I don't own HP! Just the plot.
****THERE IS ABUSE MENTIONED AND SLIGHTLY DESCRIBED. DO NOT READ IF IT IS A TRIGGER.****
Obviously, some of the things in this story are from Sorcerer's Stone, especially the Snake Scene at the zoo, and I don't take credit for that, but the remainder of the plot in this chapter is mine.
Also, I do not mind the critiques and the ideas to make it helpful, and I do find them extremely helpful. I wouldn't be as far as I am without them. However, please remember this is my first fanfiction and I'm still working out the kinks of the story and getting used to people reading them. Also keep in mind that I am a college student and therefore this isn't the top thing on my mind most times, especially starting next week. However, my brother is helping me edit my story now, so things should begin to improve.
Thank you for your consideration, patience, thoughts, and ideas! Please R & R and enjoy this chapter!
ekrichards
The streets of Little Whinging were dark, and it was cloudy. Not to mention that Severus Snape was wearing completely black clothes. Severus Snape was to be unseen.
The front door belonging to the Dursley's opened with a bang, scaring the fat boy watching television, and doing nothing about the two frozen people standing behind him, although the terror in their eyes was obvious. Severus smirked. With a wave of his wand, he closed the drapes, locked all doors, and unfroze the two bastards in front of him.
"I told you I would be back, Tuney. Now, for a decent enough punishment. Hmm. If the Dark Lord were here I would simply…give you to him. Or the dementors. Remember those Tuney?" Severus drawled, smirking as he watched her tremble with fear.
"Firstly, I don't give a damn what my precious little sister said. She always got what she wanted and no one saw her for the freak that she was. Secondly, that bastard and freak of a boy was a handful. He needed a good smack every now and again in order to control him. He was so hard to control, Snape," Aunt Petunia said, with a look of disgust on her face.
Severus scoffed. "Hard to control? You have nearly beaten the spirit and life out of him! Do you know how many scars and bruises he has because you thought that he was a handful? Even if he was a handful, you don't beat and malnourish your child."
"He's not our child!" Vernon Dursley snapped, "That boy was a wreck. He never did anything properly. None of the chores were done horribly. He was constantly hurting Dudley! Just the other day, he set a snake at the zoo on Dudley doing his freaky little stuff!"
"Magic," Severus corrected coolly.
"Magic, rubbish, freaks, whatever you want to call it, it's stupid, frankly. We were simply hoping that we could beat the magic out of him. Magic makes you a freak, and freaks aren't allowed. "
"Tell me, what did you do to him? Tell me or I swear I will find out by invading your minds," Severus sneered.
"Ha! You have no right to do that. We did nothing wrong, we were simply controlling a freak," the overweight man said, almost jolly, thinking he had found a way around it.
"Ah yes, the man who spies for the Dark Lord, following the rules," Severus said, having to stop the eye roll, "Legillimens!"
A tiny boy the age of three stood on a stool at the oven, frying bacon, while the much larger, spoiled boy sat on the floor surrounded by 20 or so presents. The squat boy, Dudley, was tearing through packages and throwing a temper tantrum over ones that he hated.
"Happy Birthday, Dudders! Oh, I hope that you enjoy these gifts, you've worked so hard this year, you deserve them all! Maybe if you're extra good at the state fair today, we'll buy you 5 new presents, how's that my handsome baby?" Petunia cooed.
Dudley simply squealed and threw a firetruck at his father.
Petunia snapped her attention to the tiny boy at the stove, who was now struggling to make pancakes.
"Boy! Don't burn anything! If you burn anything you can't eat what's left, and no food from us for a week! Understood, freak?"
Harry nodded glumly, "Yes, Aunt Petun-Petun-Petunia."
Harry had a determined look on his face, as if he wanted to make his aunt and uncle proud. But in reality, he was just hoping to get some of their leftovers, if they had any. Severus watched as his anger as the Dursley's rose from the pile of presents on the floor to eat.
Once the Dursley's had been fed, they thrust the remaining crumbs and pancake and fatty bacon bits at the boy.
"You! Boy! You can have our leftovers, out of the goodness of our hearts," Vernon said, with a malicious smirk on his face. "But don't eat at the table, why?"
