Chapter Five: The Troubled One

Thursday evening, Poppy released Leo from the hospital wing, with orders to return, should he or anyone in the system require more care than Severus could manage. The Potions Master had been given a supply of medicines for them, so that, should they need any, they did not need to travel far to find relief.

Severus had come to collect both Leo and Nelly to escort them down to the Slytherin common room. At first, Leo had been confused as to why Nelly was tagging along, until Poppy had explained that she had reassigned Nelly to assist them.

"It's no problem at all, dear," Poppy had reassured Leo, when he had expressed his shock and appreciation. "You could use her more than I. She will aid you in getting around in the wheelchair."

"How?" Leo had asked.

"House-elves have their own brand of magic. Nelly can propel your wheelchair forward and levitate it down the stairs. One less thing for you to worry about."

One less thing. Right. That was good, but Leo was still worried. In the past, they had been the odd one out in school. Kids loved hanging out with Haley, but once they realized she was different from them—a difference that had nothing to do with her blindness—most stopped hanging out with her. The few that had stayed would be no use now. New friends would need to be made, and Leo wasn't sure how well people would accept them here.

Well, except for Harry Potter and his cousin. Harry had introduced them to Dudley Monday evening, after he had finished his first set of classes. Leo had been out by then and was pleased to see that Dudley was just as kind and accepting as Harry, even going so far as to reassure Leo that he would do his best to make sure others were just as kind to them.

Regardless of how kind Harry and Dudley were, the fear that they would not be accepted was still strong in Leo. If they weren't accepted, they would manage. They would mask. They would hide. Just as they had before.

But Leo didn't want to hide. He didn't want to have to mask as Haley. He wanted a safe place where each alter could be themselves without fear of judgment.

"Is Master Leo all right?" Nelly asked, as she and Severus walked on either side of the wheelchair as it moved along the halls of the castle.

Leo blinked and nodded slightly. "Just thinking, Nelly," he said, voice quiet.

"Is everything okay?" Nelly asked.

Leo nodded.

"You are worried," Severus observed.

Leo shrugged, silently giving the Potions Master points for picking up on his musings. "Past experiences," he said simply.

"Past experiences that you are worried will repeat themselves?" Severus asked.

Leo nodded. More points for the Potions Master.

"Like?"

Leo sighed.

"I cannot help if you don't speak."

Leo shrugged.

"You are no longer confined to sit alone with your concerns."

"I'm not alone. I have the others to speak with."

Severus shook his head. "You know what I mean."

"Do I?'

"Leo."

"Professor."

Severus scowled.

Leo sighed. "The students know who we are."

"They know Haley is blind, that is all. They don't know about you or the others. It is your choice whether you choose to reveal yourselves. Though the faculty are aware of the DID, they will address everyone as Haley, unless you state otherwise."

Leo nodded. "And if we are bullied?"

"They will not bully you," Severus said firmly. "Rest assured, should anyone try, they will answer to me. That goes for those in my own house as well. I do not tolerate bullying, and I have made that well known amongst the students."

"I still worry," Leo said.

Severus nodded. "You would not be good at your job if you didn't."

Leo blinked. "Did you just give me a complement, Professor?"

Severus shook his head. "I merely stated a fact. Primary protectors often worry about the safety of the system."

"That's assuming I am the primary protector," Leo said. "I know nothing of system roles or the names for them."

"You will. In time."

Leo shrugged. "Your statement still sounds like a complement to me."

Severus shook his head. "Don't be conceded, Leo."

Nelly giggled. "We are nearly there, Master Leo."

The wheelchair was levitated down the grand marble staircase and into the Entrance Hall. Turning left, the trio made their way down stone steps and into the dungeons, Leo looking around as they descended.

"I thought wizards had magic," Leo commented.

"They do," Severus said.

"You would never know," Leo said. "It's quite cold down here."

"That is merely a deterrent for others," Severus said. "The common room is warm. We will be there momentarily."

Nelly paused in front of a stretch of damp stone wall.

"Looks like a lovely blank wall," Leo said sarcastically.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to be funny?"

