- Rating:
- R
- House:
- The Dark Arts
- Characters:
- Harry Potter Severus Snape
- Genres:
- Angst Drama
- Era:
- Multiple Eras
- Spoilers:
- Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire
- Stats:
-
Published: 06/17/2003Updated: 07/01/2003Words: 3,709Chapters: 2Hits: 1,490
Trouble at Home
Shinigami06
- Story Summary:
- Harry goes home to the Dursleys after his fourth year at Hogwarts. But things do not go well at the Dursley residence. Still angry about the previous summer, Uncle Vernon takes out his rage on poor Harry. Will Snape be able to save him in time? This will be slash, but it will take a LONG time to get to that point.
Chapter 03
- Chapter Summary:
- Harry goes home to the Dursleys' after his fourth year at Hogwarts. But things do not go well at the Dursley residence. Still angry about the previous summer, Uncle Vernon takes out his rage on poor Harry. Will Snape be able to save him in time?. This will be slash, but it will take a LONG time to get to that point.
- Posted:
- 07/01/2003
- Hits:
- 447
Trouble at Home
Chapter 3
Harry heard a loud, familiar yelling outside in the hall. His pain-filled and panic-ridden mind jumped to the conclusion that the commotion was from Vernon, angry that he was breathing the wrong way or something of that sort. Harry curled up into as small of a ball as he could manage, without increasing his pain too much. Then he just waited for the inevitable to come.
The door creaked open, and a man looked inside, reaching out to touch him. Harry, still panicked from his previous encounters with Vernon, feared the worst and let a whimper escape his lips. The man drew back immediately and then let loose a string of rather inventive curse words. The voice sounded angry and made Harry shrink away from the door. But the man also sounded strangely familiar to Harry. He looked up and realized that this was not Vernon. Sunlight streamed into the cupboard, and made older man almost glow. //Could he be here to save me from this torment?\ Harry then got a good look when his rescuer looked directly into his eyes. //Oh my god. It's Snape.\
Harry promptly fainted.
~*~
Snape looked at the broken and bleeding form of the wizarding world's Golden Boy, huddled in the corner of a cramped cupboard. He reached out to touch the boy, but Potter let out a whimper, causing Snape to draw back.
Colorful curse words ensued before Snape realized that Potter had shrunk away from the door even more. Then Potter glanced up, and a look of gratitude spread over his face. A ghost of a smile graced his lips before it was replaced by horror. Snape looked Potter directly into his emerald orbs and had seen the recognition. The green eyes rolled back into his head, signaling that the boy had passed out.
Snape began to reach into the cupboard when a whistling noise from behind alerted him; too late. The object cracked against Snape's skull. The last thought going through his mind, //Never turn your back on the enemy. Idiot.\ before he simply floated into the black abyss of his mind.
~*~
As Harry drifted back into consciousness, he realized three things. First, that his arm, and the rest of his body really hurt. Second, that he was no longer in his cupboard, but in his room. Third, that Professor Severus Snape was sitting on the bed, looking at him, huddled in a ball on the floor.
Harry immediately tensed, nervous and angry that his most hated professor was seeing him at such a vulnerable moment. He didn't want anyone to know about this. Truth be told, Harry was ashamed. He let his Muggle uncle beat him into oblivion time after time, never able to defend himself. How was he expected to be even close to a match for Voldemort?
Harry's painful reflections were stopped short when Snape said something to him. "Wh-" Harry's voice came out scratchy from his underused throat. He cleared his throat and tried again. "What did you say, sir?" His voice came out nasally, due to the fact that his nose had swollen and was restricting the oxygen supply.
"I said, Mr. Potter, 'So you're finally awake,'" Snape sneered, but with noticeably less hostility then usual. Harry thought he may have sensed some pity in the older man's voice, but blamed it on a head injury and oxygen deprivation. Even in the position he was in, Snape would never feel pity or sympathy for him; not that he wanted that.
"Yeah, I'm awake. What are you doing here, sir?" Harry asked, not daring to look Snape in the eye. He had a feeling that he wouldn't like what he saw there. As he awaited a reply, Harry hugged his arm closer, in an attempt to lessen the pain in at least that one spot.
