Chapter 4
Harry woke in confusion. Someone had removed his glasses so he couldn’t see very well, but he was pretty sure there was a canopy above him. The last thing he remembered was passing out in his cupboard while waiting for Professor Snape to arrive.
Harry had no recollection as to how he had come to be in such a large and comfortable bed, though, he figured it probably had something to do with Professor Snape. He quickly decided he didn’t care. Anywhere was better than the Dursley’s and besides, Harry couldn’t remember ever having been in a real bed before; he’d only ever had his lumpy cot from the cupboard. He was going to savour this for as long as he was able.
He was planning on turning over and going back to sleep when he heard someone quietly open the door and enter the room. Harry turned toward the noise and flinched in surprise when, rather than Professor Snape’s lanky form which he had been expecting, he saw through his heavily blurred vision what he thought was a short bug-eyed creature with large floppy ears and a long pointy nose.
Harry blinked a few times and wished fervently for his glasses. He suddenly remembered that Uncle Vernon had broken them. Just then, the creature seemed to notice that Harry was awake.
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Mipsy is being so sorry. I is not knowing Mister Harry Potter is being awake! I is not being supposed to wake Mister Harry Potter! I is only being supposed to checks on Mister Harry Potter, sir, for Master Severus.”
Harry had a peculiar moment of Déjà vu when the creature (who he guessed was named Mipsy) said his name. Then he suddenly remembered another creature that looked very similar to Mipsy from the ‘dream’. Dobby. Dobby the free house-elf. It was rather like being drenched in warm water from head to toe. Not wholly unpleasant, just surprising when one wasn’t expecting it. First the memory wasn’t there, and then suddenly, it was. As if it had been there all along.
Mipsy tittered nervously until Harry spoke. “Hello Mipsy. I woke up a few moments ago.” Harry assured the house-elf. “Thank you for checking on me. Where am I?”
Mipsy looked relieved at the knowledge that she hadn’t woken Harry up. “You is being in Master Severus Snape’s quarters at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is finding Mister Harry Potter and has taken you away from those awful mean muggles!” Mipsy said with wide eyes. “I is going, now, to tell Master Severus you is beings awake.”
“Wait, Mipsy-” Harry started, but Mipsy suddenly disappeared with a loud pop.
Alone again, Harry sighed and lay back on his pillows. Though, he wasn’t alone for long.
~*~
Since bringing Harry Potter to his personal quarters, Severus had been busy brewing a complicated potion to help with the boy’s extreme malnourishment. The cuts and bruises could easily be healed with a salve and time, but it would take much more effort to reverse the years of starvation he had long been forced to endure.
He had no doubt that the Dursley’s had only given the boy enough food to keep him from dying. And really, it was likely that his accidental magic played a much larger part in that than the Dursley’s even knew. As it was, his growth was heavily stunted, and his magical core was greatly depleted and possibly permanently damaged from years of working overtime just to keep him alive.
He wished Poppy were here instead of abroad for the summer holidays. He knew he could diagnose and treat the boy himself, but he would feel much more comfortable with a second voice with whom to discuss his findings.
Severus had, of course, sent a letter of his findings to Albus as soon as he had collected the boy, but had yet to receive a response. This was likely due to either the great lengths Flamel went to in order to obfuscate his whereabouts or the fact that Albus was currently traveling. It was entirely possible the letter had yet to even reach the Headmaster. He was in no doubt that he would be hearing from Albus directly whenever that happened.
The sound of Mipsy re-entering the room broke Severus’s concentration. “Master Severus, Mister Harry Potter is beings awake now. He was beings awake before I is coming to checks on him.” The elf informed him.
Only years of discipline kept Severus from abandoning his task without a thought. He cast a silent stasis charm on his cauldron and prepared ingredients and glanced at the house-elf. “Very good, Mipsy. Was the boy frightened upon waking, or by your appearance?” Severus asked, fully expecting so, moving in the direction of his quarter’s spare room. He was surprised when Mipsy shook her head no.
