The next chapter is up, Enjoy! R&R
Chapter 16: The dam is erupted
Harry appeared in Dumbledore's office. Snape raised him on his feet, since he landed on the floor as usual. Harry looked around. He saw Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, Prof. McGonagall, Remus Lupin and Draco. The blond looked at Harry and gave him a weak, barely noticeable smile. Harry noticed how pale he was.
"Good morning, Mr. Potter," greeted him Dumbledore. Harry nodded. He felt uncomfortable. There were too many men in one small room; one of them was standing behind his chair.
"First of all, I have some great news for you, my boy," continued Dumbledore, "Sirius Black was declared free man a day ago." Harry's eyes lit a little and he looked expectedly and the headmaster. "Sirius," he whispered, he didn't dare to express any feelings, thanks to his uncle.
"Right now he is in the Saint Mungo, given a checkup; he should be released sometimes during the day," added Dumbledore, "unfortunately Pettigrew is still free, but at least the Aurors will look for the right man. You will receive other details later, when Sirius would be here, right now I want to discuss other matters."
Harry nodded. His excitement from the news passed, and now he was struggling with staying calm, but no one noticed this.
"I hope your stay away from the school served its purpose, and both of you thought about what you did and calmed yourself enough so such things won't repeat themselves." Dumbledore addressed to Draco and Harry, "Both of you are on probation, any rules breaking will bring severe punishments, even expulsion. I won't take any privileges from you, except of your prefect duties, Mr. Malfoy, but you both will report to Madam Pomfrey every Saturday, to help her in the hospital wing for five hours, you are free to choose when, during the day. Since both of you are far behind the entire school with your studies, you will be tutored by Prof. Snape and Prof. Lupin every day, according to the schedule they will arrange for you. Today, at six p.m. please report to Prof. Snape's office for your first tutoring session. I think that is all. Do you have any questions?" When the boys shook their heads, Dumbledore dismissed Draco, and ordered him to head to the Great Hall to have a breakfast and then to collect his things and go to the classes. When Draco left, Dumbledore faced Harry again.
"How was your stay at the Dursley's?" he asked, "I already asked Draco the same question, before you came."
"Fine," replied Harry, "They were Dursleys…"
"What happened to your broom?" asked Snape, from behind. It startled Harry and he turned around very sharp, falling from the chair he was sitting on.
"Is everything alright with you?" asked Dumbledore when he saw Harry's reaction.
"Y…Yea," Harry stammered, he lost all his confidence when Draco left, and felt a sudden, unexplained fear.
"Well, I don't think so, Harry," commented Lupin, "you wouldn't react like that if everything was fine."
"May I go? Please," Harry pleaded, "I think I'm hungry and I don't want to be late for the first lesson…"
Everybody looked at him suspiciously.
"Yes, Harry, you may go," finally Dumbledore said, "but I would like to see you at eight o'clock, today, to discuss what just happened here."
Harry got up and practically ran out of the office. Outside the Gargoyle Harry saw Draco waiting for him.
"What did Dumbledore wanted from you?" the blond asked.
"Wanted from me?" re-asked Harry, "I left right after you did…"
"So why did it took you another ten minutes to come down?" wondered Draco.
Harry realized that he had another lapse of memory episode.
"I don't know… and that the problem, for the last week I was forgetting things… I was doing one thing and then I was waking up and finding myself somewhere I wasn't before or couldn't remember what I was doing..." admitted Harry, "I think I should talk to Dumbledore about it…"
"Maybe your uncle hit you too hard on the head," suggested Draco, "I know my father did and I woke up hours later…, let's go to the breakfast."
"Maybe…" Harry replied. The rest of the way they made in silence.
When they approached the Great Hall, both of them felt as if they will rather be somewhere else, but they were told to go to the breakfast and none of them felt as disobeying Dumbledore from the beginning. Taking a deep breath the boys entered, and tried to make their way to their house tables without being noticed, which was kind of hard, because every head of every student that was present turned towards them.
