AN: This is the unbetaed version of the chapter... I did not plan on posting it, but I currently can't concentrate on writing and correcting... I still am having quite a few ideas, but I seem to get a headache whenever I want to write (and I don't even want to think about correcting). I think the main reason are the upcoming exams that keep my mind busy... therefore it will take a bit longer for the next chapter and I decided that I couldn't let you wait that long...
this chapter turned out a bit longer as well (one of the reasons I don't want to think about correcting)... I hope this will get you through the next wait... I hope this block will take a break before exams hit, but I somehow doubt it...
 I'll add the review responses for the last chapter when I upload the betaed chapter...

Chapter 5

However before Hermione could ask why this was so important, Minerva McGonagall said, "You are right Severus. This leaves only one possible choice! Albus needs to be punished for his crimes and we can't forget about the Dursleys. Letting innocent children being hurt and even killed! And I thought I knew him."

Hermione was confused what her head of house was speaking about, but before she could formulate a question her memory supplied her with a book she read sometime last year. Her memory was a bit hazy, but she knew that it was about pregnancies and children in general, if only she could remember!

After some seemingly endless minutes she was able to recall the content again as well as her astonishment upon finding out that children were very rare in the wizarding world, the Weasleys being an exception, and every one conceived, not matter how, was already cherished.

It was a crime to abort a pregnancy – aside from the fact that already the loss of an unborn child left the carrying parent with severe cases of depression – and child abuse, in the seldom case that it happens – the last case was over 50 years ago, was usually punished with a long stay in Azkaban.

And Albus Dumbledore let it happen that not only a student, but the boy-who- lived even, was abused by his relatives and even risked a miscarriage knowingly. With this realisation she understood why this one little fact alone weighed already more than Albus Dumbledore's presence as the leader of the Order of Phoenix and as the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

It didn't help the old wizard that Harry had pleaded with him to stay at Hogwarts ever since he first arrived at the school. That should have been a clear signal to check in with the Dursleys. No child growing up in a loving environment would not want to go back home. Now that Hermione thought about it the signs of abuse were very obvious, so why did nobody ever bother to check whether everything was alright or not?

One thing she knew for sure, Albus Dumbledore wouldn't be able to walk away from this unscratched. She only hoped for the sake of Harry that the wizarding world found out. She knew how much she hated his fame and it was quite obvious that Harry never said one word about his abuse to anyone. He was ashamed of it and did not want anyone to know, let alone the whole wizarding world. Aside from the fact that wizards and witches might start to believe that Muggles needed to be killed since they were dangerous. Hermione knew that Harry would make a statement that the Dursleys were not like the majority of the Muggles. Would he be awake that is, this reminded her that Harry had been close to death and lived through a miscarriage.

That thought reminded Hermione on her original question: Who was Harry's boyfriend and where was he? Was he with Harry or didn't he know that Harry nearly died?

She was startled out of her thoughts when her potions professor called her, "Ms. Granger? I believe you came here to see Harry, did you not?"

Feeling stupid to say yes, but not knowing what else to say she simply nodded.

"Good. Then follow me, I will lead you to him. But I have to warn you, Harry does not look very good currently," with these words the Potions Master turned around and walked to the door opposite of the fireplace.

While Minerva arranged with Severus to meet the next day at the same time again, she already thought about what needed to be done and collected in order to sue Albus Dumbledore and the Dursleys. "Poppy, we'll need your testimony about Albus ignoring your advice to let Harry remain at Hogwarts. As well as the list of injuries Harry ever had and how they came to be. I am sure that there is evidence that it happened before. He can be very convincing when he wants to hide something." Instead of answering the medi-witch merely nodded her head and turned to leave, followed by Minerva.

Severus watched the two witches leave before focusing on his student that remained behind. He gathered by the look on her face that she was deep in thought and most probably did not notice the exit of Minerva and Poppy. He thought about ignoring her and going back to Harry, he had itched to go and check on him ever since he left the room when Poppy had arrived, but after some time he decided to call the girl in front of him back to reality, "Ms. Granger?"

He waited a bit, but his student did not seem to have heard him. He sighed annoyed and tried it again, "Ms. Granger? I believe you came here to see Harry, did you not?"

He had finally caught her attention and seeing her nodding, he continued. "Good. Then follow me, I will lead you to him. But I have to warn you, Harry does not look very good currently," before turning around and leading her to his bedroom. Once he opened the door and stood within the room he turned around again and held the door open for the girl, inviting her in.

