Disclaimer: Standard. I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter Two: Retrieval
Severus Snape was in a rather jovial mood. He had finally done it. He had finally found a short-cut to the brewing of Wolfsbane which would shorten the brewing time by two weeks, use half the ingredients, and make the potion significantly more affordable for the damn wolves that haunted his nightmares.
It had only taken four years of research, hundreds of hours of experimentation, and the vast majority of his savings account to do it. Sadly, his salary as a professor was continuously stretched thin as Hogwarts did not provide funding for research and as a former Death Eater he was unable to receive funding grants for any and all experimentation.
But those were all problems of the past. He could now focus on relaxing, teaching the dunderheads of Hogwarts their last lessons of term, assigning summer homework that would be impossible to complete, and enjoying his summer. In all likelihood, he would come across another potion which would need its brewing process streamlined and his work would begin again. For now, however, he would enjoy the feelings of freedom.
Removing his heavy, black, brewing robes and switching to a far more comfortable and casual robe (still black), he sat heavily in his navy armchair with a glass of dry red wine and his latest book purchase from the apothecary in Hogsmeade. Kicking off his boots and resting his feet on the footstool in front of him, he let out a sigh of pure contentment. Celebrations were in order.
He was only halfway through his glass of wine and a chapter into his book, however, when the fire roared as a visitor flooed in.
Severus sighed, his mood immediately ruined. There was only one person who could floo into his quarters, and his arrival was bound to bring more trouble than it was worth.
"Ah, Severus my boy! Just the wizard I was wanting to see!" Albus Dumbledore said, casually transforming a feather into an additional, and horrifically pastel pink, armchair and sitting himself on the other side of the briarwood coffee table.
"You are in my quarters, who else would you expect to see," Severus growled, rubbing the bridge of his nose. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn the old man imbued a cheering draught into the damned lemon drops he continuously offered to visitors to his office.
"Yes, yes," Dumbledore said. "Now my boy, I have a request from you."
"No," Severus immediately said. "I am not your errand boy."
"I need you to come along with me as I go retrieve a … future student… from their house. There apparently have been some… problems… with this student."
"I am also not a baby-sitter, security officer, or whatever other nonsense you want me to be," Severus growled, rolling his eyes as he tried to get back to reading his book.
"Severus," Albus looked over his half-moon spectacles, eyes devoid of their normal mischievous twinkle. "It's Lily's son."
Severus immediately froze. That was a low blow. The boy was not just Lily's child, but also the spawn of the damned James Potter. James Potter, the man who made his teenage years a living hell. James Potter, the man who tormented him for simply existing. James Potter, the man who stole his best friend, married and impregnated her, then died alongside her.
"Why would the son of James Potter need to be retrieved from his doting relatives," Severus sneered slamming his book shut.
"Severus, please," Albus stated, voice devoid of all its normal playfulness. This got Severus's attention. "His aunt sent a letter. The boy is ill and she is afraid he may pass away."
"He is faking it," Severus attempted to dismiss these statements, his mind filled with images of his Lily running through the long grass near Hagrid's cabin, beaconing him to follow her.
"Per her letter he has been in and out of the muggle hospital for several years, yet there is no diagnosis."
Severus's blood ran cold, the memories of Lily falling away. A wizard having to go to a muggle hospital? No diagnosis? What in Merlin's name was wrong with the child?
"Fine, but you owe me another bottle of wine," Severus sighed, pulling his boots back on and grabbing his cloak.
Albus rose from his chair and with a flick of his wand transformed it back to the feather it had come from. Another flick of his wand and it transformed into a long, navy cloak dotted with ever-twinkling stars.
"What information did Petunia give you in the letter?" Severus asked as they left his quarters, striding quickly down the long dungeon hallway.
"Something about his blood," Albus said quietly so as to not be overheard by a wayward student, though few dared venture this far into the dungeons voluntarily. "I wasn't sure I understood. Also severe malnutrition despite having a feeding tube placed. Again, I am not too sure I understand, but he has been getting progressively weaker over the last two years with no true diagnosis. And his accidental magic has been causing rifts in the family to the point of endangering their safety."
"And have you notified Poppy?" Severus asked as they quickly walked past the Slytherin common room.
"Naturally."
