It has been three days since an injured Harriet arrived at Malfoy Manor. All the Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange, we worried about the Savior. When Narcissa and Severus told their Lord the extent of Harriet's injuries, he was surprised to see her breathing. The Dark Lord couldn't believe Dumbledore would let some disgusting muggle would treat her like a sex slave. They would all check on her every hour to make sure her vitals are okay.
In all the chaos, the Inner Circle would take turns in taking care of the crying Sirius. The only way he would calm down was when Tom Riddle had him in his arms. Today, Tom was watching over him in Harriet's room. The little boy was finally asleep after crying for his dinner and his mother. He sighed tiredly wondering how a teen could do take care of a child while dealing with school and someone out there to kill him. In the silence, there was a whimper. Harriet was thrashing in her sleep. "Harriet! Harriet wake up," The Dark Lord yelled.
Harriet gasped for air when he woke up. She was sweating unaware of her surroundings. "Wha- Voldemort! Where is my son!" She said backing away from the man. The teen kept yelling all sorts of threats to the man wanting to her son. "WHERE THE HELL IS MY SON!"
"Listen, Potter, if you woul-"
"Mama," A child cried. "MAMA!" His last call was loud.
Harriet looked over to the crib to see her baby stood up for the first time begging to be held by her. "Oh baby, mama's here." She carried and pressed his little head against her chest and kissing his face. "Mama is okay."
"Potter, I need to talk about-" He approached her causing her to flinch and walk away.
"Get out," she said.
"Potter," He hissed.
"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" Harriet yelled letting a backlash of magic throwing Tom him out of the room. As a result, the door's room was completely broken. When the angry Dark Lord wanted to retaliate there was a barrier avoiding his access to the room.
The young mother turned to check her year old baby for injuries. She smiled at her son cooing. His chubby little hands found their way to her long silky onyx hair. "No, SJ. Don't pull mama's hair." She laughed.
Outside of the room, a handful of people went to their Lord's aid. They were not surprised by the Savior's reaction, but they were surprised to see what she had done. Narcissa and Severus were healing the head would the Dark Lord had using a healing balm and pain potion. "My Lord, what happened?" Narcissa said.
"Potter woke up," He barked pushing her away. "That's what happened!"
Narcissa sighed and tried to reason with her Lord. She knew Harriet would retaliate whenever someone she doesn't trust will approach her, especially when her son was involved. Her Lord needed to understand that her mental healing had a long way to go. "My Lord, maybe you should keep your distance for a while. Potter may never be comfortable with men she doesn't trust," Lady Malfoy explained.
Voldemort sighed and left the area. He understood what the Lady Malfoy was saying since, he too, went through physical abuse. "Narcissa, I think we should check on Potter's injuries," Severus said.
"Yes, but first we need to know if we pass through the wards he placed in the room," She got close to the door and was able to enter the room, unlike Severus. "Miss Potter," the Lady called.
Harriet's attention snapped to see the elegant lady in her room. "You must be Mrs. Malfoy," The young mother said.
"Please, call me Cissa or Cissy, miss Potter." The elder woman smiled.
"Then please, call me Harri." She replied setting SJ to face Narcissa. "I'm sorry for the door... I don't know what came over me."
"It's perfectly normal for you to react that way, Harri. You and your son have been through a horrible experience. What those vile muggles did to you was wrong," Narcissa said. "If I could get my hands on them I will kill them. Now, I am here to check on your inj-"
"I don't want to sound arrogant or ungrateful, but I would like to have Poppy check on my injuries. She has been tending my wounds since first year."
"She knew about your abuse?" Narcissa gasped.
Harriet nodded, "She threw a fit to the amount of injuries I had and sent a report to the Ministry, but Dumbledore stopped it from reaching an Auror. So, all she could do was heal me."
"So it's true." The lady mumbled.
"What's true? If you don't mind me asking, who brought me here?"
