! I couldn't find a good place to cut it, what can I say? Anyways, I saw HP3 at midnight Thursday night. The movie was great, much better than the other two, though they did cut out a lot and move some things around. I really really loved it though. The Dementors are the awesomest thing ever! So, I went with my group of forty. While waiting in line, the theater people came around asking HP trivia questions, and I answered one and got a Lego HP Night Bus. Very very cool. And then they actually seated us in the IMAX about an hour ahead of time and to pass the time, we had a big costume contest, based on applause from the audience. My friend was dressed as Draco (he looked so much like him with his hair gelled back I was flabbergasted.). Since I was dressed as Pansy Parkinson, we entered the contest together. It ended up between us and my other friend who was dressed as Harry, but since "Draco" and I hammed it up so much (putting on British accents, scowls, and really cool, stuck-up poses with our home-made wands), we won! We got a standing ovation, well by some at least. They gave us HP3 posters!! It was so fun!! Some of the group went to Starbucks and ordered their drinks under the names of the HP characters they dressed up as, so they all had them written on their cups when they got back. And then there were a bunch of little girls, and some older ones, exchanging HP stickers for hugs and autographs from two of my guy friends (the Harry and Draco). It was an absolutely fantastic night, though my voice is still a bit harsh from all the screaming/cheering before and after. Whew, anyways, I'm sure you all want to get onto the story, so here you go!!!
An hour later, the back door silently slid open. Vernon Dursley was strangely calm as he walked into the room where the four boys were sleeping soundly.
He had been so excited when his wife had told him that she had run into Harry at the store and that not only was the boy staying at the Stensons' again, but that they were all under the impression that Vernon was still in jail. The truth was that with the way the law system worked, he could not be held merely for the train-station incident and the Stenson's testimony. He had been let out within a day with a small fine and the ban for Harry to visit the Stensons being lifted.
He was somewhat surprised the Stensons didn't know he was out, but they obviously didn't if neither their daughter nor Harry knew about it. It wasn't as if he had been roaming Privet Drive a lot; he was spending most of his time searching for a job, something he was still certain that Harry had taken from him in the first place. He knew his nephew had been using his abnormality to make their lives miserable, and now he would pay.
Revenge on Harry had grown into a bit of an obsession for Vernon. How many times had he told himself that if he could have just one more chance to get his hands on the boy, he would make him regret all the things he'd done to ruin Vernon's life? Now was his chance and he would make sure to teach that boy a lesson he would never forget.
He first crept toward the closest redhead, George, who was sprawled lazily on his back. Vernon ripped off a piece of duct tape and knelt down beside the boy. He slammed the tape down over George's mouth, causing the boy's eyes to fly open. George tried to scream but his cries were too muffled to wake anyone. They were all heavy sleepers.
Vernon roughly rolled George onto his stomach and wrestled his arms behind his back where he secured them with a zip-tie. George could smell alcohol strongly on the man. Vernon secured another one around his ankles.
"I'll be taking this," he whispered evilly, snatching up George's wand, which he had laid next to his pillow.
George could do nothing but wriggle around and watch wide-eyed as the huge man made his way to Fred, who was lying on his stomach, fast asleep.
Vernon positioned himself over George's sleeping twin. He tore off another piece of the thick tape and slapped it over Fred's mouth as he slammed his knee into the boy's back, pinning him to the ground.
The first thing Fred saw when his eyes shot open was his twin. Their eyes both shown with fear and confusion as Vernon zip-tied Fred's hands and ankles and put the second wand in his back pocket.
The man was moving to Ron when Harry stirred. The twins began making as much noise as they could with their mouths taped shut to get his attention.
The raven-haired boy sleepily began to sit up to figure out what the strange muffled sounds he was hearing were, squinting through the darkness, but suddenly a large, beefy hand covered his mouth and slammed his head back into the floor.
Though he didn't have his glasses on, he still recognized his uncle's face looming over him. He desperately tried screaming and thrashing around, but his cries were muffled and he was no match for his massive uncle.
Vernon pulled a knife from his back pocket and struck Harry's forehead with the handle with enough force to cause a large gash and nearly cause him to black out.
Uncle Vernon fished around in his pockets and, with a malicious grin, pulled out a piece of fishing wire and flipped Harry onto his back where he tied the boy's wrists together.
Harry's vision was swimming and his head pounded angrily. As Vernon pulled the wire tight to make a knot, it dug into Harry's skin, cutting into his wrists. He hissed in pain, still trying to fight off unconsciousness from the blow to his head.
"Shut it boy or I'll just kill you now," his uncle whispered.
Harry's cheek was pressed firmly to the ground so that all he could really see was his best friend. Ron stirred and Harry silently willed him to wake up. The redhead's eyes fluttered open and widened as they met Harry's terrified ones. Ron momentarily wondered if this was another joke, but in seeing Harry's uncle, he knew it was something none of them would ever joke about.
Ron was about to yell but stopped as the knife was brought to Harry's throat and Vernon's eyes met his. Apparently, the man had noticed Ron's consciousness as well. Harry shut his eyes in fright and inhaled sharply as the blade grazed the sensitive skin.
"You make one sound, boy, I'll slit his throat and he'll be dead instantly. You got that?" Vernon growled quietly.
Ron reluctantly nodded silently, his eyes begging Harry for forgiveness.
Uncle Vernon placed his hand firmly over Harry's mouth and pulled his nephew to his feet, despite Harry's desperate struggling to escape.
"Remember, you: one noise," he warned Ron as he wrestled Harry toward the door.
Harry didn't want to know what his uncle would do to him if he got him out of the Stensons' house. As they passed a small lamp table, Harry kicked it with all his might, causing the table to crash to the ground along with the lamp on top of it.
"You little brat!" Vernon growled as he dragged Harry toward the door. Harry did all he could to kick his uncle's shins. Vernon, in a bout of fury, dragged the knife across Harry's upper arm, causing Harry to cry out against his uncle's hand as blood seeped down his arm.
He put the knife to Harry's neck and shot a warning look at Ron who was shaking with terror. The redhead didn't know what to do and was so worried that whatever action he took would result in Harry's death.
"Boys, what is going on down here?" Mr. Stenson called as he began to come down the steps, followed by Sirius. The two froze as their eyes landed on Harry, struggling against his uncle.
Harry shot Sirius a look of sheer desperation before he was thrown sideways into the kitchen. He crashed to the kitchen floor as Uncle Vernon slammed the door behind him. In a swift movement, the man upturned the heavy table against it. He then tipped over the huge bureau filled with the Stenson's best china. It crashed to the ground in front of the table, creating a greater blockade.
Harry could hear yelling and huge bangs on the other side of the door, but even Sirius's spells couldn't get the door to open with all the furniture blocking it.
Vernon turned to Harry, who desperately tried to scoot away, trying to ignore the shooting pains in his head. His uncle was in an incredible rage.
