Mo Chridhe

Chapter 4

"Merlin, maith dom,*" Marcus Flint muttered under his breathe, as he realized the child did not believe help would be freely (or at all) given to him. He could see that Harry was going to say no to him helping as well. He couldn't let the kid leave, couldn't ignore it, no more than he could ignore any of the snakes that might have difficulties at home. Although, to be fair, he hadn't been entirely focused on them as he ought to have been. Still, he was focused on someone who might be in far more danger than anyone could fathom.

Harry just blinked, not even understanding exactly what Flint had said.

Marcus moved towards Harry at speed, not even letting the child worry about his actions. grasping the kid around his legs and hoisting him up the air and carefully over his shoulder. He wasn't sure how badly Harry was hurt, but he wasn't going to take the risk of harming him further.

"HEY! LET ME GO!" Harry protested, a real note of panic beginning to suffuse his voice. It was a good job the move didn't jostle him too much, he didn't think his ribs would have appreciated that much.

Marcus grunted as the boy elbowed him quite painfully on the back, "I'll stun you." he told the boy, only to feel him stiffen and his breath tremble in fear. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. When a Slytherin makes a promise, we keep it." he told the eleven-year-old. Honestly, you'd have thought he had just told him something amusing given his reaction afterward.

Harry scoffed, it was barely discernible, but his mouth was very close to Marcus' ear. "There's no point, you know, just…just let me go…please?"

Marcus pursed his lips, stopping to turn his gaze on the defeated boy, "I can't leave you to suffer." he told Harry quietly, the dungeons silent and ominous in the feeling it could swallow you whole. He could practically feel the defeat sinking into Harry's bones.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, stiffly, he already had a funny feeling he knew where exactly they had gone. A funny feeling, however, wasn't confirmation or even being right. Unfortunately, for Harry, his thoughts were actually correct.

"Professor Snape will be able to help you," Marcus promised the boy.

Harry just sighed softly, tiredness exuding from him. He'd been through the process so often that he was tired of the empty promises. He didn't even feel that pang of hope stirring within him anymore, not even for a second. He didn't even bother his protests, there was just no point. It still baffled him to the core, what did they honestly think they were going to get out of doing this? pretending to care then just ignoring him? Did the Dursley's pay people to mess with him? Like when he got a box of dog treats from his Marge? He'd thought everything could be different here at Hogwarts. Why had he allowed himself to hope for that much at least?

Marcus rapped harshly on the door in front of him. He did so because Professor Snape might be his private potions lab or in his living quarters. Useless, he knew, since the professor had a spell to alert him to anyone being at his door since it was unlikely that he'd hear.

"See? Can I go now?" Harry said trying to wiggle his way down Flint's body, only to inhale sharply, the pain from his ribs reminding him how bad an idea that was.

"No," was all Marcus grunted out. Stubborn lad, made him wonder why he was so obstinate. He was pleased that Harry hadn't been broken by the abuse…at least not fully. Recalling the moments before, the look on his face, part of him was broken though. He wondered if Harry would ever be able to be repaired. The door was yanked open, and Black eyes blinked at the sight of his student, with another slung over his shoulder.

"Tell him to let me go!" Severus' eyebrows crawled further up his head when he heard the voice of whom he was pretty sure was Potter.

"Potter?" came the incredulous voice of the Slytherin head of house. "Flint, explain yourself, immediately." Unimpressed at being disturbed especially for the Potter boy, Marcus knew better than to disturb him for no reason.

"Can we go inside?" Flint asked.

Harry from his vantage, stiffened, a pang of worry shooting through him for Flint regardless of his actions. Professor Snape was so scary, and he hated Harry for some reason. Not that people seemed to need a reason, that was usually everyone's natural state towards him. It still hurt, he didn't like to admit it, but it hurt so bad. Having friends here was so amazing, he couldn't believe he had two friends of his very own. With no Dudley to scare them away! It was the best; magic was just the icing on top in his opinion.

"Come inside," Severus sighed exasperatedly, opening a gap so that the pair of them could get in. A pang of discomfort hitting him just how small Potter was, it seemed the students got smaller every passing year. Still, he was rather smaller than all of his classmates, even Susan Bones who was the shortest girl and on potions to boost her immune system. She'd caught Dragon Pox as a young girl, and it affected her height. Potter hadn't had such troubles. He immediately followed them, flicking his wand like the dramatic wizard he was, the door swung closed, but it didn't bang.

"What are you allergic to, Potter?" wrongly assuming that was why Flint had escorted Harry here. No doubt the brat had gotten on Flint's nerves about unable to stand the pain. Causing his Slytherin to carry the boy to cease his complaints.

"I've not brought him from the Hospital wing, sir," Marcus told him before he could go on any further. "And I have no clue as to what he may be allergic to."