"The fact that Dumbledore did this to you. He destroyed you childhood innocence to keep his pawn loyal to him." She explained with an angry tone. "But, Severus brought you here, and I thank Dobby for reaching out to him." Her last words were a soothing mother.
Harriet sunk back to her bed letting her son crawl to her stomach. Now, all her enemies knew how pathetic and dirty she was. "How long was I out?"
"Three days."
"Three days?!" She jumped back up carefully holding her child. "Was SJ fuzzy? Did he have his teething ring? Has he been drinking his potions? Did Dobby bring his blanket and plushie? He can't sleep with-"
"Slow down Harri," Cissa interrupted. "What potions?"
The teen took a deep breath remembering what had happened to SJ in the past. "When he was born, he would wake up just five minutes or less after I put him to sleep. He wasn't hungry, he wasn't in pain, and he didn't have a dirty nappy. The mother explained. "After a month with no changes, Poppy decided to see what was going in his dreams every night. Since the spell she was going to perform was harmless, I told her to check him... It turned out that, he was seeing his mother brought to her knees and tortured by your lord. So, every day, before his bedtime, I gave him a drop of dreamless sleep."
"But, why give him Sleeping Draught each time he sleeps?"
"Because Poppy and I believe that he's a Seer. So, to stop him from having horrible visions I give him the potion." Harriet explained. "I know, I should let the gift grow, but..."
"You don't want him to suffer for it..." Harriet nodded. "Harriet, would it be alright if Severus and I ask for Poppy?"
Harriet nodded while she played peekaboo filling the room with the child's laughter. Narcissa met with Severus in the hall telling Harriet's request, and he immediately obliged. He flooed to his quarters and ran to the medical wing to see a worried Mediwitch. "Poppy..." He called.
"Oh, Severus," she sighed brushing away a few tears. "What can I do for you?"
"There has been an accident that requires your assistance," The Potion Master said. "Is your Floo Network open?"
"Yes, what was the accident?"
"I'll explain when we get there. Malfoy Manor!" In the manor, Severus led Poppy to Harriet's room. Once the Mediwitch saw the teen all her composure had fallen. It was the first time Severus has seen her cry.
"What did he do Harriet?" She yelled.
Harriet flinched at the yelling and looked away. "It wasn't their fault, it was mine. I forgot the cooling charms for SJ's food and put it in the fridge..." She mumbled. "Since they weren't home, I let SJ take a fruit from the fridge. It was my fault, I know a freak can't eat food, but SJ was hungry. I couldn't let him starve."
"Harriet how many times do I have to tell you, you are not a freak!" She hushed. "They are. You didn't deserve what they did to you. What happened for you to leave without calling me? Dobby came in three days ago worried about you, and I didn't receive any messages."
"He was going to hit SJ like he hits me..." The girl sobbed. Her breathing was unsteady remembering what happened. "He got so angry. He was angrier... He took off his belt and whipped me till the floor was all bloody. SJ wouldn't stop crying, and I got in the way when he wanted to punch my baby. It's all my fault... SJ shouldn't have seen that. He was in my closet every night, his dad came again... He wanted to have fun with his favorite celebrity. He was a big fan... I couldn't say no, uncle Vernon was in the room... Please, I'll be a good girl. Please stop hurting me." The teen had completely forgotten where she was. She pressed her knees against her chest and moved back and forth. "Please, uncle Vernon, stop."
"Harriet, sweetie, you are safe you are not with the Dursleys." She reached to smooth the young mother in a hug, but it only made it worse. Harriet flinched and backed away to a corner of the headboard. "Severus, I need you to take the boy out of this room. SJ come to grandma."
The boy looked torn between his mother and "grandmother." He looked back and forth to the two parental figures he knew; he wanted his mother, but he could feel she was distressed. After a long time deciding, SJ crawled to his grandmother's embrace. "Now, you are going to stay with this man until mommy is okay."
SJ cocked his head not understanding what she was saying. "Come SJ," Severus said.