Leo shrugged. "James is the funny one. I'm trying to cope with my nerves here. Cut me some slack."

Severus' lips twitched as he moved in front of Leo. "Pureblood," he muttered, and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open.

"Ready, Master Leo, sir?" Nelly asked quietly.

"Remember to call us Haley, no matter what," Leo said.

"Of course!" Nelly said. "Nelly would never call you by your name in front of others unless you told Nelly to do so. Nelly knows better."

Leo smiled slightly. "I'm sorry, Nelly. I just…"

Nelly shook her head. "No explaining, Master Leo, sir. Nelly understands."

Leo nodded and sat back, allowing his eyes to move lazily, taking in everything as Nelly wheeled him in.

The Slytherin common room was a large, low, underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which hung round greenish lamps on chains. A fire was crackling underneath a large, immaculately carved mantle, on which sat a portrait of an enormous serpent.

Few Slytherins were in the room, most no doubt having already gone up for an early start to dinner. The ones that were in the room turned as Severus entered, their eyes landing on Leo.

"Haley!"

Leo turned towards the sound and smiled as Harry and Dudley came hurrying over, abandoning their game of Wizards Chess. Over their heads, he could see large windows in arches that showed a beautiful view of what appeared to be water. Briefly, he remembered Harry telling him how part of the common room was under The Black Lake.

"Hi, Haley," Dudley said, grinning at Leo.

"Hi," Leo said, giving Dudley one of Haley's shy smiles.

Professor Snape turned towards the rest of the students. "This is Haley. She is the student Professor Dumbledore spoke of at the start-of-term feast. You would do well to make her feel welcome."

"Wait," a tall, gangly boy spoke up. "So, she's the blind one? How is she supposed to do anything if she can't see?"

"How are you supposed to do anything if you're too stupid to understand that blind people can do things too?" a redheaded boy stepped forward.

"You'd think a fifth year would be smarter than that" another boy that looked exactly like him added.

"Watch it, Weasley," the first boy said, pulling out his wand.

"Enough," Severus' voice carried over the boy's shout. "Put your wand away, Mr. Simmons. Now."

The boy stowed his wand away, glaring at the twins.

The twins grinned at one another before turning to Haley.

"Hey, Haley. I'm Fred."

"And I'm George. Sorry about Adrien. He's not exactly the brightest."

Leo smiled slightly at the twins. "Twins?" he asked.

"Yeah," Fred said.

"That's confusing."

"Don't worry," Fred said.

"We'll tell you who we are," George said.

"Yeah, we wouldn't lie to you," Fred said.

"We only do that to our mum," George said.

"All in good fun, of course," Fred said, eyeing Severus.

Leo laughed slightly.

"Miss Hunter," Severus called.

A tall first-year with brown, curly hair walked over, clutching a large cat in her arms. She smiled warmly when she saw "Haley".

"Hi, Haley," she said. "I'm Ashley. I'm going to be your roommate. This is Oscar, my cat. Want to pet him?"

Leo grinned and stretched out his hand. Ashley gently took the hand and placed it onto Oscar's head. Leo stroked the cat, smiling all the while. He could tell one of the children was near, excited by the soft fur of the cat, but he was not about to let them out. Not yet.

"He's so soft," he said, his words being influenced by the child nearby. Inwardly, he called to James to bring the child away from the front.

Ashely grinned. "He likes to purr too," she said. "I hope that's okay."

Leo nodded. "I love cats," he said.

"Yay!" Ashley beamed. "Hey, you hungry? Dinner started a few minutes ago."

Leo nodded.

"Nelly will bring you to my office after you have eaten," Severus said. "I have your schedule and there is a spell I must teach you, in order for you to be able to read it."

Leo nodded again.

"You have a house-elf?" George asked.

"Wicked," Fred added.

Leo shook his head. "She's just been assigned to help me," he explained. "She isn't mine."

Nelly smiled warmly at the twins and bowed.

"Come on," Ashley said, setting Oscar down. "I'm hungry."

