Trust in Jeopardy

Harry moved through the halls toward the dining hall. He'd almost made it to his destination when he was stopped by two red-haired boys bubbly as ever despite it being the crack of dawn.

"Harry we just heard!" one of the boys proclaimed excitedly.

"Heard what, George?" Harry asked confused.

"Why that you've switched to team Snape of course," the other boy offered slyly.

"I wasn't aware there were teams. What makes you think I've 'switched sides'?" Harry asked humoring the boys for a moment.

"Why, Ronnikins told us how you defended the man the other day. That's pretty peculiar behavior, Harrikins."

"Fred, I simply spoke the truth. Professor Snape is not the enemy. He is not a bad person. He does not hurt children. In fact, he helps children, he teaches children. Dolores Umbridge is a bad person. Voldemort is the enemy. There are no other sides, at least, not in my mind," Harry explained calmly.

"Oh, we know that," George said with a small laugh behind his words.

"Obviously we know that. You've no idea how many times we've screwed around with potions-" (~Fred)

"Only to make a pretty dangerous mess."(~George)

"And yet, good ole Snape always heals us-" (~Fred)

"Before he scolds us good." (~George)

"So you see, dear Harrikins," (~Fred)

"We're team Snape too." (~George)

"Good," Harry replied before sliding past the twins and continuing to the dining room only to be stopped again.

"Potter, how's your worthless life going. Are you enjoying your life? Heaven knows no one else enjoys the fact that you're alive. Hey, did you hear The Daily Prophet just published a survey? Spoiler alert, 96 percent of people agree you should've died the first time Voldemort tried to kill you. Everybody knows the world would've been so much better off," Malfoy fired at him with a laugh.

"Good to know, Draco thanks," Harry replied as he tried to continue walking to the great hall. Draco had other plans, however, stepping in front of him so Harry could not pass.

"You know I'm sure that worthless, good-for-nothing godfather of yours resents you every day for being alive when he could have his good-for-nothing, worthless friends still if you had just died that day instead of them... as you should have," Draco sneered desperately trying to get any kind of reaction out of his nemesis.

"You know, Draco, I'm sure you're right," Harry said trying once more to sidestep the blonde and continue on his way.

Draco again cut off his path, growing angry with the lack of reaction he was getting. "Oh, and by the way, I'm only telling you this bit because I would want to know if the roles were reversed, but I heard Fred talking to Ron about how their family only pretended to like you because of the publicity they got from it. Apparently, it's good for their image and means their dad gets paid more money by the ministry. Ya know, now that I'm thinking about it, Ron probably tells his dad all your dirty little secrets so that Mr. Weasley can sell them to The Daily Prophet and make a little extra money."

"That's very ambitious of them," Harry said with a sigh trying once more to get around Draco and make his way to the great hall for breakfast.

"Ugh, are you so pathetic you don't even care what people say about you, Potter? Your parents are most definitely mortified of how their son turned out. Probably wished they had let you die. I know slugs whose lives are worth more than yours, Potter," Draco snapped.

Harry turned on his heels and marched back to his dorm room. When he arrived he flopped onto his bed and cried.

Harry had lost track of time, but then he heard a sharp knock on his dorm room door. Slowly getting off the bed and wiping the tears off his face, Harry moved over to the door and opened it. He was shocked to see Severus Snape outside his door.

"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" Severus inquired suspiciously.

"Of course, sir, sorry if I worried you," the boy mumbled.

"Mr. Potter are you aware of what time it is?" Severus asked a bit more gently.

"Umm...I'm guessing it's the second period, sir?" Harry answered hesitantly.

"Harry, classes are over for the day. May I come in? Would you prefer to come down to the dungeons for a bit? I need to talk to you," Severus stated, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"Oh, sorry, sir, of course, you can come in," Harry said pulling back the door and stepping back to allow Severus into his quarters.

When the door closed Severus spoke gently, "Harry, what's wrong?"

Harry honestly looked confused as he answered, "Nothing's wrong, sir, why do you ask?"

"The evidence that you've been crying is written all over your face, Harry. And you've also missed all your classes, breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and quidditch practice. So obviously something is wrong. Will you trust me, Harry?"

"Sir, I c-can't tell you," Harry offered as a quiet explanation, hoping it would satisfy his potion's professor. It did not satisfy him.

"Why can't you tell me, Harry?" Severus asked.

"I don't want you to be at odds with someone you care about," Harry whispered.

"Harry I care about you. I want to help you, but I can't do that if I don't know what's going on. Please trust me," Severus pleaded.

"You probably wouldn't even believe me anyway, so please just leave it alone professor," Harry whispered in response.

"Harry, I implore you to remember how I've helped you recently. I promise to do my best to help you if you will tell me what's happened," Severus pleaded.

