Indeed, it did take Severus all night to heal Potter. He had to re-break bones so he could heal them correctly. He completely cleaned out his stock of Skele Gro and Scar Reducer. How the boy had been able to hide these injuries, some of them for years, was beyond Severus. Obviously, Potter was a lot stronger than Severus had ever given the boy credit.
He also found the source of Harry's illness. There were several whip marks on his back that were infected. The marks were a few weeks old. A few more days and the infection would have killed him. Severus was able to get the infection out and Harry's fever down.
Feeling himself away with exhaustion, Severus waved his wand to put everything away before setting another monitoring charm on the boy and going to bed. Luckily, there were no classes the next day.
Harry slowly opened his eyes to see sunlight streaming through the windows. Looking around, he could tell from the stone walls that he was in the dungeons, so the windows were probably enchanted to look like you could see outside.
"You're awake." The voice startled Harry and he instantly tensed until he saw Snape sitting in a chair in a corner of the room. He had a book in his lap, indicating he'd been there awhile. Harry slowly relaxed as he remembered the events of the day before. He still didn't fully trust the man, but the fact that the Potions Professor actually allowed him to be in his personal quarters, not to mention let him sleep there, said a lot. Also, he couldn't feel any pain so Snape obviously healed him.
"I suppose you want to talk about what you found," he said in a soft voice. Snape didn't say anything for a long moment.
"There's someone who wants to see you," he finally said, ignoring Harry's words. With a flick of his wand, the door opened and a small, blonde-haired girl came hurtling into the room and jumped on the bed, hugging Harry tightly. He hugged Alana back and raised an eyebrow at Draco, who'd followed his sister into the room. The boy smirked.
"I guess you're her hero." Harry was even more confused. "She hasn't stopped talking about you since you saved her from Weasley." Harry shrugged.
"All I did was stated the truth," the raven haired boy replied. "She deserves to be here, same as anyone else."
"Not everyone feels that way, Mr. Potter." Professor Snape walked over to stand beside Draco and looked down at Harry, whose arms were still around Alana. It was silent for a long moment. Finally, Alana climbed off the bed and stood on the other side of Draco, holding his hand. Draco gave Harry a slight nod and left the room with his sister. Harry's eyes met Severus's.
"Explain." Harry had to fight a smile at the man's abruptness. Some things never change. He sighed and started talking. Once he started, he couldn't stop. He'd been keeping all of this inside for years and it felt nice to finally let it out, even if it was to Snape of all people.
He told him about his childhood with the Dursleys: about the cupboard, the beatings, the hatred. He talked about the chores and the starvation. Harry also told Snape about fifth year: how everyone assumed he'd known the vision was fake, had purposely led them to Voldemort, and had let Sirius die. He then told him about the beatings he got from his own Housemates, how they were afraid he'd go dark and they were trying to keep him in line.
Snape, for his part, kept completely silent, letting Harry talk, which the boy was grateful for. He had, at some point, moved to the chair on the other side of the bed from where he'd been standing, but made no other movement. When Harry had finally run out of steam, Snape looked him in the eyes and asked a question.
"Mr. Potter," he paused at the flinch Harry gave to the name. "Harry, were you raped?"
Draco walked his sister back to the common room, when suddenly he remembered the parchment in his pocket that Granger had given him earlier. He gave the password and entered, looking around the room until he spotted Blaise and Pansy. He walked over and let go of Alana's hand. She immediately went and sat next to Pansy.
"Can you guys keep an eye on her?" he asked quietly, making sure Alana couldn't hear. She didn't like being babysat as she thought she was old enough to take care of herself but Draco didn't like leaving her alone. Yes, maybe he was a little too overprotective but she was his baby sister.
Blaise raised an eyebrow but both he and Pansy nodded. Draco gave a brief smile of thanks and left through the portrait. He entered Severus's private quarters, taking a moment to smirk about how he was the only student to have a password to a teacher's private quarters, much less Severus Snape's. Taking a deep breath, he started towards the guest room.
Stopping outside the room to take another deep breath, he froze when he heard his Godfather's voice. It wasn't the fact that Severus was still in there. He knew Severus wanted to talk to Harry. It was the question he asked that froze Draco and chilled him to the bone.
"Harry, were you raped?" It was completely silent in the room.
"Y...yes," came a small whisper.
"Who?" Severus asked calmly but Draco could detect the hidden anger and he knew he was close to losing it. Luckily, Harry didn't notice.
"I can't tell you," Harry said softly. "They said they'd kill me if I ever told." Draco debated with himself for a few minutes and then, taking a third and final deep breath, he slowly entered the room.
"Hi, Harry." Harry blinked at him in surprise before lowering his eyes and fiddling with the comforter.
"H...How much did you h...hear?" Harry's voice was so soft, they had to strain to hear.
