Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in it.
Chapter 3
What the ...?
Warning: Some harsh words!
Severus rushed to Potter's door. He could hear the scream getting louder as he approached. He was sure it was Potter screaming. And he was in pain. The scream was filled with pain.
Who was causing the pain? The Dursley's were asleep. Thankfully. The wards were still in tact so it couldn't be death eaters, could it?
As he reached for the door handle another blood curling scream rippled through the house and Severus could hear Vernon Dursley grumbling and spluttering.
He found Potter curled in a tight ball on the bed. His whole body was shaking and Severus's first thoughts was that Potter was under the cruciatious (spelling?) but that couldn't be. He walked closer and was just about to try and wake the boy when he heard an angry grumble behind him.
Vernon Dursley stood in the doorway, his face in various shades of purple and red gesturing wildly with his arms to Severus then to his mouth then showed his fist and started towards Potter.
Quickly brandishing his wand Severus stepped in between the uncle and nephew and cast a protection spell on Potter, just in case.
Why exactly did I just do that? Severus wondered if maybe he was being possessed. He didn't like Potter, Potter didn't like him, why did he suddenly care about what happened to the little brat?
'Maybe b'cause you don't want what had already happened to him to happen again.' A little voice in his head spoke up.
Deciding to deal with his new found conscience later Severus pointed his wand at the raving pig in front of him.
The pig stopped his arm waving but the color in his face didn't change at all.
"Now, you will be a good little muggle and do as I say. Got it?" He decided to make it plain that he was not to be messed with by poking the wand into the fat layers on the pig's belly.
"Good. Now, get all of Potter's things together and put it in that trunk by the bed. No, you will not break or damage any of the stuff. Your nephew needs all his school things and if you so much as think of damaging any of his books or other equipment, you will buy him a whole new 'kit' so to speak. Believe me, it is not the cheapest of things for a muggle such as yourself. Now get going." Severus kept his sneer in place as the muggle strutted around the room and then down the stairs.
Why on earth would he be going down stairs? Then it hit him. The cupboard down stairs. The one Potter had to stay in at the beginning of the Summer. Ignoring the feeling of dread that crept up in him as he remembered that closed off little space he turned his attention back to Potter.
The screaming had subsided and Severus could see that he was asleep. Or was he unconscious? He couldn't say for sure.
He bent down to shake the boy awake. "Potter." No answer. "Potter, come on. Get your lazy ass out of bed." The boy made a soft protesting sound but other than that there was no reaction.
Then he saw it.
All over Potter's arms were gashes. Long and shallow or short and deep and in various stages of healing.
This was not there when I got here. Severus thought to himself.
Was it a glamourie?
Could Potter accomplish a glamourie wandless?
The questions were getting more and more rediculous.
He cast a few healing spells on the wounds that he could see and then placed a strong sleeping charm on the boy. There was no way that Potter would be in any state to travel while awake.
Vernon Dursley then entered the room. He was holding a little book in one hand and a cloak in the other.
"Is that all?" Severus could barely keep his rage in check. This was the man who had abused his own nephew. Severus himself had gone through hell and back but never at the hand of his own family. No, his family had never lifted a finger on him or for him.
Quickly shaking his head to rid it of the memories that were threatening to come Severus took the items from the muggle and could now see that it wasn't a book but an album.
He placed it in the trunk and then shrunk it. Putting it in his pocket he bent down to pick Potter up.
The boy was light as a feather and although Severus knew that there were gashes and marks all over the boy's body, Potter was dead to the world. The pale shade of his skin did nothing to reassure Severus.
He started moving past the muggle towards the door when he heard his footfall made a hollow sound.
Backtracking to the spot he was sure he had stepped upon, Severus experimented by hitting the floor with his heal in various places.
He could hear a definite change in sound in one floorboard. He set Potter down on the bed again. Bending down at the correct floorboard, Severus found that there was a place where his fingers fit in and tried to lift the board. Not really surprising the board lifted off the ground and Severus found that there was a small 'package' in the hole.
Wrapped in Potter's invisibility cloak was his wand, a knife that Severus was sure he knew from somewhere and another album.
Potter obviously thought it necessary to hide these things and Severus couldn't really fault him with what he knew of the muggles.
Dursley had disappeared sometime while he was checking the floorboard and Severus was actually grateful towards the muggle for that. He didn't feel like standing court for murder at the moment and he was sure that he would have killed the muggle had he still been standing there.
He picked Potter up again and made his way towards the front door of the house only casting a quick glance in the main bedroom and found that Dursley had woken his wife and was now gesturing wildly at her to do something. Really! As if the muggles could do anything! They really are shallow minded creatures.
Once outside, Severus set off to the end of the wards surrounding the house and then apparated to Hogsmead with Potter in his arms.
He really needed to have a psyche evaluation. He was almost certain that it would show that he was crazy as a bat.
Although Potter was way too light for his age he was still heavy to carry for long distances so Severus opted to just cast a levitation spell on the boy.