"Then, pray tell, why is he here?" Severus asked, content to ignore the boy, who resembled his father a bit too much for his comfort.

"Potter's being abused, he's injured." Naturally as a Slytherin, he wasn't one for beating around the bush. He said it how it was, and that was the way of it, unless they needed to charm someone.

"Is that true Potter?" Severus asked, dark eyes boring into green ones now.

The professors' gaze was way more intense than Flint had ever noticed before. Was he going to attempt Occlumens on an eleven-year-old? He didn't feel too comfortable about that. He was about to stand in front of Potter to stop it, when his statement made him realize perhaps it was for the best otherwise, they'd be here all day.

"No, I'm not, can I go now?" Harry sounded bored, amused and wry almost all at the same time.

Marcus turned to stare at the boy who was not even yet a teenager. Oh, he was good, he was impressed really, that was almost Slytherin worthy. "Potter…" Marcus ground out, "If you tell the truth I'll get you a few more pictures of your parents." There was no smugness felt at the utter hope rising from those green depths. He knew nothing about his parents, hadn't even known they were so young when they died. Just because he was a Slytherin, didn't mean he didn't know how to be a Gryffindor from time to time.

Severus zeroed in on the boy's face, it would seem like Marcus had hit a sore spot. He stared between his Slytherin and the first year Gryffindor with a peculiar look on his face. This certainly hadn't what he expected when he opened the door this morning. Oh, Marcus often came to him about injured students, or worse, suffering from abuse. None of them had been willing, and none of them had been happy about it but eventually? They grew to hero worship the wizard. Which was nice to see since everyone else? Everyone else was terrified of Marcus Flint.

"Look, as nice as all this is…it's a waste of time," sarcasm oozing from his voice. "Like seriously, not sure what you're going to get from acting like you care to completely ignoring me like everyone else has done…but I'm done."

Severus narrowed in on that particular sentence, his stomach shrinking. Oh, he did not like the sound of that at all. "Potter, repeat that for me please,"

Harry blinked utterly befuddled by the 'please' it was likely the very first time an adult had said the word aimed at him. "What?" shaking his head a little dazed, he didn't know what was going on and he didn't like it.

"You have to trust at some point, Potter," Marcus told him.

"THAT'S JUST IT! I HAVE! THEY MAKE ME THINK THEY CARE ABOUT ME THEN ONCE I'VE TOLD THEM EVERYTHING, THEY ACT LIKE I DON'T EXIST!" Harry screamed the words, hollered them out as if it brought him some kind of relief to voice them. To get angry at them, instead of the numb acceptance that usually enveloped him. Quickly getting around both Flint and Snape, easily done having been getting by everyone (Dursley's included) to get away, he got to the door, yanking with all his might only to find himself locked in. "Let me go, let me out!" giving it an additional yank, but there was no movement.

Marcus tried to hold back the urge to interfere, he couldn't do it, no more than he could ignore a Slytherin. Which he couldn't do. "The newspaper articles, they're all lies, Potter only found out about magic on his birthday." He whispered to his Head of house, who glanced at him sharply, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Severus watched his student summon a House-elf in the kitchen, his mind reeling over what he'd just been told. He wanted to accuse Potter of lying, that Marcus had been taken in by the brat. However, his smallness was beginning to be seen in a different light. He had lied about not being abused; he had blatantly lied about it when he said no. He was a master Occlumens and Legilmens, he couldn't be tricked by a child with no mind wards whatsoever. Which made him realize, he should have suspected something sooner. By the age of eleven, most pureblood children knew the basics, very rarely did they become experts…but it was enough to know if someone entered their minds. Potter, of all people, Potter…a boy he'd sworn to protect…the vow harnessed by the one allowing the abuse to happen. The disbelief was almost rendering him mute, rendering him blind to the sheer terror that an eleven-year-old boy was experiencing.

"Potter…Po…Harry," Severus spoke quietly, barely a murmur, turning the boy around and leading him away from the door. The child attempted to hunch up on himself, shoulders, head and neck all hunched in. Severus felt sick, that sort of instinct? It didn't bode well, even he hadn't reacted that way with his own fathers' abuse. "I promise you; they weren't just ignoring you…I believe they might have been Obliviated." And it made him feel sick to know exactly who was likely to have done the deed. All this time Dumbledore had used Harry to gain his compliance, assuring him he was safe and well…and all this time knowing he was forcing him (Severus) to break his vows.

"Obliviate?" sounding a little unsure, not because he believed his professor, but because it was such an unfamiliar word. Entirely unfamiliar, Harry had never heard it before in his life, sitting when he was guided to the couch, he untensed a little, the aged black leather smelt like the potion's classroom and his professor.