"Surprised to see me, boy?" he laughed maniacally. He picked up a huge glass plate and hurled it to the ground next to Harry.
"Help!" Harry screamed desperately.
"Harry!" came the muffled cries from the other side of the door, followed by a huge bang that didn't make any difference in the huge blockage.
"Help me please!" Harry screamed in terror as he tried to back away from his uncle as the large man quickly advanced on him. He was stopped by a heavy kick to the side that momentarily stopped his ability to breathe.
"You ruined my life!" Vernon bellowed with pure hatred, giving Harry a swift kick in the stomach. "You destroyed everything!" He picked Harry up by his shirt collar and threw him into an overturned chair with such force that it snapped off one of the wooden legs. "You're pathetic. You're worthless. You only ruin lives." He picked up a broken piece of china and hurled it at Harry, hitting him in the side of the neck. Harry cried out in pain and once again tried to scoot away, knowing it was useless. "We tried to care about you, but how could anybody love a piece of trash like you? Look at you. You make me want to vomit you disgust me so much. We should have thrown you into a river when you were dropped on the doorstep, but we tolerated you when no one else wanted anything to do with you. And this is how you repay us? By constantly ruining our lives? No wonder nobody wants you! No wonder none of your parents' freaky friends ever came to get you or even visit you. You're just a FREAK!"
Harry backed up along the ground as best he could.
"They love me. My godfather, he cares about me!" he protested. Even if it only incensed his uncle further, he wanted to make sure he got this across. "He loves me. He said so himself and he's going to kick your fat arse if you touch me one more time," he said in a panic as his uncle quickly approached, while Harry couldn't move very well with his hands tied behind his back and the few injuries he had received thus far.
Vernon reached him and kicked him very hard in the stomach, nearly causing Harry to vomit.
"Don't be a fucking idiot, boy! These people who say they care about you, like your precious godfather, they don't even know you. They haven't been around you long enough to know you like I do. And when they find out how you really are, and find out what a burden you are, they're going to hate you just as much as I do!" he growled furiously, picking up the broken chair leg as he advanced on his nephew.
Harry pulled himself to his feet with much difficulty and ran toward the drawer filled with knifes hoping to get something to defend himself with, even if his hands were tied behind his back. Halfway there, however, he was struck between the shoulder blades with a china dish that exploded on impact and knocked him to the ground.
There was nothing he could do as he felt several more pieces of china crash over his back and the backs of his legs. His body felt as if it were engulfed in flames. He tried to call for help once again, but the words died as his uncle's foot connected with his chest and stomach.
When he remained momentarily untouched, he sneaked a peek up at his uncle. The man was holding the chair leg up over his head with a look of unadulterated fury. Harry could not have possibly braced himself for the pain that came from the blow with the piece of wood. His back felt as if it had been ripped open, and the worst part was knowing that there would be more.
.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Mr. Stenson and Sirius were furiously trying to get into the kitchen. The females had heard the commotion and had come down the stairs, shocked to see the twins tied up, Ron shaking violently as he peeled the tape off the twins mouths. Mrs. Stenson quickly ran to her husband as the girls ran to the three Weasley boys.
"Hermione, do you have your wand?" Fred shouted desperately as Ron tugged helplessly at the zip-ties, not knowing how to get them off.
"No," she said in a frightened tone, "I don't carry it around during summer since we're not allowed to use them, but what's going on? Where's Harry?"
Kota quickly retrieved scissors from of her father's office. She raced back in and knelt in between the twins, cutting off the zip-ties as quickly as she could with her trembling hands.
Hermione held Ron as he shakily tried to speak.
"I didn't know what to do! He said he'd kill him if I yelled for help! I didn't…I didn't know…and what if he dies? This can't be happening! It can't…"
"Who said he'd kill who?" Hermione asked desperately.
"Harry's uncle. He's got Harry," George said shakily, face pale with fright. Kota clapped her hands over her mouth.
"Oh my God, we need to get through that door! His uncle's a bloody maniac! He'll kill Harry!" she said frantically.
"Ron, do you have your wand?" Fred asked his little brother. Ron closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Um. Um. We need to get Mum and Dad," George said wildly. "But the wards, we, we can't Apparate home anymore with all the wards."
"Um…Harry keeps that powder for going through the fireplace up in the guestroom," Kota said anxiously.
Ginny immediately jumped to her feet and raced up the stairs to find it.
"Okay, okay, we need to light a fire, but I don't know how without a wand," Fred said, sounding panicky.
Kota quickly climbed to her feet and ordered Hermione to grab the lighter from the desk drawer as Ginny raced back down the stairs with a small, green pouch.
They were just about to start a fire when flames burst up out of nowhere in the fireplace and the opening grew to allow people to step out.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hurried through the fire into the living room, looking disheveled. Their clothes looked as if they had been thrown on hastily and their hair was tussled as if they had just woken up.
"Mum? Dad?" Fred asked in shock.
"Where's Harry? What's happening?" Mrs. Weasley asked frantically.
"His uncle's got him in the kitchen! We're not sure what's happening but he looked like he was going to kill him!" George quickly explained.
Mr. Weasley ran to where the Stensons were and told them to step aside, standing next to Sirius. The two simultaneously shot spells at the door but the furniture blocking it on the other side prevented it from opening.
"How did you know to come?"
"The family clock. Are you alright?" Mrs. Weasley quickly asked her boys.
"Yeah, Mum, we're fine. Harry needs help," George said quickly.
Mrs. Weasley whipped out her wand and going to help her husband. On her way, she knocked Harry's pillow to the side, revealing his wand. Ron crawled forward and grabbed it, furious with himself for forgetting that Harry always slept with his wand under his pillow when he didn't have a nightstand to set it on.
They could all hear a big crash coming from the kitchen, followed by an anguished scream.
Sirius slammed his body against the door.
"DURSLEY! YOU TOUCH A HAIR ON HIS HEAD AND I WILL RIP OUT YOUR BLOODY THROAT!" Sirius bellowed to the closed door. "HARRY, HOLD ON!"
He stepped back and pointed his wand at the door.
"On three," he instructed to the two Weasley parents.
The three spells made the door jump with a loud bang, but the furniture against the other side still kept it closed.
"Hold on Harry," he muttered before getting ready to cast another spell. "Again!"
.
Harry distantly heard the muffled cries and banging as the people on the other side of the door tried getting in. China continued to crash to the ground with each blow against the door. Harry had stopped registering what the sounds meant. At that moment he only knew pain and fear as the chair leg crashed over his back repeatedly.
At some point he was violently flipped onto his back and the piece of wood slammed into his stomach. He jerked so hard that the wire that bound his wrists became embedded in one, cutting into the vein. He felt warm liquid dripping freely from his wrist, but there was nothing he could do. He quickly brought his knees to his chest and rolled onto his side to protect his stomach from further injury. He just wanted to pass out or die or anything to stop the pain. He prayed it would end; he didn't care how.