The castle was quiet so late at night. All the children were gone and the professors who opted to stay at the castle were all fast asleep. Everyone that is except Albus Dumbledore.
As soon as Severus stepped through the Great doors he found a smiling Albus Dumbledore before him. The smile quickly slid off his face as he took in Severus's burden.
"Come, Severus. Lets get him to Poppy."
No more words were said and the two made their way to the hospital wing.
"Albus? Severus? What are you doing here? It's two o'clock in the morning?" Poppy Pomfrey, mediwitch of Hogwarts stood in her flannel pajamas in the middle of the hospital wing looking non too pleased with the intrusion.
"We have a patient here who needs attending Poppy. Rather urgent attending." Albus said and gestured to one of the beds.
Poppy instantly sobered and got into her mediwitch persona. She stepped over to the bed and was reaching over too remove -what she found to her internal amusement as Severus's robe -and stopped dead.
"Potter?" she asked with a shake in her voice.
"Yes, it is Harry, Poppy. Could you please ascertain the damage done. We will explain when you have finished."
Returning her attention to her patient Poppy continued to remove the robe and gasped. Potter was still wearing a shirt and some trousers but his arms were bare. There were gashes all along his arms and she could see one on Potter's cheek. He also had a black eye.
Dreading what she would see when she removed the rest of the clothing Poppy reached one trembling hand out to remove the shirt from it's tucked in position in his trousers and then lift it over his head. She had just removed it from the trousers and lifted it an inch before she gasped again and the shirt fell from her hand.
Quickly regaining her composure she turned to face her companions. Albus was no where to be seen and Severus stood in the door with his usual sneer on his face.
"Severus, as Albus is not here at the moment, could you perhaps help me. I need to remove his shirt but I don't want to use magic as I'm not sure if it would intervene with whatever is wrong with the boy."
Not really wanting to explain exactly how Potter had come by those injuries and since Albus had decided that now was as good a time as any to send a note to the boy's friends informing them of the relocation, Severus stepped forward.
"Just keep him up while I remove the shirt. Then you can lay him back down" Poppy instructed.
Severus put one of his hands behind Potters neck to support the head and the other he put on his chest. He lifted Potter's head and slid in behind the boy. Now supporting Potter from behind, he moved his hand from the neck to the blades of his back and pushed him up keeping him from falling forward with his other hand by supporting his chest.
Poppy raised an eyebrow in amusement and Severus suddenly realized his close proximity to Potter.Sneering he pushed the boy a little further from him so Poppy could lift the arms and shirt over his head.
As Poppy lifted the shirt Severus could now see all the marks quite clearly. There were two long but thankfully shallow gashes along Potter's back and one short but deep cut in his side. Severus could not see the front but by Poppy expression could surmise that it looked bad. He slid out from behind Potter but kept his one hand on his back and the other on his chest as he lay the boy down again.
Potter's chest held no comparison to his back. While there was only one deep and long gash on his abdomen the rest of his chest was littered with bruises.
"I think that his arm is broken. When I first got there, he was nursing it against his chest." Severus put forth in a calm controlled voice. Quite contradictory to what he was feeling inside.
He had thought back to when he had first entered Potter's room while he lifted Potter up so Poppy could remove the shirt. He recalled that there was a light scar visible and the black eye was quite noticeable as was the arm he nursed. He remembered that the arm was not twisted in any way that would suggest that it was broken but Potter had held it close to his chest and Severus could just see that the two parts connecting to the elbow was definitely not connected. The rest of Potter's body that he could see had looked quite normal. The arms were fine except for the broken part and although Potter had winced as he moved, even small movements Severus now remembered, Severus had thought it was because of the broken arm.
He was even more confused now. The gashes and marks on the boy's body were definitely courtesy to the boy's uncle. He could still remember that hand grabbing him from within the cupboard and dragging him out just to serve as a punching bag. But what confused Severus the most was that although he knew for certain where the wounds had come from, he didn't know why it had not shown a few hours ago.
Potter was becoming a real enigma to Severus. Severus had realized that he had been wrong about Potter being spoiled, if what he saw about this summer was any indication and he now reflected that Potter had always at least tried to do well in his lessons. Maybe if he lightened up a bit on Potter, the boy would do better in potions? Lighten up? Why did I just think that? Why would I do anything for Potter? The boy is arrogant, foolish and just like his father.
'Oh, butis he? Have you heard any whispers about what had transpired in the Pensieve? Have you seen Potter gloat about how his father had humiliated the hated potions professor? No, the boy had obviously told no one.' His father would have informed the whole school within five minutes of seeing what Harry had seen. Harry? Why, oh, why did I have to have develop a conscience now? Conscience is what gets people killed. Conscience is what hurt people. Conscience is what gets people hurt.
Conscience can also bring peace.
Severus decided to retreat to his dungeons to sort through his thoughts before the headmaster got there and dragged everything out of Severus.
He was definitely in no mood to play Albus's games right now.
TBC
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