Harry looked at the floor. "Freaks don't sit on the furniture. Thank you for the good food, you are very- very nice."
The memory quickly faded as Severus prodded for more memories with Harry. Quickly, one caught his attention and he turned to it. He saw Vernon beating Harry as a six-year-old, for putting a hand on the couch to stabilize himself when he was vacuuming. Harry was then thrown in his cupboard and given no meals for 2 weeks. Severus shook his head and turned away, his stomach threatening to throw up his breakfast, or was it his lunch? Maybe both.
Another memory appeared in front of him. Aunt Petunia was sitting by the window with a cup of tea.
"I swear, if that boy hurts my precious darling he will pay. If Dudders can't catch that freak then he'll be so upset," Petunia muttered under her breath.
Harry's eyes were big and round and he kept tripping over his much too long pants. Could you even call them pants? Dudley didn't seem to care though, as he just plowed behind Harry on his bike, along with his group of friends.
Moments later, the door burst open and Dudley came in, grumbling.
"Muuum, Harry's on the garden shed roof again, we were doing Harry Hunting. Muuuum stop letting him escape!"
"Don't worry popkins, I'll make sure he never escapes again, okay duddykins? You'll be able to catch him any time you like."
Dudley simply nodded and waddled upstairs. Petunia turned around, looking very furious.
"HARRY POTTER!"
8-year-old Harry stumbled into the room, slightly out of breath and looking nervous for what was to come. Petunia grabbed him by the ear and threw him into the cupboard, telling him that he was to have no food for 2 weeks for 'upsetting her boy'.
The memory faded, bringing on the memory of the zoo.
Dudley and a boy that Severus had never seen before were banging on the glass of various reptile cages.
"Make it move," Dudley moaned at his father.
Dursley knocked on the glass window with his knuckles, before looking apologetically at Dudley.
"Boooring," Dudley muttered before wandering over to a more active snake.
Harry was holding the packing of what looked like a cheap ice lolly, but was sitting at the snake and smiling at it. Severus smiled at the sight of the child, looking content for once, becoming lost in thought. He was rudely brought from his thoughts as Dudley pushed Harry away from the snake and onto the floor. Dudley seemed to climb up the glass, before it disappeared. Harry was smiling as Dudley lost his balance and fell into the large habitat. The large boa constrictor slithered out of the cage, nodded and hissing at Harry as it escaped the large reptile house.
Dursley however, seemed to notice Harry's smile, and quickly and rather forcefully picked Harry up and whispered, "No meals and the cupboard for 2 weeks. And a beating when you get home, freak. How dare you intentionally hurt my son."
The memory faded and a flash of memory appeared. Dursley was beating the same Harry that he had seen at the zoo, and there was no doubt that this thrilled Dursley. Dursley's belt was flying up in the air and coming down with a crack on Harry. Harry was curled up on the floor, his back bloody and bruised, not making a single sound, except for the occasional whimper.
Severus had had enough and pulled out of her mind. Silently, he walked away from the couple, towards the door, his anger obvious. But it was a calm anger, the kind that's the scariest. Turning towards them as he reached the door, he mumbled a spell. This spell was the kind of spell that turned everything the abusers had done to someone back onto them, for the length of time that they had abused Harry. Their house was never to be quite as clean as Petunia preferred. No matter how much food they put on their plates, they could only eat as much as Harry was allowed before feeling as if they were done or didn't want anymore, even if they were still very hungry. The fridge became moldy and the food, stale. Rust and mold began to form anywhere that Harry had continuously scrubbed over and over again since a toddler.
They would feel pain at the most random of times, but it would never leave a mark. Dursley would feel the pain of his belt whenever he had messed up at work, which would be quite a lot. Dudley would feel terror whenever he was being bullied and he would never feel at ease. He would feel the kicks and punches that he threw at Harry, and he would sleep in the cupboard for the next 10 years. No matter how hard he tried to go upstairs, the minute he was in his room, he would find himself in the cupboard. Tuney would hear everything negative that the neighbors had ever said about her. Nothing Tuney would do could keep the neighbors from talking. Her once precious gardens were wilted and would never be bright and cheerful again.
