Healing
Harry landed hard in front of the sofa in the living room he'd seen during his strange dream with Riddle. A groan left his mouth as he had landed on his ribs in a particularly bad angle. Those were definitely broken.
He heard a pop and then footsteps before a hand touched his shoulder making him flinch backwards into the sofa. The hand retreated quickly.
"It's alright, darling. You're safe now. I'm not going to hurt you. There.", a soothing, deep voice whispered.
Harry relaxed. Something about the voice made him feel safe.
"I'm going to lift you now.", the voice said and again he felt a hand on his shoulder. He was lifted into the air.
Harry burrowed his head into the shoulder and let out a whimper at the pain this motion brought him.
"There you go, darling. It's alright.", the voice whispered again.
Harry felt the movement of being carried out of the room and heard the swift steps of the person holding him.
The next thing he registered was being laid down on a soft bed. The cushions around him felt like heaven and the teenager let out a sigh as some of his pain vanished.
"Darling, can you open your eyes for me?"
Harry struggled against the heaviness of his eyelids. It took a few tries but at last he managed to open them.
"Good. Very good. Look at me.", the voice commanded and Harry turned his head slightly.
Tom Riddle was watching him with a frown.
"I will be using Legilimency on you so you don't have to explain. I'll be as gentle as I can be. Can you push the person responsible for your injuries to the forefront of your mind?", Riddle asked him.
Harry gave an affirmative hum, not being able to move his head much. His body hurt worse than after a crucio. And he had endured Voldemort's crucio before.
The teenager pushed Uncle Vernon and the beating he received after the patronus message into the front of his mind and waited.
The last time the man in front of him had slipped into his mind was cruciatingly painful. But other than a soft presence behind his skull Harry felt nothing. Not even the rage he could see in Tom's eyes after the man had stopped the spell. Usually his scar would be on fire with the emotion of rage. Right now he felt nothing of the sort.
"I will need to contact a healer. I am not able to heal the damage you sustained due to your uncle.", the word was spat with so much venom, Harry wasn't sure that it hadn't simply come out in parseltongue.
Harry just stared at Tom. There was obviously more to that statement and he waited for the following explanation.
"I could contact either Narcissa Malfoy or Severus Snape. It is up to you. Both are certified and very knowledgeable healers."
Harry pondered for a moment. But rather than Malfoy catching wind of his abusive muggle family, he would have Snape see him in this state. Snape already knew that his relatives were bad. Sure, the man didn't know how bad but that didn't matter right now. Snape hadn't told any Slytherins about his abuse. There had been no teasing by them for the last few days of term. The man had kept his secret.
"Snape.", he croaked out, coughing immediately after.
Riddle - or maybe he should be calling him Tom in his mind, as he did in his letters - pulled the sleeve of his left arm away from it and ran the tip of his wand along the skull tattoo.
Not even five minutes later, Snape strode through the door, mouth open as if to ask what Tom would need. Then he saw Harry and a growl-like gasp escaped his mouth. Snape was immediately at his side and started casting spells rapidly. A parchment appeared and Snape scanned over whatever was written on it quickly. The man summoned then vial after vial filled with different potions.
"Mr. Potter, I will spell those potions directly into your stomach. Your lip is too badly damaged right now for you to be talking or taking anything. I will come back to that in a moment but first we need to stop the internal bleeding you have sustained.", Snape explained in a hurry.
Before the man had even finished talking, he was already waving his wand again, a certain frantic motion behind every wave.
Harry closed his eyes when he felt the pain relieving potion start to work. He heard a pop and was pretty sure one of his ribs have been replaced to heal correctly. He just couldn't make out what hurt less after the treatment.
After what felt like hours and about two hundred potions bottles, Snape stopped casting.
Harry wasn't sure if he felt awake enough to open his eyes so he just stayed still on the bed, drifting dreamily. A cold hand on his forehead caught him offguard and he flinched slightly.
"It's alright, Mr. Potter. It is just me. Can you open your eyes for me?", Snape's voice said calmly.
Harry moaned quietly but let his eyes flutter open. It was a struggle to keep them open. A persistent pounding in his head making it really difficult. His body felt heavy and sluggish and he would rather sleep than look anywhere right now.
Snape's dark eyes watched him carefully. The man was pale and shaking but with a precise movement of his wand he cast another spell.
"Your concussion isn't as bad as I had first thought. You will be fine with some monitoring spells during your sleep. Let me take a look at your lip."
The man's voice was almost soft, warm. As if he was concerned. Harry liked having someone be concerned about him.
With a slow measured movement, Harry stretched his neck so the potions master could have a look at his mouth.
Snape used a handkerchief and dabbed it on his lip. The sharp pain made Harry hiss but it was over before it became too unbearable.
"There you go. Most of your injuries should be healed by morning. I will check up on you. Now we are going to put you into a medically induced sleep. This is not the same as Dreamless Sleep as you will be able to 'wake up' without being able to move. It sends your body into a sleep to help heal your injuries, not unlike a coma. Me or the Dark Lord will check your conciousness with Legilimency. I presume you're too tired to stay awake any longer. Sleep as much as you can.", Snape explained and Harry gave a hum.
Snape arched his wand in a complicated wave and murmured an incantation and before Harry registered his immobilated state, he was fast asleep.