"Wait until you see all the food," Harry said excitedly. "There's loads more than what you're probably used to."

Leo almost snorted with laughter. Oh, the boy had no idea how true that was.

"She can't see," Adrien said, as he brushed by, smirking. "She's blind."

"So?" Ashley said. "See is just a word. Harry can use it if he wants. Go pick on someone who actually cares."

Leo smirked. He couldn't help it. This Ashley girl was feisty and not afraid to stand up to others. She would make a great addition to Haley's friend group, assuming she could be trusted, of course.

"Detention, Mr. Simmons," Severus said silkily. Leo jumped. He had forgotten the professor hadn't left yet.

"That's not fair," Adrien whined.

"Life's not fair," Severs snapped. "You of all students should know I do not tolerate bullying, especially within my own house."

"I wasn't bullying her," Adrien argued.

"Come on," Ashely said quietly, leading the way past Severus and Adrien and out of the common room.

"Are you excited to start your classes?" Fred asked, as the group made their way up to dinner.

Leo nodded.

"Which are you most excited for?" George asked.

Leo considered the question. "All of them," he said.

"Is Nelly going to be with you in class?" Dudley asked.

"Ask her," Leo said.

Dudley blushed. "sorry, Nelly," he said, "I'm not used to house-elves."

Nelly giggled, giving Dudley a kind smile. "It's okay. Nelly won't be with Miss Haley in class, but whenever she calls me, Nelly will come to help her."

"Wicked," Dudley said. "Oh! Food!"

Leo laughed as they entered the Great Hall.

"Here," George said. "I'll get a tray ready for you Haley."

Nelly positioned Leo at the end of the table, his back to the wall. This was ideal, as Leo could now see the rest of the students and didn't need to worry that someone would sneak up on them. Nelly was one smart elf, there was no denying that.

"What'll you have to eat?" George asked.

"What is there?" Leo asked, his mouth watering at the food he saw.

"Anything and everything," Fred said. "What are you craving?"

"Food," Leo said simply.

The twins laughed.

"How about some steak?" Ashley suggested. "It's quite good. And potatoes?"

"And corn," Harry suggested.

Leo shrugged. "Anything is fine," he said.

George set to work, filling Leo's plate with steak, mashed potatoes, corn, buttered bread, and peas.

"How about some pumpkin juice?" Dudley asked. "It's really good."

"Yes, please," Leo said. "Madam Pomphrey only gave me milk and water while I was in the hospital wing."

"Oh no," Fred said.

"Pumpkin juice is better," George said.

Leo nodded. "She had her reasons," he said. "Still, would have been nice to have something different every once in a while."

"Here you go," Fred said. "By your left hand."

Leo took the juice and took a sip, grinning. "This is good," he said, setting the cup down and tucking into his meal.

The steak was tender and well-seasoned. The potatoes were fluffy and creamy. The corn still had a nice bite and paired well with the potatoes. The bread was thick and perfectly buttered. The peas were… Uh-oh. The peas. He hadn't noticed them before. Before he could remove the peas from the plate, he was thrust backwards as someone else was forced to the front.

"Haley?" Ashly asked. "Are you okay?"

There was no answer. Instead, the new alter leaned over the side of the chair and threw up the peas. They didn't notice that the Slytherin table had gone quiet, or that, slowly, as more students looked their way, the other students too quieted. All they knew was the peas. Those peas and what they meant.

"Stop staring,' Severus snapped at the students as he approached, vanishing the mess with a wave of his wand.

"Is she okay, sir?" Fred asked.

Severus didn't answer. He studied "Haley" for a few moments, then reached over and grabbed a glass of water. "Drink," he said quietly.

The new alter didn't move.

"Miss Kent," Severus said, kneeling beside the chair.

Nothing.

"Haley."

Nothing.

Severus lightly touched the alter's hand and they instinctively pulled away. Standing, he turned to Nelly.

"Bring Miss Kent to my office," he said.

"Can we come too?" Harry asked.

Severus shook his head. "Finish dinner, Mr. Potter. You may visit Miss Kent after."

