A few days after this, a disgruntled Severus Snape, master potioneer and Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, floo'ed through the fireplace of his quarters and into the office of the school's headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore sat behind his desk, admiring it, "Do you like it Severus?" He asked, as the stern man looked at him, not understanding why he had been summoned, "This is the first piece of furniture I have brought for this office in all my years of teaching. Everything is a hand-me-down, I didn't change much when I took the post, only the books, and the ornaments. The old desk and the rest of the furniture was Professor Dippet's. Do you like it?"

"Very nice." Severus commented dryly, "You summoned me, Headmaster? You said it was important, a matter of urgency, so I assume it is not just to admire your new office desk. Is it about him?" He would not dare say the name, for fear of the pain it inflicted on his mark, and he reserved the title "Dark Lord" for while he was around Death Eaters. If he could help it he did not mention it around the members of the Order of the Phoenix.

"Not him no, Severus. This meeting is concerning Mr Potter."

Severus seethed with anger, "You interrupted my brewing for Potter?" He raged, "I am in the middle of restocking the infirmary for the coming term. Unless of course you want the irresponsible brats to simply lie in pain for days, waiting for their potions?"

Dumbledore responded calmly, "I am concerned about the boy."

"Aren't you always? Precious Potter always needs protecting." Severus spat.

"I want you to go check on him." Dumbledore looked at the Professor, over his half-moon spectacles, which slowly slid down his nose as he stared, "You knew Petunia Dursley as a child, I am sure it will be no trouble to be accepted into her home. Just go check on Harry. He went through a great trauma a few weeks ago, watching Cedric be killed and seeing he-who-shall-not-be-named rise."

Severus shook, "I knew Petunia as a child, but I was not liked by her, nor her by me."

"Then glare at them, as you are doing at me right now." Dumbledore waved a hand, dismissive, only serving to anger Severus further, "If that is all the concerns you have over visiting Potter, I have no more to say to you. You will go tomorrow."

"Can't you send somebody else? What if I refuse you?" Severus asked, balling his fists.

"I will not send someone else, and you will not refuse. I am the Headmaster of this school, and you are the Professor, my employee. We may be in the Summer holidays, but that is only for the children." Dumbledore said simply, then offered him a small tin, "Lemon drop?"

Severus stormed out, using the door instead of the fireplace. He needed a long walk.

He couldn't stand when Dumbledore had these 'great ideas'. He was employed to spy on Voldemort, not to ask how Potter's holidays were going! The child may have been Lily's son, but he was James' boy to the core. Arrogant, undeserving, and probably spoiled rotten by his Aunt and Uncle. Watching them dote on him was going to a horror show.

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The next day, Harry was awake several hours before Severus would be. He stretched, and decided to do another of his essays. It would be at least three hours before the Dursley's unlocked his door for him to make breakfast, so he had time. He brought out the sheet of paper, and cringed, he supposed he could do the Potions essay in that time.

He looked at the title, hardly remembering it. He had tried to avoid it when doing other homework. Professor Snape had set a difficult one, "Write a six foot essay on the following; 'Lake Bark', 'White Fellonwort', and 'Cinder Cress' are all important ingredients in a particular potion. Find what this potion is, research it, and then write your essay on these three ingredients properties, their importance to the potion, how these properties react to make the potion work, and the dangers of misusing them."

Harry stared in horror at his own scripture. He couldn't possibly do this homework without the help of next year's textbook. It wouldn't be possible, he knew nothing of 'White Fellonwort' or 'Cinder Cress', they were fifth year potion ingredients. He vaguely remembered using 'Lake Bark', but didn't know its properties. He groaned aloud and crumpled up the piece of homework titles, and threw it across the room.

And at that precise moment, the locks on his door started being undone.

Harry gaped in alarm at the door, as the fifth and final lock was unhinged. He bolted across the room to snatch the paper up, as Petunia opened the door. She stared at him, suddenly still, half-crouched on the floor, and then crushed his hand under her foot. Harry cried out in pain as his hand was held down under Petunia's shoe.