"THE NAUGHTY BOYS ARE BACK!!!" shouted the Weasley twins, they stood on the feet and raised their glasses in solute.
"That enough, Messrs Weasley," Prof. McGonagall commented, when she entered the Hall.
Harry slipped at the end of the table and right away Ginny approached him.
"It's good to see you back," she smiled, "had you received my letter? How your time at the Dursleys was?"
"Hi, Gin," Harry gave her a small smile, "thanks for the letter, it definitely helped."
"You look pale," she commented, "Have they treated you right"
"Everything was fine," Harry assured her, "I learned my lesson, though…"
"Harry…" Harry turned and saw Ron and Hermione, they approached him hesitantly.
"It's great to see you," Harry replied, and he meant it, he felt that he was going to burst into tears any moment, "Thanks for your letters…"
"I'm really sorry, Harry, for everything" Ron apologized, "I don't care who you are friends with, as long as there will be place for me and Hermione… We really missed you"
"I missed you too, every day… I'm sorry… you are my best friends… I shouldn't have been such a git…" Harry felt his eyes getting wet.
"O, Harry…" Hermione burst into tears and hugged Harry very tight. Harry jerked away, but immediately apologized, "I just had hurt my hand… tripped in the shower…" he mumbled an apology.
They tried to eat their breakfast. Tried was the key word, since Harry wasn't hungry and Ron, Hermione and even Ginny were filling Harry about everything he missed, being away from school.
When the breakfast was over, they stood up and Ron groaned "Potions, first thing… Urg… I hate Tuesdays…"
It was Harry's first day back and he already had to make excuses about his missing books. He was grateful that the assignments he was given he had to hand to Lupin and not humiliate himself in front of the class with excuse why he hadn't done any of it.
His friends haven't left him alone for the whole day. Even Ginny managed to join them between classes. Harry felt that at least for now he was having a relatively good day, although he thought it will be better as soon as Sirius will arrive as was promised by Dumbledore.
-aaaaa-
It was a quarter to six, and it was Harry's time to go to his first tutoring session with Snape. He made his way without any trouble towards the dungeons, although the whole way he was a little tense.
When Harry reached the entrance to the dungeons he suddenly stopped. The staircase was dark and a cool breeze was coming from downstairs. It reminded him of the stairs to the basement he was staying at. He felt a sudden pain in his lower abdomen and unexplained fear from going any further. The pain was so intense that he lost the little food he had over the day. His legs gave away and he fell on his knees, his gaze focused into the darkness as if waiting from something to appear from there.
Six o'clock came and gone and he still haven't moved from his place. Nobody was there to see him, since most of the students were still in the Great Hall, having dinner.
-aaaaa-
It was six o'clock and Potter hadn't arrived yet. Severus Snape wasn't happy. His other student, Draco Malfoy, was already there and they were waiting for the Gryffindor to start their tutoring session, but it seemed that the boy haven't learned a thing and was disobeying the headmaster's orders again.
He waited another ten minutes and then decided to go and look for the teenager and punish him for his disobedience.
Severus gathered all his hate to the boy's father and to the boy himself and strode upstairs with an intention not to stop till he would find the boy and bring him to justice.
He forgot about his intensions the moment he arrived to the entrance to the dungeons.
He saw Potter, on his knees, in front of the entrance, clutching his lower abdomen. His face grimaced from pain and fear, in front of him a puddle of vomit.
"Potter, what's wrong?" demanded Snape. He waved his wand and the vomit disappeared, "How long have you been there?"
"I don't know!!!" cried Harry, "It hurts…" and he vomited again, "I don't know why, but I can't go downstairs… There is something… I just don't know…"
"I just came from there, Mr. Potter, there is nothing there," said Snape, "Get up, and let's go to the Hospital Wing!" When he saw that Harry was struggling to get up he grabbed the boys hand to help him, the hand that was broken. Harry yelled in pain and fell again.