“No, Master Snape. Mister Harry Potter is being very calm and polite. He is even saying thank you to Mipsy for takings care of him.” Severus felt his eyebrows creep up his face at that.
It was more than likely that the boy believed he was dreaming, but it still said a lot of his character that he was kind to a creature that was obviously inhuman upon waking in a strange environment. What it said exactly, only time would tell, but it definitely told a lot. Either he was cunning and knew enough to wait for more information before deciding to lash out or he was guileless and trusting, which seemed unlikely given his history in an abusive home. Still, Severus recalled the reaction he had had to Severus finding him in the cupboard. It was possible the boy was just desperate and truly grateful to be freed from his relatives. He had seemed so relieved when Severus had found him. Time would tell.
“That will be all, for now Mipsy. You may spend some time in the kitchens socializing with the other house-elves for now. I shall call you when I next have need of you.” Mipsy smiled gratefully and popped out of the room. Never one to procrastinate, Severus pushed open the bedroom door and swifty entered the room.
The boy was sitting up against the headboard, squinting heavily at Severus’s approaching figure. “Professor Snape!” It seemed odd, the way the boy said it. As if he was familiar with Severus. As if they knew each other. As if Severus was someone the boy knew he could trust.
Before Severus could comment the boy flushed and continued quickly. “Thank you, sir. For coming to get me, and for bringing me here, and for patching me up. I wonder? If it’s not too much trouble, do you think I could stay here at Hogwarts for a few days? Maybe, just until the Dursleys calm down enough to miss me? I wouldn’t get in the way. And I would be happy to do chores while I’m here. It’s just. I’m not sure Uncle Vernon knows enough about injuries that he would let me rest my arm any, and I would hate for it to heal wrong. Southpaws tend to offend him, so he would likely insist on me using my right arm and I’m pretty sure it’s dislocated at the shoulder. My left side is fine though, and I promise I can still be useful with it. I know it’s currently summer, and the kids have all gone home, but I promise I won’t get underfoot. And maybe I could do some work on the grounds. Or clean the emptied classrooms. I can take care of myself, so you wouldn’t even have to inconvenience a teacher to stay here with me. And if anyone was already planning to stay, I swear I wouldn’t bug them.” Harry wound down as he finally noticed the expression Severus knew was quickly spreading across his face.
At some point during the boy’s lengthy proposal, Severus had conjured an armchair, completely unnoticed by the child, and had sunk heavily down into it. It was obvious that the boy was extremely damaged emotionally to want so badly to stay at an unknown empty school either by himself or with an unspecified stranger.
Once the boy finally stopped speaking, Severus breathed deeply before answering. “Mr. Potter. As you have already correctly surmised, I am Professor Severus Snape, and you are at Hogwarts. Before we address anything else, I feel the need to assure you that you will not be returning to the care of your relatives, and that no type of labour is to be expected of you regardless of where you stay for at least the duration of this summer. In fact, you are to be on complete bedrest until I decide you have sufficiently recovered from your considerable injuries. Once you have recovered then I, or someone equally trusted, will sit down with you and discuss the difference between reasonable chores and abusive child labour so that you will hopefully understand that children should never be expected to work for room and board. And in any case, that even reasonable chores should be suspended in light of physical injury.”
The boy’s eyes widened in confusion, and Severus pressed on. “That being said, I admit, I am surprised at your inclination to trust a strange adult after witnessing the obvious nature of your upbringing. You seem… overly familiar with me. Now, I am sure that you have been taught in your muggle school that teachers are trusted figures, and I am aware that you likely believe that, but I do feel the need to caution you. Although in my case, I am a safe person, and you have nothing to fear, you had no way of knowing that. You trusted blindly that because I said I was a teacher, that meant you were safe to stay with me, but sometimes people lie. There was no way for you to tell if I meant you harm, especially as you did not give me a chance to-”
The child’s face had been growing more and more confused the longer Severus spoke and at this point, his impatience finally got the better of him and he interrupted. “But professor, what about the ‘dream’? Sure, I wouldn’t trust just anyone, teacher or not, but the ‘dream’ told me I could trust you. It said you would save me, and you did.”