Rating: R
Genres: Romance, Angst, Fluff
Warnings: OOC-ness, abuse (not from Severus), adult language
Spoilers: n/a
Summary: Severus helps Harry recover from an abusive relationship.
Song: Straightjacket Feeling
Artist: the All-American Rejects
Author's Note: Originally a songfic, the lyrics have been removed from this fic to comply with FF rules. Song lyrics can be found here: www (dot) plyrics (dot)com (slash) lyrics (slash) allamericanrejects (slash) straitjacketfeeling (dot) html
For the original version of this fic, please check out my livejournal:
www (dot) livejournal (dot) com (slash) users (slash) Harry (underscore) sev (slash)
xxx
When he felt something hit him in the face, Severus immediately woke up. He looked around to see Harry thrashing about in the bed. He was whimpering and muttering, "Please, don't hurt me."
Severus sighed. This was the third time this week Harry had dreamt about his past relationship. Not for the first time, Severus wished he could find this Ryan Bush guy and torture him. But no, the one time he suggested it Harry had protested vehemently, begging Severus to leave his ex-"boyfriend" alone. Although Severus disagreed, he followed his love's wishes. Now Severus reached out to try and wake Harry up.
xxx
"Look at the world's savoir now," taunted Ryan as he struck the whip against Harry's bare back. "Not so much of a hero now, are you?"
"Please, don't hurt me," Harry begged.
"Harry."
"You're lucky you have me," continued Ryan as he struck Harry again.
"Please," whimpered Harry.
"Harry!"
"Who the hell else would love you?" jeered Ryan. "You're nothing but a fucking waste of air space."
"Harry!"
Harry sat up in bed, crying and shaking. He looked over to see who had been shaking him and immediately met the concerned eyes of one Severus Snape. Harry lowered his head to his hands.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, ashamed for having woken up Severus for the third time that week.
"You don't have anything to be sorry about," soothed Severus as he gathered Harry gently into his arms. "Maybe you would feel better if you talked about it."
xxx
Harry wiped his eyes on his sleeve and leaned back. He was still in Severus's strong embrace, but now he didn't feel quite so helpless. He had never really told Severus about his past relationship before. Sure, Severus could guess from the cuts and bruises that littered Harry's body, but they had never really talked about it. Taking a deep breath, Harry started to talk.
"He wasn't so bad at first. He was kind. He would call me all the time, and always tell me how much I meant to him. He wanted to know where I was at all times, which I thought was sweet at first. But then he'd get mad when I would spend time with Ron and Hermione instead of him. If I wasn't home when he came over, he'd get furious. That's when the abuse started."
xxx
"The first time he hit me I left. I told myself I wouldn't get into an abusive relationship. But then he came back later that day, and he looked so sad. He begged me to forgive him, that he would never hit me again. I believed him, and I went home with him. He didn't hit me again for the longest time. We moved in together.
"Then it started getting worse. He hit me more and more. I left a few times, went over to Ron's. Ryan would always come back in tears, begging me to forgive him. I did it again. I went back to him every time."
xxx
"Why?" asked Severus gently, trying to understand his young love better. "Why would you go back to him? There are so many better people in the world."
"I was afraid that no one else would ever love me," whispered Harry brokenly. "I was nothing without him."
xxx
Severus wrapped his arms more tightly around Harry. He pressed many kisses to the top of Harry's head.
"I love you more than anything else in the world," Severus told him. "I will always be there for you, and I promise that I will never hurt you."
Harry leaned back enough to look Severus in the eyes. Harry smiled through his tears. "I know. I love you, too."
xxx
Time went on. They didn't speak of Ryan again for months. Slowly, all of the bad memories of Ryan were being replaced with the good memories of Severus. Harry's nightmares eventually stopped coming, and the two were settling down nicely.
Until they saw Ryan.
xxx
They were in Diagon Alley buying potions supplies for Severus when they saw him. Ryan made his way over to Harry and Severus. Harry tried to turn away, but Ryan grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled Harry close.
"Harry, I'm so sorry! I never meant to hurt you. I've been looking for you for months," cried Ryan, kneeling down in front of Harry, tears immediately filling his eyes.
Severus saw Harry begin to shake and knew that it was time to take action.
"Festinatio," he shouted, his wand pointed directly at Ryan.
xxx
Ryan screamed as he was thrown backward into the nearest wall. People all around stopped to stare. Severus ignored them. Instead, he walked slowly over to where Ryan was struggling to stand up. Severus grabbed Ryan's throat and slammed him back into the wall.
"Listen, and listen well because I'm only going to say this once," whispered Severus in his most dangerous voice. "The only reason that I am even allowing you to live is that Harry made me promise not to hurt you. If it were up to me, I would torture you until you were begging for death, and then I would slowly, while you were still alive, cut your insides out to use in potions. You should be extremely grateful that Harry is such a kind and caring person, because I can assure you that I am not. If you ever, and I mean ever, say another word to that young man, I will personally see to it that you are destroyed."
With that Severus turned and Apparated himself and Harry home and held his young love while he cried.