"Mr. Potter, try to get up, I can't give you painkillers till we know what's wrong with your abdomen!" Harry heard a note of concern in Snape's voice.
"I don't want to go!" protested Harry, "I can't! Just give me something and let's finish with the tutoring…"
"Mr. Potter, I think your health is more important than the tutoring," said Snape, "Now let's go!"
"NO!" shouted Harry, "I WON'T! Leave me alone! It's just a stomach ache from something I ate earlier…"
"Nonsense, Potter, now let's go, before I'll Stupefy you!"
"But I don't want her to check me!" Harry still protested, "She will find out…" then he realized that he had a slip of a tongue and he looked fearfully at Snape.
"What will she find out?" demanded Snape.
"N… Nothing, it… it… was… a… mi…mistake," stammered Harry.
"Potter, look at me!" demanded Snape. Harry lifted his head, but avoided Snape's eyes.
"You are going to tell me everything or I'm going to find out by myself, it's your decision," said Snape. Harry still refused to talk.
"Fine, we are going to talk in my office!" Snape raised the boy on his feet and pulled him toward the dungeons.
"Leave me alone!" Harry started to cry, "Please, don't hurt me anymore."
"I'm not going to hurt you, Potter," replied Snape, "We are just going to talk." At first he thought that Harry was talking to him, but it seemed that the teenager was wrapped in some private nightmare.
"I don't want it anymore… It hurts… Please, I'll be good… I won't tell… don't take me there… Please…" Harry continued to cry. Snape put a disillusionment charm on both of them to not attract unnecessary attention and entered his office, where Draco was waiting. Only when he closed the door, he took off the charm and released the boy.
"Harry? Where have you been?" asked Draco as he saw his friend.
Draco's words seemed to snap Harry from the state he was in. He looked around, calm, as if nothing happened. The stomach and the fear were gone as soon as he found himself in familiar office and with his friend there.
"How did I get here?" he asked the blond.
"Prof. Snape brought you," said Draco, pointing with his eyes behind Harry's back. Harry turned and saw his Professor watching him intensively.
"Care to explain what I just witnessed upstairs?" asked Snape.
"I don't know, Professor… I'm sorry for the outburst upstairs… but I'm fine now… I really am…" Snape glanced at the boy as if he lost it, but he could see that Potter wasn't pretending. The boy truly didn't remember what happened from the point where he forced the boy to go downstairs, to his office.
"Mr. Malfoy, could you wait outside," Snape asked Draco. The blond nodded and left.
"How long were you suffering from a memory loss, Potter?" questioned Snape as the door behind Draco was closed.
"I think since Christmas," replied Harry, "I was about to talk to Prof. Dumbledore, I think it might be Volde… You-Know-Who, or something…"
"I see," said Snape, "let's find out what happened to your memory." He raised his wand and cast a Legilimence on Harry. He focused on the events from the point he found Harry at the dungeons entrance and back in time. At first he saw nothing important. There was his fear from the dungeons, and then his day spent with his friends, the talk they had at the Gryffindor table, his walk to the Great Hall with Draco… Then he saw something that made him ponder. It was Harry telling Draco about his loss of memory and Draco's explanation. That made the Potions Professor very uncomfortable. The easiness that the boys discussed about being hit by their guardians turned on a red light in Snape's mind, it seemed as the subject haven't been new to any of them. He looked further. There was some kind of block on the next memory, Snape wondered when had the boy learned to block his thoughts, when he was a total disaster in Occlumency only a month ago. In the next memory he saw the boys' talk with the headmaster and then himself telling Potter about the regression to the childhood. It seemed that Potter blocked his memory about the last part of the meeting in Dumbledore's office, starting with the moment of Draco's leave, but Snape couldn't understand why. After all, there was nothing to hide, the only thing that Dumbledore asked the boy was about his stay, and besides, he, Snape was there either.