And suddenly, it did. He didn't want to look up though, not that he had the strength to anyways. He was scared that if he did, his uncle would be standing there with the knife like the night he stabbed him.
Hands grabbed his shoulder and carefully pulled him over onto his back, gently coaxing him out of his protective ball. Harry lied flat on his back looking up into the blurry faces of Ron and Hermione. Harry barely registered Mrs. Weasley's voice in the background yelling at the other kids not to enter the kitchen and berating Ron and Hermione for slipping past her. His two best friends paid her no attention.
Hearing a commotion to his right, he looked over and saw Sirius, Mr. Stenson and Mr. Weasley furiously kicking Vernon Dursley who was now in a ball on the floor as Harry had just been. Harry couldn't watch and turned his head away with great difficulty, looking back up at his friends.
"Harry? Oh God, Harry?" Hermione cried, tears streaming down her face. He wanted to tell her not to cry but didn't have the strength. "Oh, Ron, there's so much blood. He must have a really deep wound somewhere! It looks like it's under him!"
Ron whipped out Harry' wand and held it over his friend.
"Seardetrimenta!" he yelled, trying to sort through all the pain he sensed for the worst injuries. "His wrist," he announced when the spell was done. "I think he might have a concussion as well." He sounded very frightened. "Alright, I'm going to sit him up and you check out his wrist," he said to Hermione.
Ron leaned forward and slid his arms under Harry's arms and around his back. He pulled his friend carefully to his chest and sat up, pulling the raven-haired boy with him. Harry's head lolled forward, resting on Ron's shoulder.
"Oh God, there's so much blood. He—he tied wire around Harry's wrists! It's cut into his vein and he's losing blood fast," Hermione said, sounding uncharacteristically panicked.
Mrs. Weasley was soon at their side petting Harry's hair and kissing his head as tears streamed down her face. Harry looked over at her tiredly, his head still resting on Ron's shoulder. Hermione showed her Harry's wrist and Mrs. Weasley carefully severed the wire with a spell.
"This is going to hurt for a second love, okay?" she said to Harry sadly, brushing a few strands of blood-soaked hair away from his face. Harry barely nodded.
Mrs. Weasley grasped the wire firmly and, in one swift movement, pulled it out of Harry's wrist.
As the pain shot through Harry's body, he felt his stomach lurch dangerously. He weakly pushed against Ron who loosened his grip on his friend and gave him a questioning glance. Harry turned away as much as he could within Ron's hold before he vomited violently with a mixture of the day's food and blood.
Unfortunately, Ron hadn't let go of Harry completely, so the vomit went half on the floor, half on Ron's lap. But instead of scooting away, Ron didn't seem to care that Harry was being sick all over him. He stayed right where he was to continue to help hold Harry upright.
When he had finished, Mrs. Weasley lifted his chin up with her finger and wiped the vomit off his face with a dishtowel she had fetched. She tried to wipe away some of the blood that covered the left side of his face, but it was just replaced with new blood dripping from the wound.
Harry looked at Ron's lap in mortification.
"'m sorry," he murmured, looking up at him with an expression that begged for forgiveness.
"Don't worry about it, Har," Ron said with a forced smile to reassure him. Harry looked like a complete wreck. His pajamas were soaked in blood along with his hair and the whole left side of his face. There was a large swollen gash on the left side of his forehead where Vernon had hit him with the knife handle earlier. There was another large cut on the side of his neck and several smaller ones on his arms. The rest of him was covered in blood-soaked pajamas, and Ron knew that was where the real damage was.
While he had been throwing up, Harry had placed his right hand on Ron's shoulder to brace himself and Ron was horrified how quickly his whole shoulder had turned deep-red with the blood from Harry's wound.
"Mum, we need to wrap Harry's wrist in something. He's losing too much blood," he said, nearly in tears.
Hermione wordlessly pulled her bathrobe's belt from around her waist and began wrapping Harry's wrist tightly in it. Mrs. Weasley got up to get some ice for the head wound.
Suddenly, there was a loud commotion to the right. Mr. Weasley had gone over to tell Mrs. Stenson not to call the police but that the magical law enforcement would handle it much more efficiently, grabbing the attention of Mr. Stenson as well. Somehow, Vernon had managed to get up. He wrestled Sirius's wand away from him and punched him in the gut. Mr. Stenson dived at him, but Vernon elbowed him in the face.
The fat man lunged for his nephew, seizing him by the front of the shirt. Harry slammed his eyes shut and let out a whimper of fright. Uncle Vernon tried pulling the boy up to use as a hostage in order to get out, but encountered the problem of Harry's friends.
Ron and Hermione had latched onto the raven-haired boy and refused to let go. They pounded at Vernon's wrist with all they're might and when that proved not to be affective, Hermione grabbed a wand from Vernon's pocket, presumably one of the twins', and touched the tip to Vernon's arm, shouting the first spell that came to her mind.
"Incendio!" she yelled and the man's arm caught fire. He dropped Harry, screaming as he tried to put out the flames.
Harry was now shaking uncontrollably. Ron hugged his best friend tight to his chest and Hermione wrapped her arms around him protectively from behind, whispering in his ear that it would be okay. Mrs. Weasley was immediately at their side and pulled the whole lot of them into a giant hug as Sirius and Mr. Weasley put Harry's uncle into a full body bind, putting out the fire on his arm by stomping on it viciously.
By this point, Harry's head was swimming dangerously and his body began to go limp. Ron looked at him frantically.
"Harry, don't go to sleep, okay? You have a concussion and you've lost a lot of blood. You can't go to sleep," he instructed. Harry was shivering violently. The pain was overwhelming and he thought Ron's instructions were quite cruel.
Ron looked up at Hermione.
"Help me lie him down again." He and Hermione worked together to gently lay Harry back down on the floor.
"Sirius," Mrs. Weasley called sternly, instantly grabbing the man's attention, "stop wasting your time on that man. Harry needs you."
A flash of guilt crossed Sirius's face as he immediately came over, not looking back. He knelt by Harry, really taking in his appearance for the first time. Harry didn't even acknowledge his presence, as he was too busy trying to fight off the fatigue and nausea.
"I need Floo powder," he said suddenly. He turned to the door where Mrs. Stenson was making sure the other children stayed out of the kitchen. "Tell somebody to find some Floo powder!" he ordered. Mrs. Stenson nodded and immediately relayed the instructions to the others who informed her that they had already found some.
"Are you going to take him to St. Mungo's?" Hermione asked anxiously as Sirius slid one arm under Harry's abused back and the other under his knees.
"No," he said, carefully lifting Harry into his arms.
"So where are you taking him? Hogwarts?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"No," he said as he carried Harry from the room. "I'll explain later," he called, not wanting to waste any more time.