After a long silence, when Severus was just beginning to think the boy would not speak again without being prompted, Harry said, "I was on my way to breakfast this morning, but D-Draco stopped me in the hallway. H-He said things, sir. Horrible things. I-I should be dead. Everyone wants me dead. Why couldn't I have just died, sir? Everyone would be better off if I was dead!" Harry cried out the last couple of sentences as he collapsed onto the floor sobs wracking his body.

"Harry," Severus whispered as he knelt in front of the boy. "What did Draco say to you today?"

"He...he told me how worthless my life is and that 96 percent of people agree that I should've died when Voldemort attacked me the first time. He...he said Sirius resents me for being alive and wishes my parents had lived and I had died. He...he overheard Fred and Ron talking. The Weasley's only pretend to like me because it gets them good publicity and it allows them to sell my information to The Daily Prophet. Ugh, I'm so pathetic. My parents would be ashamed of how I turned out. I should be dead. Slugs are worth more than me," the boy cried absolutely distraught.

"Harry, I'm so sorry Draco said those things to you. That was very wrong of him. He was very wrong. Your life is not worthless. That 96 percent of people aren't saying they wished you had died, they are saying the strongest dark wizard of history factually should not have been killed by a one-year-old child. They don't wish you dead, Harry, they simply realize how truly unlikely it was for you to survive. And I know for certain Sirius Black does not wish you dead. He writes Dumbledore every day trying to brainstorm ideas to prove his innocence so that he can adopt you. He wants to adopt you, Harry, because he loves you. He loves you like his own son and would not go through the whole adoption process if he wished you dead. Draco lied about overhearing Fred and Ron. I can say this with utmost certainty because I overheard the twins talking just the other day. They were talking about how much they loved playing quidditch with you. They also expressed how impressed that you could tell them apart when their own mother can't. They were worried about your health and were trying to brainstorm ideas about how to help you have fun. Why would they say all those things without any incentive if they didn't truly care about you? Your parents would be so proud of you, Harry. They loved you so much. Your mother never stopped talking about how smart you were, how kind you were, how you were going to grow up to be an incredible young man. She saw all that in you when you were just one year old. She would be so proud of how you perform in school, how you stand up for each person you meet. She is so proud of her son. Unfortunately, I didn't personally know your father, but I'm sure he was just as proud of his son. Harry, you are important, you are valued, you are loved, you deserve to live a happy life," Severus explained, pleading with the boy to believe him.

Harry sniffed and wiped tears from his face. "You promise?" Harry asked sounding so incredibly young.

"I promise," Severus replied confidently.

After a few moments, when Harry had calmed down, Severus spoke again. "Harry, I'm going to have a house-elf send up a meal. I know dinner is in just a few hours, but you can't wait. You can't be missing meals. Eat as much as you can of both meals, and then tomorrow you can get back on schedule. I'm going to go call someone and I'll check on you later if you think you'll be okay?"

When Harry nodded, Severus took his leave. After relaying the message to the house elves, Severus went down to his office and fire called someone he never would've believed he would intentionally seek out.

"Severus, what's going on? Is Harry okay?"

"Sirius, I understand you need to be careful with your movements right now, but I'd like you to floo over to my classroom. Unfortunately, your godson needs you badly and it can't wait," Severus explained quickly.

"I'll come right over," Sirius answered. Severus stepped back and in a few moments, his childhood nemesis stood in his office. "What's going on, Severus?"

"Sirius, Harry missed all of his classes today as well as two meals and both of his snacks. He's suffered a lot and I've been trying to help him as best I can so when he was missing for so long, I was worried and went to check on him. He was in his dorm room, totally unaware of what time it was and very distraught. I found out Draco said some very terrible things to him. Harry is currently thinking some very dangerous things. He currently believes his life is worthless, that the vast majority of people wish he was dead. He believes that you wish he was dead and his parents alive. He believes the Weasleys only pretend to like him so they can profit from his fame. He believes his parents would be ashamed of him and it seems he believes he should be dead," Severus explained.

"What?!" Sirius exclaimed. "I would NEVER-how could he even think such a thing?!"

"Sirius, I understand you're frustrated, but you must calm down. Harry needs you calm. He needs to know he is loved. It's not my place to tell you even this much, but I feel like I need to tell you Harry's insecurities do not come solely from the confrontation with Draco. Harry has been subjected to intense abuse since his parents died. I will not tell you anything else, that is something Harry will have to entrust you with. I'm always telling you this much so that you understand how important it is for you to be calm, patient, and let Harry know that he is loved and his life is not worthless. Do you understand?" Severus asked.

Sirius took a deep breath before answering. "Yes, and Severus, I never thought I'd say this, but...thank you for helping him. I could tell from his last letter that Harry is very grateful for you, and I am grateful to you as well for protecting my godson while I can't be here," Sirius said and Severus had to school his surprise at the maturity of the man who used to be an immature bully.

"Go see to your godson," Severus replied.