Snape looked further; he skipped to Harry's time at the Dursleys, to the Christmas Eve. He saw Harry serving drinks to three people, one of them was his uncle, then Vernon Dursley dragging a very drank woman upstairs and then another block, much more forceful than the previous one.
Snape realized that those blocks were the reason for his lapses of memory, as he described them to Draco. Snape was experienced with the art of Legilimency and Occlumency to understand that those blocks were put subconsciously, the boy's mind was trying to block something away. Snape knew that people sometimes were doing that to block very unpleasant and painful memories. He even remembered the name of the phenomenon, it was called Disassociation. Dumbledore explained it to him when he was teaching him the art of mind reading and blocking. The headmaster told him that he, Severus, was doing that kind of blocking, to block some of the memories about his father's abuse and about some of the things he saw at the DE meetings, before he turned to be a spy for the Order. Snape realized that the cause for Harry's reactions was behind those blocks, so Snape pushed as much as he could, to penetrate those blocks. He saw them being cracked and finally falling, but before he could catch a glimpse of what was there, a great force of power threw him out of Harry's mind. It was so strong that Snape went flying across the room and collided with the wall.
But Snape's attempt was enough to collapse the protections that Harry's mind built, subconsciously, to help the boy to deal with the events of the last week. Memories and images of everything that Harry couldn't remember now flooded him. He could feel everything that Morris and his uncle did to him as if it just happened.
With a loud cry, Harry found himself on his feet; he stormed out from Snape's office and ran. Everything happened so fast that at first Snape hadn't reacted. In fact, the man was still in shock from what just happened that it took him a few moments to realize that the boy escaped, but when he did, Harry was nowhere to be seen.
-aaaaa-
He ran all the way, he needed a shower, right now. He knew he couldn't go to the dormitories because his roommates might found him there, so he ran to the showers of the Quidditch pitch. He knew they would be empty, since no practices were scheduled for today. He even didn't bother to lock.
Throwing his clothes off as fast as he could, he ran to the first douche and opened the water, he didn't care that it was a cold water, all he really wanted was to wash off the feeling of Morris's and Vernon's hands, the feeling of them kissing him and finally the feel of being violated of off him, he wanted to wash the feeling of his uncle's fists and belt, even the feeling of Hermione's welcome hug from the morning. He scrubbed himself fiercely with his fingernails, his poorly healed scars from the last month opened up, and his blood mixed with the water, but he didn't stop. Finally the barriers cracked, he collapsed on the cold floor, still scrubbing himself, leaving new scratches, he began to sob, the sobs grew to wails. The Boy Who Lived cried his eyes out, cold water pouring down on him.
That's how Draco Malfoy found him.
-aaaaa-
Draco was waiting outside as he was told, when he heard Harry's cry and then saw the boy storming out of the office. Draco ran into the classroom and saw his Head of the House getting up from the floor and rubbing the place where his head collided with the wall.
"Professor, what happened?" asked Draco, "I just saw Harry ran away, is he all right?"
Snape turned around, when he saw Draco he grabbed him by his shoulders, "Was his uncle abusing him?" he demanded.
"I… I… don't know," Draco replied, but he was avoiding his Professor's eyes.
Snape tightened his grip and shook the boy, "Don't lie to me! I know you know! Tell me, it's important!"
"Y… Y… Yes," Draco stammered, his eyes wide with fear, "you are hurting me… let go… please…"
"Damn!" cursed Snape, he let go of Draco's shoulders, "has he told anybody, besides you?" Draco shook his head 'No'.
"Gryffindors' stupid sense of pride! Draco, I need your help to find him! It is very important! Something happened to him at Christmas, apparently something worth than what he told you about. He ran away before I could talk to him. It is very crucial to find him. I don't know what state he is at, but I must ask for your help. Search everywhere and report to me immediately if you see him! Send me your Patronus; I know you can conjure it! I'm going to alert Prof. McGonagall and the headmaster!" Draco nodded. "Go, now!" urged him Snape, when Draco still hadn't moved.
