It was that first day on the ship. After the mean man was done with him he was thrown in here, literally. It was pitch black. He could barely spread his arms completely until he was stopped by the wall. He tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. It was too small he couldn't breath. The walls were going to smash into him soon; he knew it.

Severus found Harry on the floor near the door with his eyes closed as tightly as possible. Small tears leaked from his eyes and were slowly making their way down the tip of his nose. Something unexpected happened. Harry started speaking. He repeated "no" over and over progressively getting louder. He was almost screaming when his own voice woke himself up.

He tried to back away from Severus but was soon stopped by the wall. His voice was old, hallow, when he finally said, "They aren't dreams, just memories."

"But Harry what does that mean? Please talk to me. I know now that you can. Just tell me. I can help you," Severus sounded urgent.

"No one can help me," said the underused voice of the little boy.

"Why?"

"Because evil can only corrupt the beautiful," he said it quietly; Severus had to strain to hear him.

"Harry, the only people that I saw who were evil, was the ones who were on that ship," Severus tried to make the boy see reason.

"You don't understand that which you speak," said the voice partially hidden in shadow.

"Then make me understand, for providence's sake," Severus nearly shouted as he felt the anger boil up again. He tried to stay calm but something about the situation just seemed wrong. There was a major detail that was always left out, something he couldn't catch but desperately needed to. Maybe he really did care about this child, like family. Family.

"Harry, how did you come to be on that ship?" Harry looked down at his trembling hands, refusing to look into that face, "Harry look at me," Severus walked over and stooped down to his level, "How did you get on that ship?"

Without looking Harry spoke quietly, "It is m-my fault. M-Master ssaid ssso. F-Father die-left and it is my fault . Master ssaid so." The room was filled with an odd silence until Severus finally spoke.

"Is, this Master, was he the one who gave you those scars?" he asked the figure on the floor.

Harry nodded saying, "I-It was his job, to-to give me my punishments," he took a ragged breath and continued, "I am bad, Master sssss-says ssso."

"He is no longer master, not any more. Not to you or anyone. Harry he was a monster, not a master," but Harry shook his head in disagreement with Severus's words.

Harry did not speak for the rest of the evening. He never moved from the place where Severus had found him. The Captain would come in to check on him every so often, but it was well past dark when Conner finally stumbled onto the deck.

Clouds hid pinpricks of light, making it an abysmal night. Occasionally the moon would brake free of clouds, but it would almost immediately be recaptured. Two men talked in hushed voices near the door of the galley. The captain was nowhere to be seen.

A crash split the otherwise silent night as the two figures turned to look at the door that just moment ago had been closed. A highly agitated captain was shone as he strode over to Harry. He had never seen the man so mad. Harry froze where he stood at the look being directed toward him. He felt the fear again grip his heart like it had done only a week ago. Blood pounded in his ears.

"I do not regret taking you off that other ship. I do not feel regret for killing them. They were only killing you slowly; can you not see that? Just because they were taking their time does not mean the outcome would have been any different. And I do not regret my actions!" Severus was ranting by the end of his statement.

Harry felt the wind get taken out of him. Shock could not have described what he felt. He took a step back from the Captain and ended up sitting on his rump on the deck. He just knew that the punishments would come soon, so he raised his arms to cover his head in anticipation. The pain never came though, instead came the sound of one trying to regain their breath. Harry did not dare look up though. He made himself as small as possible, shutting his eyes tightly.

He was ready for the pain he thought would come. It was taking to long to begin. Why was the Captain waiting? 'Let him just get it over with. I knew that this place was too good to be true.' The truth of the matter was that if Harry had looked up instead of shield himself with his arms, he would have seen the stricken look on the Captain's face.

Severus spoke in a calm tone, "I'm not going to hit you."

"Yes you will; mad means punishments, and you are mad so—"Harry's quiet theory was cut short by Severus's explanation.

"Just because someone is angered with you does not mean they will be violent toward you." His own anger forgotten, Severus sat beside the unmoving child and placed a hand on his shoulder. The boy visibly flinched at the contact, and Severus could feel the few muscles the boy possessed tense.

"Come on, let's get you inside, "Severus suggested, "it is going to rain soon." Sure enough, clear cool prisms did mark their final destination on the man and boy as the older stood up and offered a hand to the younger. He helped the boy to his feet.