Severus knew he must have looked utterly terrifying as he and the headmaster sped through the dungeon and out of the large front doors of Hogwarts. Students were parting like water on the Red Sea and were staring at them as they passed, whispers of confusion and worry followed them until they left the grounds.
Albus grabbed Severus's arm and side-long apparated to the alley behind Privet Drive.
As soon as they landed, both men started walking around the corner to Number 4. As they passed Number 2, a set of beady eyes peered out from behind the curtains and watched as they approached Number 4, following their every move before the curtains were pulled shut with a snap.
'Oh dear, the poor lad!' Agnes thought to herself, tearing up slightly as she lifted the phone to call her friend Mary who lived in Number 3 and see if she knew anything that was going on. 'That priest must be coming to give him his last rites. Though I wonder who the other man is?'
Once they reached Number 4, Albus knocked politely. Almost immediately, the door was flung open and Petunia was beckoning them inside. Her lips pursed and nostrils flared as she saw Severus on her doorstep, though she said nothing to him.
"You want the neighbors to see you?" she admonished them quietly.
"Hello to you too Petunia," Severus sneered. He could've sworn she muttered 'freak' under her breath as they entered the house.
"He's in here," Petunia said, leading them to the living room.
Upon seeing him, both Severus and Dumbledore let out an involuntary gasp.
Lying on the sofa was likely the most emaciated child they had ever seen covered in a thick blanket. He appeared no more than seven years old despite being nearly four years older. Nearly every bone was visible with the skin stretched taut over them. His hair, while it certainly would have been wild like his fathers, was shoulder length but tucked into a blue knitted cap that was pulled over his ears. Sitting on a table next to the child was a small machine which occasionally would make a small whirring noise and had a tube running from a bag of light brown fluid into the machine. There was a matching tube which ran from the machine under the blanket.
Severus quickly cast a diagnostic spell on the boy. It took all of his willpower and spy training to not gasp in shock at what he saw.
"Petunia, how long has this been going on?" he asked in a low voice.
"Long enough, get him out of here," she responded curtly. "We can't take care of him any longer."
Tears could be seen in Albus's eyes as he too cast a diagnostic spell on the sleeping child.
As calmly as he could, Severus reached down and picked the boy up, shocked at how light he was. Even with the blanket he couldn't have weighed more than 3 stone. The boy's skin was as cold as ice and small tremors wracked its frame.
As Severus picked Harry up, Petunia poked a few buttons on the machine and momentarily uncovered Harry's stomach to undo the tube from the machine from the tube coming out of his stomach. She quickly clamped the tube and capped the tubing from the machine. She then put the machine and its tubing into a pre-prepared bag then handed it to Dumbledore.
"These are his belongings," she said briskly. "Get him out of here."
"Thank you for caring for him all these years, Petunia," Albus said quietly, his eyes never leaving the small boy cradled in Severus's arms.
Petunia just sneered at the two men.
"Albus, I'm afraid he may not be stable enough to apparate," Severus said, gingerly holding the small child against his chest. The boy was so weak he could hardly hold up his head.
"Then we will go to Arabella's. Quickly!" Albus said, exiting the house and walking at a pace that belied his age.
Severus followed suit, noting the child in his arms moaned slightly as they exited the house and entered the sunlit street.
Mercifully, it was a very short walk to the cat-loving squib's house. Even more fortunately, she saw the child in Severus's arms and let them use her floo with no offers of tea or photo albums of cats. Even she seemed appalled by the state of the child, letting out a gasp as one of his exceedingly pale hands slid out from under the blanket as his head lolled to one side.
"Floo directly to the hospital wing, I've set up an emergency ward," Albus said, wiping his eyes. "I did not know he was this bad."
Severus nodded in agreement and tightened his grip on the small boy in his arms.
"Hogwarts Hospital Wing," Severus called out as he threw his pinch of floo powder in the flames. As he and Harry spun, he felt himself instinctively hold tighter to the bundle of blankets and child in his arms. He didn't want to think about what would happen to the boy if he let go or if he slid out of his grasp in the floo.
Quite quickly, Severus found himself being spat out of the floo network into the mercifully empty Hospital Wing of Hogwarts.
"Poppy!" he called as he felt the blanket shift. Gingerly he sat the bundle of blankets and child on the bed. "Where are you, woman!"