Severus felt a little relieved when Marcus took over. He was quite honestly still reeling over the fact that Dumbledore had risked his life in doing this. He had sworn a vow (to the death) to take care of Lily's son, and the only reason he took a step back was because he trusted Dumbledore. More fool him, he didn't feel much like a Slytherin right now. Gratitude suffusing him as a black cup of coffee was pressed into his hands.

"It's a spell, that can make people forget whatever the caster desires." Marcus explains to the child. The fear that spread across Harry's face made him feel for the child.

"Anyone can do that?" Harry asked almost breathless with anxiety.

"They can, but it's a dangerous spell, it can leave the entire mind scrambled if they don't know what they're doing. Only a dozen or so wizards and witches have permission to cast the spell. Having permission doesn't mean others don't use it whenever they like." He explained. "Eat up." Pressing the bowl of porridge with fresh fruit on top for the boy.

Harry's eyes widened seeing his favourite, glancing up at Marcus a look of worship on his face. Nobody noticed things about him, normally they couldn't stand the sight of him. They ignored him and acted like he didn't exist. To have someone, anyone, pay attention to him made him smile tremulous as it was. He couldn't help it, like a flower in the sun, he soaked up the attention (as little as it was) Marcus was giving him. So utterly starved for positive attention, unconsciously scooting forward towards Marcus in an unconscious show of trust.

Marcus put the cup of milky coffee at Harry's feet, rubbing his back absently unaware of how his actions were being received. He was just so used to comforting the Slytherins that were hurt, or worse being abused. They were never hurt and entirely deprived of human interaction like Harry was.

Harry pressed himself against Marcus' hand, holding back the choke and tears. It felt so good, and Harry loathed himself for the sheer need he felt course through him. It hurt too, but he was always hurting. He didn't want to raise attention to the pain. He didn't want Marcus to stop. He was so warm, and despite him being so big – and that was a little scary – like the Dursley's he was very careful. Also stubborn, he hadn't listened to him.

"Who would do that? Why?" Severus and Marcus glanced at each other; Marcus definitely didn't want to be the one to give Harry his suspicions. Not that it would be a hard truth to swallow. After all Dumbledore had blatantly lied to the public for years, about Harry, about how he was doing.

Severus nodded grimly; he had the most information…but if the boy didn't know anything…they had to take safety measures as well. "You will take him to get his heir ring? Or give him the means of protecting his mind until he gets to Gringotts?" under the mistaken impression that Harry had full access to his vaults and knowledge of them to boot.

Harry glanced briefly between the two of them, slowly eating the small amount of porridge in the bowl. He already felt rather uncomfortable, but that was nothing new, he felt like that all the time when he ate. Why would he need a ring?

Marcus arched a brow, was I that much of a concern that Severus help a student? Crossing his arms, he stared at his professor silently demanding answers to his unasked questions. "Sir?"

"There are things you don't know yet, Mr. Flint, information that would endanger us all should it be released. I am literally bound to help the child, but I cannot do so in the public light." Severus gave him a pointed look. He didn't need to try and read Marcus to know he understood it regarded the Dark Lord. "In the coming year, a plan will have to be made. Until then he will be safe. However, its not information we can risk getting out to any particular third party."

"I'll collect something suitable," Flint declared firmly, understanding all too well it meant Dumbledore getting the information. The fact he'd confessed to helping Harry, a vow of all things, whether that meant he was loyal to the dark or light…wasn't known and he knew he would never know. At least not until all was said and done. Maybe not even then.

Severus stalked over to his desk, picked up his quill and in his usual spidery scrawl, wrote out a note. Once done, he used magic to dry the ink and fold the parchment, nothing expensive, the expensive paper was definitely his potions journals.

"If you are stopped, give them this, you may read it as well." There was no point to giving an excuse if Marcus screwed it up by giving a second excuse.

"Now?" Marcus questioned, opening the missive and found the excuse a plausible one, but they were Slytherin's so it was only natural. Professor Snape was short of Potion ingredients, and dealing with one of his students, he couldn't make the trip and had asked that he go in his stead. An unfortunate accident had ingredients from his store cupboard unusable.

Harry was staring at Marcus with wide pleading eyes practically begging the Slytherin not to leave him with Professor Snape. The Professor hated him, hated everyone, but it seemed it was him he was picking on the most. The thought of being alone with him was beyond terrifying, but as always, he was used to his wishes being ignored so didn't give voice to it. Especially, since he didn't want the professor to know just how much he scared him. Marcus walked over, handing him the milky coffee, which had a few drops of a calming draught in it. "I'll be back in half an hour, I'll explain why soon, alright?"

Harry peered around at Professor Snape before glancing back at Marcus. Utterly resigned to Marcus leaving him alone with his professor. He was stunned by the fact he actually wanted Marcus to stay…that he trusted him. Believed that Marcus would keep him safe. He reached out and gripped the much larger hand than his own.