"I couldn't sleep and the bathroom is along from your room." Petunia growled, as if he didn't know, "And then I heard you groan! What is in your hand boy?"

"No-Nothing!" Harry whimpered, "Please, no! It's nothing!"

"VERNON! VERNON! COME QUICK!" Petunia screamed, not allowing Harry's hand to move out from under her foot, "VERNON!"

There was a great shout from down the hall, as Vernon woke up to the sound of his wife screeching. His heavy footsteps were pure terror to Harry's ears as they thumped down the hall, towards Harry's bedroom.

"What is this?" He barked, seeing the sight, "Petunia?"

"Him! Him Vernon! I went to go to the loo, and heard him groaning! I think he was doing… doing that awful thing of his! There is something in his hand! I daren't touch it Vernon!" Petunia wailed, finally releasing Harry from under her foot.

He scampered away, on all fours, backwards, away from the glare of Vernon's eyes, "Give it here boy! Practising your… your… In my house! Weren't you?" He demanded. Harry's back hit his bed end, and he started. Vernon leaned down and grabbed the paper from his hand, ripping it slightly as he wrestled it away from his nephew.

Vernon gasped aloud at seeing the page, covered in notes about potion ingredients, 'muggles', transforming items from one state to another, spells and charms that weren't possible in a muggle home.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Vernon lashed out suddenly, backhanding Harry across the face so hard he hit the floor sideways, and the world span, "BRINGING WHAT YOU DO AT THAT… THAT FREAK SCHOOL, TO OUR HOME."

Petunia had begun searching the room, and screaming as she found all of his hidden homework, sheets and sheets of it under the bed, all that he had gotten done so far. She picked it up by the tip of of fingers, barely touching it as if it was diseased, and threw it towards her husband, whose eyes bugged.

Vernon turned back to Harry, and then violently kicked him in the stomach as he lay on the ground, winding him completely, and then Vernon kicked him again in the face. There was a great crack and the blood poured, most of it across his cheek and onto the floor, sideways as he lay. Harry vaguely heard Dudley cheering in the background, he must have woken up with all the screaming by Petunia and Vernon. Vernon's great foot collided with his chest. Harry heard the smashing of glass, and then he blacked out.

He awoke several hours into the later, probably after midday since the sun was hot as it came through his window, and he was tied up. He was sat on his bed, awkwardly angled due to his new constraints. His arms were tied together, behind his back, and the rope was then attached to the headboard of the bed. His ankles were tied together too, and he was gagged with a cloth. There was broken glass next to his bed, on the floor, and no glass on his bedside table anymore.

He ached all over, not just his bloody face and his chest and his stomach, but his back and his groin and his legs and his arms. He could feel the start of colourful bruises forming. He would be in pain for the rest of the holidays from this. He peered across the room, and his blurred vision told him that there was paper, all torn up, over by the door, the pieces scattered. His homework.

Harry felt his eyes water. He was doomed. He awkwardly lay back down on the bed, trying to ignore the chafing of the gag around the edges of his lips, and dreamed of a castle, where the food was plenty, the people were kind, and the abuse was none.

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Only one hour later, Severus Snape was seen stalking down the same road that Harry resided on. He was in a foul mood. Dumbledore had sent him a patronus message later on yesterday, saying there was no near apparition point to the Dursley house, and he couldn't risk being seen by Muggles, so he had to apparate several streets away, in a back alley, and then find his own way around the estate these idiots lived on.

When he had arrived, a corny map had appeared next to him, with two stupid signs on it, "You are here!" and "You want to be here!". Severus had ripped it to shreds, cursing Dumbledore, who had seemingly forgotten he used to live in the area.

Severus would never admit it, but Dumbledore knew him too well. He had gotten lost quite quickly after that. Clearly he had apparated the other side of the Dursley house to where he used to live. In the end, his anger had over boiled, just thinking of Dumbledore and Harry Potter, and his magic had created marks on the road leading him to Number Four, Privet Drive. Unfortunately, they had been going in the opposite direction to where he had been walking, and retracing his steps had not helped his mood.

12, 10, 8, 6… Severus observed, walking down the street, Finally, Number Four.