"Don't let him fall asleep!" Ron warned him. Sirius nodded. George, Fred, Kota and Ginny looked in horror at Harry's condition. Mrs. Stenson ushered George, who was holding the pouch of Floo powder, forward. She warned the others to stay back and give Sirius room.
"Throw some into the fire," Sirius ordered. Mrs. Weasley lit a fire with her wand and George followed the instructions. The fireplace immediately grew, allowing Sirius to step inside, cradling his bloody godson to his chest.
"Snape Manor," he called, and in a flash of green flames, the pair was gone.
.
Sirius stepped out of the fireplace into the huge living room, Harry cradled to his chest. He ran into the hall yelling desperately.
"Snape! Snape! Please, you've gotta help me! Snape get down here!!" he screamed. He looked down at the bloody boy in his arms. "Hold on Harry," he murmured quietly. "Help is coming." He looked back up and yelled for Snape once again.
Suddenly the lights in the hall turned on as a peeved Snape came into view.
"What the bloody hell do you want, Black? Do you know what time it is?" he asked angrily before his eyes landed on Harry and widened with worry. He ran down to them. "What the hell happened?" he asked, taking in Harry's injuries.
"His uncle got to him while he was staying at Harry's Muggle friends' house," Sirius explained desperately. "Can you help him? Hr. Callahan won't be in and nobody else at St. Mungo's is familiar with his immune system and…you've got to help him."
"What's going on?" came a tired voice from the top of the stairs where Draco had just arrived. "Sirius? Is something wro…" Snape shifted and Draco got a look at the barely-conscious boy in Sirius's arms. "Oh gods what happened? Is Harry okay?" he asked frantically as he began running down the stairs.
"Everyone follow me. We're going to my lab," Snape announced and began to swiftly guide the way.
"What's going on? What happened to him?" Draco asked fearfully.
Sirius quickly told them the events of the night, holding Harry a little tighter to him.
Draco looked utterly shocked while Snape looked no less than furious.
They got to the office part of the lab and Snape instructed Sirius to lay Harry down on the couch. Sirius gently followed the directions and reluctantly stepped back to let Snape check the Gryffindor over. He tried casting a few healing spells but obviously wasn't having much luck.
"What's the matter?" Sirius asked in a frightened tone.
"Most healing spells simply increase immune system power and direct it to do certain things, yet Harry's immune system isn't responding normally to them. I should have foreseen this. With so many injuries, his already weak immune system has basically gone into shock and isn't doing what it's supposed to," Snape explained bitterly.
"So what's going to happen to him?" Sirius asked in a panic. "Are you going to be able to heal him?"
"Yes. Potions will work better. I know some that will heal without the help of his immune system. Black, you come with me. I'm going to need your help to brew a potion. Draco, you get a wet washcloth and try to clean up that head wound a bit. Try to keep the bleeding from his wrists from getting out of control. Keep him awake. If he starts going unconscious, call for me immediately," Snape ordered, leading a distraught Sirius into the next room to start a potion.
Draco grabbed a clean rag from the cupboard and stuck it under the stream of water from the lab sink. He quickly returned to Harry's side and knelt by him. The raven-haired boy winced as Draco tried to clean up the blood and the wound.
"Thanks," he murmured weakly.
Draco looked down at him worriedly. "Your uncle did this?"
Harry nodded fractionally, too tired and weak to move much. As the minutes ticked by, his eyelids began to droop.
"Harry? Stay awake, okay. Don't fall asleep yet. Here, let me see your wrists," he muttered, lifting up Harry's limp wrist. The bleeding had gone through Hermione's makeshift bandages and was seeping into the couch. "Oh shit," Draco muttered, kicking himself for not paying better attention to that. He raced to the cupboard and pulled out more clean rags.
Kneeling down by Harry once again, he wrapped the rags tightly around the boy's wrists, especially the right one where the cut had gone deep enough to open the vein.
Suddenly, somebody entered the room from the hall. Draco looked up in surprise to find Mr. Weasley entering worriedly. The redheaded man did a bit of a double take in seeing Draco, clearly trying to push away any hatred he felt because of the boy's father. His face fell as he caught sight of Harry, who was desperately hanging onto consciousness. The raven-haired boy was soaked in his own blood, and the crimson liquid had seeped into parts of the couch and the bottoms of the sleeves of Draco's pajamas as well.
"Why is he still like this? Where's Sirius and Severus?" he asked anxiously, kneeling down next to Draco and affectionately brushing the hair away from Harry's forehead.
"Mr. Weasley?" Harry whispered, eyebrows furrowed in pain.
"Hey there Harry. You hold on, okay? When you're better, Molly's going to cook you up a feast."
Harry nodded tiredly.
"Sirius and Sev are in there making potions. Spells aren't working because of Harry's immune system problems, so they're making potions that can work without it. I wouldn't interrupt them right now, just in case," Draco explained politely, slightly miffed by the man's presence in knowing how horribly he had gotten on with his own father. He still remembered the fistfight in Flourish and Blotts between the two fathers in his second year. "I'm tying to keep him awake and keep control of the blood loss situation, but it's hard because he has so many wounds that are bleeding and not stopping," he added miserably.
Mr. Weasley nodded. He grasped Harry's right wrist tightly, pressing the rag into the wound. Harry shut his eyes tightly in pain. Draco put a clean rag up to the head wound, now that the other one had become saturated in blood.
"Everybody's really worried about you, Harry," Mr. Weasley said. "They all want to come and be with you right now. When I told them that they would have to wait until later, they nearly turned on me," he said with a sad smile. Harry smiled weakly, his eyes resting closed.
"Open your eyes, Harry," Draco ordered worriedly. "Don't fall asleep yet, okay?"
Harry wrenched his eyes back open miserably.
"Sev, you might want to hurry up," Draco called anxiously.
"Is everyone okay?" Harry whispered, though it took a tremendous amount of effort to do so.
"A little shaken up, but yes. They're all fine. They're just scared because they're worried about you so much," Mr. Weasley said fondly.
Seconds later, Snape and Sirius came back through the door. Snape was finishing stirring the potion they had just made and Sirius followed behind him, arms laden with already-made potions or ingredients, looking as if he had just grabbed everything and come.
Sirius went pale as he saw the condition of his godson and Snape frowned deeply, a fleeting look of panic skittering across his features.
"Arthur?" Sirius asked upon seeing the redhead. Mr. Weasley gently laid down Harry's wrist and walked up to Sirius speaking quietly.
"Sirius, I'm sorry but as soon as you can, you need to come down. They would usually need Harry's testimony, but I pulled a few strings to allow it to slide, especially since there were so many witnesses. They need your statement as well, along with some other stuff that you need to be there for since you're Harry's godfather: paperwork, certain decisions about what to do, and such. They're eager to help since they found out who Harry was, but they need you down there," he explained sympathetically.
