Chapter 2! Yay! These chapters will be organizedbased off of point of view change so some may be pretty long while some may only be a couple of paragraphs. This one is a Harry POV, I made Harry more intelligent than he is in canon but I feel that Harry would've been more intelligent if his relatives had been physically abusive. Remember to review!

Harry awoke and the first thing he noticed was the fact that he had been healed. As was his habit before opening his eyes he went through each part of his body to check if they were there and in working order. Toes? Wiggling. Legs? Sore. Fingers and Hands? Working. Arms? Also sore. Chest? Feels like a lump of pain. Neck? Rotating. Head? In one piece. Next he tried to recall what had happened.

He said goodbye to his friends on the platform and dragged his trunk towards his relatives. The ride home had been rather awful of course but Harry knew it was bound to be nothing compared to what was to come. When they got home his uncle ordered him to get into his room and be ready for punishment. He ran upstairs and got to his room and got into the position his uncle preferred for whipping.

He had heard his uncle dragging his trunk into the cupboard and locking it. He heard him stomp up the stairs. The belt was already off when the man opened the door. Harry gulped and prepared himself for the punishment.

What happened next was a blur. He had been whipped with the belt and sometimes with the belt buckle. When he had finally collapsed and his uncle's arm had gotten tired he had started kicking him. After what felt like an eternity of pain the man left. Harry laid there in a pool of his own blood for a long time and probably would've stayed that way if it hadn't been for the tapping of Hedwig on the window.

He had managed to open it enough for the bird to come in. Hedwig made it clear with her body language that Harry needed to get help immediately. And Harry didn't feel the need to argue. He knew he could die if he didn't get help soon. His magic alone wouldn't be enough if he passed out. But how to send a message? He looked around and saw some paper scraps on the other end of the room. Hedwig reading his mind brought one of them to him. He wrote in his own blood, the closest liquid around.

"HELP ME PLEASE"

"Hedwig get this to Hogwarts as fast as possible. They'll know it was from me and come get me. Don't rest until someone takes the note. Anyone." Harry commanded wrapping the note around her leg.

She flew out of the window and Harry collapsed. Against the wall. Now that he was there. He was laying in what seemed to be a comfortable bed. Harry had blacked out then. So someone from Hogwarts had come and gotten him and taken him back to heal him. He felt he after taste of potions coating his mouth so he knew Snape had been involved. Not that it mattered who had taken him back since he was alive and not dead.

So Harry opened his eyes to see a room in Slytherin colors. So he was with Snape and not the hospital wing. Harry sat up and felt quite dizzy. What time was it anyway? He looked around the room and saw a clock. It was 7 in the morning. He looked around and saw his trunk. He went over and opened it quickly. He saw his wand laying on top and he grabbed it. He saw that he was wearing nothing but his underwear and decided it best to get dressed.

He pulled out his school robes and other clothes and got dressed. He then used his wand to cast a diagnostic on himself. He had taught himself that charm at the beginning of the school year since it was going to be useful in figuring out how to heal himself. A piece of parchment appeared and listed out his injuries and current status.

Whoever had healed him had done pretty well. In a few days with plenty of rest he would be pretty much where he was before the beating. He placed the parchment in his pocket and pulled some shoes on from his trunk. Once he was dressed with wand in hand he opened the door. He was definitely in Snape's quarters.

Harry had no idea how to get food from here but he did know where the kitchens were. He could go to the kitchens and get some food to appease his stomach. Harry in a rare moment of forethought went back to his room and pulled out some old parchment and his quill and ink. He wrote out a quick note.

"Hey I woke up and I'm starving! So I went down to the kitchens I have my wand and should be back soon. –Harry Potter"

He left the note on his pillow and put the other supplies away. He made his way to the doors and left the room. He breathed in with a happy look on his face; glad to be back safe in Hogwarts. He walked with light steps towards the hufflepuff quarters. There was a painting next to them that led to the kitchens. As he walked he hummed a whimsical tune it was nice to be able to be himself.

Harry had many masks, ones he wore with everyone. There was the classic subservient mask that he wore around his relatives, there was the arrogant Gryffindor he wore in Snape's class and when he faced danger, which was arguably the same thing. There was the careless friend he wore around Hermione and Ron and at meals. He made a mask for each place he was in to fit what he was expected to be.

Snape and Voldemort expected him to brash and arrogant so that was what he was. His relatives expected him to be evil, freaky and doing all the work so that was what he was. His friends expected him to be cool and confident so that is what he was. But right now by himself he could be just Harry. He could be the boy he liked to be. He was very tired by the time he made it to the kitchens. So when the elves so kindly offered to let him eat there he took them up on their offer.