He watched her, wanting to see her reaction upon seeing how badly injured Harry was, but like everybody else that entered his rooms her first look went through the whole room, taking it in. Severus knew that most people expected something similar to his office and classroom, but in here were no scurrile ingredients. Instead the whole room was lined with bookshelves of very light wood, which unknowingly to all but Severus held more than just books, and deep blue walls. Someone that did not know who owned this room would say that the owner was a Ravenclaw, but Severus did not care about this. Blue was one of his favourite colours next to black after all.

It did not take long for Hermione's glance to reach the bed in the middle of the room that was currently occupied by Harry. Just like Minerva and Poppy she gasped when she first saw Harry. Severus could see a tear flowing over her cheek. Slowly she walked over to the chair he had occupied for most of the night as well as the majority of the afternoon, when he had had not lessons. He was caught between staying here and making sure that his Harry would not further be hurt, but decided to leave the room after listening to Hermione's apology for a while. He hoped that he would find something to do until Harry's friend left again.

Hermione had always been curious what the rooms of a teacher looked like, therefore it was no wonder that her first look went around the room taking it in. Another reason was that she was afraid to look at Harry. The room was the total opposite of what she would have thought it looked like. There was neither the colour green nor any silver in this room and so many bookshelves. Hermione made sure that once Harry was better she would ask the Potions Master whether she could borrow some books. This brought her back to the reason she was here. Her eyes wandered over to where the bed was.

Despite Snape's warning, Hermione gasped the moment she saw Harry. He had numerous bandages and nearly every visible part of his skin was covered with scars.

A single tear slid down her cheek, from the realization that she was partly responsible for Harry's condition and the pain her dear friend suffered. While she didn't actually tell Harry's relatives that he was gay, she didn't even try to keep Ron quiet or think to visit Harry to apologize for her behaviour.

Heartbroken over her friend's condition, Hermione spoke, hoping she could get through to him. "Oh, Harry. I am so sorry that I reacted the way I did. I was not thinking, I just reacted the way my parents taught me to. I should have never turned on you simply because you like guys. I spoke to my parents about it, we had a long talk and thanks to you my family is whole again. So you see that I have a lot to thank you for and I hope that you might forgive me and maybe in time trust me and be friends again. I promise that I will come again as soon as you awake and apologize in earnest. You must wake up . . Please wake up again..."

Severus listened to Hermione ramble for a while, and then left the room. He wanted to stay, desperately so, but he did not dare to risk Hermione figuring out that he was Harry's "boyfriend" – however silly the term sounded. He knew how Hermione was a stickler for rules and he knew that teacher-student relationships were taboo in the muggle world and he did not want a repetition of Harry telling his friends that he was gay. He also knew that Harry would need Hermione's friendship once he woke up.

To keep his mind off Harry, Severus tried, rather unsuccessfully, to do some work. After what felt like an eternity, but was actually only about half an hour, Hermione entered the sitting room. She looked at him for some time before saying, "I'll be going now. Will you inform me when Harry wakes up? I... I'll collect his homework and please let me know if there is anything else I can do for him."

Severus nodded and said, "You are free to come and visit him as long as it is a reasonable time."

He watched her leave then turned back to the papers he was grading. He thought about continuing, then realized he only started doing this to distract him while Granger was with Harry. Therefore, he stood up and went to join Harry in the bedroom.

He sat on the same chair as in the previous night and held Harry's hand again, never taking his eyes off the prone form of his lover. He allowed himself to drift off, reasoning that it would not help Harry to stay up all night, worrying. Besides, he had placed charms on Harry that would notify him if Harry awoke or if there was any change in his condition.

Harry awoke with a start. He cursed himself for falling asleep when he was meant to jump out of a window in the astronomy tower. The next thing he realised was that the bed was empty and it was lighter in the room than when he had entered. Then he saw the bandages and before he could wonder about them he realised that he didn't hurt as much as he used to. He tried to remember what had happened last night – he hoped that not more time had gone by – and after a few seconds he recalled enough to know that he fainted before he could leave the room.

Now that he knew what happened he looked around, wondering what time it was. Seeing Severus sleeping sitting in a chair next to the bed he decided that it was either before breakfast or late enough that there weren't anymore classes. He wondered why he was still in his lover's bedroom; wouldn't the headmaster want him in the hospital wing? It made things easier however. He knew from experience that it was difficult to leave when Poppy Pomfrey was around, no matter what time of the day – or night – it was. With Sev sleeping it was a bit easier. Thus he decided to finish his plan and go to Astronomy Tower.

Carefully he stood up, making as little sound as possible, and tiptoed to the door.