"I can't leave him now!" he hissed as he set down the beakers of potions next to Snape who had taken Draco's former position.
"Black, get over here," Snape ordered. Sirius jumped to his side. "Distract him. The initial effects of this potion are extremely painful," he said quietly, preparing to inject a potion into Harry's arm to cure the boy's concussion. "Arthur, if you could look through these bottles and find the Blood Replenishing potion. It should be a deep red. Draco, look for the Coalesque Drought. It's a light brown. And if you see any Aquana pull that out too to dilute the Coalesque," Snape instructed. "All right, Black, I'm going to inject it now."
Sirius held Harry's face in his hands and looked into the pain-filled emerald eyes.
"Harry, this is going to hurt, okay?" he warned his godson. "Just look at me, I'm here."
Snape pushed the needle into Harry's arm and pressed down the plunger, releasing the potion into Harry's bloodstream.
Seconds later, Harry's eyes shut as he cried out in agony, too weak to fight the pain.
"Sirius?" he cried out desperately.
"I'm here, Harry," the Animagus said sympathetically. "Snape, when's this going to be over?" he called over his shoulder.
"Soon."
"It'll be over soon," Sirius related the news to his godson. Harry whimpered and clenched his teeth.
Then, as suddenly as the pain had come, it was gone. Harry took a deep shuddering breath and closed his eyes. Sirius smoothed his hair away from his face, as Hermione had often done when he was sick with cancer. The action soothed him and he tried to ignore the pain in the rest of his body and focus on Sirius gently smoothing back his hair.
Snape got the next shot ready as soon as Mr. Weasley found the potion.
"Oh good, Draco, you found the two potions. Now I want you to pour ten milliliters of the Aquana into fifty milliliters Coalesque. Then cork it and swirl it until it appears mixed. Can you do that, Draco, or do you want help?" he asked in a no-nonsense tone.
Draco stood up quickly. "I can do it," he said firmly before hurrying into the other room of the lab.
Snape was just finishing injecting the Blood Replenishing potion, which wasn't painful but did make Harry's stomach feel a bit queasy, when Draco returned with the next one.
"Looks perfect," Snape announced upon inspection. Draco looked relieved.
Snape quickly injected the potion to clot the blood at the surface of Harry's wounds. Besides making Harry's skin tingle a bit, he could feel no effects, much to his relief.
"How are you feeling now, Harry?" Snape asked.
"Fine," Harry said quietly, looking down at the many gashes and forming bruises on his arms as he sat up.
"Unfortunately, I think that's all the potions your body can handle for tonight. Those cuts will have to heal on their own. Is anything else major hurting?" he asked seriously.
Harry shook his head dejectedly. He was aching from head to toe and his skin was sore and stung wherever there was a cut or a bruise. He was feeling slightly nauseous and his head was pounding softly, but all this was to be expected and otherwise, there was nothing that he could feel was physically wrong with him.
"Sirius," Arthur prompted with a sympathetic gaze. Sirius sighed and turned to Harry with a sad smile.
"Hey kiddo, I have to go down and fill out some stuff and talk to some people to straighten everything out. I wish more than anything I could stay, but we're trying to get it so you don't have to testify, so I have to go. Are you going to be all right here?" he asked softly.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he said quietly, still looking down at his lap.
Sirius patted him on the shoulder, but immediately withdrew his hand when Harry flinched. He stood and turned to Snape.
"Is it okay if..." he started.
"Harry can stay as long as he likes. There are certainly enough rooms," Snape interrupted.
"He can stay in my room. We can put in an extra bed, or transfigure mine into two," Draco piped up. Harry looked up at him thankfully, not really wanting to be alone.
"Thank you," Sirius said sincerely to his one-time archenemy.
Snape nodded. "Harry's welcome here anytime," he stated firmly.
Sirius gave Harry a gentle hug and then reluctantly left with Mr. Weasley who handed Snape Harry's glasses that he had found next to the boy's sleeping bag.
"Draco, why don't you go find Harry an extra pair of pajamas and bring them to my bathroom? Harry, let's get you cleaned up," he said helping the boy slowly to his feet. Harry realized he was weaker than he had realized when his legs nearly gave out. Snape quickly wrapped his arm around the boy to keep him standing.
He led Harry through a very large and elegant bedroom to a stately bathroom. Harry looked around in awe as he often did when seeing a new room in Snape manor.
Snape walked over and began filling the bathtub with warm water. Harry was about to protest, since he was more of a shower person, but realized how much the hard water raining down on his skin would hurt at the moment.
A wave of dizziness came over Harry. He slid down the counter into a sitting position on the floor. He looked up to where he was holding the edge of the counter and immediately felt bad for the smear of blood on the white tile. He looked down and realized he was getting blood all over the floor as well, but felt too weak to get back up. The whirring sound of the water filling the tub was soothing and he would have been content to stay there for the rest of the night.
Snape turned around and saw him on the floor. With a sigh he walked over and pulled Harry back to his feet. Harry clutched the man's arm to steady himself as his vision swam.
"I've got you," Snape said reassuringly, making sure to have a firm hold on Harry.
"I'm okay," Harry muttered, stepping back out of Snape's hold. "I think I've got it now, thanks," he said, implying that Snape could leave. The Potions master raised an eyebrow.
"I'm staying in here with you, so you can go ahead and get undressed," he said blankly.
"Huh?" Harry squeaked.
"Oh brother," he said with a roll of the eyes at Harry's obvious uneasiness. "First of all, I doubt you could reach your back which have cuts that need to be cleaned. Second, you can hardly stand. I don't want you passing out and drowning," he explained.
"I can manage by myself," Harry said indignantly, swaying a bit as his head swam dangerously. Snape darted forward and caught him as his knees buckled and pulled him back to his feet.
"Oh yes, obviously," he said sarcastically.
Draco chose that moment to appear in the doorway holding a pair of folded pajamas. As a bit of a joke he had chosen his Slytherin ones for Harry, and Harry grinned at the choice.
"I knew you two were trying to convert me," he joked weakly. Draco smirked but looked worried that Snape was apparently the only thing keeping Harry on his feet.
"Draco, do you have any swim trunks for Harry to borrow?" Snape asked with a sigh. Harry shot him a grateful look. Draco smirked.
"Bashful, Harry?" he asked with an evil grin.
"Oh bugger off," Harry muttered with a glare.
"Draco," Snape said in a warning tone. The blonde nodded and ran off to find some.
Harry stepped back and tried lifting his once-white shirt over his head, but quickly found how painful that was. His arms didn't seem to want to move like that. He dropped the edge of his shirt and grabbed onto the counter again to steady himself, kicking himself for being so weak.
"Arms up," Snape ordered curtly. Harry blushed and lifted his arms up as Snape carefully pulled off his shirt as if he were undressing a small child.