"Is she in trouble?" Dudley asked.

"For what?"

"For getting sick," Dudley said.

"Children are not punished for something they cannot help," Severus said, an unreadable expression crossing his face as he gestured for Nelly to follow him.

As Severus walked alongside the wheelchair, he couldn't help but think something was wrong. He knew whoever was out right now was someone he had yet to meet. He couldn't explain how he knew this; he just did.

Once they were inside his office, Severus knelt in front of the chair but did not touch whoever was out. Instead, he sat back on his heels and observed. When he realized the alter hadn't moved, he leaned forward and lightly touched their hand.

"You are safe," he said, as the alter pulled away. "You are at Hogwarts. Can you hear me?"

From reading up on DID, Severus knew alters, like anyone else that had gone through trauma, could, and often did, experience flashbacks. Judging by this alter's behavior, it was safe to assume they were having a flashback of some kind.

"Can you hear me?' Severus asked again.

No response.

Severus flicked his wand at a stray piece of parchment, summoning it to him. With another wave of his wand, the parchment turned into a thick, heavy blanket. Carefully, moving slowly, he rested the blanket on the alter's lap, saying as he did so, "I am placing a blanket on your lap. I will not touch you, nor will I hurt you. Can you feel the weight of the blanket? Can you feel it's softness?"

The alter moved their hand, resting it lightly on the blanket.

"You are safe," Severus said. "You are at Hogwarts. I am Professor Snape, Haley's Head of House. I don't know your name, but I can see you are upset. If you can hear me, move your hand."

The alter moved their hand.

"Can you feel the weight of the blanket on your lap?"

A nod.

"Is it too heavy?"

A shake of the head.

"Can you speak?"

Another shake of the head.

"Is this because of the fear you are experiencing?"

A nod.

"Nelly," Severus kept his voice calm and steady. "I need sweets."

"Anything in particular, sir?"

Severus shrugged. "Anything that is not infuriatingly sweet."

Nelly nodded and disappeared with a small pop. She returned, moments later, clutching a small bag.

Severus rolled his eyes and took the lemon candies from the elf.

"I have something for you," he told the alter. "You need to take it, however, as I will not touch you. Hold out your hand."

The alter flipped over the hand that was resting on the blanket. Severus unwrapped one of the sweets and let it fall into their palm.

"It's candy," he said. "Sherbet Lemons. Suck on the sweet. Do not try to chew it."

Hesitantly, the alter brought their hand to their mouth and popped in the sweet, making a face as they tasted it. After a few moments, they shifted in their seat and shook their head.

"Better?" Severus asked.

The alter nodded. "I'm going back." The voice was so quiet, Severus could neither place gender nor age. As he watched, the body straightened, and Leo cleared his throat and spoke.

"Bloody hell, that wasn't supposed to happen."

"What exactly happened?" Severus asked.

Leo sighed. "I was eating dinner and hadn't realized there were peas on the plate. We, or rather, Chase, can't eat peas. There's trauma associated with them that isn't mine to share."

Severus nodded. "Nor is it my place to ask," he said.

Leo nodded gratefully. "Chase is an interesting one," he said.

"And why is that?"

"I love him, I do, but Chase can be troublesome."

"Is there something I need to be aware of?"

Leo shook his head. "Just keep an eye on him," he said.

Severus nodded.

"Professor, is there more food?"

Severus nodded. "Do you feel you can eat?"

Leo nodded. "I barely touched my steak."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Nelly?"

Nelly nodded and disappeared, reappearing with a plate full of just steak, already cut up into bite-sized pieces.

"I love you, Nelly," Leo said with a grin, accepting the plate from her and tucking in.

Nelly giggled. "I love you too, Master Leo," she said.

Leo snorted. "Nelly, darling, it makes me feel absolutely ancient when you call me "master". Can we stick to Leo, please?"

Nelly giggled. "Of course, Leo. Is Leo enjoying his steak?"

"Very much," Leo said. "Mind you, we've not been exposed to much food in our short life. We are used to simple meals, with the occasional fancy one every so often."