They served him biscuits, chicken soup and fruits. It was a bounteous feast and Harry ate as much as he could while thanking the elves profusely as he did every time. Harry had made friends with most of the elves during his first year at Hogwarts. They knew he wasn't fed well at home and always made sure that when he was alone he got snacks to help him put on much needed weight.

When he explained that he grew up as an abused house elf they treated him with a new kind of respect, the kind that equals have. They helped him when he asked and they always looked after him. He liked the elves. After eating the feast they jumped up to clean up for him he asked a favor.

"Klangly." Harry called.

"Yes Harry?"

"Could you pop me to the library? I'm too tired to walk, I'm still healing from my injuries."

"Of course Harry." Klangly said grabbing Harry and popping him to his favorite spot in the large library.

"Thanks if you could wait here I'm going to grab a few books and then can you pop me down into Professor Snape's quarters?"

"Yes Harry. I am happy to help you."

"Thanks Klangly."

Harry walked among the stacks in the library and picked up four books that he wanted to read. Two were about shielding techniques, one was on offensive charms and hexes and one was on mind calming techniques. The last book he had found a few nights before Halloween. He had left his friends to be alone for a while and was wandering the library and found a word he had never read before. "Occulmency." The first chapter talked about the positives of occulmency and he realized he could use those techniques to help strengthen his mind and calm himself when he got angry.

He read that book whenever he got the chance. He used the techniques inside to meditate and calm himself whenever he had a flashback or a panic attack. He had just gotten to the point that talked about building mental walls to protect your mind from attack and decided he could start on that or switch to something else if he got bored. Klangly popped him back into Snape's quarters. Harry thanked him and went back to the room he had woken up in.

The note was still on his pillow so he could only assume that no one had come to check on him. He sat down on the bed and took off the robe so he was in just jeans and a T-shirt. Both too large for him and hand me downs but significantly better than just ratty underwear. He made a charmed light to hang above him to properly light the page and then charmed the book to look like a quidditch book to the casual observer. He also grabbed his music player.

The real Harry loved music. All music, classical, Broadway, punk, pop, rock you name it he liked it. Harry had wondered that if he had been able to choose what he wanted to listen to instead of just listening to what Dudley did if he would have actual music preferences. As it was he had learned to appreciate music in whatever form it came in. He owl ordered a magic powered music player that held 10 times the amount of songs the muggle counter parts did. He set it up on the bed next to him turned it low and played some music to relax him while he read.

That was how Snape found him in a few hours later at 10 in the morning. Harry had really gotten into this chapter. Organizing his mind and creating blocks was an awesome piece of magic. He didn't notice when Snape came in and flinched when the door was shut loudly. Harry jumped and put the book down. He looked towards the noise and saw Snape looking at him strangely.

"Good morning Sir." Harry said quietly.

"Potter. How long have you been up?"

"I woke up a little before seven. I had a large breakfast and then have been here reading since then, sir"

"Pray tell how did you get breakfast?" Snape asked with an edge to his voice.

"I walked to the kitchens." Harry answered in true to form fashion. He needed to keep to his mask.

"Did you perhaps think in your dunderheaded brain that you should not have walked anywhere in the shape you were in?"

"I felt fine." Harry said with a sneer. "I am used to having to get up and work in much worse conditions. I hardly think you would know when I can and cannot do something more than I would."

"Potter I spent hours last night working to keep you from dying." Snape said angrily. "You were not to leave that bed for at least another day."

"I felt fine and I didn't walk back from the kitchens. I had an elf pop me down here so I wouldn't over exert myself." Harry defended with a tone.

"Did he also pop you over to the library so you could read up on quidditch?" Snape asked disbelievingly.

"Yep. I knew I was going to be in bed for a while so I thought it would be best to get some reading material to keep myself occupied."

"Why are you reading about some asinine game instead of sleeping?"

"I'm not tired. Won't be for a while. I tend to have a hard time sleeping after an incident like the one I had yesterday. It's normal for me not to sleep well for a few days afterwards no matter how much I need it." Harry answered honestly but in a careless tone.

"You are aware of potions that could aid you in getting to sleep?" Snape asked.

"Huh? No I haven't heard of those." Harry lied. "Either way you were asleep sir so how was I supposed to get something like that?"

Harry looked at the man who looked drawn and tired. Harry felt bad. He was that way because he had stayed up all night taking care of him. He knew the man before him hated him and Harry didn't really like Snape either. After a few moments of silence Harry went back to his book pointedly ignoring Snape. It was really a very interesting chapter.