Rat
AN: All hail Jordan Cross for being my Beta. Just know, from living on the streets, Rat will be a bit untrusting and sneaky. Oh yes and that this fic will be set in year 1 and 2.
Disclaimer: Do not own
"What?" the boy snarled at him. "Something on my face?"
Severus stared blankly at the boy, wide-eyed, and shocked. How on Earth did the famous Boy-Who-Lived became the infamous Diagon Alley Outlaw? The boy beneath him continued to glare at him with animalistic look on his face. That look could scare a few First Years but not him, for Severus Snape was the master of intimidation. Severus pulled his hand away.
"What is your name?" he asked, unamused.
Silence.
"I said what is your name?"
A deep growl came from the boy's chest.
"I said, tell me your name or otherwise I'll-'
"You'll what?" the boy spat at him. "You break my bones? Crucio me? Nothing I haven't been through!"
Severus found the boy to be very much like James Potter. He eyed the boy even more in silence. The boy very much looked like James Potter. The same untamable hair, high cheek bones, slanted jaw and whatnot. But his eyes, they were a pure emerald green. But it held no gentleness like Lily's. It was full of hatred and . . . suffering. His choice of clothing was very distasteful. His clothes were torn and tattered. His black shirt had several tears on his arms especially the tear around his hip revealing an infected cut. His pants were ripped and in a state where no mending from a house elf could fix it. His shoes look too big for his size. The scarf draped around his neck was a simple black and an even darker black plaid pattern.
The boy turned to his side elicting a sharp wince before trying to get up. His left arm was twisted on a weird angle and his leg was turned the other way. Draco Malfoy would be screaming, complaining about the pain. However, this boy was paying no mind to pain, only focusing on escaping.
"Stop moving. You'll hurt yourself more." Severus told him. The boy threw another glare his way before completely rising to his feet. He leaned independently on his one leg as he hopped away, not getting very far. Severus soon got up, catching up to the boy in no time. He wrapped an arm around the boy's ribs, bringing out a loud yelp from the boy. He must've broke his ribs as well.
"What the- Let me go! Let me- OW!" Severus pulled a little more pressure on the boy's ribs.
"Be quiet, you insolent brat. I am trying to help."
"Why? Why do you want to help a filthy rat like me?" the boy growled.
It was a moment of silence before Severus answered, "Perhaps it's not you I could help but yourself."
The boy only stared at him, baffled.
"What's your name?"
"Rat." Severus groaned. What an appalling name.
"Your real name!" Severus said with more than a hint of impatience.
"Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't know. I never knew my real name." The boy never knew his name. Well he could've picked a decent name. Rat is a poor choice, a very poor choice.
"Hmph! I am Professor Severus Snape. I'm apparating you to Hogwarts where our school nurse can look at you. The first times can be very overwhelming but given your. . . injuries, it is going to be very painful." Severus pulled out his wand from his robes. He looked down to the boy one last time. The boy almost seemed beaming with hope.
"H-Hogwarts?"
"Yes, you've heard of it."
"O-of course. Ferret told me it's a school. Somewhere for good kids to get a decent life and…" the boy trailed off. He looked like he was going to cry. A look of composure returned to his face.
"Well then, brace yourself." Severus held onto the boy tighter. With a sharp crack, the two apparated to Hogwarts.
. . . .
A few words to describe the pain of apparition or whatever it was that Rat screamed aloud, "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" he looked up to Snake –or was it Snape? He didn't catch his name well- who looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Interesting choice of words. Your language seems to be worse than the Seventh Years combined." He sneered at him. Well I did live in Diagon Alley. You're bound to pick up a few things. Snake –nope, definitely Snape - looked to be one of those former Death Eaters Rat had the bad fortune of meeting once. He could tell from the usual paleness and lifeless look in his eyes.
"What is this?!" the loud shrill voice of a woman screamed. Rat looked to see a woman in white robes looking absolutely pale and terrified. "Professor Snape? What happened to him?!"
"He fell from a rooftop and as for the cuts, I have no idea how he got them. Could you look at him?" Snape sounded as tired and bored as possible but Rat was an expert at spotting liars as well as their emotions. You never knew people. One person might forgive you for taking an apple when another might beat you up.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get him on a bed so I can look at him!" the nurse yelled at him. Snape moved forward slowly, looking down for a moment to see if Rat was in any more pain. Rat sensed this.
"If you're thinking about the pain, it's nothing I can't handle, sir." Rat told him. Snape looked for a moment impressed before moving forward. Every step, Rat held back a moan. He was finally on a bed.
"Can you raise your arms above your head?" the nurse asked.
"Hah?"
"Not hah. It's pardon. Honestly." Snape scolded him. Rat sent him another glare. Rat never glared this much before. Without speaking, Rat tried to raise his arms. His left arm was lifted a few inches with a lot of pain from his lap while his right arm was above his head but shaking. After a few seconds, both arms fell from pain.
"I'll take your shirt off." She said, moving forward.
"No!" Rat protested, slinking back on the bed using his back. Another wince came from his mouth. Rat would not be weak!
"Sir, this is your own good!"
"Listen to her, Rat!" Snape snapped.
"Don't call him that! It doesn't make a child any more reasonable." The nurse snapped at him.
"But that's my name!"
"What?"
"Oh for the love of Merlin." With a swish of Snape's wand, Rat's shirt disappeared. Shocked gasps came from the adults seeing the many scars, bruises and cuts on his body. Rat's right arm came across his chest to hide his exposed skin.
"What's this? And that?" The nurse sputtered, shocked. "This" was probably the magical black phoenix tattoo that roamed his body and "That" being the words, 'RAT' carved on the left side of his chest. Rat looked away from them.
