Shattered Illusions Chapter Sixteen: Hospital Wing, Talks, and Quidditch

Terrified, Freak began backing up, ignoring the pain in his leg and arm, until his back was up against the cold, hard wall. He quickly brought his knees up to his chest and looked around the room. It was fairly dark so he could only see the outlines of things, also his glasses had been knocked off somewhere a long the way. Freak squinted, trying to find the danger until his eyes landed on it.

The outline of Snape stood a few meters in front of him, turned away. Freak could have swore he saw Snape shaking with rage, but he quickly squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe if he couldn't see Snape, then Snape couldn't see him. He knew he deserved to be punished for whatever he'd done, after all, his very existence was enough for punishment. He just wished that it didn't have to hurt so much.

Suddenly Snape smashed his fist against the desk, causing Freak to jump and open his eyes. It was almost time, he knew, for his punishment. He could tell by the way Snape was breathing, trying to calm himself it seemed.

"How could you have done something so foolish?" Snape growled, still facing away. "You could have died!" Freak flinched and a small whimper escaped his lips. He pressed his lips together and his eyes filled with tears, he wished Snape would just hurry up and punish him; it was always worse waiting for it.

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Severus strode into the room after pushing Harry in, not even sparing him a sideways glance. He was so angry! No, beyond angry. He knew he needed to calm himself, he just couldn't believe that Harry would do something so stupid.

Severus couldn't explain the fear he felt when they entered the bathroom and found the three children standing over the unconscious troll. Then when he realized they seemed to be uninjured, his worry quickly turned to anger. He just wanted to reach forward and strangle the children, how dare they do something like that? Going all by themselves to face a troll?

It was clear that Granger was lying, nobody could have been foolish enough to pull such a stunt, especially her. He could see the puffy redness of her eyes and knew that she'd been crying. If he hadn't been so worked up he probably would have wondered why. As it was, he did have emotions raging inside of him, and he only had eyes for Harry.

Severus' hands clenched and he gritted his teeth. He'd never had such emotions before, not at the same time anyway, he wasn't sure what to do with himself. How was he supposed to control them?

"Foolish Gryffindor..." Severus muttered through his gritted teeth. He shook his head slowly and felt his heart rate start to slow and he was able to think more clearly. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath, then turned around. It took a minute before Severus spotted Harry, but when he did he felt his face pale a bit.

The child was sitting against the wall with his knees up to his chest and tear tracks down his face. Harry seemed to be cradling his right arm and his left leg looked to be twisted a little, his face was pale and he was shaking in terror.

Severus felt guilt rip through him, had he over reacted that much? So much so that Harry was terrified of him? What a terrible guardian he was! Severus knelt in front of Harry and softly called his name. Harry's eyes snapped up to look at him and Harry started trying to scoot back, but was already against the wall. When he wasn't getting any further away, Harry started whimpering and covered his face with his left arm.

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Freak heard a soft, 'Harry' and his eyes snapped up, he hadn't realized that Snape had gotten so close and felt panic surge through him. He tried backing up but there was a wall there, so he whimpered and put his arm up to protect himself.

"Harry...Child...Look at me please." Snape murmured, putting his hand on Freak's arm. Freak jumped and tried to get away but Snape closed his hand around Freak's arm, holding him in place. "Look at me, Harry." Snape commanded softly. Freak looked up, but he didn't look at Snape, he kept his eyes on a spot on the wall behind him. Snape sighed and reached forward and gently took his injured arm.

Surprised, Freak's eyes snapped to look at what Snape was doing and tried to get away. He didn't like people knowing about his pain, it would be so easy for them to hurt him more.

"Stop moving child, I only wish to help you." Snape said softly, "Did I do this when I threw you in, or did the troll do it?" Freak felt panic rising again, Uncle Vernon did this to him a couple times. He would hurt him, then ask Freak where he got the injuries. If he were to tell Uncle Vernon the truth, he'd get into trouble, but if he lied he still got into trouble.

"Sowwy!" Freak whimpered. "Fweak be good! No be bad, Fweak good!" There were tears pouring down his face, but he couldn't seem to care, he hoped Snape would see how sorry Freak really was and would let him go without punishment.

"Harry, you're not a Freak." Snape frowned, "You are good, you just do foolish things sometimes." Freak sobbed, it hadn't worked, then he did something he knew was forbidden, he jumped to his feet and ran for it.

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Severus was surprised, one minute Harry was crying and the next he had sprung up and started running. Or, tried to run anyway, he more like limped quickly towards the door; it was obvious that Harry's leg was broken, yet he was able to walk on it. How used to pain was this child?

Severus jumped up and caught Harry around the middle. Harry let out a desperate sob and started kicking with his good leg, trying to twist out of Snape's grasp.

