Warning, mentions of past abuse.

The Quidditch pitch was filled with students who were either really nervous, really excited or showing no particular emotion. Harry was one of the ones showing no emotion because he didn't want to appear vulnerable. One thing he learned from his cousin was that bullies targeted those who looked like easy targets and Harry was not going to be an easy target here.

Several of the Slytherin first-years seemed quite pleased with Harry; Harry's sixty points had brought Slytherin to a strong start compared to the other houses. But this meant the looked Harry was getting from the other houses, especially James Potter, were a lot less friendly. Harry was half tempted to tell James exactly who he was when he caught the twelve-year-old glaring at him in the Great Hall but decided against it because it would bring on unwanted attention.

"I can't wait to be done with this class! I am not a flying child! I always hated it when I was younger and I'm afraid my feelings towards flying have not changed," Alex muttered, frowning at the broom in front of him. Harry wasn't sure whether the boy wanted to kick the broom or burn it but he could tell that his intentions with the broom were violent.

Harry shrugged. He was excited with the idea of flying; it was the falling part that made Harry nervous. Actually, the falling part was fine, it was the part where he hit the ground and landed himself in the Hospital Wing that was bringing nervous knots to his stomach. Harry decided against telling Alex this because he was sure the kid would run away if he did.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Harry said, leaving out how lucky he thought Alex was to at least have some experience. Alex was probably only going to have to stay for the one class while Harry would be stuck taking this class for the whole term. If you could prove you know what you're doing within the first class, you're excused from the class for the duration of the year. Harry knew this was because some of the students were taught to fly before they could even walk.

If you could prove you know what you're doing within the first class, you're excused from the class for the duration of the year. Harry knew this was because some of the students were taught to fly before they could even walk.

"Alright, I want you to hold your hands over your broom and say 'UP'," Madam Hooch said as she made her way towards the students who were simply staring at her with a strange expression but didn't move. Harry was surprised she didn't take attendance or give a speech about safety or what the class would consist of.

"I'm meant today!" Madam Hooch snapped, snapping Harry's attention back to reality. Harry made his way to a broom, nearly tripping over a few other students.

"Up!"

Harry wasn't expecting his broom to jump into his hand the first try and wasn't prepared for the impact that came when it crashed into his hand. Harry was one of only five students to successfully get his broom up. Harry looked around to see brooms rolling on the ground and brooms that simply didn't move at all. Alex's broom only rose high enough to smack him in the nose before falling back to the ground.

"Every single time," Harry heard Alex growl as he shot the broom a glare that could bring small children to tears. Harry fought the urge to laugh but he wasn't able to hide the smirk fast enough to stop himself from earning a glare from Alex.

After the whole class finally got their brooms in their hands, Madam Hooch demonstrated how to mount the brooms and how to kick off from the ground. Harry listened very carefully, not wanting to make a fool out of himself before he could make it five feet off the ground. Harry almost wished he could take notes without looking like a major nerd.

"Alright, now mount your brooms and kick off. I want you to hover in place for a few seconds," Madam Hooch instructed.

Harry mounted his broom and felt an overwhelming sense of pride when his feet left the ground and he hovered in place two feet above the ground. Harry felt an excited rush in his belly as he wiggled his toes over the grass. The feeling of being this high felt amazing and Harry couldn't wait until he could go higher.

"Good job, now we are going to warm up by doing a lap around the pitch at thirty feet up," Madam Hooch instructed as she started to go higher. "Follow my motions and keep both hands on your brooms at all times."

As Harry followed Madam Hooch into the air, his feeling of excitement and joy overwhelmed him. He couldn't believe how right it felt to be up in the air but this was almost the best feeling Harry had ever felt in his life. As they made their way around the pitch, they picked up speed and the feeling of the wind in Harry's hair was almost addicting. The fear Harry felt before he got on the broom had dissolved and left Harry wondering exactly why he had been nervous at all.

"We are going to make our way up to fifty feet and start working on some drills. Pace yourselves and slowly start to climb up to fifty feet. We'll do one lap at that height so you can become more comfortable with being up that high," Madam Hooch said. "And if anyone experiences dizziness, nausea or double vision, please land immediately. I will be watching from bellow."

Harry felt the rush as he got higher and the thrill of being in the air and it took everything he had not to yell for joy as they began moving around the pitch. Harry was so preoccupied flying that he didn't notice the phial of potion slipping out of his pants pocket until he saw it falling. Instinct kicked in immediately and Harry dove towards the ground towards his phial of potion. He'd spent too much time brewing it to lose it now.

