Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Thanks to the reviewers!
'Harry!'
Blood splashed Harry's face.
The girl clung to his chest, bleeding freely. Pale and scared, her voice was shaky. "Please save us, Harry."
He hadn't noticed the others.
Hundreds of people were huddled around him, injured and begging for salvation.
They were all depending on him.
The girl looked desperate now, eyes panicked "You're the hero, Harry. We need you."
Blood.
Raining down on his face, entrapping him.
The pleas were growing louder.
"HELP!"
"HELP!"
"Help!"
"He- ROOM SERVICE!"
Harry was awoken from his nightmare by the knocking at the door, signaling the maid."Come back later!" Harry called to the maid.
"They are busy, Mr. Potter. I doubt they can come clean on your every whim." A voice sounded from across the room.
Harry was thrown into another nightmare when he looked up.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?!" Harry screeched to the intruder.
The intruder scowled at the boy's noisemaking. It wasn't like he was there to murder him, for god's sake!
Harry then realized the fact that he was only in his boxers, and that they were a little too big on him, and that they were sliding off slightly- remembering who was with him, Harry pulled the covers up to his chin.
"Get out, damn you!" Harry shouted, slightly scared and extremely angry.
The man scowled. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for cursing at a professor."
"SNAPE, DAMMIT! GET OUT!" Harry was fuming now, glaring angrily in the bastard's eyes. Why was the greasy bat watching him sleep?! Harry shuddered at the thought of Snape thinking of doing pedophilic things to him…
Snape, like he somehow knew what train of thought Harry was on, replied with a scowl. "The headmaster sent me to baby-sit you for the remainder of the holiday." Sending a fierce glare to Harry, he continued. "You snore terribly, by the way. Drool, too."
Harry look affronted by that, by was secretly reassured that Snape wasn't divesting in perverted fantasies about him.
Harry sighed. "I don't need a babysitter. Go away."
Snorting, Snape retorted. "Of course you don't! No matter about the murderer on the loose, the Great Harry Potter can defeat him in minutes!"
Harry would be righteously angry about this if he wasn't so damn confused. "There's a murderer on the loose?"
Stare.
Blink.
"Are you living in a cave, Potter?"
"Oh, shut it, Snape. Just freaking tell me."
"Thirty points from Gryffindor." Harry was about to protest that he couldn't take points, when Snape continued. "Recently a mass murderer named Black-" Snape had said the name with more venom then when he said 'Potter', "has escaped from Azkaban. He was a great supporter of The Dark Lord, and ,reasonably so, wants to kill you." Snape explained, with a calm air around him, which was usually not expected when someone told you a murderer was after you. Of course, this was Snape.
Harry grimaced. Great. A lunatic was after him. Just freaking great.
Glaring at Snape, Harry acidly bit out, "Get out, Snape. I don't care if you stay in The Leaky Cauldron, but you're not going to be hanging around my room."
Affronted, Snape retorted. "Potter, the world does not revolve around you. If you thought I intended to stay in your room any longer than necessary, you would be incorrect. I was just here to explain the situation." At that statement, Snape left the room, slamming the door behind him.
Whoop-Dee-Do. A mass killer was after him, he was possibly dying from an unknown ailment, and Snape was here to watch him! Harry, getting up from bed, threw on a random shirt and jeans, and went over to the vanity, to inspect himself.
Harry's throat had become sore over the night, and had been unbelievably annoying. Now, it seemed worse when Harry saw that it somehow left a ring of bruises around his neck. I wonder if Snape thought someone tried to strangle me…
Rummaging in his trunk, Harry reopened the Bruise Removal Paste and applied it to the new bruises. Content when the bruises faded into nothing, Harry examined himself.
He looked sick, with an unhealthy pale white complexion and eyes dull green. Harry knew that he couldn't fool Snape into believing he was totally fine, but he thought he might be able to make him believe it was nothing serious and not send him to Pomfrey.
Remembering that he hadn't owled his friends yet, Harry grabbed a quill and a sheet of paper.
Dear Hermione,
I'm sorry that I haven't written often, but guess where I am! Diagon Alley! It's totally great not having to hang around the Dursleys. But one downside: Snape. Since Black is one the loose, Dumbledore thinks its best if someone watches me. I think it's ridiculous! It's not like Black's going to grab me in the middle of a crowd of people!
Oh, yeah. Black's after me. Apparently he was chums with Voldemort, and wants revenge or something. But don't worry! There's no way he can get me here, 'Moine. So how's your summer been so far? I bet you've already done your summer homework, right? Write back soon!
-Harry
Harry pulled out another sheet for Ron.
Ron-
Egypt, Wow! I'm kinda taking a vacation from the Dursleys, too, but it's not as great as Egypt! I'm in Diagon Alley! It's awesome, but Dumbledore sent Snape to watch me. Yuck, right? It's terrible, really. When I woke up this morning, he was sitting in my room, watching me sleep, Ron! I wonder if I change inns he'll notice…
Oh, yeah. Thanks for the Birthday gift, It was amazing! It was quite a shock when I opened it! Write back soon,
-Harry
Giving Hedwig the letters, Harry rubbed his throat warily, and gasped in shock when a bruise formed a few seconds later. Pain wracking his small frame, Harry collapsed on the bed.
