Garnet

Harry woke up on a strange bed, in a room he didn't recognize. What had happened to have him brought here? The worst-case scenarios rushed through his head until he was jolted out of his thoughts by a hand on his knee. He instinctively flinched away from the contact until he realized it was Fred who was touching him. It's fine he would never hurt him, he was safe. Wait what were Fred and George doing here?

Harry cleared his throat saying the first thoughts that came to his head, “What am I doing here, why are you here, what's happening?” Fred grimaced as he gently said “We're in a spare bedroom in Snape's private quarters. It's currently Wednesday, you slept through all of yesterday. You had a severe infection and blood loss from lacerations on your back which caused you to pass out, you would have likely died if Snape hadn't healed you. You're not going to like this part but before you passed out Snape removed the glamor you had and the entire Slytherin Common Room saw everything. None of them have said anything; the only people who know are Slytherin and us. I'm sorry.”

As Fred talked the events of the incident slowly started to return along with Harry's horror. Everyone saw what he truly looked like, they knew. They knew how weak he was and how he was nothing, how he would always be nothing. They knew how he was fucked up beyond repair but worst of all they saw his arms. He couldn't go back to people who had seen all of that. They would hate him and see how it was all his fault. How everything was always his fault. He couldn't do this, he shouldn't be forced to do this.

He could leave the school, return to Grimmauld, and live there until everything is over. He could bleed out under the stars where no one would find him, where no one could stop him. He could return to being completely alone like he was always destined to be. Maybe it was for the best to no longer stall what would inevitably be his fate. Or maybe he should do nothing since everyone that mattered already knew, and soon the whole school would know too.

When he really thought about it, was Snape or him at fault for his secret got out? His glamour worked fine and would have continued to work without flaws if Severus fucking Snape hadn't taken it off. Sure everything that led him to need the glamors was Harry's fault, but this? This was Snape's fault. Who does that to a person? Who takes off someone's glamor they were clearly using to hide something about themself in front of a packed room? He knew Snape hated him but this was far from just hatred, it was so much more than that. What had Harry ever done to Snape to make him take such dramatic measures to humiliate him and ruin his life more than it already is?

Maybe he deserves this. He has put people through so much hurt in his life, he has blood on his hands that will never go away so why shouldn't he suffer for his mistakes?

But before he continues to deal with his internal struggle he has to get out of Snape's quarters. “Fred, can you check to see if Snape is here?” He nodded in agreement and went outside to check. “All good, no one there, what are you going to do to try to escape? Snape told us to make sure you didn't leave. And not to touch anything” The thought of them listening to anything Snape said was laughable, “When have either of you ever listened to Snape? Do you expect me to believe you haven't set up pranks throughout his quarters already instead of staying solely in this room? We both know you're going to help me leave so let's stop wasting time talking and get on with it already.”

Harry got out of bed wincing as he stood up. George stuck out his arm in an offering of help but he's been through so much more pain than this little amount so it's barely noticeable. He's fine. As they walked out of the room Harry took a look around, and to his surprise, it looked fairly normal. There was a bit more black than a typical room contained but on all accounts, Snape's quarters looked fine, almost homey. That was until Snape himself walked out of a room they hadn't noticed till now. “What the fuck Fred I thought you said he wasn't here, did you even check?” Harry muttered under his breath. Fred gave him an apologetic look which meant nothing as he now had to see Snape face to face. The man who ruined his life which Harry previously thought couldn't get any worse. Snape gave him a look that had long since lost its intimidation and said “Where do you think you're going Mr. Potter? If I recall correctly I told you Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasly to keep him in bed and in the quarters you just vacated.”

Harry couldn't believe the man. He basically kidnapped him while he was unconscious and brought him to his quarters and now was demanding he not leave. Over his dead body, he was getting out of this room one way or another since he couldn't bear to look at Snape for another second. “Snape I don't know in what world you expected me to stay here, you exposed my secret in front of the whole of Slytherin house. Thanks to you they all know things I never intended to disclose and I had no say in it. Who gave you the right to do that to me? I never knew my mother but I know you two were close, I hope you know she would be disgusted with you if she were still here. In addition, it's your fault she's not but I don't need to tell you that because you know her death is on you.” With that, Harry walked out of Snape's chambers leaving both the Weasley twins and Snape in his wake. He could have gone on and on about how mad he was at Snape or how hurt he was but what would that do for him? Nothing. So instead of yelling or voicing his worst opinions about the man when he knew they wouldn't affect him, he hurt Snape in the worst way he could think of, by using his mother against him. Would she have been mad at Snape? Probably, but like he said he never got to know her.

Fred and George didn't follow him out. He assumed they were sharing some choice words with Snape. He could have waited for them instead of making his way out of the dungeons, but they always seem to find him eventually so he makes his way out by himself. He ran until he made it out of the dungeons and stumbled into an empty corridor. He hadn't put his glamor back on since Snape took it off so he rushed through the halls quickly hoping no one would see him. Was that a stupid choice? Yes, it probably was. But his secret would be out soon enough so it didn't matter in the long run. Sure the Slytherins wouldn't intentionally out his secret to the rest of the school but secrets like his never stayed berried for long.

