Learning

Harry pushed the window down and leaned out. He didn't like the way Severus had been looking at him since he had tripped and fallen on the way out of the restaurant. He knew the man was going to be asking questions soon. And he didn't want to lie to him. He liked Severus. Besides, the boy had a feeling that Snape wouldn't be fooled. Couldn't be fooled. Not by him, at least. Not yet.

It wasn't like he was ashamed of being abused…delete that, actually, he was. Because he couldn't help thinking that he sort of deserved the abuse, that it was something he had done, even after what Severus had said. After all it wasn't like Snape knew him, or what he was going through. When he wasn't thinking like that, he was thinking that he should have stopped it somehow. But he hadn't. He had done nothing. Hadn't run away, hadn't told the authorities-he conveniently forgot the one time he had told a teacher-and wasn't that sort of like accepting it? And, yes, he was aware of how truly screwed-up that point of view was. He had read enough books on the subject to know.

Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Savior of the Wizarding World. Also know as Freak, the Boy Who Lived in a Cupboard, who Couldn't Even Save Himself. Pathetic.

No one else was going to see him as anything other than the famous god-like being who had defeated Voldemort as a baby.

He wondered if the Headmaster would let him change his name.

* * * * *

The car ride had been made in silence.

They had finally stopped at a small little store at the corner of two streets Harry didn't recognize.

Harry got out of the car, stumbling a little. His muscles screamed, in agony. He did his best to shrug it off. He was used to it. This was actually the most severe punishment he had gotten since two weeks ago, when his Aunt had found that huge spider on her bed. That hadn't been fun. But still, it had been worth it.

Harry grinned in the almost darkness.

He hadn't consciously made that spider crawl up to Petunia's bed, but he was pretty sure that he had still done it. Especially once he recognized it as a spider exclusive to Africa.

Things happened around him sometimes, not as often as before he had the power mostly under control, but they still happened.

The Professor's mouth tightened as he watched Harry rub at his bruises. He said nothing.

Harry slipped through the door Severus held open for him, murmured "thank you" quietly, lifted his eyes, looked around-

And stopped.

Wow.

The place was huge. Stacks and stacks of books piled up in shelves, against walls, on the floor. Some neatly organized, some…really not.

His fingers itched. He wanted to look at them, touch them.

Severus was talking to some guy. Pretty old. Well, not really. He looked somewhere in his late thirties. Older than Severus. He caught a few words-new and potions and genius and bastard and Hogwarts and Potter. Nothing interesting.

The boy wandered off, examining the books. The titles were all things he had heard about from Severus-and some things he had never imagined. He really wanted to buy something. Unfortunately, he didn't have any money. He browsed through the shelves, pulling some out and carrying them with him as he searched. When the pile got so large he couldn't hold it anymore, he carefully dropped them on a nearby table.

He looked down.

He had collected a lot. "Defeating the Darkness," "Helpful Hexes," "Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Charms," "The Grimoire of Dark Curses," "304 Poisonous Potions," "Vampyr," "Herbology: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Your Backyard," "Expecting the Unexpected," "A Study of the Wizarding World-From Ancient Times to the Present," "The Art of Becoming an Animagus," "Transfiguring the World," "Werewolves, Unicorns, and More," "Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail's guide to Advanced Pranking," "The Rise and Fall of the Dark Lord," "Arithmancy-More Than Adding and Subtracting," "Deciphering the Undecipherable," "Hogwarts, A History," "So You Want to Be a Dueler," "Healing: A Collection of Cures," "Remaining Unseen," "The Art of Disguise," "Composition of Spells," "Diary of Salazar Slytherin," and "Theories On and Use Of Wandless Magic."

Harry sighed. There was no way he'd be able to read those here. And also, now that he thought about it, he didn't see a way that he could buy any schoolbooks. It was depressing.

Oh well, I'm sure they have a library.

He studied the books once more. He hadn't seen any kind of robbery detector on the door. Maybe he could…steal one or two? But no, there was probably some kind of magic thing to keep people from taking stuff.

Harry thought. Maybe he could convince Severus to buy that "Diary of Salazar Slytherin?" He did say that he was in Slytherin House. And then Harry could borrow it.

He really wanted to keep it to himself, though. The strangely shaped letters…attracted him. The snakes along the binding seemed so alive. He almost felt that if he listened hard enough, he could hear them hissing at him. It was weird.

"I see you found something to occupy your time." Came the rich voice of Professor Snape.

Harry jumped about a foot.

"Severus! Um, hi."

A man, the same man Severus had been talking to earlier, was coming up behind the boy. He made a startled sound when he heard Harry's reply. "Severus?" he mouthed silently to Snape.

The Professor glared.

Harry's eyes grew huge and he rushed to explain himself.

"I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was just looking. At the books. They're interesting. I know I can't get any. I-I just…I wasn't doing anything wrong. I…was I?"

"Of course not, Harry." Snape's voice was as soothing as he could make it. "You weren't doing anything wrong. I wasn't angry with you. I promise. Actually, I'm quite impressed by your initiative. Most children your age try their very best to stay away from books. Although, I am slightly puzzled. Why couldn't you purchase any of these items?"

Harry gave him an oh-my-god-how-stupid-are-you? look. "Because I don't have any money."

Snape smirked. "Now, whoever told you that?"

End Chapter 12

Okay, I hope this part brought back some of the abused!Harry persona. As several people pointed out to me, he's not going to heal in one day. At least I can ditch the physical injuries once I get to Madame Pomfrey. I keep forgetting the stupid things. *g* And, now I'm starting to wonder about the names. Pomfrey, Sprout, Vector, Moody…JKR likes to be symbolic, huh?

Also, you might want to actually read all the book titles. They might be kind of surprising. Plus, they're going to explain a lot of the things Harry can do once he gets to Hogwarts. He' a surprising kid. And remember, he likes to read. :)

Thank you to my five reviewers. *pouts* I think I'm not popular anymore! Anyway, I love you, and thanks. *hugs*

To: Rachel A. Prongs-I know. I'm hoping I'll do an okay job with the mostly new characters and the new parts of characters, but I'm kinda insecure. This is my first fic. I'm sorta still figuring it out. *g*

To: rayvern-Oh! You bloodthirsty naughty thing! *giggles gleefully* Yeah…we're gonna have lotsa fun…

To: Avlyn-lol. Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.

To: rebma-Yay! More compliments! *g* I'll try. Hope you liked this chapter too…

To: Min-Thank you. And the notice was really no problem. I'll try. :)