Chapter 4
Snape froze, all the color draining from his face as he looked Potter up and down. He felt like he was going to vomit. His cloak was gone and he was in too big clothes that were pulled and ripped in places, dirt clinging to them. Scratches and hand-shaped bruises were forming on his arms and around his throat.
His usual pale skin was gray and clammy and he was staring into space. His eyes were bloodshot and his lips blue.
Snape cautiously put a hand to the shivering boy's face. He was burning up. Snape cursed under his breath. What on Earth had the boy gotten into?
"Potter, come with me." Snape demanded.
When the boy did not move, Snape reached out and grabbed his shoulder to lead him away. The boy flinched back violently, slamming into the wall like he had just awoken from some kind of trance.
He started wailing, curling into a ball on the floor, muttering something between sobs. Snape stood shocked. He had no idea how to handle this situation. Dread pooled in his stomach. This wasn't normal troublemaking. Someone or something had attacked the boy.
Snape knelt down in front of him, trying to calm the boy down. Snape cupped the boy's face with his hands despite his squirming and looked into the fearful green eyes. Tears streamed down his pale cheeks.
"Harry," Severus whispered, "Breathe, boy. Breathe."
"Don't…please. Please don't. I don't want to. Don't touch me," Harry sobbed, looking at Snape but not really seeing him.
Snape let go, not wanting to panic the boy further. He sighed. He needed to get him to the hospital wing. Poppy would know what to do.
Snape scooped the boy into his arms, sending him into another round of hysterics. "I'm sorry Harry. It's for your own good. I can't let you freeze down here all night."
Upon arrival at the infirmary, Poppy noticed the crying boy immediately and helped Severus set him down on a bed. "What happened Severus?"
He shook his head, "I don't know. He missed my detention and then I found him wandering the dungeon halls in this state. He won't talk."
She nodded and grabbed a calming potion from her closet. Snape held the boy down while Poppy spilled it into his mouth. After a few moments, he stopped squirming and finally settled down.
He was back into an almost trance-like state. Snape picked up the boys head and worriedly examined him. The dilated pupils and blue lips suggested he had been drugged. If there was a security breach in the castle, he'd have to alert Dumbledore. But right now, that wasn't his priority.
He had no idea what was wrong with the boy but he was terrified.
"Where on Earth did he get these clothes, Severus?" Poppy demanded, "They're barely cloth and thread."
He shook his head, he had no idea. He was roughhousing probably and ruined them. Taking for granted everything he was given. But even as he thought it, he suddenly thought maybe he didn't know the whole picture.
Severus opened the supply closet and began taking out potions to feed the boy. Poppy kept the boy still has he poured them in his mouth.
Snape skimmed through a book trying to find out what poison Potter was slipped. He looked up to Poppy with wide eyes when he found it. "Poppy. It's a date rape drug. That can't be right can it? That's…"
He thought back to Harry's behavior, freaking out at his touch, begging him to not touch him. Snape's heart sunk into his stomach. No. No way. It couldn't be. He was just a boy.
Snape clears his throat and continues softly, "It makes the victim delirious and paralyzed temporarily. He'll need to throw up to get it out of his system."
Poppy nodded and pulled another potion out. Together they guided the boy into the bathroom before feeding him the potion.
Snape spent the next half hour rubbing the boy's back while he retched into the toilet. He was shaky and feverish when he stopped. He collapsed as soon as he stood up and Snape caught him, carrying the too-light boy back into a bed.
Snape got a cool towel from the bathroom and placed it on the boy's forehead to break his fever. Now that the drug was out of his system, he'd recover in a few days time. Physically at least.
"Help me change the boy's clothes so we can tend to the scratches Severus," Poppy whispered.
Snape nodded and stood. They stripped the boy to his boxers and they both stood staring. HIs torso was covered in bruises.
"Whoever did this sure did a number on him," Snape said.
Poppy looked up at him, tears in her eyes and she sighed, "Severus…these bruises are all in different stages of healing. H-has Harry ever showed signs of abuse coming from his summer residence?"
Snape stilled, shaking his head slowly. Not that he ever cared to really look. He was awful for carrying opinions about a child based on his father's behavior. The father that Harry had never really even met. How could he?
Snape felt awful. Looking at the small boy, he saw that he really was just that…a boy. It wasn't fair he shoved his hatred of James Potter onto the young child in front of him. He was Severus Snape, an adult. And more than that he was the head of Slytherin where he saw more cases of abuse than any other house. He should've seen the signs.
How Potter was thin at the beginning of the year, shy for the first few weeks, compliant and polite. Scared.
How could he have been so wrong?
