Disclaimer: see prologue
A/N: Thanks to my beta reader Audrey...
Chapter 3
After some time, they moved to the sitting room, after each of them placed a
charm on the young man that would inform them of any changes in Harry's
condition.
Most of the night was spent in silence, with each of them thinking about what
they had found out only a few hours ago. They could not believe that Albus
Dumbledore was capable of letting something like that happen - risking the life
of a child that way. Now they had to fear for the sanity of Harry Potter.
Neither of the three would even consider that he could die, for they couldn't
bear the thought of loosing someone so bright.
Morning came far too soon for the three professors. They promised to meet in the
afternoon again, when lessons were over. They still had to decide what to do
with the knowledge they had gained about Albus Dumbledore. After that they each
headed to their respective chambers to change into fresh clothes.
Severus wished that he could ignore breakfast and stay with his Harry, but his
duty as the head of Slytherin did not allow him this freedom. He had to make an
appearance to represent his house at all mealtimes.
He arrived through the side doors and sat in the chair closest to it. He tried
to keep his stay as short as possible in order to be able to look in on Harry
before his first lesson. He made sure to ignore the headmaster who was his usual
cheerful self. He could not understand how the man could be so… He had no words
for it actually. Severus could not believe that Albus, someone who appeared to
know everything, could start the day the way he did as if there wasn't a student
close to death. Did he truly care as little about Harry Potter? Shouldn't he at
least be worried about the Saviour of the wizarding world dying?
He made sure to watch the Gryffindor table, especially Harry's former friends.
The Weasley boy acted as if nothing had happened, but to his surprise the
Granger girl seemed to be on edge. She was looking at the doors constantly. He
watched her jump up and run to speak to Minerva McGonagall. He wondered what
they were talking about, even more so when he saw the older witch smile after
the girl went back to the table. He most surely would find out in the afternoon.
With this thought, he stood up and left the Great Hall.
Hermione was worried. She had time to think about Harry's revelation all summer
and after long talks with her parents she came to the conclusion that Harry was
still the same, no matter which gender he was attracted to. Having come to this
conclusion she had decided to apologise and hope that Harry still wanted to be
friends with her. Since she did not have an owl she had to wait until the
beginning of the year.
Unfortunately she had not found Harry on the train to Hogwarts and he had
disappeared in the boys dormitories immediately after dinner. Because of this,
she had made sure to be the first one up and was waiting for Harry to come
downstairs this morning. When Neville had come down she had asked him when Harry
would come down. The only answer she got was that he wasn't upstairs anymore;
but that he had been there when everybody had went to bed.
This was why she kept looking at the entrance to the Great Hall.
The moment Minerva McGonagall walked into the great hall; Hermione jumped up
from her place and ran over to her.
"Professor, Harry is missing! I wanted to apologise today before breakfast, but
he wasn't there and Neville said that his bed seemed as if he hadn't slept in
there at all."
Minerva could tell that the girl was close to tears and she yearned to tell her
that everything was alright, but she couldn't say anything now. She decided to
calm her student now and speak with her about everything else at a later point
in time.
"I am already aware that Mr. Potter was not in his bed last night, but do not
fear for he has already been found. If you want more information than please
come to me once lessons are over for the day," with this said the
transfigurations professor dismissed her student.
She remained standing were she was for a moment and watched the girl walk back
to her seat, worrying about a friend she had hurt. She was glad that at least
one of Harry's friends had realised the mistake they had made. Hoping that
Hermione would get her chance to apologise, she walked back to the head table,
smiling lightly.
However, the moment she saw Albus Dumbledore sitting with his usual smile, her
own disappeared again as she remembered the battered body of Harry Potter lying
in the bed of Severus Snape.
In comparison to her two co-workers Poppy was lucky. Her presence at breakfast
was not required. She used this time to stay in the hospital wing and prepare
everything for the first school day of the year, while hoping that the
headmaster would not decide to come over and visit like he sometimes did in
order to keep her company when no patients needed her attention.
At the same time she went over everything that needed to be done to help Harry.
Currently, only physical treatment was needed, but once he woke up (she refused
to think that he would not) he would need psychological help as well. Poppy
hoped that Severus and she, along with the help of Minerva, would be enough to
help Harry deal with the abuse and the miscarriage.
Severus and Poppy were in the sitting room of the Potion Master's quarters,
waiting for Minerva to appear. As earlier arranged, they were going to discuss
what to they would do about Albus.
While Dumbledore was needed in the Order and for the safety of the school, he
had knowingly sent a student to an abusive family. He even went against the
advice of a medi witch, who made clear that his health and that of an unborn
child was at a very high risk. He might not have known all of what happened in
the past, but he did not attempt to make sure that no further harm would come to
his student. He didn't even speak with the Dursleys about their past treatment!
They had to weigh the pros and cons carefully, in order to reach a decision that
would be the best in the end.
After a few more minutes someone knocked at the door. Severus stood up, walked
to the door and opened it. He was surprised to see that the Transfiguration
Professor was not alone, but in the company of Hermione Granger. He shot a
questioning look at his colleague before asking them to come in.
"Ms. Granger came to me before breakfast, worried about Mr. Potter's
disappearance, saying that she wanted to apologise. She might be able to help us
find out what exactly happened, seeing how we can't question Harry about his
letter," explained the witch.
Hermione was confused why she was in the dungeons, let alone in the private
quarters of Snape, but forgot all about it upon hearing Harry mentioned: "What
do you mean he can't be questioned. You said he was found…"
"Found… yes. Able to speak… No. He is currently in a coma and if not for that he
most surely would have jumped into his death, as committing suicide was his
intention when he left his dormitory last night," answered Severus before the
Minerva could do so.
Hermione was even more confused now. Wouldn't Harry be in the hospital wing if
he was injured? And why would he want to kill himself?
Before she could ask the next question however, she was told more: "We fear that
the headmaster has known of the abuse he had to endure at the Dursleys. He was
even advised to let Harry remain here and he even denied his request for extra
lessons over the holidays. From what we know his uncle's anger was triggered
when he over heard something at Kings Cross station…"
Hermione paled at that. She knew exactly what the Professor was speaking about.
She could still remember the way Harry looked at them after Ron called him a fag
loud enough for the whole station to hear. He looked so hurt then. It was the
main reason why she couldn't stop thinking about him all summer. She was so deep
in her memories that she did not realise that she was asked something.
"Ms. Granger?"
Hermione was not sure who had spoken, but it was obvious that they were waiting
for an answer from her. Since she did not know what they wanted to hear, she had
to ask whether they could repeat the question. She found the situation very
embarrassing, especially since this was the first time in her whole life she had
to ask such a thing.
tbc...
Review Responses:
Me: Quite a few are in trouble... I made a list of punishments today...
DaughterofDeath: Here is a new chapter...
Miss W D Halliwell: Sev might even be turn into a softie for a short time... I only have to manage to write more than notes for the chapter... But I don't think that he's nice... I think that he is very evil, with a soft heart somewhere deep inside... *G*
miss linn: I think this time I am bit under week even *g* But I am not sure when I am going to post the next one... It will depend on when I am finished with the one after that...
Mikee: I made a list with ideas for punishments for all involved... Ron will get into deep troubles... I plan for many howlers... but maybe I get an even better idea... I haven't thought about Molly joining in the fun yet (other than in the case of Ron)... thanks for reminding me... I have even more ideas now... they are just flowing to me...
Cassa_Andra: I have quite a few ideas... I just have to wait which ones fit in... I hope you like this chapter...