Draco woke from the state of shock he was in and hurried after Snape from the office, they separated at the entrance to the dungeons. He didn't know where to look, so he cast the 'Point Me' spell and followed it.
The spell led him to the showers of the Quidditch pitch. He wasn't surprised, he, himself, often used them to have some privacy, so his roommates won't see the signs his father left on him. When he got closer, he heard a noise coming from there. He hurried inside and what he saw there shocked him. Harry Potter was crouched on the showers floor and scrubbing himself, his back was in ugly scars, most of them were open and were bleeding heavily. And Potter was crying.
Draco acted fast; he ran towards Harry, turned off the water and conjured a towel covering the sobbing boy. Harry hadn't realized that he wasn't alone; he threw off the towel and tried to turn on the water again.
"No, Potter!" said Draco in a firm voice, and shut the water off. He didn't know why he said that, but he got some response from Harry. The boy turned his head and looked at Draco "You don't understand! I must wash it off!" he said.
"You know I do!" replied Draco, he picked up the towel, dried it with his wand and handed it to Harry, who snatched the towel as fast as he could and wrapped himself into it, backing away as far as he could.
"No, you don't!" whispered Harry, "Your father never done it to you!"
Draco lowered himself on the floor near Harry, who instinctively moved from him.
"If it was so terrible, why wouldn't you tell somebody? Your uncle won't have a chance against a wizard with a wand."
"I can't" Harry's head fell and a hot tears fell down his face, once again.
"Why not? It's not because of your owl, is it? Because…" asked Draco.
"I just can't…" Harry interrupted.
Draco scanned him with his look, and finally something clicked inside his head and he whispered "It wasn't just the beating, was it?" Harry buried his head in his hands, his whole body shaking, "No," he whispered.
"He didn't… you know?" when Harry hadn't answered, but resumed the wailings, Draco suddenly felt sick, "Merlin, Harry, you must tell somebody!" he exclaimed, Draco tried to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but Harry backed away, "Please don't touch me," he said quietly.
"Sure, Harry" Draco said, "But you have to tell somebody. You know, Snape is looking for you right now, he is worried about you, talk to him, he would listen!"
Harry snored through his tears, "Yea, right… Snape probably is going to laugh at me, to call me a spoiled brat, and give me a lot of detentions…"
"You are wrong, Harry," said Draco, "Sev deals with Slytherins, child abuse is more common in pureblooded families, I bet he knows how to deal with it, I know about few of the kids he helped. And he could help you with rescuing Hedwig; he is a spy for Dumbledore, after all… "
"You call him Sev? And you know he is a spy?" noticed Harry,
"Well, yes, he is my godfather… and I kind of figured him out… I think father complained to him how I embarrassed him at the DE meeting, when Sev brought me home, but Sev just told me that I always have a choice… that I should follow what is right even if it's not easy… You know, the kind of things that Dumbledore would say…" shrugged Draco.
"I can't do it alone," admitted Harry.
Draco swallowed, he knew that he is about to do the right, but not easy at all, thing that his godfather was talking about, "Let's do it together, then" he suggested to Harry, "We will talk to him together… I'll tell him about my father …"
"O.K." whispered Harry.
"So, it's a deal?" Draco extended his hand to Harry.
Harry eyed his hand, but finally he shook it. He smiled weakly through his tears.
Draco got up, dried his clothes than collected Harry's and cleaned them. "Here, dress up, and let's go."
"Now?" asked Harry, he still wasn't ready to talk to anybody.
"Yes, the sooner we talk to him, the faster we free your owl and deal with your uncle…"
"And your father…" added Harry.
"Yea, him too," said Draco leaving the showers to let Harry some privacy.
While outside, Draco conjured his Patronus. It was an image of a dragon. He didn't know how to send messages with the Patroni, so he just asked the Dragon to tell Severus Snape that he would be bringing Harry to the dungeons. Surprisingly it seemed that the Dragon understood Draco's request. The creature bowed and then flew towards the castle, unseen to everyone but the receiver of the message.