He knew that the next decade would make them miserable, but he felt that they deserved it. No one in the wizarding world approved of abuse, and there was an entire Department in the Ministry dedicated to it. Severus knew that the Ministry might have done slightly less to them, but revenge was sweet. The evilest thing came next. Severus Snape smirked.
"Have a good life, Tuney, Dursley, Dudley. I hope you enjoy," he said, drawing emphasis on this last word, "the next decade of your life. Goodbye."
Not telling the Dursley's what was about to happen to them was Severus's definition of true evil. No amount of punishment could have made Severus feel any better about what they had done to Harry. He knew that Harry would have a long road of healing ahead of him, both mentally and emotionally. Severus apparated back to the clean manor and made his way to Harry's room, planning to stay with him the whole night. He walked into Harry's room, watching the small boy awaken as Lucinda wiped some dried blood off of his forehead. The boy seemed to think that he was in trouble, and quickly tried to jump out of bed.
"I- I'm sorry sir I woke up on your bed, I don't know how I got there. I'm sorry I was a freak; I won't do it again. Is there a cupboard for me to stay in?" Harry said this all very fast and did not make eye contact with Severus. Instead, he was looking around the room for something. Severus could only assume he was looking for a cupboard.
Severus hated it when children didn't look him in the eye when they were speaking to him. It was quite rude, in his opinion. Severus sighed and knelt down to the boy's level.
"Look at me, Potter, you are not a freak. And it was alright that you woke up in your own bed. I have my own room down the hall."
"No, sir, sorry sir, I have to earn my keep and freaks don't sleep in beds or sit on the furniture, where is my cupboard?"
"Boy! You are not a freak! You will not sleep in a cupboard." Severus snapped, already impatient with the brat.
Harry shrunk back, muttering apologies as he took a small step away from the strange man, hugging himself.
"Potter, er- Harry, you are not a freak. You are a wizard. Like me, and your adopted sister, whom you will meet tomorrow morning."
"But uncle said I was a freak. I can make things happen to other people and I will get beaten for it. Uncle will be mad that I'm in a bed, I need to go find a cupboard!" Harry was panicking now.
Severus reached out to touch the boys chin, forcing him to look Severus in the eyes.
"Listen to me Harry. You are not a freak. Your uncle mistreated you. He treated you like no proper guardian should. I am your official guardian now and I promise to be the best father figure I can be. You will have to forgive me because I have never been good with children, but I can promise you one thing. I will never intentionally hurt you, and I will never hit you."
"But sir, Uncle won't be happy with me, he'll think that I tricked you, I'll get beaten when I go back to Privet Drive! You'll beat me when you discover what a freak I am!" Harry said, trying to look away, but failing.
Severus noticed how Harry didn't call Privet Drive, home.
"You will never be going back to Privet Drive, Harry. I have three rules for you to remember and follow. One: I will never hit you, beat you, or call you Boy or freak. If I need to punish you, you will write lines or be grounded for a few days. Two: You are never to sleep in the cupboard. You are allowed on the furniture and you will sit with us at the dinner table for all three meals. Three: You are never to call yourself a freak. Let me show you something," Severus said softly. He wanted to calm the child, and Harry seemed like he needed some rules to help him adjust to his new life.
Severus pointed his wand at a small hand mirror that was sitting on Harry's nightstand. He made sure Harry was watching before he continued. He transfigured it into a candle, and muttered incendio at it, lighting it quickly. Harry was awestruck.
"You will be able to do this as well someday, Harry. Do you think I am a freak?"
Harry shook his head.
"Very well. Since I am not a freak, you are not a freak. Climb into bed, Harry. It's been a long day for you, and you need your rest so that the salve and creams can help you heal properly.
Harry nodded and mumbled a quick "yes, sir" before climbing into bed. He didn't want to upset this man; he seemed scarier than Uncle Vernon. Uncle Vernon didn't wear all black, so how could this man be any better?
Severus nodded at the child.
"I will stay with you tonight. I want you to sleep. I gave you a dreamless sleep potion so that way you will sleep soundly without any nightmares. Try to sleep now. Good night."
And with that, Severus summoned a book from his rooms and dimmed the lights using his wand as Harry closed his eyes and fidgeted under the covers.