"Hush child, I don't wish to harm you." Snape murmured in Harry's ear, "I want to help you, please stop struggling." The boy didn't seem to hear and kept struggling, even more so, if that was possible. After a couple of minutes Severus realized that there was no way he was going to be able to help Harry if he was struggling so much, he quickly summoned a sleeping potion. Instead of trying to get Harry to take it orally, he spelled it right into Harry and watched it quickly take effect.

With a now slumped over Harry in his arms, he went over to the couch that was in his office and laid him down. The boy looked so fragile laying there, Severus felt more guilt at what he'd done and how he reacted. From now on he would have to be sure to cool off before talking to Harry, he didn't want a repeat of what had happened.

Shaking his head he pulled out his wand and started taking diagnostics. Harry's ankle was shattered, his right wrist was sprained, and he had quite a few bruises and bumps littering his body. He knew he could heal the sprain and the bumps and bruises just fine, but he didn't trust his skill to try to heal the ankle.

Severus summoned a bruise salve and took off Harry's shirt. He paused to look at the scars. Of course he'd seen them before, and he was almost positive of what they were from, but they still took him by surprise. There were so many for such a young child, who would do such a thing? Sighing he began healing what he could, and when he was finished he took Harry into his arms and carried him to the hospital wing for Poppy to work on.

The hospital wing was empty when he entered, so he set Harry one of the beds and went to find Poppy. Severus found her in her office, writing out some paper work.

"Poppy, Mr. Potter is in need of your help." Severus said from the door way. She looked up and immediately put down what she was working on.

"What happened Severus? Is he alright?" She asked getting up.

"Harry and his friends decided to take on the mountain troll." Severus informed, Poppy's face immediately paled and Severus knew she was probably imagining Harry's body mangled and bloody. "Don't worry Poppy, he's only got a shattered ankle."

"Only? as if that isn't enough! Poor boy, did you at least give him a pain potion?" Poppy asked, already busing around looking for potions.

"I put him to sleep, I figured it would be easiest." Severus wasn't incompetent, after all.

"Yes, good job, Severus." Poppy said, gathering all the potions and her wand, "Come along." Severus followed Poppy back out into the hospital, Harry was still lying on the bed.

"Taking on a mountain troll you say, what a foolish boy." Poppy muttered as she began working. "Could have died! Not many full grown adults can take one down."

"Yes, imagine our shock when Minerva, Albus and I entered the girls lavatory and found the troll unconscious." Severus said, sitting down in the chair next to the bed. Poppy stopped to look at Severus for a minute, then shook her head and went back to gathering things she needed.

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Harry slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was so confused, he couldn't remember what had happened the day before. He thought he remembered stopping a mountain troll, but that was just a dream, right? Then when he opened his eyes and saw that he was in the hospital wing, he was even more confused.

His eyes finally settled on Professor Snape, who was reading a potions journal or some sort.

"S-sir." Harry said, then licked his lips, his mouth and throat were really dry.

"Welcome back, Mr. Potter." Snape said setting his potion journal down.

"M-may I h-h-ha...may I have s-so-some w-water?" Harry rasped. Severus called a house elf for some water and food, then helped Harry drink.

Harry sat up the rest of the way and stabbed a sausage that was on his plate, he hadn't realized it before, but he was very hungry, it felt like his stomach was eating itself.

"It...It seems that I owe you an apology." Severus said uncomfortably, shifting in he seat. Harry's eyes widened and he put his fork down.

"W-wh...why?" Harry questioned. Snape looked at Harry as if he'd swallowed a lemon.

"Because of what I did to you yesterday, of course." He stated.

"W-well, wh-what d-did y-y-you do y-y-yes...yesterday?" Harry frowned, he couldn't remember Snape doing anything to him.

"I hurt you, remember?" Snape asked.

"E-En-enough t-to p-pu...p-put m-me h-he-here?" Harry asked shocked, eyes going wider. Snape liked him, didn't he? Why would he hurt Harry enough to put him in the hospital. His stomach filled with dread. Maybe Snape didn't like him anymore afterall.

"Harry, do you not remember what happened yesterday?" Harry frowned as he thought, memories started flowing back to him slowly.

"Th-there w-was a t-t-troll..." Harry said quietly. "a-an' i-it s-sw-swung me u-up..upside- upside down. th-th-there was a c-crack a-an' p-pain in m-my l-le-leg. W-Ro-Ron kn-knocked it o-out an' I f-fe-fell o-on my a-arm." Nothing about Snape hurting him. He remembered the murderous look Snape gave him when they found him, but as far as Harry remembered, Snape hadn't touched him.

"Is that all you remember?" Severus asked.