When Harry dressed up, they made their way to the castle, toward the dungeons, trying to avoid students that weren't in their dormitories yet.
As they entered the dungeons, they saw that Severus Snape was waiting for them already.
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy; I will continue from there, you may return to your dormitories, I will talk to you later. Come with me, Mr. Potter," said Snape. Harry sent a desperate look at Draco.
"I'm coming too," said Draco, "I promised Harry that we would do it together."
"Very well, come with me, both of you," silently Snape led them to his office, when they entered he locked the door and cast a Silencing Charm.
When the room was sound proof, Draco turned to the raven haired boy, "Harry, show him your back," he said.
"Together," said Harry quietly, looking pleadingly at Draco.
Draco nodded; they both turned around and on a silent count to three raised their robes and shirts.
Severus gasped; it was worse than he thought. Composing himself he just asked the question that he already knew its answer: "Who?"
"My uncle," mumbled Harry, "My father," said Draco.
"O, Merlin," was his only reply.
"That not all," said Draco, "Harry, tell him."
But Harry couldn't, he was shaking violently. He looked like he was about to faint. Snape noticed it and tried to catch the boy before he fell. Draco tried to stop him, but was late. The sudden movement startled Harry; he backed away and screamed "DON'T TOUCH ME!!!" He tripped over the chair that stood on his way and crushed to the floor, than he backed more, till he was in the room's corner, hugging his knees and shaking.
Snape looked at Draco for answers. "I tried to warn you," said Draco.
Snape went to the cupboard where he was keeping his private potions and from there he retrieved a vial with green liquid in it, then he bent towards Harry, who tried to shrink even more.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Po… Harry," he gently said, "drink it," he handed him the vial, "It's a Calming Drought"
Harry looked at him suspiciously, than slowly took the vial from Snape and drank its contents. The result was instant, he felt himself suddenly very peaceful, he even allowed Snape to help him to stand up, and to be led to the couch. Severus took a chair and sat in front of him, he motioned for Draco to join them.
"What was Harry supposed to tell me?" Severus addressed Draco. Harry was under the influence of a potent calming draught, and was in no state to answer.
"I think he was…" Draco took a deep breath, "… was raped… by his uncle."
Snape paled, "Is it true, Harry?" he asked.
Harry shook his head. For a moment Severus felt a great relief, but then came Harry's answer and it was gone.
"It was Morris and my uncle," his voice was monotonic and indifferent due to the influence of the calming draught, which made it sound even more disturbing.
Draco told Severus everything, how his father was furious that Hermione, 'the mudblood' received higher marks than he is, how he whipped him as a punishment, and he was doing it every summer and Christmas breaks. How his father threatened to hurt his mother if Draco would tell anybody and how he hurt her once. He told his godfather about cigarettes, how he blackmailed Harry, how he confronted him about the abuse, till the other boy admitted, he told him about the DE meeting and what he saw there, how he and Harry met in the pub in Hogsmead and how Harry confused Mr. Dove with his uncle. He told his godfather Harry suggested him to become friends when he told him that he doesn't want to be a Death Eater. He described him his time during the month he was away from Hogwarts, how his father became even more creative with punishing him after he learned why his son was suspended. Finally he told about how he found Harry and convinced him to talk, making a deal with him to reveal his history too. Then he began to tell what he knew about Harry's home life, but was interrupted by him, "I think I can tell now," said Harry.
He told Severus everything about his last summer and the stay in suspension. How Vernon threatened to kill Hedwig, how he was beating him almost every day, how he starved him and locked him in the cupboard and the basement, how at Christmas Vernon called him to serve drinks and how he held him while Morris, Vernon's cousin kissed him and then raped him, and then it was Vernon's turn, how it was repeating itself almost every night and once even during the day, till Morris left, how he couldn't remember anything till Snape used Legilimency on him, but was having nightmares about the abuse without recognizing the participants. By the time he finished he was crying and shaking again.
