Harry was in the library with Ron and Hermione. They had refused to leave his side all day and Harry was looking for just about anything to save him. Seamus, Dean, and Neville had all tried getting the two to back off slightly, but all it did was put Harry in an awkward situation where he had to side with the idiots. He was thankful to only see recognition and understanding on the other boys faces instead of the anger and hurt that he had expected. He knew he would have to talk with them properly, just as soon as he could get them alone. The shallow whisper of students studying together petered out and an uneasy silence fell in its place. Harry looked up expecting it to be the Slytherins again. He wasn't exactly wrong, he just hadn't expected this Slytherin.
"Potter. Professor Snape asked me to escort you to him." Fawley was stood there staring at Harry as if he was something you would scrape off the bottom of your shoe. When Harry didn't move she huffed and swished her wand. Harry's book closed with a loud thud, earning him a reproachful glare from Mrs Pince. "I suggest not keeping him waiting, unless you would like a worse punishment for whatever you did." Harry quickly packed up his belongings, reassuring Ron that he would be fine and repeatedly telling Hermione that he didn't know what he had done to earn the potion master's ire this time.
Fawley led them down towards the dungeons and as soon as they were on the basement floors she spoke.
"I made sure to impress on the younger years that they were not to approach you when there were eyes around. I do hope they haven't done any irreparable damage. I know Alexandrya was rather eager to see your 'magic pets' again." Harry was a little shocked that she had picked up that much from such a short interaction and was willing to help him. It also explained why they hadn't approached him.
"Um no. None of your younger years have spoken to me. I appreciate you doing that for me." Fawley just raised an eyebrow at him.
"I appreciate what you did for the younger years, especially the Slytherins. I will admit the older years have held contempt for you for the last two years regarding your actions, actions we now understand were not yours. After recent events I looked a little further and found that you were never present when Your friends Hexed the younger Slytherins." He turned to face her, eyes wide in shock, and she smiled. "Something you were clearly unaware of and something the rest of my house has now picked up on. We assumed that you were with the mud… ahem. Granger and Weasley when they were hexing our housemates and never looked into it until now." That's why Gemma had been so wary of him on the train, glaring at him every time he went near a Slytherin. He wondered if any of them ever noticed in his last life. He doubted it.
"I didn't know they did that. I'm sorry. You shouldn't be bullied for the color of your tie and your…" Harry quickly shut his mouth with a snap as they turned into a corridor with several portraits and dropped his speed to be walking behind the prefect. She looked confused for a second then followed his gaze to the portrait. Her eyes widened a fraction before going icy. They didn't speak for the rest of the journey. She knocked on the door and left, without even waiting for the door to open.
Harry stepped inside and froze. Harry had expected a very angry, scowling potions master, but this was somehow worse. Remus Lupin and Severus Snape sitting cordially having tea was not what Harry expected to walk in to. The door slammed behind him, bothe of the professors turning to look at him, and Harry suddenly felt very trapped. "Harry, please sit." Lupin gestured to the seat opposite them but Harry didn't move, he just looked between the two men.
"Sorry Sir, but why am I here?" He hadn't done anything to warrant being called on a Sunday to a teachers office. He didn't know what he had done to change the timeline so drastically, surely the patronus on the train wasn't enough. The Slytherins had gone off script even before then though and he had no clue why.
"We are here to discuss your living situation while away from hogwarts." Harry was now panicking. He had technically spent the summer at the dursleys, Dumbledore couldn't have known about his trips into the alley, could he? Why didn't he have the meeting with Harry himself? Why have Snape and Lupin talk to him? Did he break the blood ward by staying in the trunk and not in the house? They couldn't blame him for that, Vernon had been the one to put him in the shed. Was Dumbledore watching him closer than he thought?
"Why? I went to the dursleys like I was told to. I stayed there the whole summer. I did what professor Dumbledore told me to, I shouldn't be in trouble for that." Snape and Lupin shared a look, and Harry got the impression he had misunderstood what was happening.
"Harry." he startled slightly at the use of his first name spoken so softly by the potions master. Harry was now sure he had jumped to conclusions. The professors looked worried. "Did you speak to the headmaster about it? About the suitability of where you live, I mean?" and it clicked. They knew about how the Dursleys treated him, and judging by the question and how it was spoken, they were already suspicious of Dumbles, which means he could get them on side sooner than he thought he could.
"I asked him first year not to send me back, asked if I could stay at Hogwarts or anywhere else, but he told me I had to go back. I asked at the end of last year too, but again he said it was the safest place because of the blood ward." he saw Snape clench his jaw and Lupin spoke.
"Did you tell him how they treated you?" Lupin looked almost pleading and Harry suspected he didn't want it to be true, but Harry wanted to know how they knew and how much they knew.
"And how would that be professor?" Lupin's eyes went gold and he quickly closed them looking away. Snape saw this and answered.
"I know the signs of abuse Harry." he stiffened at the word abuse, he knew it was, but he didn't like hearing it. "I was blind to it for most of the last two years because of my hatred for your father, and I would like to sincerely apologize for that. I personally went to your… relatives to investigate my suspicions. Until your first year here they kept you locked in a cupboard, then put you in an actual bedroom for one summer, then decided to lock you in the shed this summer, only throwing a small amount of food through the window every once in a while." which Hedwig had eaten. Snape suddenly turned very serious and made sure to look Harry in the eye. "I used legilimency on them. I saw the beatings as well as the treatment you faced first hand." Harry felt his cheeks flush and he looked away. He knew he shouldn't be embarrassed, and that it wasn't his fault but that didn't make it easier to hear.
"Did you tell the headmaster any of that?" Lupin was the one now speaking again, Harry just nodded his head not wanting to say anything right now. He knew he shouldn't be upset. He had asked the question. They had just answered honestly, but He hadn't thought Snape would have gone to look into it, especially not with legilimency. They knew a lot more than he was comfortable with. He took that moment to sit on the sofa opposite them and Snape spoke again.
"Harry, you may not want to hear this, but please listen and actually think about what I am about to say." Harry looked up and nodded. So he continued. "We believe that the headmaster may have been the one to place you there and that he did so on purpose." Snape was speaking softly and slowly like he would run out the door any minute now and Harry couldn't help the giggle that bubbled out of him. They were trying to convince him that Dumbles wasn't as good as he portrayed himself to be. They were trying to convince him. Harry decided it was time to tell them just how fucked up Dumbles plan truly was. The professors shared a look as the teen giggled uncontrollably on the other sofa. They weren't sure what was happening whether he thought the mere thought of Albus Dumbledore being anything but saintly was humorous or that he was laughing at it taking them this long to work it out. They did not know, but soon enough the laughs died and the boy spoke.
"Before this conversation goes further I would like a secrecy oath from you, one that would withstand legilimency." Both the professors blinked at him in surprise, but neither objected and soon enough the vows were made.