"Y-you w-we-were m-mad a-at me..." Tears filled Harry's eyes, "I w-wa-was s-sca...s-scared th-that...that I'd...Th-that i r-ru-ru...ruined i-it." By the time Harry was done stuttering out his response he was sobbing.

"Ruined what, child?" Snape asked softly. Harry though, what had he thought he ruined? He had been afraid that Snape would start to hate him again, but there had been nothing to ruin. A small voice in the back of his head mentioned family, but Harry shrugged it off. He didn't really have a family, except the Dursley's and they only locked Harry up all the time. If that's what family was like, he didn't want Snape to be family. Harry decided to ignore the question, since he didn't know how to answer it.

Suddenly Harry remembered a little more. "A-And th-the...Th-then w-we we-were g-go-going to y-your o-off-office an' m-my l-le...leg w-weally h-huw...huwt a-and I a-as-asked y-you t-to st-stop! Bu-But y-you d-di-didn't!" Was that what Snape meant when he said he'd hurt Harry? Still, Snape would have stopped if he liked Harry and wanted him. Harry realized, Snape had hurt him. Not physically himself by hitting him and what not. But by not helping him when he hurt.

"Harry, I'm so sorry." Severus murmured, moving the tray of food off the bed and sitting down next to Harry. "I didn't hear you, or I would have stopped." The tears kept coming and Harry was crying too hard to talk, when he did it was so stuttered that neither of them could understand what was being said.

Finally Snape reached forward and uncomfortably, wrapped his arms around Harry.

"Calm yourself, Harry." Severus murmured, running one of his hands through Harry's hair. "Everything will be alright." Harry nodded, but continued to cry with his head in Snape's shoulder.

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Harry was let out of the hospital wing that night before supper, it took a lot to persuade Pomfrey, but Harry had accomplished it. He was currently walking down the corridor when he suddenly tripped on his own feet, ending up on the floor. He winced as he sat up, he rubbed his arm where he'd landed on it; the same arm that he'd sprained the day before.

"Po-Harry," A voice said. Harry looked up to find Malfoy standing over him with his arm out.

"M-Ma-Malfoy?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Need a hand, Harry?" Malfoy asked, a blush creeping onto his face. Harry reached out and let Malfoy help him up, but looked at him cautiously.

"What happened there, Po-Harry?" Malfoy asked.

"T-t-tri...t-tripped." Harry stuttered, then looked away expecting Malfoy to make fun of him; it never came, however.

"You ought to be more careful." was all Malfoy said.

"I kn-know, th-tha-th...thanks f-for your h-hel..help." Harry said, looking at Malfoy in wonder, why was he being so nice? He had noticed Malfoy trying to be nicer to him since that day he made fun of Harry, but he always just figured it was a trick.

"No problem. Were you going to the Great Hall?" Malfoy questioned.

Harry nodded and asked, "W-we...were y-you?"

"Yeah, I was until I saw you. You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" Malfoy asked, even looking a bit worried.

"N-no. M-my a-a-arm h-hurts, bu-but I hu-hurt it be-before wh-when I w-wa-was dro...dropped b-by th-the tr-troll." At Malfoy's astonished expression, Harry wondered if the story hadn't already gotten out yet. Usually rumors flew around Hogwarts, especially when they were about him.

"You got attacked by the troll?" Malfoy asked amazed, "And you survived!"

"H-h-had to s-sa-sa...save He-Herm...Hermione. Sh-she didn't k-know." Harry shrugged. "H-had to do...to do s-something."

"You took on a mountain troll for Granger? She must really mean something to you..." Malfoy said softly. "That was really brave of you."

"Sh-she's m-my b-be-best fr-friend. An' R-on." Harry said, "N-Never ma-made f-fu...made f-fun of m-me."

"Po-Harry, I really am sorry." Draco said uncomfortably. Harry's eyes widened, that was two apologies that he'd received that day, even if he never did get to understand the first one properly. "I really didn't mean to make you cry."

"D-Didn't c-cry." Harry muttered embarrassed.

"Well, I didn't mean to hurt your feeling then." Draco huffed.

"W-won't d-do it a-ag...again?"

"I'll try not to, but I can't promise that I won't." Draco replied. Harry figured that was good enough.

"A-alright. Ap...ap-apology ex...exc-excepted." They walked the rest of the way in silence, when they entered the Great Hall it went quite. It was common knowledge that Malfoy and Harry were enemies, but they were walking in the Great Hall together? And weren't killing each other? What was the world coming to? Even the teachers were staring.

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Everything went back to normal within the next few days, with the exception of Malfoy. It seemed the blond didn't have any other friends and he quickly became part of their group, much to Ron's disgust. Harry wasn't best friends with Malfoy, but he could tolerate him, and Malfoy didn't have anybody else to hang out with.