"Steak isn't fancy," Nelly said.

"It can be," Leo said. "And to me, having never tasted this delicious cut of meat before, it is quite fancy."

Nelly smiled. "Nelly will be sure to introduce you to new foods."

Leo nodded approvingly. Once he had eaten all that he could, he handed his plate off to Nelly.

"Now that you have eaten, there is the spell I must teach you," Severus said, opening a drawer and handing Leo the wand that had been purchased in Diagon Alley.

"It wasn't destroyed?"

Severus shook his head. "It was locked away with your other purchases. The new social worker and I retrieved them yesterday."

Leo scowled at the mention of a new social worker. "You went with her?"

"After Whitney's unprofessional behavior, my ability to trust another social worker has decreased significantly. The new one's name is Mary, and she will visit you this weekend."

"And your assessment of this Mary?"

"Mary is different from Whitney. She has what Whitney lacked."

"Right," Leo said. "So, Mary has human decency then."

Severus' lips twitched. "The spell."

Leo nodded and took the wand.

Severus handed Leo a sheet of paper. "This is your schedule. Tap the paper with your wand and say 'Tactusverbum'."

Leo did as was instructed and watched as the print was replaced by the familiar braille dots he, and the others, could read.

"This is bloody brilliant," Leo said, reading the schedule. "This works for books too?"

Severus nodded and set a book on the desk.

Leo tapped the book with his wand, saying as he did so, "Tactusverbum."

This time, the book expanded into several smaller, hardcovered volumes, each thick with braille. Grabbing the top volume, Leo touched the cover and read, "A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot, Chapters One Through Ten. This is fantastic! Normally, braille volumes are split by pages, not chapters."

"Which then requires you to carry multiple volumes of the same book," Severus said.

"You're telling me, whoever created this spell was aware of how braille works and was able to split volumes by chapters, instead of pages—something braille transcribers never do—all while keeping the volumes thick enough to have sufficient content, but not thick enough to damage the braille?"

Severus nodded.

"We could have used that in school."

"You have it now."

Leo nodded. "How are we to write? We don't have our…" Leo trailed off as Severus produced a large contraption from a shelf. It was rectangular in shape and looked like an old-fashioned Muggle typewriter but with less keys.

"Brailler," Severus finished for him.

Leo nodded, staring at the machine. "How?"

"It was retrieved along with your other things. We observed that it can be loud, so Professor Flitwick charmed it so that it is no louder than the scratching of quills on parchment."

Leo nodded. "Good. It won't disturb others."

Severus shook his head and handed Leo a piece of thick braille paper.

Leo gave Severus a questioning look.

"Write," Severus said simply.

Leo loaded the paper into the Brailler and locked it into place with the leftmost key before looking up at Severus. "What do you want me to write?"

"Anything."

"What is the purpose of this?"

"There is another spell, which will enable others to read what you have written."

Leo shifted in his seat and grinned. "It's James. My turn to have some fun."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Were you triggered out, or did you simply decide to force front on Leo?"

"I asked if I could use the Brailler," James said, placing his fingers on the keys. "Leo would have written something borin'. I'm not borin'. I'm funny."

"If you say so," Severus said.

James nodded to himself and began to write. Once he was finished, he removed the paper from the Brailler and handed it to Severus.

Severus took the paper and tapped it with his wand, saying clearly, "Extactusverbus." The braille dots on the page faded and were replaced by print lettering, which Severus read aloud.

"Leo, you are way too serious sometimes, but we all love you. Chill out, man, and stop worrying. We're fine. Also, Professor Snape saying, 'chill out, man' is priceless."

James' smirk was quickly replaced by a scowl as Leo fronted and groaned.

"Blimey, I'm so sorry, Professor, I did not know James was going to say that."

Severus shrugged and folded up the piece of paper and pocketed it.

"What did you do that for?' Leo asked.

Severus smirked. "I shall keep this as a reminder to James that he is, in fact, not as funny as he believes."

Leo smiled, which quickly turned into a grin as he heard James groan.