"Come now Potter, it's time to get you ready."
Ready for what?
He didn't dare ask for fear of finding out exactly what was going to be done to his body this time.
Harry gazed up at the older wizard, trying with all his might to wipe the pleading look off of his face as he rose to his knees.
"Where are we going?"
"Outside." Snape stated sardonically before turning on his heel.
A jolt of panic surged through Harry at those words.
Not again.
Not to mention the fact that it was the middle of the day this time.
Harry crept forward reluctantly, as though hoping with each step that Snape would say he was kidding and they were going somewhere else.
But when had Snape ever joked around?
"Come Potter, I don't have all day." Snape sighed as though he were bored before yanking on the younger wizard's collar.
Harry gritted his teeth as he was dragged from the room. He expected to soon see the front door appear before his eyes, but quickly found himself being dragged in the opposite direction. Harry felt the force upon him ease up slightly as Snape dragged him down an unfamiliar hallway.
The two wizards soon arrived at another door. Harry's eyes ran over the dilapidated door as he wondered what was waiting to greet him on the other side.
He didn't have to wonder for long, with a slight flick of Snape's wand, the door flew open.
Harry's eyes soon beheld a small backyard, of which it seemed to be disappearing under tall, overgrown grass.
"It's shower time Potter." Snape smirked and Harry looked up at him in confusion. If it was shower time, then why had his professor dragged him out into the yard? Why weren't they in the bathroom?
"You're filthy." Snape added, his lips curling at the tips, alluding that his words may have held a secondary meaning.
Snape yanked Harry through the tall grass until they reached the tip of a garden hose.
Harry's eyes widened. Snape couldn't be serious? Was he actually going to wash him outside with a garden hose?
The young wizard didn't have to wait long to find out as he watched Snape's finger flick his wand sharply. As though on que, a jet of water tore out of the end of the hose. Harry grimaced, barely managing to look away as the jet of water assaulted his face.
"Now now Potter, don't be shy." Snape smirked as he allowed the hose to dance around with the tip of his wand.
Harry couldn't understand what about this situation made him appear shy.
He was naked, in his 'masters' backyard and being humiliated with a garden hose.
He wasn't shy, he was… Harry's mind searched its depths to try to uncover what exactly it was that he was feeling.
Was he angry?
Yes, but it was more than that.
Was he frightened?
Sort of, but he wasn't about to admit it to himself, let alone Snape.
It didn't take Harry long before he finally had his answer, he was feeling ashamed.
The young wizard was torn back to reality, clenching his teeth as a stream of cold water splashed across his bare flesh.
"Perhaps now it is time for those harder to reach places."
Harry's eyes widened.
No.
Surely he didn't mean….
Harry clenched his butt cheeks, as though doing so would prevent what he was sure was about to occur.
"Now now Potter," Snape smirked, moving in one graceful step to position himself behind the younger wizard.
"Open up." Snape's voice seemed to have lost its slow drawl and in its place was now a cool, commanding and very threatening tone. It was as though Snape had lost all of his patience in the beat of a heart.
Harry faltered, an act that he would quickly come to regret as Snape seized his opportunity. The younger wizard gasped as he felt his cheeks wrenched apart, his opening was soon inundated with cold water.
"that's better now, isn't it?"
Harry began to shiver, it was a warm summer's morning, yet he felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cold water his rear end had just about drowned in. The chill seeped through his skin, through his flesh until it penetrated his very bones.
"Inside Potter." Snape commanded suddenly, though it seemed as though his voice had returned to its usual bored drawl.
These unexpected words took Harry by surprise, yet he didn't hesitate as he slunk down in the tall grass, wasting no time as he crept back to the safety offered by the walls of the decaying house.
As Harry crossed the threshold, he released the breath that he didn't realise he was holding. Barely a moment had passed and Snape slid past him before disappearing upstairs. Harry opened his mouth to speak but quickly thought better of it.
Why hadn't Snape given him any instructions?
Was he free to do whatever he liked now?
He didn't want to act of his own accord for fear that doing so would incur the wrath of the older wizard.
Harry's eyes searched the empty corridors, as though doing so would reveal a way forward. They revealed nothing, yet Harry wasn't surprised. The young wizard relented as he crept towards the kitchen before soon reaching the sitting room.
To Harry's surprise the fireplace was lit and a sheepskin rug was laid out before it. It seemed so inviting, yet Harry couldn't help but feel it may be a trap.
He sighed as another droplet of water ran down his inner thigh.
If for no other reason, this would offer him the opportunity to dry off. The young wizard crept forward before curling up into a ball on the white rug before the fire.
He closed his eyes, his heart drifting off to a place far from here, to his friends, Ron and Hermione, to Hogwarts, to where he should be right now, the Burrow.
A shiver left his body as his awareness of the room around him began to fade.
*~.~*
It wasn't long before footsteps soon stole him from his slumber. He didn't need to look up to know who it was gonna be, instead he turned his gaze to the now smoldering soot in the fireplace.
"Why do you hate me so much?" The words had left Harry's lips before he had had the chance to filter them, or better yet, not say them at all.
"I don't hate you, Potter." Snape murmured, his voice adopting an unfamiliarly warm tone.
"Then why do you treat me like a dog?" Harry quickly sat up, seeming to forget all pretense as he stared Snape hard in the eyes. It was the most Harry had ever peered into them and he felt, for a brief moment, as though he had been engulfed in another world.
"Because I like you Potter, I always treat those I like badly, or is this another fact of life you have failed to notice?" Snape stated, as though his words were fact and not just his own perception.
"Why?" Harry stated on instinct, though he wasn't sure which part of Snape's statement he was truly looking for an answer from.
"Your impertinence doesn't suit you Potter. Perhaps for once you can learn to accept the words of your superiors without question."
"Superiors." Harry supposed he meant it as a question, yet it came out more as a statement. He barely bothered to disguise the contempt in his voice as he now bored his eyes into Snape's.
Snape gazed down at him, his expression unyielding.
"Now Mr Potter, I have a guest coming today."
Harry winced, praying Snape would tell him to stay in his room, just like Uncle Vernon had every time they had guests.
"You will serve drinks." Snape added, a glint darted across his eyes, one that Harry could hardly ignore.