AUTHOR'S NOTES: The start of this chapter offers a look at what happened to Harry when he was nine.

Next chapter: Sirius does something stupid and Snape chooses between Dumbledore and Lily.

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CHAPTER 9

4 Years Ago

"There's really nothing you can do at this point," Dr. Edward Laurence said, looking at Petunia and Vernon Dursley. "The infection has completely destroyed your daughter's hearing. We're keeping her overnight and giving her a round of IV antibiotics. You can take her home in the morning." Pulling a card out of the pocket of his lab coat he handed it to Petunia. "This is the name of a friend of mine. She works with hearing-impaired kids." Seeing Petunia hesitantly take the card, Laurence added, "Listen… cases like this, you need to start Camille on learning sign language and lip-reading right away. It will help so she doesn't feel cut off from the world and so she can keep up with school. Understand?"

Petunia gave a quick nod and Vernon simply grunted.

--

When the Dursleys got home, Harry cowered in the small cupboard under the stairs he shared with his cousin Camille. The sound of the front door closing had that special slam that always seemed to mean that Vernon was about to hit him. Sure enough the door to the cupboard banged open and Vernon's angry face appeared. "Get. Out. Here. Potter."

Harry started to get up but then Vernon grabbed him by the neck and pulled him out, slamming Harry against the wall. "I… didn't… do..." Harry gasped out. Black spots swam before his eyes and it was getting hard to breathe. Something in his throat seemed to be collapsing and still Vernon's hold did not break.

Harry tried to get air but none came. He was getting light headed and it was getting darker.

Finally, Harry fell to the floor and he could just barely taste cool, sweet air. His head was swimming and he barely registered being picked up and carried away.

--

Dr. Laurence was temped to ask what had happened to the boy Petunia Dursley was carrying in but had a feeling all he'd get were lies. Once in one of the trauma rooms, Laurence checked the boy's neck. "Damn…" he muttered.

"What?" Petunia asked, looking at the doctor.

"Mrs. Dursley, please go wait in the waiting room," Laurence said, shooing her out and calling a nurse over. Once the nurse was in the room, Laurence grabbed what he needed to do an intubation. But even with as small a tube as he dared to try, he couldn't get the tube to go past the swelling. "Call Dr. Terzi!" Laurence shouted. "Hurry!"

Within moments, Harry was starting to gasp loudly and Laurence was starting to worry that the boy would die before they could get him breathing again.

--

Sitting in the waiting area, Petunia was scared. Not for her nephew but that any moment the police would come barging in and arrest her for what had happened to Harry.

It seemed like hours before a woman doctor came out of the trauma room.

Petunia tried to see if she could catch a glimpse of her nephew but no such luck. "How's Harry?" Petunia asked, trying to sound concerned.

"Well, we've got him breathing again," Terzi said, calmly. Looking Petunia in the eye she said, "I've got a theory on what happened to Harry. There was a pronounced handprint on his neck from a very strong adult male. You want to tell me I was mistaken?"

"We… my husband and I came home and found this man dragging Harry out of the house," Petunia lied. "I… I don't know exactly what happened. The man ran off and I brought Harry here."

Terzi didn't reply for a moment but her eyes never left Petunia's. "Okay…" she said, finally. "In that case I'll contact the police and you can give them a report and a discription of Harry's attacker." Turning to go back to the trauma room to check on Harry, she said over her shoulder. "I'll send someone down when you can see him."

--

Waking up in the hospital, Harry vaguely remembered what had happened.

"Harry?" A blurry face appeared and after a moment, the figure handed Harry his glasses. Once Harry had his glasses on, he saw that a woman in a doctor's coat was smiling kindly at him. "I'm Dr. Terzi. How are you feeling, Harry?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply 'okay' but no sound came out and there seemed to be something coming out of his neck… a tube of some kind. 'What's wrong with me?'

Dr. Terzi sat down on the edge of Harry's bed, still giving him a reassuring smile. "You had severe trauma to your throat, Harry. We tried to intubate—that's when we insert a tube down your throat and into your lungs to help you breathe—but there was too much swelling. We had to cut a hole in your neck and insert a tube directly into your trachea." Seeing Harry's wide-eyed, scared expression, she added, "It sounds scarier that it actually is. Once we remove the tube the incision will heal in about a week."

'How long…?'

"You'll be connected to the ventilator for at least a few days," Terzi replied. "But we'll leave the main tube in for an extra day or two to make sure your throat doesn't collapse." After giving Harry a minute to absorb the information, she went on. "Because of the damage to your vocal cords you won't be able to talk. Even after we remove the tube. Now… Dr. Laurence told me that your cousin, Camille, lost her hearing. Are the two of you in the same classes in your primary school?"

Harry nodded.

"Good. Then I'll talk with your teachers and inform them of the situation," Terzi replied. "We'll get you and your cousin working with an instructor so you can learn how to sign." Patting Harry's shoulder, she gave him another warm smile. "This is big, Harry. And it'll be hard for you sometimes. But just hang in there, okay?"

Present Day

"I just wish I knew why Harry didn't tell me about what happened when he was in the hospital," Lily said as she sat in Snape's chamber that night.

Snape glanced over at her as he poured tea and handed a cup to his friend. "He was afraid," Snape replied, simply. "He most likely believed that if you knew exactly what had happened you would show the Dursleys no mercy. I imagine he was also afraid that you would shun Camille because she is the daughter of your sister." Taking a sip of tea and setting his cup aside he added, "Was Harry wrong to fear these things?"