Harry was even starting to like Malfoy a little bit, he wasn't so bad once you got to know him.

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About a week later Harry was sitting in Professor Snape's office, they were talking like they normally did.

"I see you and Mr. Malfoy are getting along rather nicely." Snape said.

"Y-yes si-sir." Harry said, smiling softly.

"What happened?"

"H-he he-helped m-me up-" Harry started.

"He helped you up? Did somebody push you down?" Snape interrupted. Harry frowned.

"N-no, I f-fe...fell." Harry said.

"Oh." Severus said, "You would tell me if somebody was hurting you, right?" Harry through for a moment, and wondered if Quirrell counted? He hadn't hit Harry or anything, but Harry noticed that every time he went by Quirrell, he scar would burst into pain. Perhaps it was just coincidence?

"Y-yes." Harry finally answered.

"Good, are you excited for the quidditch match coming up?" Severus questioned.

"Y-Yes s-sir!" Harry exclaimed, "It's m-my f-first b-big ma-match!"

"I know, but I want you to be careful, Harry." Severus said, "Quidditch can be very dangerous."

"I kn-know." Harry said and smiled. "I w-will."

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The screaming crowd was deafening, it was hard to concentrate with so many people screaming at him, wether it be cheering him on, or them booing him. Harry quickly scanned the field, he hadn't seen the snitch since it was let go. Not seeing it, he let his gaze drift towards the crowd. The first person he locked eyes with was Malfoy, who gave him a thumbs up. Harry smiled, before the match Malfoy had said that he was rooting for Harry, even though he was a Slytherin. That made Harry feel warm inside for some reason.

Next he locked gazes with Snape, who looked uncomfortable. Harry wondered if Snape hated the game that much, but then realized that he was uncomfortable with worry. He flashed the professor a smile, trying to tell him that he was being as careful as he could. Snape gave a very slight nod, so Harry began scanning the field again.

Suddenly there was a flash of gold, the snitch. Harry was chasing after it immediately and almost had his grip on it when his broom gave un unsturdy lurch. Harry gripped the broom and gave up the chase, his broom lurched again, causing him to almost let go. He tightened his grip and hung on for dear life when the broom then began bucking wildly, and Harry was thrown off.

Harry's arm shot out to grab onto the broom, that had stopped bucking. Dangling there, he didn't look down in fear of being sick, he tried to pull himself up, but he didn't have much for upper body strength, and it took quite a few tries before he was on his broom and soaring again.

He was chasing the snitch as fast as he could, not paying attention to the other players until the Slytherin seeker smashed into his side. Harry pulled his broom out and rammed back into the Slytherin, not moving him much as he had so much more body mass than Harry did.

Harry barely noticed when they started racing towards the ground, but when he did he looked over at the Slytherin to see if he was going to back off, at first he didn't look like he was. The closer they got to the ground, the more worried the Slytherin got until he finally pulled up. Harry waited a couple of more seconds and pulled away inches away from flattening himself.

Too close to the ground to sit on the broom properly, Harry brought his feet up and stood, his arms out for balance. He was almost there, adrenalin was pulsing through him and his blood was rushing through his ears. The crowd was screaming even more and Harry briefly realized how uncareful he was being, and felt a sense of guilt for disobeying Snape. He didn't have much time to dwell on it though, as he stepped too close to the end of the broom and went flying.

Harry hit the ground roughly and felt something lodge itself in his throat. For a moment he wanted to panic, but he stood up and immediately started gagging, the wings on the snitch were still moving, and it tickled his throat. Finally he spit it out, grinning, and held it up for everybody to see; the crowd went crazy. He'd done it, he helped win the match.

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Severus never wanted to watch Harry play quidditch again, especially if it was going to be as terrifying as this game had been. He never got a break from the constant worrying, and then when Harry's broom started lurching and trying to buck the child off, he felt panic seize him and he immediately began muttering a counter.

And then that dive! What was the idiot Gryffindor thinking? He could have broken his neck, for Merlin's sake! Did the child not care about himself at all? Harry had told Severus that he would be careful, that did not look like being careful. For a moment Severus was angry, but then he forced himself to calm down. He would not make the same mistake as last time. He would have to just have a small chat with Harry, a calm one.

Severus quickly made his way off the stands, he needed to find Harry and make him go to the hospital wing; that was a nasty fall and he wouldn't be surprised if Harry hadn't re-injured himself.

When Severus caught up to Harry, who was surrounded in a crowd of the other Gryffindors, he almost didn't want to interrupt; but he needed Harry to get checked up on. His health was more important than celebrating, they could always do that later.

"Mr. Potter, a word if you will." Severus sneered.