Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or settings in this story.

A/N: Review please. I love reviews. They make my day. Also, sorry for the short chapter, I'll probably have a better one for you next week. Probably. Hopefully.

Chapter 22

Severus stared down at the boy sitting on the hospital bed, finger twined nervously in his shirt. It was hard to reconcile the cocky image he had held of Potter with this timid Harry that sat before him.

When the boy had come out earlier this morning and he had been so polite, it had really hit home that Severus really knew nothing about Harry Potter.

So, for Lily, he resolved to change that.

"What's your favorite color?" Severus suddenly blurted. Harry looked quickly up at him, his face shocked.

"You want to know what my favorite color is?" Harry raised an eyebrow, looking exactly like his mother for a brief moment that made Severus' heart ache.

"Would you rather I let you sit and worry yourself into another panic attack?" Severus asked raising an eyebrow in return. Harry stared at him for a moment and then sighed.

"It's blue," Harry admitted.

"Not very Gryffindor of you," Severus noticed. Harry fidgeted.

"It was the color of the one crayon I had," Harry explained. "I used it to write Harry's room on my door and it was sometimes the only thing that reminded me my name wasn't boy. After that, blue kind of became my color hope."

Severus laid a hand on Harry's shoulder. He knew there was nothing he could say that would erase the pain of the past, but he also knew that just being there would help.

"What's yours?" Harry asked suddenly. Severus bit his lip and considered lying, but the boy had been honest with him, so he supposed he owed him the same courtesy.

"Green," He said shortly.

"Because of Slytherin?" Harry asked curiously.

"Because of your mother," Severus admitted.

"Oh," Harry said, falling silent. Severus looked at him, wondering what exactly was going through the boy's mind. Had he somehow offended him? It was true that Severus hated his father, but that wasn't true for the boy. He supposed that he wouldn't have wanted to hear that someone else had been in love with his mother other than his father.

Well, actually, it would have been the best thing for Severus to learn, but if he had loved his father, he wouldn't have wanted that.

Suddenly Madame Pomfrey stepped out of her office and Harry straightened, sending a look at Severus. Severus gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze. He knew that this was probably the hardest thing of admitting to abuse. Not the initial telling, the one that was usually was born from panic, but the second one, where you knew that every word was being listened to. The one where you had to go into better detail to make sure that you told enough so that you didn't have to go back.

But at least Harry had him. Severus knew it wasn't much, but at least it was something.

Severus stormed up to the gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office and snarled the password. Harry's story, fully spilled to Madame Pomfrey, echoed through his mind as he climbed the stairs and opened the door without knocking.

Minerva and Dumbledore looked up from their conversation at the furious Potion's Master.

"Severus, my boy," Dumbledore greeted him.

"Don't my boy me," Severus snarled. Dumbledore's face changed, he was pleased to note.

"Minerva, why don't you leave and we can continue our conversation at a later time?" Dumbledore suggested. Severus chuckled harshly.

"No Minerva, stay," Severus said. "You should hear this too."

"Hear what?" Minerva asked nervously.

"The Boy Who Lived, who Albus assured us was safe and healthy and well cared for, all the times you asked to go and check on him and ensure that he was safe, was abused," Severus said, spewing. The image of Harry's sad, downtrodden face, fueled his fire. "His aunt and uncle locked him in a cupboard for the first ten years of his life Albus. His uncle hit him every single day, beat him with a belt whenever he did accidental magic. What about that says safe and healthy to you, Albus? What?"

"The…the wards," Dumbledore stuttered.

"Were designed to keep him safe from the outside," Minerva said. Severus was pleased to note that she sounded just as angry as he was. "You told me you checked on him, Albus. You told me that he was safe!" She shrieked.

Severus backed away, noticing the warning signs of an unstable woman when he saw one. He had planned to give Albus a good talking to, to snarl at him until he was truly afraid, but he realized that he had just done the best thing he could have done, because whatever Minerva did, it would be far worse than he could even imagine.

So he turned around and walked through the door, starting back to Harry. The boy was probably still a mess from telling all of his secrets and Severus knew that the best thing he could do was to go back and talk with him, to give him a familiar face. Perhaps he would invite him back to his personal chambers and have dinner with him. It was better than Harry having to go and face the masses in the Dining Hall in the shaky emotional state he was in.

Huh. It was a strange and entirely new concept, that Severus would be good for Harry Potter.