"Dumbledore sent me here to check up on you. It looks like he had the right idea. What's wrong with your arm?" Snape noticed Potter was hugging his arm to his chest. As the boy shielded his broken and bleeding arm, Snape got suspicious. He rose quickly, but stopped short as Harry cowered in fear. "It's okay. I just want to see your arm." Snape spoke in a calm, soothing voice. He wanted to put the boy at ease, not scare him more.
Harry looked up into his professor's face, and saw that the man meant no malicious intent. He lifted his arm as high as he could, letting out a hiss of pain in the process. Snape noticed this, but wisely chose to say nothing. The older man studied Harry's mangled arm, but without his wand, could do nothing to heal it. So he silently ripped off part of his cloak and bandaged the arm as best he could.
"So, I guess he's locked us in here, right?" Harry said nonchalantly, being used to this sort of treatment. After a beating, he was usually thrown in the cupboard; but this time, it was his room. Probably the only reason he had ended up here was the fact that Snape had shown up at Privet Drive.
"Yes. I attempted to force the door open, but the locks are too strong. Where else does it hurt?" Snape tried to hide his disgust that Potter was apparently used to this kind of treatment. The fact that someone could do this to their own family sickened him beyond words.
"The more important question is, where doesn't it hurt." Harry began to move all his extremities in an attempt to locate the numerous bruised and broken areas. He was met with blinding agony. Harry tried to hold back the scream of pain, but a whimper escaped his clamped lips.
Snape decided against moving the boy when he heard the horribly painful whimper from Potter. Moving his frail body would only succeed in hurting him more.
They would just have to wait until someone came to help them.
~*~
Chapter 4
Arabella Figg continued looking into the fire. Albus had just talked to her, asking if she could go to the Dursley residence. Apparently, Severus had been sent to check up on Harry, but had yet to return. She had never really trusted those people, and now that bad feeling was growing stronger. Was Harry okay? Was Severus okay? And if they were, where were they? These questions had been floating around Arabella's mind since Albus had left.
Mrs. Figg finally exited the house, on a mission. To make sure Harry was being well-treated, and find out where the hell Severus was. She walked down the street and reached the Dursley household. It looked quiet inside. But that was not much to go by. The way they treated that poor boy sometimes was downright despicable. Locking him in a cupboard, never letting him play, and other things she probably had never seen. No wonder barely anyone in the neighborhood even knew that a nearly fifteen year old boy lived here, and had for fourteen years.
Knocking on the door, Arabella waited apprehensively. Finally, the door opened to the pinched face of Petunia Dursley.
"Why hello Mrs. Dursley. I just came by to ask if you needed me to baby-sit Harry for you. It's such a beautiful day, and I thought that you and Mr. Dursley might want to go and do something," Arabella said politely. She waited while Mrs. Dursley went inside and talked to Mr. Dursley.
"No thank you. We are staying at home today," Mrs. Dursley said shortly when she returned.
"Well, can I at least take Harry off your hands. He won't be a bother, I promise you." Arabella desperately wanted to see Harry. The Dursley's never turned down an occasion to get Harry out of the house, and she was beginning to get suspicious.
Mrs. Dursley went back into the house, leaving Arabella to her silent worries.
~*~
Severus did his best to ignore the helpless boy who occupied the same room as him. But labored breathing forced him to glance up. What he saw did not please him. Potter looked pale, as though he struggled for breath, and had dried blood all over his face and the other body parts that were visible. Severus cursed the bad luck that seemed to exude from this boy. He got up and moved cautiously over to the figure. When he placed a gentle hand on Potter's back, the younger boy cringed away from him, trembling uncontrollably.
"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. I am just going to clean off your face and try to help you breathe easier." Severus said all of this in as calm and soothing of a voice as he could manage. He did not like the boy much, but even Severus had limits. He was not about to sit by and watch as the young boy obviously suffered. When Potter finally stopped shaking, Severus ripped a part of his own cloak off and began wiping the dried blood off the boy's face and extremities.