Grasping the cup so it didn't fall, he squeezed the hand in his own, "I'll be back." he promised, knowing that there was nothing he could do that would let Harry believe him. If the guesses were right about the Obliviate spells…then it would be even harder to gain Harry's trust. He gently pulled away from the boy.

"Quickly now," Severus told him, "As for you, Mr. Potter, drink up," his tone only slightly less stern. He knew if he was polite the child would just tense further and likely try to leave. Keeping his tone as normal (in Harry's experience) would make the situation less stressful. He could no more ignore the abuse than he could ignore his own magic. Which would be the cost if he ignored it. Part of him didn't want to believe Dumbledore would allow the Boy-Who-Lived to be abused. He slowly picked up the bowl and instead of banishing it as he normally would, he put it in the sink for something to do.

Standing at his sink, staring down at the half-eaten bowl of porridge, stomach churning. He wanted to believe it was just a child trying to get attention. The thinness and this information, which Marcus would not bring to him without believing it himself. Marcus didn't disturb him lightly. He also took his responsibilities seriously; it was why he hadn't needed to think for a second on whom to make prefect. He would protect all the snakes when he wasn't able.

Inhaling sharply, he straightened his spine. It was time to face the music and begin to find out just how badly he'd failed the child. Lily's son. Face blank, staring longingly at his fire whiskey bottles that were hidden behind a cabinet drawer in his sitting area. No, he kept a fine control over his drinking, only drank a few times a year, on special (tormenting) occasions.

"I am going to perform a basic diagnosis on you, Mr. Potter, basic as it might be, it will reveal all the injuries you've had." Severus explained, getting to his knees which seemed to alarm the child but there's nothing he could do. "A more advanced diagnosis will need to be done after you've been healed, to show the injuries you've had and how they were healed. Do you understand?" he knew how to calm abused children, telling them what was happening before you did anything gave them a measure of control, they'd lacked all their lives.

"Yes," Harry said, a tremble in his voice, he was smart, he really was, he just dumbed himself down so that his aunt and uncle wouldn't keep hurting him. He felt like maybe he should do the same here, but he had no clue how average was average here. It was difficult though, reading books while attending his classes, his eyes were so bad it took so long to figure out what word was what. So, it didn't look like it would be too difficult to do badly.

Severus tensed unnoticeably, well, moment of truth, he thought, as he cast the spell and ran a diagnosis upon the eleven-year-old. Normal eleven-year-olds had perhaps four feet of parchment, which basically had the name, date of birth, notations of inoculations, potions intake, salves and such for when they fall and hurt themselves, and of course the odd broken bone. Children got hurt, it was just a fact of life. He had seen seven feet of parchment come out of his first abuse victim. A half-blood much like Severus himself ironically enough.

Severus watched the parchment unfurl from his wand, one, two, three…and on it went until it was fifteen feet nearly. Severus blanched, glancing again at the cabinet, the desire to drink doubled, but those green eyes, glazed as they were due to the calming draught. Such a strong reaction, the newness will help that, but also the fact he was underweight.

Then it stopped zooming out, just under sixteen foot of information on problems Harry had experienced in his life.

Merlin.

Merlin, help them all. For they would need it.

Severus wasn't sure how he would survive these next seven years. Dumbledore knew, he knew and did nothing. He honestly didn't know what to do, what to make of it. What did they go from here? He did know he was going to put a file of this information into his vault at Gringotts, then in a few other safe places, he couldn't risk being expendable in whatever Dumbledore was planning. Oh, he'd always been aware of his underhanded ways, but he'd never expected to ignore outright abuse…especially Harry, the son of two of his precious Gryffindors. There was more at work here, and to know more, it would require stealthy undertakings.

All the more time to gather information.

A/N – Would you like to see Hermione and Ron remain Harry's friend in this one? Or will we see alternative friends for Harry? Hmm he has a group of friends in Slytherin in The Contract…maybe I could have a few neutral ones then again even in The Contract they're only mentioned in passing. Ugh computers starting to slow down, see, this is why I've always wanted a Mac book 😊 I'd imagine they last a lot longer than the cheaper computers but to be fair you get what you pay for I suppose 😊 and I do mostly go for the cheapest one and back to the story, yes, I've decided to bring Sev in 😉 hmm will he be an uncle figure and Flint's parents the parental figures or will he just like them but see Severus as a father? Are there any characters you'd like to see mentioned a lot more? Will Harry repay Marcus for his protectiveness and protect him in turn? Or will he unnerve Marcus' grandfather enough that he didn't dare lift a hand to him simply by being a parseltongue? Maybe making him believe he's really Voldemort? Well, Harry is a Gryffindor not a Slytherin but he was meant to be 😉 and thank you all so much for your well wishes I'm feeling a bit better now xx R&R please

* Merlin, forgive me - Scottish Gaelic I've decided that the Flint's are from Scotland and that by the time Marcus was eight he was a polyglot.