Severus called for the house elves and asked for three cups of tea, in Harry's he put another dose of the potent 'Calming Drought' and added few drops to Draco's and his own.
During the tea drinking Severus turned to Draco, "I'm going to escort both of you to the hospital wing. Both of you need to be looked at by Madam Pomfrey and a good rest. You are going to have very difficult days ahead of you, but I'll be there to help you both, I'll make everything in my power that you won't return to your father and Harry to his uncle."
Harry looked at Snape for a moment and said with the monotonic voice, affected by the calming draught "Dumbledore said I have no choice, it's where I most protected."
"You always have a choice," said Snape to both of them, "No one should be treated like you were, no one has the right to touch you without your permission, and definitely not to beat or starve or abuse you in any other way, if that happens you should tell an adult you trust!"
Harry mumbled something that nobody heard. "What did you say?" asked Severus.
"I don't trust adults," repeated Harry.
'It's going to be a long way' Severus sighed.
-aaaaa-
They were finishing their tea, when they heard a loud BANG on the door; the boys jumped, Severus took the silencing charm off, and went to the door.
Outside stood Remus Lupin and much panicked Sirius Black, "Have you found…" started Remus, but was interrupted by Sirius' yell "Harry!!!"
Harry backed away, Draco stood in front of Harry to protect him and Severus blocked Sirius' pass.
"Let me near my godson!" demanded Sirius.
"Now, Black," replied Snape, "First of all relax, don't make sudden movements and the most important thing – Don't touch him!"
"What are you talking about, Snape?" Sirius eyed the Potions Master. "I want to know what's wrong with my godson! Albus said it was an emergency!"
"I'll tell you everything," promised Snape, "but first of all I need to take the boys to the Hospital Wing."
Remus and Sirius exchanged looks. "Severus, what's wrong with Harry?" asked Remus more sternly.
"I promise I'll tell you everything," said Snape, "But first the Hospital Wing. Black you can come too, but no sudden movements."
Sirius nodded, still not understanding, but he wanted to be with his godson so he promised.
"Lupin, would you be so kind and tell Albus and Minerva that I will be bringing Harry and Draco to the infirmary and ask them to join us there?"
"Sure," answered Remus, and left.
"Come along, Harry, Draco," Snape motioned to the boys.
Sirius made another attempt to come near Harry, but Severus stopped him, "I said no touching!" he hissed, "Don't come near him till you hear what happened, for Harry's sake, Black."
"You won't prevent me to be near my godson!" Sirius hissed back.
"And I'm not trying to," answered Snape, without his regular sarcasm "It took me and Mr. Malfoy there a long time to calm him down. He will need your support more than anything, but right now, trust me, don't come near him till you know how."
Sirius wanted to protest, and Severus saw it, "Please, Black, for Harry," he said.
Sirius never heard Snape pleading; it made him really worry about his godson.
"I promise you'll know everything" promised Snape again, this time Sirius didn't protest.
-aaaaa-
The group arrived to the Hospital Wing, and Snape took the boys to the farthest beds, he closed the screen around their beds and called for the nurse.
"Poppy, could you give them some Dreamless Sleep potion?" he motioned at the boys, "I need them asleep for a few hours, till we have a talk with Albus and Minerva."
"Sure, Severus," said Madam Pomfrey puzzled, "but what happened?"
"I'll tell everything," assured her Snape, "just give them the potion."
Madam Pomfrey complied. Soon Harry and Draco were asleep, and Severus, Sirius and Madam Pomfrey moved to the nurse office to wait for the headmaster and the Head of the Gryffindor house.
A few minutes later Remus arrived with Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"How are the boys?" asked the headmaster as soon as he entered Madam Pomfrey's office.
"They are currently asleep, I gave them the Dreamless Sleep Potion on Severus' request," informed Madam Pomfrey.