"Nothing," Draco lied. He didn't want to pressure the other teen into talking so he figured, if Harry thought he hadn't heard, he'd feel more relaxed. He was proven right when Harry sat back against the pillows, the tension leaving his body. "I just came to tell you the offer is still open." Harry's eyes flew to his in shock and confusion. Draco reached in his robes.
"Granger gave me this." Draco held out the note. "Apparently, you dropped it in Potions." A small smile lit Harry's face. "Well, I should get going." The blonde turned towards the door.
"Wait!" He turned back to Harry. "Thank you," the Gryffindor said shyly. Draco nodded and left.
After Draco left, Severus decided Harry had had enough questions for one morning. He told the boy to rest, as his body was still healing, and went into the sitting room. Now what was he supposed to do? He knew there was too much history for them to just ignore, but maybe they could work through it.
He now knew that Harry wasn't anywhere close to the spoiled boy he'd thought he was. That, coupled with the fact that Severus absolutely loathed anyone that abused a child, made him want to help the teen. He felt guilty for the way he had treated Harry, all because of the boy's father, who was dead. Knowing he'd have to confront both the Headmaster and and Head of Gryffindor, Severus summoned a bottle of Fire Whiskey and downed half of it before taking a deep breath. He set it on the table and, after a quick check on Harry to make sure he was still sleeping and to set a monitoring charm, he set off to Dumbledore's office.
Blaise and Pansy looked up as their blonde haired friend stormed into the common room.
"Alana," Pansy said quietly. "Why don't you go get ready for lunch?" Alana gave her brother a concerned look but just nodded and grabbed her things, taking them to her room. "Draco?" Pansy asked once the first year was gone. "What's wrong?" Draco sighed and turned to face them. They were startled by the tears swimming in his silver-blue eyes.
"He was raped," he choked out.
"Who?" Blaise asked as Draco sat in the chair across from them.
"Harry Potter." They stared at him with wide eyes. Draco pulled out the crumpled piece of parchment. "Granger gave this to me after Potions." He handed it to Pansy, who read it and handed it to Blaise. Draco explained about the fight he'd witnessed and his conversation with Granger.
"Weasley slapped her?" Blaise asked, horrified. Draco nodded. He went on to explain what he'd overheard when he'd gone back to talk to Harry.
"Whoever raped him has him terrified that they'll kill him," Draco said, his voice breaking as he tried to hold his tears. "This is all my fault," he whispered brokenly. He put his face in his hands. "If I hadn't been a prat when we first met, if I'd been nice, maybe he would have accepted my hand in friendship. Then I could have helped him, maybe even prevented some of…"
"Draco, stop it!" Alana's loud voice caused the three Slytherins to look over at the stairs in surprise. The eleven-year-old had tears running down her cheeks, indicating she'd heard some, if not all, of what her brother had said. She walked down the rest of the stairs, a determined look in her eyes as she stopped in front of Draco. She placed a hand on either cheek and made him look at her.
"You can't live in the past," she told him seriously. "All any of us can do now is help him." Draco gave a smile, albeit a small one. He reached up and gently wiped her tears.
"When did you get so smart?" She just giggled and the four of them headed to lunch.
Severus was halfway to the Headmaster's office when he remembered that it was just about lunchtime, so the Headmaster would most likely be in the Great Hall. Sighing, he turned around and headed to lunch. He had barely sat down at the Head Table, when Albus began speaking.
"I heard Mr. Potter fainted in your class yesterday afternoon, Severus." The Potions Master just grunted, as he began filling his plate, afraid that if he said anything, he'd explode right there in the Great Hall, which would not be a good thing. He was pretty sure Harry would not appreciate his secrets being spilled to the entire school. "Where is Mr. Potter now?" Albus continued. "He hasn't been seen since Poppy gave him a fever reducer."
"You mean since she almost caused him to have to regrow bones that didn't need regrowing," Severus muttered, finally looking at Albus. "She gave him the wrong potion. Luckily, I was there or he would have had one hell of a night."
"Poppy is a very busy woman, Severus. I'm sure she didn't mean any harm and the boy can be a little over dramatic." Severus abruptly stood, his appetite completely gone.
"I'll be in your office, Albus," he said softly. "I need to talk to you." His onyx eyes turned to Minerva. "It'd be best if you were there." Without waiting for a response, Severus stalked out of the hall, robes billowing behind him.
Twenty minutes later, Severus looked up as Albus and Minerva entered the office. The Headmaster sat behind his desk, while Minerva sat in the chair next to Severus's.
"Alright," Albus sighed. "What is it you wished to discuss, Severus?" Severus was silent as he carefully put up his occlumency shields so the Headmaster, who was a master occlumens, would only know what Severus told him. "Severus?" The Professor looked up and took a deep breath.
"Harry Potter."