As Severus did this, Harry fought to stay calm. Just being in the same room with his most hated professor was enough to make him uncomfortable. But the fact that he was seeing him in such a vulnerable position made him feel even more so. Nobody had known about his life at the Dursleys', and Harry had planned to keep it that way. But now, his terrible secret would be out. And he would get pity from his friends and others of the wizarding world. Harry didn't want pity. He just wanted to be left alone. In peace.
But Snape's careful, soothing motions helped Harry to start to marginally relax. They only partially aggravated his wounds. //It's not like I don't deserve the extra pain. I'm such a horrible person. I only bring pain to others. Cedric died because of me. How can I, or anyone else, even stand to look at me?! I'm cursed...\
Right at that moment, as Severus was finishing cleaning Harry up, the door burst open. Harry cringed and rolled himself into a protective ball. Severus, without his wand was completely defenseless. Looking up, he saw an enormous man come through the door. With or without a wand, Severus would do whatever he could to protect Potter.
The large, beefy man, who Severus assumed was Potter's uncle, came slowly into the room, keeping one eye on Severus. His attention focused on Potter, Severus tried to get around behind him. "Move one more step and I'll beat the boy within an inch of his life," Vernon hissed when he finally noticed the movement behind him.
"AND FOR YOU! STUPID BOY!! TELLING THE NEIGHBORS WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS HOUSE!! WHAT DID I TELL YOU I'D DO IF YOU TOLD ANYONE?! DO YOU REMEMBER MORON?!
Severus was not a strong man. Without his wand, he had no chance at all of defending himself against this monster of a man, much less protecting Potter. But this little fact would not deter him. Dumbledore's orders were to get the boy to safety. And Severus would do his damnest to fufill this responsibility.
Vernon advanced menacingly as Harry cowered away in fear. "I didn't tell anyone, I swear Uncle Vernon! Please don't hurt me.. Please..." Harry whimpered as his uncle got closer. He didn't care that Snape had probably heard every word he uttered. Harry curled into a protective ball in an attempt to lessen the blows. He waited for the first strike.
But it didn't come. Harry peeked out and looked up in shock. Mrs. Figg was standing in the doorway, brandishing a wand. And Uncle Vernon lay unconcious on the floor.
~*~
Arabella decided that enough was enough. Something must be wrong inside, or else Mrs. Dursley would have let her see Harry.
"Alohomora," she whispered, opening the door and sneaking inside. Looking around, she noticed the absence of Mrs. Dursley. Arabella decided to go and find Harry and Severus.
Walking upstairs, Arabella heard yelling coming from one of the rooms. She crept up to the doorway and saw a sight that astonished her. Severus standing in the middle of the bedroom, looking ready to kill someone, if his wand had been handy. And Harry. Poor Harry was being screamed at by his uncle while curled up in a ball, begging the man not to hurt him. Arabella could not take anymore.
"STUPEFY!" the witch yelled, and Mr. Dursley fell unconscious to the floor. Severus looked up sharply, with a look as close to gratitude written on his face that he would probably ever get. Then Harry's head peeked out of its shelter. He looked shocked at seeing his old neighbor standing in his room holding a wand. Then the young boy's gaze fell to his uncle.
Vernon had blood on the side of his head from hitting the bedside table as he was struck by the spell. Harry studied the form of his uncle, then began to get up. Severus rushed over and helped him stand. The boy continued to stare at his uncle, until Severus finally steered him out of the room.
"Thank you Arabella. Now, will you kindly open the fireplace so we can all Floo back to Hogwarts?" Severus requested in a clipped and toneless voice. He was incredibly relived that they had gotten out of that room, but was also angry that they had to be saved in the process.
Arabella did as she was asked, and opened the Floo gate. Severus pulled out a bag of Floo powder from his bag and threw it into the fireplace. Picking Harry up when he realized that the boy could barely stand, he took him into the fireplace, and yelled, "Hogwarts!"
Arabella stared after the badly broken boy and the man who hated him. Then she also threw in Floo powder, and was on her way back to Hogwarts.
~*~