The house looked very pleasant. The windows were newly cleaned, and the lawn was newly cut. The flowers were presented well around the edge of the garden and the path leading to the house was free of leaves, clearly swept to the side of the road. The car on the drive was sparkling, clean of all dirt or mud. Even the tires shone.

Severus shifted his robes, resisting the urge to step on all of the flowers. A few muggles had cast glances his way at his unusual, black wizarding robes, but he didn't want to look any less imposing than usual in front of the 'boy who lived'. He certainly didn't want to wear muggle clothes in front of the boy, making him look normal, as if lived outside of Hogwarts. He knew his usual attire was not normal, that was the point. He never wanted to project any image of himself unto his students but the horrid, bat of the dungeons, and these clothes helped that. It kept them in place. Unless they were his Slytherin's, of course.

He rapped sharply on the door, and the most ginormous man he had ever seen opened it. The huge man's moustache twitched as he looked Severus over, his unusual clothing, "Can I help you, Sir?" Vernon asked, not wanting to offend a neighbour. Petunia worked hard to gain their support, ever since Harry had tried to tell them what happened behind closed doors.

"Mr Dursley, I am a Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I am here-" Severus didn't say anything more, but the door was slammed shut in his face, and he heard the roar of, "BOY!" from inside the house. Severus anger was rising, assuming that the man was fetching Harry for him, but the door did not reopen.

Severus knocked again, harder. The door opened again, more sheepishly, and Petunia poked her head out, and then she wrenched the door open, "YOU!" She screeched, "Snape!"

"Hello Mrs Dursley," Severus nodded, trying to keep childhood hatreds behind them, as Dumbledore had advised, "I teach at Hogwarts where your nephew -"

"You became a teacher?"

"Yes," Severus replied impatiently, "I am here to check on your nephew, Mr Potter, at the request of Albus Dumbledore. I am sure you know he went through a tough time during the final days of the school year. May I come in?"

Petunia suddenly looked very nervous, casting looks at the stairs leading to the first floor of the house, "What tough time? No, nevermind. Of course, but, uh... Harry went out. Several hours ago. He went to a friend's. He won't be back."

"When will he be back?" Severus drawled. Of course Potter would make this as difficult as possible for him, managing to disrupt plans he didn't even know about, "Mrs Dursley, let's make this as painless and as quick as possible, for the both of us. When will Potter be back?"

Petunia narrowed her eyes slightly, "You call him 'Potter', not Harry, like you call me 'Mrs Dursley' instead of Petunia."

"Yes, Mrs Dursley, I do. Do you think I am the kind of man to be on first name basis with my students? Now, when will Harry be back from his friend's?" Severus clenched his fists, why did the woman have to be so bloody difficult?!

"Not till tonight," Petunia whispered, and then flinched slightly as there was a resounding thud from upstairs, but she tried to hide it, "No, tomorrow. A few days. I don't know Snape!"

Severus was the one to now narrow his eyes, "What was that noise?"

"Building work." Petunia replied quickly, too quickly, "We are having some work done upstairs."

"There is only one car on the drive."

"The builders live across the street. They don't need a car."

"Work in what room?"

"Bathroom."

"What work?"

"Taking the bath out."

"Why?"

Petunia stalled, "Uh, there's, a… A leak?" She presented it as a question.

Severus pushed past her, wand out, starting up the stairs. He went slowly, listening out for the talk of workers, the sound of tools. Petunia tried to stop him, clawing at his arms, calling for her husband. Severus knew there was something wrong, but he couldn't feel the presence of any Death Eaters nearby.

Vernon came down the stairs slightly, not a speck of dust on him, Severus pointed his wand at the whale of a man before he could express the clear outrage presented on his face.

"Don't speak Petunia," He warned her first, suddenly using her first name but without looking at her, "Mr Dursley, are you having work done in your house?"

"Uh, yes." Vernon guessed.

"In which room?"