The moment Harry woke Severus felt a tugging. He tried to ignore it in favour of his dream where he was alone on an island with only his lover as a companion, but after sometime he was called back to reality by the shifting of his bed. After that it did not take long for him to fully wake up and then a few more to realise that the bed was empty. Quickly, he stood up and turned around. Severus spied Harry and was glad that he was still in the room. It would have been difficult to find him in the halls of Hogwarts, no matter how many were searching, and time would have been against them.

Taking the few steps to the door he took Harry's arm and pulled him back. Severus felt his mate – the pregnancy was proof for them being soulmates after all – stiffening. His heart ached at the obvious reaction. Severus knew that it was a result of the abuse, but for the reaction to be so blunt it had to be very bad. He shoved this thought in the back of his mind, planning to deal with it later, and pulled Harry closer to him, embracing him.

Harry struggled against the arms holding him, but calmed a bit when Severus spoke softly in his ear. Although the words were barely understandable, the calm deep voice of his lover was enough to comfort him. The moment he stopped fighting he could feel Severus leading him back to the bed and putting him back to sleep, but instead of sitting back on the chair as Harry thought the Potions Master would, he climbed into the bed after him and held him until he fell asleep again, completely forgetting why he stood up in the first place.

When Harry woke up next he was in an embrace and for a second he wondered who was in bed with him. Then his memory came back and he briefly wondered why his body wasn't hurting anymore, but figured that they must have healed him. He wondered why they cared. Everything was lost either way. His child was gone and would never return.

Harry felt the person behind him wake up. He couldn't deal with Sev right now, not after what happened. Still, he did not move. It was as if he would protect him from reality. But for how long? He felt kisses being placed on his neck and Sev's arm encircling him, tightening the embrace.

"Harry, please don't scare me like that again. I can't loose you! My life wouldn't be worth living anymore," started Severus. While he had told Harry before that he loved him and had shown him on numerous occasions, he had never before admitted this, "I shouldn't have been so selfish when I made my decision, I should have had more faith in us... You can't imagine how much I missed you... how often I wanted to stop you in the middle of a hallway and hug you for the rest of our lives..."

Here he broke of, hoping that Harry would say something himself. So far he hadn't spoken a single word since he woke up. After some time Severus thought that maybe he had been wrong in assuming that Harry was awake, but continued nonetheless, "They are all going to pay for what they did to you! Both Poppy and Minerva think the same..."

This time the silence lasted longer. Severus didn't know what else to tell Harry. When the silence became too unbearable for Severus he said silently, "You know, I never believed that I was worthy a soulmate... not to mention one as beautiful as you..."

"I am not beautiful... I am nothing, a freak, worthless...."

Severus was surprised to hear Harry answer. He thought that it would have been too low for his young lover to hear, but apparently he was wrong. The fact that Harry heard was no shock however, what shocked him was the content of what Harry had said, thus he started to correct him with a reprimanding voice, "Nonsense, Harry, they are ignorant and blind not to see how beautiful you are. I've never met a person as grand as you. And for all I care the whole word could die as long as I am with you forever... Harry, you gave me something I never thought I deserved: You gave me hope! You gave me a reason to survive this war!" Here he broke off, unsure what to say next. Realising that he had said everything that needed to be said he apologised once again, "Harry, I am sorry that I never told you... that I took the decision of you. We both should have decided together. About Albus ultimatum I mean. I never even went as far as thinking about possible ways to visit each other. All I thought about was that I'd never see you again. I was afraid that I'd loose you... I should have had more faith in you, but I believe that I learned to have that faith in you, in us... Wouldn't I have been as blind everything would be different now. You wouldn't have to go through all the pain and the miscarriage..."

He realised too late that the last sentence might be more harmful than he intended it to be, but it was said and couldn't be taken back.

He did not receive an answer in words, but after some time Harry turned around and laid his head against his shoulder. A few minutes later he felt something wet and it didn't take long for him to hear the hiccups and sobs. Maybe he said the right thing. Harry would have to deal with it sooner or later and Severus preferred sooner, because he could help his lover more that way than when he didn't say a thing. He also knew from the talk he had with Poppy during the long hours of the night they had sat in the sitting room speaking about Harry and his current situation that crying was good for the soul. It meant that the person was dealing with the pain and not avoiding it by ignoring it. To do that wasn't very healthy and led in many cases to death.

Carefully he took Harry in his arms and let him cry while slowly stroking over his back, comforting him with promises that everything would be alright in the end, hoping that it would turn out that way.

tbc...