As Harry dove towards the ground, he found himself moving faster and faster and finally within a few feet of the ground, Harry snatched the phial and picked up the nose of the broom just in time to prevent himself from crashing hard into the grass. Harry felt his heart racing with excitement and adrenaline as he made his way up towards the class.

"Mr Potter!" Harry had barely made it up ten feet before a pale-faced, wide-eyed Professor Slughorn came running onto the pitch. The older man looked like he still couldn't believe what he had just seen and his expression was unreadable. "You will follow me, Mr Potter."

Harry looked up at his awe-struck classmates before he landed his broom and followed Professor Slughorn towards the castle. Professor Slughorn would occasionally turn around and give Harry a look of shock and astonishment before he picked up the pace and continue walking towards the Great Hall. When they walked into the Great Hall and walked towards the Slytherin table, Harry found himself confused. There was a group of fifth-years playing a game Harry didn't recognise and a few other students were watching closely to see who was going to win.

"Pierce! Come with me!" Slughorn called, before turning and walking out of the Great Hall. Harry and a boy called Michael Pierce followed Slughorn out of the Great Hall and into a classroom. Michael and Harry struggled to keep up and once they reached the classroom, they were both winded and out of breath.

Harry knew why he was there but he was unable to figure out why the older student was there. What did he have to do with Harry's punishment? Clearly, Michael was thinking the same thing because he shot Slughorn an impatient but questioning look.

"Michael!" Slughorn cried, his face breaking into a wide smile as he turned to face the confused older boy. "I have found you a seeker!"

Harry's eyes went wide when he heard Slughorn's words. He knew what a seeker was but he also knew that first-years weren't allowed to be on the team.

"I will speak to Dumbledore and we'll get that rule bent! Don't you worry about it because I just watched this boy pull out of a fifty-foot nose dive two feet before hitting the ground and he caught a phial of potion at the same time! Can you think of a better seeker?"

Michael turned to face Harry with wide eyes before extending his hand towards Harry.

"Welcome to the Slytherin Quidditch team," Michael said, shaking Harry's hand. Harry stood there unable to believe what was happening, even as he agreed to meet Michael in the Quidditch pitch on Saturday for a breakdown of the game and how he wanted Harry to keep quiet about his place on the team so they could catch the other teams off guard.

When Harry found Severus in the common room, he gave Harry a questioning glance.

"Well, Alex told me what happened in class, what did Slughorn want?" Severus asked. Harry pulled Severus into a quiet corner of the room before giving him a look that told him to be quiet.

"He put me on the quidditch team. I'm the new Slytherin seeker," Harry whispered and watched as Severus' eyes went wide with shock. "But Slughorn wants to keep it quiet for now. The other teams will think we don't have a seeker until the morning of the first game and then when they see me..." Harry smiled when he thought about how the other team would react.

"I've never heard of a first-year playing Quidditch on the school team! This is amazing. To be put on the team before try-outs! The other team won't know what hit them!" Severus said, picturing the look on the Gryffindors face when they lose to a first-year seeker.

"Yeah, Slughorns going to talk to Dumbledore tonight and their not even going to tell the other staff just yet. It'll be a surprise for everyone," Harry explained. "Hey, isn't the first game against Gryffindor?"

"Yeah, I hear James is trying out for seeker this year," Severus said, an evil glint came over his eyes and soon Harry's face mimicked it perfectly.

"I'm sure he'll love losing to me," Harry said laughing.

"He'll love it more because of how hard he tried to get on the team last year and you get on without even trying," Severus said laughing. Harry could only imagine the fit James was going to throw when he saw Harry playing for Slytherin during his first-year.

That evening at supper, James was smirking at Harry, clearly thinking Harry had gotten in trouble for the stunt pulled in flying lessons. The whole school had been talking about the stunt and how Slughorn had dragged Harry off the pitch. There were rumours spreading about the punishments Harry had received but Harry knew not one of them was remotely close to the truth.

James whispered something to his friends and pointed to Harry with a loud snort. Sirius laughed along with him but not as loud, Peter made a chattering noise that resembled laughing and Remus just made a face and gave a half-hearted laugh at whatever James had said.

"Are you going to try out for the team?" Harry asked Severus who simply shook his head and laughed.

"No, I don't need to give James any more reason to tease and taunt me when I show the whole school my horrendous Quidditch abilities," Severus said, chuckling weakly to himself. Clearly unhappy that he wasn't good enough at quidditch to be able to rub that in James' face. Harry could tell immediately.