"The master bedroom. You shouldn't go up while they are hard at work -"

Snape pushed past at the lie. A fat young boy came running out of his bedroom, wondering at the noise, and seeing Snape he squeaked and ran back inside, slamming the door. Severus stopped, listening for any sound. He couldn't hear over the the sound of the fat boy's bedroom blearing some action film, so he struck the door on the way down the corridor, and the noise abruptly stopped. Petunia and Vernon had not moved from the stairs, watching him until he passed down the corridor and out of sight.

Severus started to hear heavy breathing, soft moans, small sobs when he listened closely, so he moved forwards. There was a door open near the end of the hall, swung open, where the sounds seemed to be coming from. Severus moved towards it, and stopped just outside.. Then, suddenly, he moved into the doorframe and pointed his wand at the inside. He dropped it just as quickly.

A boy who vaguely resembled Harry Potter crouched on the floor, trying to get up. His wrists and ankles were tied with rope, and there was a cut rope attached to the headboard of the bed. As well as trying to get up, he was evidently trying to gather some ripped up paper on the floor, and failing at it due to the restrictive bonds. He was covered in bruises, some dirt, and there was dried blood on his face and his shirt. He wasn't wearing his signature glasses, but Severus could just about see the boy's lightening scar through his matted fringe. The boy's owl, Hedwig, hooted at him from the corner of the room, sat in her cage, flapping her wings with no room to really do so properly.

Severus felt very sick, and a hundred thoughts went through his mind. He had thought the boy was pampered, worshipped at home as James Potter had been by his parents. Honoured, even, for being the saviour of the wizarding world. Severus suddenly remembered how clean the outside of the house looked, how the tires on the car gleamed, how the grass was newly cut.

He backed up slightly, so appalled by the sight, the ill feeling in his stomach threatening to make him gag. He jumped as he hit the door, and cringed violently at the five locks.

Harry had flinched at the sound, looking scared. He could clearly hardly see without his glasses, but as he squinted, he asked tentatively, "Professor Snape? Is that you?" His voice was barely a croak.

"Mr. Potter… " Snape replied, horsely. He didn't know how to act in front of the boy. His years of acting around Harry had been based on the fact this boy was exactly like his spoiled father. This was slavery.

Harry didn't know whether he cry in embarrassment or relief. He didn't move, just stared at the blurry shape that was his potions Professor. What was he doing here? Had he come to take him away?

Severus swallowed, nervous now, and moved into the room. Potter backed up slightly as he came nearer, so Severus held his hands up, showing that he would not be harmed, and crouched next to the boy. And suddenly that was all he was; a boy, a hurt, young boy. More than anything, he was Lily's boy.

Harry could see Snape clearly now he was next to him, and not so far away. His make-shift glasses Petunia had gotten from a bin somewhere had been broken, so his eyesight was even worse than normal. Snape was working on undoing the ties around his ankles, taking out his wand and whispering a spell. The rope slithered apart and dropped to the floor, and Snape did the same to the bonds around his wrists.

"Can you stand?" Severus asked, his voice still hoarse from shock.

Harry hesitated, "I don't know." He said honestly.

Severus paused, and then took the boy gently underneath the arms and lifted him as he himself stood. Harry was shaky on both legs, and took a moment to stabilize. He looked fairly off colour. He took a deep breath, and walked for a few paces, but he looked woozy enough to fall. Severus directed him to sit on the bed, and looked around the sparse room, noticing that Hedwig's cage also had a lock on it, and she sat there miserably. He walked over, broke the lock with a spell and blasted the bars off the window.

Hedwig gave a hoot as Severus opened her cage door, and then flew gracefully out into the daylight. Severus turned back to his student, "Mr Potter, where is your trunk, that which you use for when you go to school?" He couldn't see it around and there was only a small wardrobe and chest of drawers in the room, no space for a trunk. The bed was too low to store such an item under it. Harry looked embarrassed, "Mr Potter, tell me. Where is your trunk?"

"In the cupboard under the stairs, with the rest of my Hogwarts things. Where did Hedwig go?" Harry whispered.

"Hedwig will find you wherever you may be, familiars do that. Why is your trunk stored in such a place?"