Snape knew something was wrong with the boy when Potter left his room that evening. The way he walked was stiff and a sign of obvious discomfort and pain. Severus could care less, really, and was content to sit in the corner, sipping Firewhiskey.
A motherly looking waitress had approached Potter, and was fussing around the boy, messing up the boy's unkempt hair, and cooing at Potter's slight pout.
Snorting, Severus sipped the drink. Did everyone have to spoil the boy? Actually, Severus thought, If my theory is right, he's not spoiled at all.
Snape had seen many abused children throughout his years of teaching, and Harry's behavior was similar to many of them. Bruises littering the body, not trusting his elders, and flinching at flesh contact were all signs of abuse that the boy exhibited.
Severus had tried to deny it, at first, telling himself that Potter was an arrogant carbon-copy of his father, but when Snape had met the boy's emerald eyes that morning, he felt as if Lily was sending him a message.
Don't ignore my boy, Severus. Please protect him.
When Severus had saw the green eyes of Lily's boy, the oath he made to her was brought to the front of his mind. It was his job to protect the brat, and damn it, he would! If that meant he had to accept that Potter hadn't lived a pampered and spoiled childhood, filled with opulent presents and excessive love, he would just have to acknowledge that.
The boy wasn't eating much, Snape thought frowning. Aren't teenagers supposed to eat enough for three? If Potter had eating problems as well, Severus was going to strangle him. Speaking of strangle…
Snape peered over at the boy, trying to see if the bruises were gone yet. Severus had no idea how the boy could of gotten the bruises on his neck, since it probably was improbable that one of the servers had tried to choke the boy to death. Not that I would blame them…
Ah. The bruises were gone.
He sighed at the thought of Bruise Removal Paste. The boy was stupid, using it all the time. Potter probably didn't even know how it worked. The paste didn't get rid of bruises, it just hid them underneath the skin, resulting in them healing slower. Well, Potter was just have to figure it out on his own. Severus wasn't going to tell the brat!
Potter had finished pushing around the food on his plate, and instead of eating it, had called the waitress to clean it up. Then the idiotic brat limped upstairs, and disappeared out of view.
The following week was complete hell for Harry. Bruises kept forming around his neck when he touched it, and his throat was always sore. It was getting harder to breath, since his lungs almost constantly burned, and his arms were stiff and sore.
Even worse, Snape had followed him around like a guard dog every time he left the Leaky Cauldron. Harry was shocked that Snape hadn't figured out that he was ill yet, but Snape probably wouldn't care if Harry was lying dead on the street, so it wasn't really that much of a surprise that he didn't show any concern that Harry was sick.
He should of known that Snape would find out eventually.
Harry couldn't bother to get up from bed. His whole body was melting and freezing at once. If he pulled up his blankets, he was too hot, and when they were down, he was too cold. He couldn't stop sweating, and he had a terrible cough.
He just wanted to die. This was absolutely terrible. He couldn't even find peace in sleep, since he was plagued with terrible nightmares.
Harry groaned in pain as another wave of heat washed over his lungs, bringing tears to his eyes. Rolling on his side, Harry sneaked a glance at the clock. It was almost noon, and if he didn't make an appearance downstairs, Snape would 'check up' on him. Well, to hell with that! He could go to Hogwarts, for all he cared! He was NOT going to get up.
Sweat seemed to be pouring out of him, and Harry was dizzy from the heat. Letting out another strangled cry, Harry passed out.
All his friends lay dead before his feet.
He couldn't save them.
Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Neville, Ginny, Fred, George.
All dead. It was all his fault.
The blood spread across the floor, as Harry stood there. It was his job to save them. He had failed.
Shaking, Harry started to cry. It. Was. His. Fault. He shouldn't be allowed to live! Harry rose his hands to his face.
Blood. Dripping from his fingers.
Harry let out a scream, blood dripping out of the corners of his mouth.
Blood.
Blood.
The red liquid mocked him. Was it he who killed them? How else had their blood ended up on his hands?
"Potter." The sky pulsed with the ghostly voice.
"Potter!"
"POTTER!"
And Harry awoke.
Snape was above him, a look of worry on his face?
"Potter, do you feel alright?" The voice was shaky, Harry observed. He must of looked like hell if Snape was unnerved.
"Perfectly-" Harry gurgled against blood. Why was there blood in his mouth? Harry gingerly sat up and spat the blood on the floor. "-fine, Professor."
Harry was really hot. Not caring that Snape was there, he threw the covers off to cool off. "Go 'way." Harry mumbled. He wanted to take a really cold bath, and he was not undressing in front of Snape!
"You just spat up blood, Potter! You're definitely not 'perfectly fine'!" Snape scowled at the foolish brat. "You're coming to Hogwarts."
Harry coughed in protest. "I'm-"
More blood spurted out of his mouth.
"Don't finish that sentence, Potter. I'm not dense. You are not 'fine'." Snape found himself picking up the boy, and ignoring the coughs of protest, left the room and apparated to the outskirts of Hogwarts.