"Quidditch is only good while you're a student. You might not be good at Quidditch but you will grow up to be the youngest Potion's Master in history! I read it in Hogwarts a History before I came here. And James will have his little quidditch trophies. So, who's looking better now?" Harry said, watching as Severus perked up and gave Harry a fierce look.

"You're right. But, you're well on your way to beating me to that," Severus said.

"Better me than James. Besides, I'm not that good," Harry said with a shrug. "I'm not all that smart; the Dursleys told me every chance they could."

"Trust me, Harry. When we were working on potions this summer, you showed promise and talent. I'm certain you get your brains from your mother," Severus said, glancing over at Lily, his cheeks flushing as he watched her talking to her friends. "These Dursleys sound like a bunch of clowns and if Petunia in the future is anything like she is now, then she's just jealous."

"Yeah, I can see why she'd be jealous. James is a prick but at least he doesn't look like a walrus, like Vernon and his fat son," Harry said, causing James to laugh. "Vernon looks like a walrus with a wig and his son is a pig! And they're stupid too."

What Harry didn't realise, was as he spoke about them, he squirmed uncomfortably and began rubbing his back or the pained look that had crossed his face. But Severus didn't miss it. He recognised that expression too well.

"Are you okay?" Severus asked. It was obvious Harry wasn't okay but it seemed polite to ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just don't understand how she grew up to hate magic so much," Harry said, frowning. But what Harry actually wanted to know was why she had hated him so much.

Severus was quiet for a few minutes, as though trying to find the right words to say. This was a question he had wanted to ask about his father and now, he finally figured out the right thing to say.

"Sometimes, jealousy can move you to some really dark places, Harry. That's why they call it the Green-Eyed Monster."

Later that night, Harry and Severus spent some time in the common room studying. Harry finally decided he was ready for bed at 9:30 and trudged upstairs to get ready for bed. Severus was about to go to bed when he spotted Harry's textbook still sitting on the couch; he knew Harry would be missing it and went upstairs to take the book to Harry. When he entered the first-year boys' dorm, he was horrified by what he saw.

Harry was sitting shirtless on the bed, putting on his pyjamas and almost all of the skin covering his back and chest was covered in scars and nearly healed bruises. Severus recognised the scars from being whipped and the bruises from various beatings. There were even a few hand and fist-shaped bruises.

When Harry spotted Severus standing there, he hastily threw on his shirt and looked at Severus like he was trying to come up with something to say other than the truth.

"Harry!" Severus gasped, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Severus, it's not what it looks like. I... fell!" Harry said, unable to believe someone had seen his scars and bruises. Nobody had ever seen them before and he wasn't sure what to say.

"Into a cage of vicious, rabid animals?" Severus asked knowing perfectly well that Harry had not 'fallen'. Severus recognised those bruises and scars because he used to get them all the time when he used to 'fall'.

"Umm..."

"Your relatives did this to you," Severus said, making it clear that he knew it was the truth.

"You have to understand, I deserved it," Harry said, looking at Severus with pleading eyes. "I made freaky things happen and I took food from Dudley's mouth and I..."

"I don't care what you did, Harry! Nothing justifies treatment like this! It's abuse and it's wrong. Do you think I deserve such treatment for making freaky things happen?" Severus said, giving Harry a stern look.

"Of course not! But I'm a..."

"Don't say it! You are not a freak! Do you hear me? You are not a freak!" Severus said, sitting beside Harry and looking at the welts that were still healing. Some of them were actually looked infected and Severus knew he'd have to get Harry to the Hospital Wing before the boy got sick.

"Harry, these need to be treated! They're infected. You could get really sick if you don't get these looked at," Severus said, as he looked at a particularly nasty welt just under Harry's shoulders.

"But they'll ask questions and I'll..."

"It will be fine. Madam Pomfrey knows where you came from; how else do you think we got nutrient potions for you?" Severus asked, knowing the potions had to be specifically made in order to work and Madam Pomfrey had to be told exactly where Harry had come from so she could know why she couldn't push an investigation like she was supposed to when it came to dispensing these potions.

Harry watched Severus carefully with fear in his eyes; Harry wasn't used to having someone worry about him and he wasn't sure how to react. Harry didn't want his other classmates to know about this.

"If you want, we can tell them you are getting your vaccination update because I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will want to take care of that while we're there anyway," Severus said in an encouraging tone, having figured out Harry's reason for hesitating.

After a few more seconds of Harry looking into Severus' eyes to find the boys motives, Harry finally sighed and agreed to get his scars looked at.