Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: Hello and nice to see you again, my lovely reviewers! I'm dropping out the key to all the chapters from here on. I'll be changing the markings and won't have a Key at the beginning of each story.
Do you people actually know how short a nanosecond is? I'll tell you it's short. It's like 10-9s (or 0.00000001s). Now that's short!
Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but I've been lazy and I've had a lot of work to complete. Even now I should be doing my history instead of writing, but I don't care! I want this chapter out so that I can start on my next one. Toddles!
"Reviewers, this is it, the one you've all been waiting for! The chapter in which Snape finally appears! Hooray! Rock on!!!!"
……
Harry woke up at six thirty that morning because he was really cold. He had nothing to cover himself up with, except the thin linen (which he used as a blanket) in his cupboard.
He got up slowly and silently crept to his cupboard, thankful that the Dursley's had left the door open. He grabbed the linen and wrapped it around himself, wiping the blood from his mouth on a gray shirt he found next to his bed.
'I really hope that this doesn't get any worse.'
Hopes don't get Harry anywhere…
…
Harry made breakfast for the Dursley's at eight o'clock. He himself got nothing but half a piece of moldy toast. Harry, not wanting a stomachache, didn't eat his breakfast.
Once the Dursley's were done eating, Harry hand washed the dishes, though the Dursley's had a dishwasher in the house. Vernon handed Harry a list of chores to do after he was done with the dishes. The list went something along the lines of:
Wash dishes (Check)
Weed garden
Mow lawn
Trim hedges
Rake yard
Water back- and front yard
Make lunch
Wash dishes
Dust house
Dust carpets
Vacuum house
Polish silvers
Polish plates in kitchen
And the list went on and on until the last thing:
Get beating
…
Harry decided to dust the house first, which would hopefully make the Dursley's leave considering the fact that their son was allergic. He got all the things from the cupboard (yes the one he sleeps in). He went back to the hallway and started dusting, or at least tried to start, but Marge stopped him.
"What do you think you're doing, boy?"
"Doing my chores, Miss Dursley." Harry figured that he had to be polite so that he wouldn't get more beatings than he was already getting. This didn't help, though. Marge slapped Harry hard.
"There is a list of chores for you to do and you have to do them in order! Poor Dudley is allergic to dust and you start with that. We had even arranged it so that we would be out at the time you dust… but Potter is way above the rules of this house and of older people doing everything in his own way." This reminded Harry very much of Professor Snape at Hogwarts. "Now go do whatever you're supposed to do."
Harry proceeded to the garden to start on his chores. Harry worked as fast as he could, wanting the Dursley's out and not wanting to stay up the whole night working.
It was two o'clock by the time Harry got all the gardening done and went inside to make lunch for the Dursley's.
…
"Boy, we're leaving very soon." Vernon said as Petunia and Marge ran around the house looking for Dudley's gray t-shirt. They finally found it in Dudley's room and the porky boy shoved it on top of his fat.
Harry stared after the Dursley's until the car had gone around the corner and left Privet Drive silent. Running down to the front door Harry tried to open it, but it didn't budge. Harry lowered his glance to the lock and noticed that there was no lock on the inside.
"Of course." Harry sighed, defeated. He remembered a bill he had picked up that morning from a 'Lock and Safety' company. How was he supposed to run away now?
Harry's eyes suddenly lit up. "The windows!" he breathed. He raced over to them only to notice that they had safety locks on them; on the outside. 'I could break them…' Harry dismissed the idea almost immediately because it would cause too much havoc on the neighborhood.
Harry had no other option but to do his chores, until the Dursley's came back. He would then make dinner for them and then wash the dishes, again. But before that he had to free Hedwig and send a letter to Sirius or anyone else who could help him out of this mess.
Harry went into the bathroom down the hall and took one of Petunia's hairpins. He then walked to the cupboard under the stairs and looked over the lock. It was old and had a lingering golden color. The area around the keyhole was scrapped with a key that had missed its target on several occasions.
Harry inserted the hairpin into the cool metal lock, twisting and turning it. He was already starting to sweat with the effort of getting the hairpin to open the lock. The sweat was starting to sting and obscure his vision, but Harry didn't give up. The lock was making small cracking sounds until there was a click that sounded like thunder to the un-expecting boy.
…
"This is slightly burnt, boy. Can't you do a better job for once?" Marge said inspecting her plate in distaste.
Harry, who was already really frustrated with his chores, finally snapped. "If it's not good enough for you then make it yourself." Less then a nanosecond later Harry realized what he had said. "Uh… um…." He started stuttering. "I um, I-I di-didn't meant t-to. I-I'm s-s-sorry, Miss Dursley."
"And to think I'd almost forgiven you for your earlier mistake! From now on I will never even consider forgiving you for anything."
That's how the worst beating of Harry's life began.
He was hit, punched, kicked, bit, slapped, and about everything else you could think of. He even lost his glasses at one point, but that didn't matter much because he had no clue what was happening anyway. He also tried fighting back, but he only got hit harder.
In the end, Harry had to give up and let unconsciousness take over.
…
Someone was calling his name very, very far away; telling him to open his eyes. Harry didn't want to obey, but the voice got stricter and more command-like.
He tried lifting his eyelids, but they felt like a ton of bricks.
"That's it, Potter." The voice sounded so familiar, it was as though a cold voice was trying its best to sound calm and soothing.
After a long struggle, Harry finally got his eyes open and the voice stopped speaking. His vision was extremely blurry and he couldn't focus on anything.
Harry felt as though he were going to pass out again any minute.
"Where…"
"Shut up and drink this. I'll explain later." A cup was put at Harry's lips, but he didn't drink it. For all that he knew it could be a Death Eater trying to feed him poison.
"Stop being so naïve, Potter. Drink if you want to feel better…" Then the voice turned to a cold sarcasm. "Of course I'm not making you do it. You, after all, are above the rules of this world."
That voice, that tone. It belonged to Snape!
"Professor?"
"Glad we know each other. Now drink this." This time around Harry actually drank the potion Snape was giving him.
Harry's vision cleared somehow (he was still without his glasses) and looked around.
He was lying on a large bed with dark green sheets. The room was green, too and scarcely furnished. There was only one bookshelf, a table and a chair, the bed and a nightstand next to it.
Standing further off, close to the door was Severus Snape. He was dressed in ink-black robes, much like the ones at Hogwarts.
"Sir, how d—"
"I strongly suggest that you get some rest now. It's after 10pm and you're probably tired. We'll both be asking all the needed questions tomorrow. Lord knows I have many…" Snape smirked and Harry's insides squirmed at the thought of reveling everything to his most hated professor.
"Now, do you have any immediate questions that need to be asked? Necessary ones?"
"No, sir."
"Good."
Without another comment, he left.
…
Once he was sure Harry was asleep, Snape went to write a letter:
Potter's here. I went to get him earlier on today from his uncle's house. I used the counter curse and memory charm on his relatives.
-Severus Snape
…
A/N: Phew! Done with the second chapter of SoS. Just a note: if you're confused about the curse part in the letter, don't worry, it'll be explained in later chapters.
I'm writing on my laptop and I love it because I can write sitting on my bed with the laptop on my lap, but it gets really warm after a while…
I'm still really sorry for the delay, but I hope that this chapter made up for the long wait.
There anything else I need to say? No?
Okay. I guess that the next thing that you need to do is press on the little purple button after the Submit Review box. The button should say 'Go', click on it and write what you want to tell me about this chapter. Not too hard I hope.