The boy looked who called him and smiled brightly, "Pappy!" He asked for Severus to pick him up giggling uncontrollably. "Pappy!" He yelled once more.
Severus cocked an eyebrow not understanding why the kid called him that. The professor carried the boy, and the boy began to play with the greasy hair. The little boy giggled when "his Pappy" started bouncing him as he left his mommy's room.
Once the Mediwitch was sure the baby was out of the room she began her daily routine with Harriet. She looked at the teen staring into space moving back and forth. "Harriet, can you look at me. Look at Poppy," She hushed. Harriet looked at the Healer petrified at what she might do. "It's okay, I just want to help you."
Harriet shook her head, "Freaks don't deserve help."
"Oh honey, you are not a freak. The people who said that are wrong. You are a special girl and people love you and want to help you get better. SJ is waiting for his mum to get better." She hushed. The frightened teen tentatively crawled towards Poppy. "I promise nobody will hurt you, you are safe and loved. Everything will be fine." Poppy extended her hand to Harriett until she received the adult's embrace. The teen sobbed hysterically.
"I was so reckless, Poppy. He could have killed him; Vernon could have killed SJ because I was reckless. I was a useless freak, and Vernon would have killed him if I didn't step in." She sobbed. "I almost killed my baby! S-SJ could have died!"
"You listen to me, you did all you could to protect your son. The only one responsible for all of this is Dumbledore and the Dursleys." Poppy cleared. "Harriet, you can start a new now. The people here will help you do that."
Harriet wiped her tears and took a deep breath. "I doubt Voldemort will want me to get better."
"I don't know about him, but I know that Mrs. Malfoy and Severus will help you through this. I promise."
"You think so?"
The Mediwitch chuckled. "If you don't trust me, trust your son's judgment. He started calling Severus Pappy for some reason."
"I think SJ will destroy the dungeon bat's reputation by the end of this week." The teen giggled.
"Enough of chit-chat, I need to do what I was called for." The healer said. She performed a body scan and review the results; she was happy, to say the least. "Now, you'll need to drink the nutrition potion three times a day until you are in adequate health. All your injuries have healed perfectly, even the bones that I couldn't heal a year before. Has Sj been drinking his pain potion to soothe his teething?"
"No, I don't think Snape brought my... HEDWIG! She's still at the Dursleys!" Harriet yelled.
"Take it easy Harri, call Dobby."
"Dobby." The house el popped in. "Please get all of my things from the Dursleys and Hedwig, please."
"Yes miss Harri!" The house elf replied popping out the room.
Following the elf's disappearance, the Severus knocked the frame of the door asking for entrance. "The insufferable brat has been crying for his mother."
Harriet's eyes traced an energetic and hyper SJ trying to free himself from Snape's tight grip. "Mama!" He then bit the professor's hand and wiggled out of his "imprisonment" to run to his mother.
"You are walking baby!" Harriet gasped. The young mother walked towards her son and kneeled to pick him up. "Poppy, did you see that?"
The Healer nodded with a bright smile while the Potion Master scowled. "Potter, the Dark Lord is requesting your presence." He said.
"You can tell him I'm not going. If he wants to talk he has to swear he will not attack me or my son." She replied.
"I made sure he wouldn't attack when I asked for sanctuary on your behalf." He snarled.
Harriet looked over to Poppy. "I'll be there no matter what you choose, Harriet." The teen took a deep breath and left her room to face Voldemort once more. This time, she was hoping SJ wouldn't need to see his mother in pain.
Author's Note:
Here is another chapter. To answer one of the question SJ's father is a fan of the GWL who found out how Vernon treated Harriet. Instead of helping her, he paid Vernon handsomely for a night with the savior of the wizarding world. Of course, Vernon wouldn't say no to a lot of money even if it came from the people he hated.
There will be more chapters soon, don't worry. I thank you so much for every one who has reviewd, followed and/or favorited the story. You don't know how excited I got when my email blew up with the notifications. Please don't forget to review, your opinions help the story a lot.
Until Next Time ;)