When the shirt cleared his face, he saw the angry look on the professor's face as he saw precisely how bad Harry's torso looked. Harry looked down and winced. The bruises were coming in dark and though they were closing up thanks to the potion, every gash could be seen and looked nasty.
Draco popped back into the doorway holding up a pair of swim trunks triumphantly.
"Found….some," he announced, voice faltering as he took in the sight of Harry's chest and arms.
Harry wrapped his arms around his waist self-consciously and refused to meet Draco's eye as the blonde looked at the wounds in horror.
Snape came to Harry's rescue and taking the swimsuit from Draco, he politely told the boy to get back to bed.
"But…" he began to protest.
"No, Draco. You don't have to go to sleep just yet, but go stay in your room for a bit," he said in a tone that didn't allow for any arguments. The blonde scowled at his godfather and stomped away as Snape shut the door.
Snape handed the shorts to Harry and turned around to face the corner. "Go ahead and change there. I'm not going to look," he assured him.
Harry quickly changed into the swim trunks, or as quickly as his body would let him. It was at least easier than removing his shirt had been.
"Alright," Harry announced and the Potions master walked over and turned off the water on the bath. He helped the unsteady boy into the bath and slowly helped him to sit.
Harry took a shuddering breath and grimaced as the water stung his wounds like fire.
"I know it hurts, but it's best to get this cleaned now before it gets caked on," Snape said, kneeling by the bathtub so he was nearly level with Harry. The professor rolled up his sleeves and dunked a washcloth into the water. While Snape began to gently clean the blood away from his back, Harry began to rub the red off his arms.
At one point, Harry's head began to swim violently and he had to grab the side of the bathtub to steady himself.
"I've got you," Snape reassured him, holding him upright in the tub until his head leveled out a bit.
"Thanks," Harry murmured once his head cleared. Snape merely nodded and continued with Harry's back.
"What did he hit you with?" he asked, clearly trying to restrain anger.
"What?" Harry asked, panic gripping him instinctively at questions about his home life.
"These…injuries," he said, gesturing at the many gashes and bruises on Harry's back, "were not caused by a hand or a shoe."
"Er…which one?" he asked, trying to look over his shoulder, but quickly regretted the action as it irritated a cut on his neck.
"All of them," Snape said curtly.
"A leg of a chair and some broken china that he threw," he said quietly, rubbing blood from his legs.
Snape closed his eyes and took a few calming breaths. "He beat you with a piece of wood?"
Harry looked sadly down at the water and nodded fractionally. "Do we have to talk about this?" he asked quietly.
Snape thought about it momentarily. "Not now, but eventually." He stood and turned to face Harry, lifting his wand above the boy's head. "Head back," he instructed.
Harry tilted his head back as warm water poured from the older man's wand. Snape ran his hand through the messy locks to dislodge any blood that was sticking. He ordered Harry to close his eyes and moved the gentle stream of water to his forehead, carefully cleaning the large gash there that had been bleeding so profusely earlier. It was still raw and Harry winced as Snape's fingers carefully wiped the blood away.
When he was done, Harry opened his eyes and looked at the water he was sitting in. It was an eerie red color. He now remembered why he had initially not wanted a bath.
Snape noticed his expression and with a flick of his wand, the water went back to clear again.
Snape soon grabbed a towel and helped Harry out of the bathtub. He let the water start to drain and then helped towel off Harry's back before instructing him to sit on the closed toilet seat. He opened a medicine cabinet and returned to Harry's side with a bunch of bandages.
There were ones that looked like Bandaids, but without the sticky part. It stuck to his skin nevertheless, but Snape assured him they were painless to remove. He gently stuck one to the gash on Harry's forehead and the wound on his neck. Next, he began wrapping gauze around Harry's upper torso, where there were several of the deeper lesions.
"You're not going to bandage all of them are you?" Harry asked apprehensively. His whole body was littered with wounds. If Snape tried to cover them all, Harry would end up looking like a mummy and be unable to move.
"No, just the deep ones. After I finish your chest, I'll just do your wrists and that will be all. I don't want them to re-open," he explained. Harry nodded as Snape wrapped the strip of gauze around for the final time and cut it off, using a quick spell to make the end stick to Harry's skin. Harry looked down and frowned slightly. He was wrapped in the bandages from just under his arms to the bottom of his ribcage and couldn't move very easily.
Snape finished wrapping up Harry's wrists and stood.
"How is that?" he asked.
"Am I supposed to be able to move?" Harry asked as he tried to turn his torso or bend forward without much success.
"No."
"Then it's perfect," Harry said sarcastically.
"You shouldn't be moving around with your injuries anyways. You'll live as I don't think you'll be doing any gymnastics tonight," Snape said with a smirk.
"Aw man, we'll there's always tomorrow I guess," Harry said in mock-disappointment, though the joke didn't have the same affect with the sadness behind his smile. Snape knew the boy was trying to push the night's events out of his mind with his small jokes, but also knew that the task was impossible. Each time Harry pushed his emotions away, they returned seconds later, bringing with them pain that could be detected in his emerald eyes.
Snape handed Harry the pajamas and his boxers, once again turning to face the corner so Harry could change. This time Harry had even more of a difficult time since, with the bandages, he could barely bend down to pull the pants onto his feet.
Yet Snape exercised more patience than Harry had thought possible for the normally snappish Slytherin Head of House. When Harry became frustrated with trying to pull his shirt over his head when his body clearly objected to such movements, Snape asked permission to turn around and then gently helped Harry get the shirt on.
"It's okay to ask for help, you know," he said meaningfully. Harry dodged the comment by feeling the fabric of the Slytherin nightclothes.
"Hey, how come you guys get such comfortable pajamas? Are these silk?" he asked indignantly. "We just get cotton ones!"
Snape chuckled, something that neither of them were quite sure they were used to yet. "Professor McGonagall believes that school funds are not meant for trivial things such as nightclothes."
"And you do?" Harry asked as he was helped to his unsteady feet, pressing his palm against his head to fight off the dizziness.
"Only the best for my students," Snape said with a smirk as he aided the Gryffindor in slowly walking out of the bathroom and through the bedroom to the hall.
"I guess I really did choose the wrong house then," Harry muttered, once again fingering the fine material. "Maybe you should show people these before they're sorted. You might get more students that way."
"Are you suggesting I have a fashion show to entice people to join my house?" he asked with a slight air of disgust. Harry burst out laughing, but immediately regretted it as white-hot pain shot through his chest and head. He groaned painfully and grabbed Snape's arm desperately as his legs wobbled dangerously.
Snape put one arm around the boy's back and the other under his knees, lifting him into his arms in one fluid motion.
"I can walk on my own," Harry protested, horrified at the humiliating thought of being carried. Snape showed no sign of putting him down.