"My Aunt and Uncle do not like magic. They lock all of my Hogwarts things away while I am here, to make sure I don't do anything weird around them." Harry answered honestly, but he was scared at the thunderous look on the Professor's face.

Severus was ready to explode, but he noticed how Harry shrank a little at his expression, and shook his head, "I am not angry at you. I am angry at your relatives." Harry seemed startled, but Severus did not mention it, "Now, we need to collect the rest of your things."

He transfigured the desk into a trunk, and flicked his wand. The wardrobe and the chest of drawers flung everything out that they had in them. Everything packed itself up into the trunk, but it was only half full.

Severus was hesitant to ask Harry if there was any more, and since the boy was adamantly staring at the floor, he decided he would not for now. He noticed there were shards of glass all over the floor, and there was paper shredded next to the door. This was surely a safe question?

"Mr Potter," He started, "Could you please tell me what the broken glass was? And what all that paper was?"

"The glass had some water in, it broke, accidental magic I think." Harry replied quietly, seemingly less green than what he had been, "And the paper…" He trailed off, so Severus went to see for himself. He picked up a slightly larger piece, and was shocked to see scrawly notes on white fellonwort and cinder cress.

"Is this your summer homework?" Severus asked slowly, looking at the copious amount of paper on the floor.

Harry nodded, and Severus stood, shaking some dust off of himself. This room clearly hadn't been cleaned in a long while. He flicked his wand at the paper, and it started to merge itself together. Harry looked at it hopefully, and managed to smile slightly as the repaired paper landed on his lap.

"Thank you Professor." He said quietly, and then added "Why are you here?" The boy suddenly seemed to recognise the state he was in, and curled in on himself a bit, arms held protectively around the homework on his lap.

"Professor Dumbledore sent me to check on you." Severus replied bluntly. He was over the most part of his shock, and the seething anger was setting in.

Harry winced at the tone, "Well you've seen that I am still alive, so you can go now."

Severus was astonished, "You believe I would leave you here after seeing the state you are in?" He questioned, not believing the boy thought so little of him.

Harry almost sneered, but he was in a house where sneering meant a backhand, so he refrained, "Please don't pretend to care, Professor. You can go with a clear conscience, and I will see you in September."

Severus walked over to him, minimized the trunk so it fit into his pocket and stared hard at Harry, "No." He said simply, taking the homework and minimizing it, and then he helped Harry up from the bed.

"No?" Harry seemed astounded.

"Precisely." Severus started to help Harry towards the door.

"Where are we going?"

"To get your things from under the stairs, and then we are going to Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?" The mention of the school had plainly thrilled the boy, but he remained hesitant, "I am not allowed to leave my room."

Severus scoffed, "Don't worry about that. Hold onto the bannister as you go down."

Harry did as he was told, and Severus helped him down the corridor and then down the stairs, where Vernon and Petunia were awkwardly waiting. They watched the two wizards come down the stairs.

"Where are you taking him?" Vernon demanded when they reached the bottom, "You can't take him. You can't. We are his legal guardians. He is our nephew. We own him."

Severus helped Harry to stand against the wall, and then quickly turned on the Dursleys. His wand out, he poked it into the fat of Vernon's under-chin, "Silence." He whispered, and both of the Dursley's looked so scared, they scuttled into the living room and shut the door, leaving Severus and Harry alone in the hall.

He walked over to the cupboard, and whispered a quiet, "Bombarda", enough to break the locks and make the door swing open. He minimized what was inside; a trunk, Harry's broom, and another small backpack. He stared at the small bed underneath the items, big enough for an undernourished child...

"I'll have the backpack." Harry said immediately, upon seeing the tiny version in Severus' hand, startling the man who had been staring into the cupboard, "If you could just make it proper size."

"You are in no position to be carrying items, Mr Potter. Is there anything else in the house you need to get?" Harry shook his head, that answered his question about the amount of clothing Harry owned, "Ok, good. We will apparate."

Harry slowly limped over, grasping Severus' arm as he stumbled on the final step. With a silent incantation, the world spun around, taking them from Privet Drive, and dropping them in Hogwarts.

Harry looked around the hospital wing, teared up a little and whispered, "Thank God."