Lily thought for a moment. "About Vernon… yes. But… Before Voldemort, James and I talked about having another child. I don't mind taking care of Camille. I just…" Lily started crying. "I don't want to be a single parent!"

Snape carefully pulled Lily into an embrace and held her as she cried on his shoulder. "Black would gladly marry you… if only as doing his duty as godfather and honoring his friendship to James Potter."

"And you, Severus?" Lily asked, looking up at him. "Would you marry me?"

Snape could feel his desire for Lily growing. The need to have Lily all to himself… to wipe away all memories she had of James… But seeing her eyes… Harry's eyes… He couldn't do that. Not if he had any true affection for Lily. "If I married you… it would only be to help you raise Harry and Camille. You are my dearest friend… my only friend. My heart belonged to you from the moment we met." Looking deep into Lily's eyes, he said, "Anything you asked of me… I would do it without question."

"Just hold me," Lily whispered as she laid her head on Snape's shoulder. "Just hold me."

--

'I think they're going to get married,' Camille said as she and Harry sat by the common room fire that night.

'Who?' Harry asked, confused.

'Who do you think?' Camille replied, laughing. 'Snape and Aunt Lily.'

'That'd be kind of strange, don't you think?' Harry said.

'But your mum would be happy.'

'Look, it's not like I don't want Mum to be happy,' Harry replied, defensibly. 'It's just… I don't want Snape as my dad.'

'It's not like she's going to forget about Uncle James,' Camille said, calmly. 'But don't you think it would be nice if she had someone so she didn't feel so lonely?' Harry shrugged and got up to head for his dormitory. "Harry!" Camille said, out loud. When Harry turned back to her she said, 'It's not all about you, you know.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Harry said, irritably.

'It means that you shouldn't just think about what you're going through,' Camille replied, angrily.

'YOU didn't have a hole cut in your throat! YOU weren't hooked to a machine so you could breathe!' Harry signed, angrily. 'Mum was alive! She could have prevented it! Then I'd still be able to talk and you'd be able to hear!'

'It's not Aunt Lily's fault,' Camille said, quickly. 'It was Dad who—'

'She didn't even TRY to find me!' Harry signed, tears starting to well up in his eyes. 'She didn't care about me! Sitting in that cage as 'Hedwig the Owl' and never ONCE did she think to—" Crying openly now, Harry ran upstairs despite Camille calling his name.

--

Sitting on her bed up in the 3rd year dormitory, Camille tried to think. All these years and never once had she and Harry fought. It was unsettling to say the least. Feeling someone touch her arm, Camille looked up to see Hermione sit down next to her on the bed. 'You and Harry have a fight?' Hermione asked.

Camille nodded, feeling tears come to her eyes. 'We've never fought before. It's… I don't like it. For almost 8 years now we've depended on each other.'

'What was the fight about?' Hermione asked, gently.

'I think Aunt Lily's going to marry Snape,' Camille said, simply. 'Harry wasn't happy… I told him he should remember it's not just about how he feels… The next thing I know… we're fighting.'

'You two have never fought before?' Hermione asked, amazed.

'We never had any friends in primary school. All we had was each other. I was always Harry's best friend and he was mine,' Camille explained. 'It always seemed stupid to fight when we could band together against a greater enemy.'

--

Things were still tense between Harry and Camille the next day at breakfast. Even those who didn't know sign language could tell that the conversation was much more towards an argument rather than calm conversation.

Up at the staff table, Snape watched with interest as Harry and Camille argued silently. From what he could gather, the argument seemed to revolve around the simple fact that Harry was angry that Lily hadn't intervened sooner.

"I believe this is the first time I have seen those two fighting since they have started at Hogwarts," McGonagall observed. Glancing at Snape, she asked, "Don't suppose you could tell us what started all this?"

"In short?" Snape replied, getting up from his seat. "Lily." Walking over to the Gryffindor table, Snape said, irritably, "Potter! Dursley! My office, now."

Camille got up, frowning at the potions professor and Harry just looked perplexed, especially when he noticed Professor Lupin joining them.

In the dungeons, Harry waited until Snape had unlocked the door of his office and ushered everyone inside before asking, 'What's going on, sir?'

"That is precisely what I would like to know," Snape replied, facing Harry and Camille. "Not once have I ever seen the two of you argue. So the fact that you are fighting seems to suggest a problem. I would hate to have to separate the two of you but if it comes to that…"

'I don't want you marrying Mum,' Harry signed, his face stony.

Whatever Snape was expecting as a response, that was the farthest from it. "I beg your pardon?"

'I don't want you marrying Mum,' Harry repeated.

Snape blinked in confusion. "And how did you arrive at the notion that I planned to wed Lily?" he asked.

'The… the two of you always seem so happy when you're together,' Camille said, not meeting Snape's gaze. 'And… if you did marry Aunt Lily… it would be nice to have someone who cared about us.'

Snape tried to think and that was hard to do especially when Lupin asked, "You're planning to ask Lily to marry you?"

"No, I…" Snape tried not to lose his patience but he was also trying not to laugh. "Lily is my dearest friend. I care about her and I love her deeply." Looking at Harry and Camille, Snape said, honestly, "I have no intention of proposing to Lily." Glancing at Lupin he added, "Which is not to say that I wouldn't if Lily told me that's what she wanted."

"If Lily wanted to remarry," Lupin said, looking at Snape with a keen eye. "—you would?"

"If that was what she wanted, yes," Snape replied.