"Swallow your pride for the night, Harry. You are embarrassed far too easily," said Snape as he started up the stairs. "Besides, flat ground, maybe, but the stairs are a different story. You need to relax in order to heal, not try to prove yourself."
Harry said nothing more, just settling for feeling mortified in silence. He was vaguely surprised at the ease in which Snape carried him up the stairs and down the hall to Draco's room.
Just before reaching Draco's door, Snape set Harry down. The boy shot his professor a grateful look, thankful that his new friend wouldn't see him looking so pathetic.
Snape held onto his arm to help Harry walk into Draco's room, where the blonde was waiting anxiously. As the pair walked in, Draco jumped up from his chair and threw his hands in the air.
"Finally!" he exclaimed. He was about to continue, but Snape silenced him with a glare. Draco glared back, slightly bitter that he had been forced to wait alone in his room when he was secretly worried.
With a flick of the wand and a quick incantation, Draco's grand bed split into two separate ones. Though the blonde usually would have been horrified at any of his things being magically spliced, this surprisingly didn't miff him at all.
Harry winced as Snape helped him climb into the high bed. He murmured his thanks and refused to meet anyone's eye.
Draco shoved passed his godfather to Harry's side, causing the Potion's master to roll his eyes in annoyance. The blonde smirked at Harry and crossed his arms.
"You look like a Slytherin," he informed Harry.
"Merlin help me," Harry muttered as he settled under the green and silver covers.
"We'll have to work a bit on your cunning and then we'll have the hat resort you when we start sixth year," Draco said slyly. Harry groaned.
"I think you should resort into Gryffindor. We've just got to work on that whole chivalry bit," he said, though his usual playful tone came across as tinted with sadness, lessening the effect of the teasing. Draco's expression betrayed his worry in hearing the usually cheerful boy so distraught.
"It's time to go to sleep, so you two better stop chatting before I have you both resorted into Hufflepuff," Snape threatened lightly. Draco looked especially horrified at the thought and, after casting a scowl at his godfather, retreated to his bed.
Snape turned to Harry, strategically moving to block Draco's view of the raven-haired boy.
"I can't give you any more potions right now, as I need to have the others do all the work they're supposed to. That includes Dreamless Sleeping Potion," he said very quietly, aware of his godson holding his breath to try to catch the words. "I'll be in the lab if you need me for any reason."
Harry nodded numbly and turned to lie on his side facing away from the other two.
Snape walked over to his godson and pulled the covers over him, effectively tucking him in. Draco looked at him a bit oddly, as this was not something the man did often, or at all for that matter.
The truth was that though he had been able to keep his cool throughout the night, the situation had deeply disturbed Snape, perhaps even more than it had the first time he had found out about it. He couldn't fathom somebody treating a child, especially the child they had been entrusted with, like Harry's relatives treated him. He never wanted Draco to fear him as Harry feared the Dursleys. Sometime during the night, he had resolved to show his godson that there would never be a reason for that fear in Snape Manor.
"No talking tonight, all right Draco?" he whispered so that only the blonde could hear. "He's been through a lot tonight and he needs to sleep."
Draco nodded seriously as his godfather straightened up. Snape looked at his godson sadly for a moment, thinking of all that both boys had been through, before giving a thankful nod. He flicked off the lights and exited the room, slightly doubtful that it would be the last time seeing the boys during the night.
Draco turned on his side and stared at the back of Harry's head. He stayed silent, keeping his promise to his godfather. He wouldn't have tried to strike up conversation anyways. Despite his teasing earlier, he did understand the seriousness of the situation. It was his own way of dealing with it, trying to make Harry forget what he had just been through, trying to make himself forget his fears. Usually, making fun of people and barking orders at his sidekicks had the same effect, but he knew he couldn't do that anymore, or at least in this situation.
He had never dreamed of Harry's relatives being this bad. When he had come to the top of the stairs and realized that the bloody, limp body in Sirius's arms was Harry, he had thought that Death Eaters had gotten to him and exacted revenge or something. The fact that it had been Harry's uncle nearly floored him. His own father, though cruel in his own way, had never been like this. This was just…sick.
Sympathy was an emotion that Draco had never understood before now. The combination of worry, fear, and sadness, was something he had never felt for his former friends, or what he had called friends. Yet this ability to nearly feel Harry's pain as his own and the desperate desire to make that pain go away for the other boy made Draco wonder if he was finally beginning to understand what friendship really was.
Draco closed his eyes and soon fell asleep, his mind full of unanswered questions.
Wiccan PussyKat: Well, hopefully this chapter was dark and angsty enough to balance out the previous one. I always get caught mid-boogie-down around my house, so I just had to incorporate it. Lol, I'm glad to give you a nice little phrase to use. Use it well. wink Of course! The prank had to be all-out, especially when they're going up against the twins. They aren't easy to prank after all. No no, I made up this movie and the one Harry and Ginny saw in Recnac. I have a bit of a warped mind. Lol. Sorry about the fluff, but what can you do? Lol. Hermione made those comments basically to tease Ginny. I figure she's lightened up a bit after all that happened the previous year. Now you've got me really curious as to what "spunk" means. I'm glad you liked the Petunia/Dudley scene. That woman's really crazy. As to the extreme religious stuff, she hasn't started attending church (surprise surprise, think how much repenting she'd have to do) she's just picking up things from everywhere, reasons to hate Harry, that is. Anywho, PoA was great!
Myr Halcyon: Really? I always thought it was "here, here" but actually yours makes more sense. The way I put it sort of sounds like calling over a dog. Don't worry, you'll never get the hints until the second read through (after the fic is finished I mean), and nobody else has either. But go ahead and put in the effort. It will make the ending that much more of a forehead-smacker. Me? A horror movie buff? Never! Okay, well, yes, but that's not the point. :)ParanoiaIn2005: Merci, m'dear. Oh, she knew something…she knew that Vernon was out of prison and that Harry had no idea, just like you predicted! I'm so glad you liked the prank! When I was a wee lass, I was a prank queen and did these extremely elaborate pranks. I think I permanently mentally scarred my little neighbor who was the victim of most of them. You've perfectly understood why Ron was mad. Not only is he embarrassed about getting scared with the prank, but he does not think the death or injury of his friends is at all funny. Harry's death, and all the stuff he went through in Recnac, hit Ron really hard, but of course, Harry, being Harry, doesn't really understand how what happened would really affect anyone like that, a problem with his self-worth that he doesn't even realize. Also, Harry doesn't really think he's in any danger at the Stensons. He feels very safe there. Of course, this proves to be wrong. Anyways, Ron is upset, and he shows it to an extent, but he also doesn't want to get into a big fight with Harry about it. As he said in Recnac, he doesn't want to waste time fighting with Harry, especially now that he's realized how precious that is. Lol, I think a lot of people might have missed that last sentence because a whole lot of people never mentioned it in their reviews, which is odd for cliffies. Oh well, I have plenty more cliffies where that came from. grins evilly
EternallyMine: No prob. I was going for brownie mix…good call! Lol, the driving lesson story actually happened to me, minus the running into a tree, with my sister and I. I had to put it in, because it's so funny now, though it was really scary at the time. Lol, I'm so glad you liked the prank! When I was younger, I did really elaborate ones all the time. I just had to put one in with the use of magic. I think I would have killed them if I were one of the Weasley boys, though. I can dish it out, but I can't take it, just like Ron, so don't worry, you're not the only one. Liked the quotes!
