There, echoed Harry's laughs as he dances through Hogwart's dark great staircase tower. The thunders are the only light source and that's enough for him.
Tears falling, he hugged himself and continued to dance despite knowing that it's dangerous to do so. One wrong step can lead to a serious injury or worse, death. His robe made a pattern as he dances weakly. His knees began to shake and his eyes started to blur, he laughed when he almost slipped but continued to go upstairs. He at least wants to see Hogwart's beauty one last time despite the heavy rain and loud thunders.
Surely, Harry is aware that behind him is a trail of his own blood. Blood that's coming out of his fresh and deep cuts. Every throw of his hands, scattered the blood to the floor, railing of the stairs and even the wall, but he doesn't seem to care anymore. He's too tired and too weak to care. It's currently middle of the night and since it's already curfew, he's sure that no students are wandering at this hour, and its too dark to even see the dark red bloods scattered everywhere.
He wants to get to the top of the tower, but he can feel that he's becoming weak and weak as he took every steps his weak and shaky knees can, though Harry knows that his body will give up eventually anytime soon.
'This is it then' Harry thought as his tears continued to flow out of his eyes. He stopped dancing when his body suddenly ran out of energy. He sat weakly at the stairs and looked at the sky through the big window in front of him.
"Goodbye Ron, and Hermione" he murmured slowly and smiled. He wants to take his glasses off and wipe his tears but he's not able to due to lack of strength.
He sat there and waited for his time.
After some moments, he smiled as he heard some ringing. 'Finally, I have longed for this'
"-Potter?" he heard a voice that sounds like his potion's professor. "It's curfew already so what are you doing out here- POTTER!" He heard him shouted beside his body.
He smiled one last time when he confirmed that it really is the man that hated him most. It was all blurry but he didn't cared as long as he felt the familiar atmosphere around. The man who annoyed the hell out of him but he sees as his father figure. It was Snape. Severus Snape.
Harry didn't fought when his eyelids took cover of his sight. Snape panicked and didn't know what to do. He put his fingers on Harry's neck and a relieved sigh came out of his mouth. There was a pulse but weak and faint. Simple thing but Snape is happy for that. Snape breaths in and out and didn't let himself panic again as he did earlier.
Without hesitating, Snape carried Harry in his arm carefully and teleports by apparition to the Hospital wing. He grunts and immediately put Harry on a bed and tried to lessen the blood pouring out of the boy's wrist. "POPPY!" he shouted and panicked even more when he felt Harry's pulse getting weaker by the second.
"Bloody hell Severus. Do you even know what time is it?!" Snape heard Poppy's complain through the distance but he did not care whether it's midnight or dawn.
"POPPY! COME IN HERE! JUST- PLEASE!" Poppy was shocked- even Severus himself by what he said. It was so unusual for Snape to plead nor ask for help so she ran up to him even without her other sandal on just to see a bloody Harry on a bed. "Bloody hell. What in Merlin happened to him?" Poppy also panicked and immediately casted a spell to heal the wounds. "Why haven't you healed him before you gave him to me?!!" Poppy snapped and turned to Snape and her angry expression turned into a shocked one when he saw a tearing up Snape.
"Because I didn't know what to do! You are the one who can help him, not me!" Poppy knew otherwise but didn't argue. Instead, she sighed and patted Snape's shoulder. "Okay whatever you say. Just wipe your tears and clean yourself up, you look ugly" Snape haven't realized that he was even crying. He was about to wipe his tears with his fingers but he saw Harry's blood on his hands causing him to look pale. "I got this. You just go and get some rest" Poppy said but Snape didn't moved an inch. "Okay how about this. You at least clean yourself, go to that bed and sleep and I'll wake you up when he wakes up, okay?"
Snape just looked at her, did a self cleaning spell, grabbed a chair then pulled it beside Harry's bed and sat there. "Just take care of him" Snape said and Poppy had no choice but to do what he commanded. She checked for other injuries and she smiled where there are no signs of other complications.
