Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or events described in the books. However, anything you don't recognize is mine! Ha, ha, ha (Laughs evilly!)
LAST TIME:
"Hello," he spoke timidly.
"Hello. You're Severus, right?" The man gave a curt nod and she continued with a small smile, "You might not remember me, or even know me, but I was in your same year at Hogwarts. I'm Lily."
"Potter's wife?"
"Not anymore. I'm Lily Evans again, not Potter," she replied with sadness in her voice.
"Why is that? I suppose that's why you're upset?"
"I'm going to ask for a divorce. I just found out that James abused my son, Harry, while I was away from the house. It's been going on for a long time now, and I just realized what was going on." Lily was once again close to tears.
"Where is Harry now?" The man, Severus, asked quietly.
"Upstairs, at the moment. I put a spell on him to tell me if he awakes or if he's in any danger."
The dark haired man nodded slightly, and then questioned, "Are you staying here while you wait to file for your divorce?"
WHAT IF…
Chapter 3
"Yes… no -- I don't know. I would stay here but I'm not sure how safe it would be for Harry," Lily said suddenly, concerned for Harry.
"Is your son alright? After all, you just said that your husband abused him."
"No, he's unconscious at the moment. I don't know what to do. If I go to hospital, they will call James and I don't want to tell them what happened to Harry. They would never believe me, because James is so popular at the Ministry; he's an Auror and all," she told him somewhat sadly.
The man that she recognized as Severus Snape from her year at school looked at her cautiously, and then thought for a moment. He seemed to think something over, and then offered, "Could I look him over? I have some potions with me that could maybe help…"
Lily gave him a relieved look. She was glad that she ran into him, even if they hadn't ever been on best terms back in school.
"Would you?"
"Lead the way. I'll just tell Tom to call Hogwarts and tell the Headmaster that I'll be staying the night here," was Severus' reply.
"Thank you so much."
xxxXXXxxx
After Severus spoke with Tom, the pub owner, Lily showed him the way to her room. She wasn't worried that he would tell James, because if she remembered right, Severus had hated James when they were in school -- and still did. As soon as she led him her son, he went over to the boy and cast a spell over him. She nearly had a heart attack, thinking that he wanted to harm Harry, but he reassured her that it was only a condition charm. It would tell him all about Harry's current condition.
In truth, when Lily had told him about the abuse inflicted, he had expected a very bruised and bloody child but so far, Harry was normal. He didn't even have a paper cut, let alone signs of abuse. He briefly wondered whether Lily had tricked him but shrugged it of. At glance, Severus could tell that she truly seemed worried about her son. He looked over the sheet of parchment with the list of injuries and gasped. Lily heard him and asked him
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything is fine," he said in a calm voice, not wanting to worry her.
He placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, and gently -- well as gently as he could, asked her to leave the room so he could work on the child undisturbed. She protested, but of course, he managed to convince her after a few moments by telling her that it would be the best.
xxxXXXxxx
Once she left, he looked over the list of injuries again. It said that Harry had a broken left arm; his left leg was also broken, as was his right leg in two places. Three of his ribs were cracked and, though you couldn't tell, he was having trouble with breathing. Severus thought that James had probably kicked him in the ribs a few times; and it had to have been hard. That was probably the reason he was unconscious; he couldn't breathe so he blacked out.
Another reason that he might have blacked out was that it seemed as if he had been hit over his head with something. There were also several other injuries on various parts of his body that weren't as serious. One more thing on the list was that over 70 percent of Harry's body was covered in bruises. Severus finished reading through the list as it ended by saying that Harry was also very malnourished.
Severus just hoped that he would be able to fix everything. The first thing he did was remove the glamour he was sure James had cast upon the boy.
It surprised him at how different the little one looked without the glamour. He was very thin and too small for his age. He could only be about four years old and yet, he barely looked like a small, nearly three year old child.
He thanked Merlin at that moment that he always carried healing potions with him. He got them out of his robes and un-shrunk the box they were in. He took out the healing salve for the bruises and gingerly rubbed it on all of Harry's bruises after stripping him of most of his clothes. He was hard pressed not to throw up when he saw his entire small body covered in black and blue, mingled with blood from sealed cuts.
After applying the salve, he force-fed Harry some bone repair potion. It was very good that Harry was unconscious; at least he wouldn't feel the pain while his bones joined together and healed. He was glad that the boy was so young because his bones were more flexible. If Harry had been ten or older, he would have had to give him the bone regrowing potion that would have killed him at his current age.
xxxXXXxxx
After two, painstaking hours Severus was finally finished. He looked over Harry again and had to admit that the kid looked much better than before. Most of his injuries were gone now and his bones were the only thing not healed completely yet. The only thing that the man couldn't do, of course, was heal the emotional damage. That would have to come later on in the boy's life, when he was ready to deal with it. He hoped that the kid could get over it and he also hoped that Lily would be able to get a divorce from the man who was willing to do such harm to a child. He knew that if Harry was ever left alone with James, it would prove to be a disaster.
After going through his thoughts and re-checking his work on the boy, he left the room in search for Lily. He soon found her sitting in the pub at an empty table by herself with couple cups with tea. She had obviously tried to calm her nerves with it. He would have chosen a firewhisky for that but he had to admit that Lily was very responsible by choosing the non-alcoholic beverage. It was obvious that she didn't want to drink because of Harry; she couldn't get drunk in case Harry needed her.
Severus sat in the chair across from her after a moment and Lily looked at him immediately, demanding to know what happened to Harry.
A/N: Well, here is the next chapter. I hope you like it. Many thanks to my charming beta, xScenex! Please leave me a couple of reviews. I will be pleased even if you leave me just a word. Also, I decided to change Harry's first and last name. I need your help in deciding what his name will be. If you have any suggestions or if you don't agree with it, tell me in a review!
Annie