"Would you like us to continue looking at you asleep?" the nurse's voice sounded like a soft whisper.
"No. I can take it. What are you going to do next?" Rat asked.
"No. I'll get some sleeping potion for you. Professor Snape, get the sleeping potion in the cabinet over there." She pointed to a cabinet hanging on a wall near a desk. Snape left for a few moments before returning with glass vial of purple water. This is a good potion. Good potion won't hurt you, Rat told himself inwardly. Snape handed the potion to the nurse who held it up to him. The nurse poured it into his mouth (it tasted like cockroaches) and Rat was sent into a dreamless sleep.
. . . .
The possible Harry Potter the famous Boy-Who-Lived, was in a dreamless sleep administered by the Dreamless Sleep Potion. Severus could feel that morning's contents about to make a reappearance from his mouth.
Severus' father, Tobias Snape, was a drunk – a very abusive drunk- who you could not reason with. Severus had his fair share of bruises and cuts in childhood but the child in front of him who could himself Rat of all things, had it much worse. The child's entire chest was covered in bruises, scars and disgusting purple infected cuts. The bruising on his ribs was a clear sign that they were broken. The cuts were small but were so frequent. There was even a black tribal phoenix tattoo resting on the left side of his stomach. Worse of all was the scarring. Above on the bruised skin where his heart laid were the words Rat etched across it. There was another scar all around his neck like someone had put a collar on him. That word was obviously not put there by himself. Around his neck was a chain-like scar collared around it like he'd been chained up like an animal. If you were to remove his pants, there would be even more scars and bruises.
"Merlin!" Severus gagged, covering his mouth with his hand.
"Do you know this child?" Poppy asked.
"I think it may be Harry Potter. I can't be sure. He has the same scar though."
"Harry Potter or not, these words. Who would put them there?" Poppy's hand went over the words on his chest. "Severus, please excuse yourself from the room. I need to work on the boy privately."
"I-''
"Poppy, Severus," Came McGonagall's voice, "What on Earth is going on?"
Severus turned to see the aged tartan witch with a stern expression on her face. Oh just great!
"Severus brought in a boy and he's in a bad way." Poppy told her.
"Oh my, whatever has happened to the boy!" she exclaimed.
"We do not know, Minerva." Snapped Severus. "Do keep quiet. He was like this when I found him. Well some of it might've been my fault."
"Do you know who this is?"
"Have you heard of the Diagon Alley Outlaw? The light-fingered thief Rat? Well apparently he's this child and he's also Harry Potter!" Severus watched as McGonagall's stern features give way to an absolutely shaken, flabbergasted face.
"H-Harry Potter?"
"He has the same scar. I'm not referring to the one on his chest but the one on his forehead."
"What's going on here?" Professor Dumbledore walked into the room. "I noticed someone apparating through our wards. Oh my- who is this young soul? It looks as though he's been through hell and back."
"That Dumbledore is a boy who could possibly be Harry Potter." Severus sneered at him. Great, just what he needed. The old man was overtaken by silence before answering, "Severus, Minerva, we'll discuss the boy in my office. Poppy please ensure he has the proper medical treatment."
. . . .
Severus leaned on a bookshelf next to Dumbledore's damn pet bird, Fawkes, glaring at it. He never liked the bird. Professor Minerva McGonagall was standing in the center of the room, her hands clasped and her stern face returned. Dumbledore was pacing behind his desk.
"Tell us Severus how did you encounter the boy?" Dumbledore looked at him; the twinkle in his eye gone replaced with much more serious dark grey.
"I was in Diagon Alley collecting a book I ordered at Flourish and Blotts. Out of nowhere, the brat Rat – Minerva don't look at me like that. We have no idea if the brat is indeed Harry Potter so for the time being we'll call him Rat, seeing as how he calls himself that – crashed into me. I dismissed Rat soon after." Severus told them with a nonchalant look on his face.
"And what then?" came McGonagall's impatient voice.
"Patience, I was at Flourish and Blotts, about to pay for my book when I discovered my money and one of my more personal possessions missing. The bookstore was kind enough to hint to took my things. Of course, I wanted my things back. I tracked the brat down to Knockturn Alley where we engaged in a most exhausting chase. The brat climbed a wall and began jumping rooftop to rooftop. I did what came naturally and threw a tripping jinx at the boy. Then he fell. Three stories down, to the cobblestone floor."
"You threw a child old enough to be your son off a building?" McGonagall said incredulously.
"It was the heat of the moment, I didn't mean for it to happen. It was only moments after that I found the scar on his head." Severus looked at the headmaster.
"I left Harry Potter with his relatives." Dumbledore said.
"And where are they now?"
"When Harry was about five, the home of his last remaining relatives was…burnt to the ground by unknown causes.' Unknown causes sounds a lot like accidental magic, thought Severus. 'Harry was presumed dead because no-one ever found his body. Even though we used numerous tracking spells and charms, we have never found the boy."
"So the chance of the boy being Harry Potter is even higher?" McGonagall remained poised as always.
"Yes…"
"Headmaster," Poppy walked in. The nurse who very rarely walks outside of the hospital wing. "I've given the boys numerous potions and charms as well as re-broke some of his bones. The boy has sustained several broken bones, bruises and infected cuts which will be taken care of."
"Please give Mr. Rat a Cessisti Potion, Poppy." He told the matron. Poppy nodded leaving the room.
"What will we do with the boy if he's not Harry Potter?" McGonagall asked him.
"Oh I'm sure the boy's Harry Potter; I just need Poppy to give the boy the potion to make sure." He smiled, looking to Severus.
"What is it Dumbledore?" Severus drawled out.
"All will be revealed in time." Dumbledore turned, looking out the window, a mysterious smile on his face.