"Good, so, what did you found out, my boy?" Dumbledore addressed to Severus. The man scanned the people present in the room, "We should all be locked up in Azkaban for our stupidity!" he finally said, "The boys were practically crying for help and we missed it! It was easy to miss it with Draco, he was mostly his usual self, or so we thought, but Harry… the signs were there all the time, especially this year, but we were blind! We sent him back there…"
"Stop talking with riddles, Snape. Spill it out! What is wrong with my godson!" demanded Sirius, getting on his feet, ready to confront Severus.
"Sirius, please sit down!" asked Dumbledore in a stern voice. Sirius complied.
"There is no easy way to say it," Snape looked into the eyes of every person present, "The boys were severely abused, Draco by his father and Harry by his uncle…"
Sirius was again on his feet, "I'm going to kill that bastard!" he exclaimed, clutching his wand.
"There is more, Black," said Severus, looking at the man.
"What else could it be there?" asked Remus.
Snape took a deep breath, "During his last week of stay at his relatives he was also being sexually abused by Vernon Dursley and his cousin, Morris Dursley."
When he finished there was a grave silence in the room.
"Oh, Merlin," McGonagall finally whispered, the others were too shocked to react. Suddenly Sirius bolted up to his feet, with his wand drawn, he ran to the exit, before anybody could stop him, but almost was hit by the office door being shut.
"Where do you think you are going?" it was Remus who cast the locking spell on the door.
"I'm going to murder Vernon Dursley! Now let me out, before I'll hex you, Remus," hissed Sirius in a very dangerous voice.
"Now, now," Dumbledore tried to calm Sirius, "There's no need for such drastic measures. I assure you that we will deal with Vernon and Morris Dursley and Lucius Malfoy, but like a civilized people, through the low system."
"Harry is coming to live with me!" stated Sirius, "Draco can come to, if he would like to, after all he is my distant nephew."
"We will arrange it later on, right now we must report to the ministry about the child abuse."
"We must bring Harry's owl back," interrupted Severus, "and restore his possessions, especially his broom." Everybody nodded in agreement.
"The boys will need a mental help," said Madam Pomfrey, "I can deal with their physical injuries, but I'm not a Mind Healer, and with Harry being famous…"
"I think I know who can help them," said Snape, "my second cousin, Ariel, he is a Mind Healer with specialization on children. You must remember him, Albus, Ariel Levin, Gryffindor, graduated on June 1988. He isn't one of those who idolize Potter. He is young, twenty five, I think, but from what I heard, very experienced, kids and teenagers trust him."
"Ariel Levin? Yes, I remember him, very bright kid. I didn't know, Severus, that he is your second cousin," commented Dumbledore.
"I didn't know either, my muggle father made sure of that with his anti-Semitic views, I found out when I met his parents on his graduation day. His mother recognized me. She was my mother's cousin. I was in touch with her for couple of years, till the DE activity resumed, after that, for her and her family protection, I stopped the contact," Severus told his story.
"How can we contact him?" asked Remus.
"I think Albus and Madam Pomfrey should do it. I don't want to attract too much attention to me from obvious reasons," answered Snape, "Just tell him about the boys and I'm sure he would help."
"I will do it first thing in the morning," said Madam Pomfrey, "he must be there for them when we contact the authorities."
"I'm going to talk to Harry's friends, without giving the details" said McGonagall, "They'll be really worried for him."
"Very well, I think we should close the meeting for tonight," said Dumbledore, "Sirius, would you stay with the boys in the infirmary? Madam Pomfrey will guide you how to act in case Harry or Draco will wake up before morning." Sirius agreed.
"In that case, rest well, a long day awaits us tomorrow," with that Dumbledore dismissed everybody and he as well retired for the night.
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I hope there aren't much mistakes….
The next chapter: "First steps to recovery" – We are going to meet Ariel.
Enjoy!!! R & R.