Anilia Hawkeye: are you serious? Well obviously you've never met any of my friends or family. They're all chickens and whenever we go to see scary movies, they all end up sneaking over to the nearest kids' movie. One time, a friend of mine had been linking her arm with mine throughout the movie because she was so scared, and at a pop-out scene, accidentally clawed at my face with her fingernails! I had a gash right near my eye. And then she bolted from the theater after apologizing. Good luck with the clue-searching. You'll need it.
ImaginaryFriendless: Well, that's why I took two months off and had long-between updates at first. I've been writing the fic out in its entirety. Of course, it's still not finished, and there's a lot of polishing needed for parts of it, but it's quite well along. That's why I can post pretty quickly, because most of the chapters have been previously written. Petunia was whispering in Dudley's ear not to tell them that Vernon was in fact NOT in prison. Don't worry, we have just plunged into the deep end of a swimming pool filled with angst and it'll be a while before we can climb back out of it, if we even can at all. I'm glad you like my characterization so much! You're compliments made me blush furiously and then do a very embarrassing victory dance.
Lorie1101 (I'm so glad you liked the chapter and think I can incorporate both humor and angst into it, that's definitely what I'm trying to do, and I'm glad you think it's working.), Velith (no, none of the films in the two stories are real. They're figments of my warped imagination lol. While she was asleep? Ouch, that's cruel! Lol, but of course that's why it's fun. The Fat Lady was brilliant along with the rest.), kneh (Fred's with Angelina Johnson already, so he's all set!), Siri Kat (Hermione doesn't know as much as everyone else, though after the train station incident, the thing in the grocery store, and the events from this chapter, she's beginning to get a pretty good idea of it.), Toffee (I'm so glad you decided to review! Lol, all the questions you asked, I unfortunately can't really answer, at least for now. But keep reading and you'll have your answers in time. Lol, much more depressing scenes ahead, but keep reading!) WithinEveryDarknessIsLight (lol, well thanks for putting up with the ship. FYI, I'm really going to go off that aspect of the fic for a good while, so don't worry. We're heading into angst territory, not much room for fluffy romance. I would love for you to pop me an email with any questions you'd like and I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability. I love talking about writing), fantagal, Xaphania (I'm glad you liked Recnac. I hope to make this one as much of a tear jerker, though we won't get into that for a bit.), Von (congrats, you got who the person at the window was!), angeli0722, Ms Hobgoblin, yellowpages, Musicstarlover (well, your second question's been answered. [Vernon, in case you missed that lol] and you'll just have to wait to see about the first.), jo0609, Kjkit, ckat44, Wynjara, Lindiel Eryn, horsefan, Lavender Brown (thank you so much for popping in all those little reviews for all those chapters! I'm so glad you like my work. Lol, Dr. Dray, that's so great. I look forward to your reviews), Mayhem (lol, mean? Well…yeah.), catiechan, Dea Puella, hedwigs-biggest-fan, Phoenixmarauder, lasuga89 (lol, I'm so glad you like it!! Thanks!), Crystal113, E.L. Prongs (don't worry, you'll get plenty of angst, and much of it will be between Harry and Sev cough next chapter cough), Atticus J. Finch, Kevin-McKay (ooh, Malfoy Eater…me like! Lol. Good guess, though no enchilada! But even wrong guesses are better than no guesses at all. I like them because they let me know when I'm being extra mysterious. Lol.), CharmingCheese, HG/HrRFan4ever (tell me about it! Lol, I'm very lucky to have very many HP fans at my school, though there are only a few of us who are as obsessed as I am. Lol), ChildOfDarkness (I agree. "The Ring" is the only movie that has ever really scared me. Don't worry, just for you, I'll be laying guilt trips on just about everyone in the fic, even if they don't happen for awhile.), shadowarwen (No, no, the movie was only a figment of my rather warped imagination.), venure, cintishortstop, Black-Rose1212 (no, not a real movie. I'm glad you thought it was clever!), ThreeToedSloth (Thanks! Good luck with finals.), gina87, Bosson12787, FireWiz (for both, you'll just have to see!), Nation El-Diablo, Cestrel, Earthmom, Alternativelyspliced (you got it, well with the first guess, though I really liked the Snape theory. It made him sound so adorable.), Sailor C, mysticxesperanza, magnum-man-05 (lol, that's so awesome! Thank you so much!! Lol, okay, I don't have many questions yet, but I'll definitely keep you in mind for contact in the future for any questions I might have, deal?) Loures, lost angel92, Ashes7 (hey, that movie is very scary. It's the only scary movie that has ever actually scared me, and I've practically seen them all.), Madame Moony (well I'm glad I could appeal to your odd sense of humor!), Arctic Wolf2, dana (thank you! I try to make my dialogue realistic and in character, because I agree, I hate it when people make the characters speak strangely, or too proper or something, you know? I'm so glad you think I portray it as natural, since I really try to do that.), angel74 (okay, first and foremost: update!! Please, I beg you!! Okay, anyways, thank you so much! Yes, I am a bit evil, aren't I? But that's what makes the angst…angsty. Lol, I could only dream of being an author, and that's the exact type I'd choose. I'm glad you're liking the fic!), EriEka127, Savoy Truffle (lol, I know, Harry is major baby cute…along with regular cute…and hot, but I know what you mean. I pictured a sheepishly adorable look when he discovered he was being watched. Yeah, I know (about the kids that is). Kinda weird. Lol.), lyss (ah, my sister was always in on all my real-life pranks. It was my poor little neighbor who suffered, but she deserved it. She was a spoiled brat, and the unfortunate victim of many very elaborate pranks.), torifire126, athenakitty (Mr. Weasley's the most fascinated by Muggle stuff, but all of them are fascinated to some extent. Lol, I'd say a no for the next two questions. Harry doesn't mean to push Snape's buttons. He just was trying to have a casual relationship with him and teases him sometimes.), Shawn Pickett, A-Brighter-Dawn (lol, yeah! I hope to continue to make you cry…in a not sadistic way…really!! especially later in the story, but I guess we'll see!), corinnetkn24, MissLilyStar, WhiteTiger9984, X-Goddess of Imaginary Light-X (lol, Weasley bums indeed!), happigolucki616, David, AgnesSophia