Some time later, Poppy exclaimed when she was sure that Harry's condition is stable. "There. We just have to wait for him to wake up" Snape nodded and made a relieved expression. "Thanks" Poppy looked at him for a moment and then went to get tea.
"Here" Poppy handed him a cup and he nodded at her. There was silence at first until Poppy spoke again. "You know, you have changed, Severus" She said then took a sip. Severus did the same but couldn't figure out how he change like what the lady said. "You said I changed? How so?" What Poppy said interests him.
"You care for him" Snape looked at her and shrugged his shoulder. "I have always cared for my students, Poppy" Snape replied and Poppy scoffed. "You brought him here by yourself". This made Snape even more confused. 'I brought Potter here. How did that changed me?' "I have failed to see where and how I changed. I believe that you're not making any sense" Snape said and then finished his cup.
Poppy rolled her eyes and looked at the sleeping boy. "I haven't saw you that worried for a student, Severus. You panicked for someone else's sake. I saw how worried your eyes were" Poppy said that kind of shocked Snape. "I did?" Poppy nodded and smiled at him. "Yes you did, Severus. For once again, you accepted someone in your life. Your heart let him enter even though you tried your best not to. Not to mention , he is your most hated student." Snape became quite and thought to himself. 'Was I really that worried? And my most hated student? Who even invented that?'
Snape put the cup on the near table and looked at the sleeping Harry. "Anyway, this question have been bothering me ever since you brought the boy in here. Where did you find him?" Poppy asked and Snape grabbed the boy's hand and inspected it Only to saw the scars of the obvious deep cuts. Scene repeating in his head, he sighed then turned to the lady. "I saw him at the great staircase tower" Snape answered. "And what were you doing there, may I ask?..... Don't tell me that you were trying to do it again?" Poppy asked with her serious tone and Snape shook his head instantly. It felt like an interrogation for him. "I wasn't planning to do it. I was just taking a walk and was also monitoring if some students are breaking the rule and well I saw one. It is a good thing that I saw him before he..." Snape doesn't want to continue what he was about to say. Snape sighed and waited for Poppy's response and since he didn't get one, he immediately know that it's a sign to continue. "I wasn't sure at first if it were him and then it suddenly thundered and..... I saw him there sitting. Face pale and bloody wrists" The last part shattered both of their hearts. It even made Snape more curious about why would Harry even do that? He have friends and family at the least, so why?
"What's bothering me is the reason why he did it" Snape said and saw in his peripheral vision that Poppy turned to him. "Maybe it was the Dursleys?" Poppy wasn't about his answer but Snape instantly turned to her and frowned while placing Harry's hand on the bed slowly and carefully. "The Dursleys?" Poppy returned Snape's frown with a much frustrated one. "Have you forgotten? The Dursleys." Poppy said but Snape's frown grew darker. "You don't know?"
"Know what exactly?" Snape answered totally not in the mood. "The Dursleys abused him" The lady said that made Snape's eye twitched. 'Abused? Did I heard that right?' "They always beat him real hard and even make him sleep in the cupboard! I really hate them for doing that to this little boy" Even Poppy is angry and her statement made Snape somehow mad for some reason. "So, that's why he's staying here even though holidays" Snape said and Poppy nodded. "Life has been hard for him" Snape agreed at that.
"I'm happy" Poppy said and she received a glare from the man. "No I didn't mean because of what happened to him. I'm happy because.... I'm just happy for you. I, myself also don't understand and definitely didn't expected that you'll actually care for this child right here". Actually Snape couldn't believe it either. Not until he recalls all their moments together. All times when the child broke the rules and Snape always got stuck with the boy. All those scoldings. "Well I think I know why" Snape said and Poppy just inspected his face and smiled when the end of Snape's lips rised. "Hmm why?" Poppy asked not taking her eyes of of Snape.
"Maybe because whenever I'm with him, I felt like he's the child I never had" Snape smiled, eyes disappearing. This had shocked Poppy and actually saw their Father and son bond.
-------------