He couldn't go back to the Slytherin common room and seeing as it was around six most of the school would be in the great hall for dinner leaving him just enough time to find somewhere for him to stay until curfew where he could make a plan for whatever he was going to do about yet another situation he found himself in the center of.
_______

They had returned from the great hall and had been in the common room for maybe twenty minutes. No one felt much like talking with Harry still gone. He had gone from someone who they barely knew to someone whose presence was a key part of their group. Without Harry to fill the silence with long rants or sometimes just the tapping on his quill on whichever book he was reading at the moment the common room seemed unnaturally quiet. And it wasn't just their group that seemed to be feeling the difference.

On Monday right after the incident occurred Draco along with the rest of the fifth years made sure all the Sytherins were on the same page about what they had just seen. The abuse was something nearly all the Slytherins had seen in one way or another, especially throughout the older years so Draco knew Harry wouldn't be asked questions or be stared at when he returned, but he still felt he had failed the boy.

Severus was his godfather and he knew the man best in the castle, and he had never anticipated he would do something so horrible even to a student he disliked. Draco had thought that Severus had grown fond of Harry even when he was still in Gryffindor, he would even go as far as to say he was certain the man cared. But this time that wasn't enough. It was enough when all he had done to Harry was make offensive comments or mark his work unfairly. But for him to do something of this severity Draco knew that Harry would be hurt and that was unacceptable. Harry would probably blame the whole thing on himself when in reality this was all on Severus which made the whole situation worse than it already was.

Harry was an untrusting person so it was shocking that he had started to open up to the Sytherins as soon as he had. But now all the progress that had been made would be lost. All because of Severus's rash decision. To be completely honest Draco didn't know if he would be able to forgive his godfather easily. He knew that hurting Harry wasn't his intention but what had he expected to happen when he removed the glamor when he could clearly see that Harry wasn't doing well? In the middle of the common room none the less?

Draco and the rest of the group had known about the abuse Harry had suffered at his relative's house but not to the extent to which they had seen when the glamor dropped. What they saw was frankly horrifying. Harry looked much smaller than he did normally which was hard to even imagine. He had bruises lining his arms and nearly every part of his body besides his face that they were able to see. They weren't all normal bruises as some like the one on his neck showed the marks of what seemed to be a hand that at one point most likely had been choking the boy. He had burns lining his skin and gashes which Draco thought could have been from a knife. His face was hollow and he had large bruises under his eyes which made Draco question the last time the boy had slept.

Maybe the worst part was the cuts that lined the boy's arms. There must have been hundreds of cuts on both Harry's arms leaving nearly no skin unmarked and Draco couldn't even see his arm beyond where the robes covered. The fact the scars and cuts on his arms were there wasn't the unsettling part it was that Draco could tell nearly all of them were self-inflicted. It made Draco ache even more for the boy he knew had lived through hell and back just to live through even more shit when he had vowed to protect him.

When Harry came back he and the rest of the Slytherins wouldn't let any more harm come to him even if that meant turning against and protecting him from their head of house. Draco's godfather. Even if he knew it would take time to get Harry to believe it he knew they could and were going to show they were there for him no matter what happens, even though they saw what they saw.

Draco was pulled out of his thoughts by the common room door opening to show the Weasley twins and Severus. Before he or any of the other fifth years were able to get up Gemma was already on her feet telling Severus that the twins could stay but he had to go. Severus seemed annoyed by this, Draco was about to add to Gemma's speech but Severus opened his mouth first, ¨I have no time for your silly grudges Ms. Farley, I need to speak with the fifth years.¨

Draco couldn't believe the man expected them to go talk to him willingly after what he did, how dare he act like he did nothing wrong and it was just another day of class. Pansy seemed to be thinking the same thing as him as she said, ¨Snape, you have no right to be talking to us after what you did to Harry, whatever you need to say to us I'm positive you can say in front of the rest of your house since you seemed to have no trouble sharing everything with the house two nights ago.¨ Draco had never heard Pansy speak with that level of disrespect to any teacher let alone their head of house, he was oddly proud of her as Severus deserved none of their respect after what he did.

¨If you insist Ms.Parkinson, I wanted to inform you that Mr. Potter ran out of my chambers and I need you to look for him since you most likely will be more productive in finding him than I will. Once you find him, bring him back to me so I continue to heal him.¨ Draco couldn't believe it they had stupidly trusted Severus to be able to take care of Harry at least until he was stable enough to be brought back to them since they knew Harry would prefer that compared to staying in the hospital wing. But no! They should have just done everything by themselves since now Harry was gone who knows where. Once they found him they would bring him back where he belongs, where they can keep him safe. With them.

Without hesitating Draco along with the rest of the group quickly rushed out to look for their friend. The rest of the house looked as if they wanted to help but they knew enough where they were able to realize their presence would not be appreciated. On his way out Draco glared at Severus and for the first time in his life, he truly disliked his godfather for what he did to someone who deserved nothing but the best, and even if he didn't relize it had started to trust them.