tw// discussion of child abuse.
Severus made his way behind Poppy into her office. He felt the tenseness of the looming discussion. He knew whatever was listed on that parchment would most definitely confirm the man's suspicions.
That they all had failed the boy, big time.
Poppy sat down behind her desk, placing her head in her hands after gesturing for Severus to occupy the chair sitting across from her.
They sat in an awkward silence for quite some time before she spoke up. "I don't even know where to begin Severus. I mean, how could we be three months into the school year and no one has even noticed? Where did we go wrong? I don't even - I mean - what do we do?"
Her face held an impassive expression, and she was obviously working hard to hide her nerves.
Severus sighed. Honestly, he had no clue how they had missed it, how he had missed it. He's prided himself for years on his ability to spot these sorts of situations. Nine times out of a ten, Slytherin usually reigns in all the abused children, and Severus catches them right away.
But because it was Potter? He was so blinded by the boy's father, so blinded by absolute hatred for the man, that he took it out on the child. He was completely oblivious to all the signs screaming at him now. All the warning signs blaring, and he had completely disregarded them due to a years old grudge he held.
Merlin, Lily would be extremely disappointed in Severus. Hell, Severus was disappointed in himself.
"Honestly Poppy, I think we both know what's going on here. We need to get to the bottom of it first, and figure out how in Merlin's name we missed this. How the child bloody glamoured himself for months with no magical exhaustion." The man huffed angrily. "Hell, if I am being honest, there must have been someone else casting the glamour on him without him nor us noticing. An eleven-year old muggle raised child could not have the power or strength to keep that glamour erected. But who-"
And suddenly Severus didn't need to ask that question. A deep fear settled in his chest as he recalled his meeting with the Headmaster. He knew something was off with the whole Dumbledore-Potter situation. Not particularly on Potter's part, but on Dumbledore's.
It can't be.
He recalled, just a little bit ago, the fight he had with the Headmaster. Severus had said that Poppy would find the abuse that Albus had chosen to ignore.
And Albus...
What had he said?
"Are you so sure that she will?"
Severus felt a hatred so intense, so deep, that he's never felt before well up inside of him.
Albus Dumbledore knew.
Albus Dumbledore knew, and yet he hid it from everyone for eleven years.
He had, without a doubt, casted the glamour on the boy.
"That bastard!"
* * *
Harry sighed as he counted the tiles on the ceiling for the fifth time. He had no idea what Snape and Madam Pomfrey were talking about, but it was obviously something serious if it was taking this long.
And Harry couldn't even leave! Snape had said he had to stay here and relax for the rest of the day. But nothing was even wrong with him! All that happened was some dumb panic attack that Harry has dealt with before. So why was he forced to sit here?
Harry doesn't necessarily remember the event, but he does remember hearing Snape on the brim of subconsciousness saying that he had suffered 'an attack.'
Honestly, trust the man to make the situation seem that much more dramatic.
Plus, Harry knows he had a panic attack, because he recognizes the unfortunate side effects. The shaky limbs, the still lingering panic, and most importantly, the embarrassment.
This was, what? The third time he's let Professor Snape see him like this?
At this point, the man should just become his personal therapist.
Harry snickered at that thought. Professor Snape, caring about someone? Sitting down to listen to their problems?
As if.
But somewhere, Harry remembers the feeling of safety and comfort, and black robes and strong arms, and a deep voice telling him it will be okay.
Harry hurriedly pushed that out of his mind. He had no clue what that was and he didn't even want to begin to think on it.
Hell, the man was probably in there now, mocking Harry and calling him a liar.
Because Harry knows that he saw his arms. He knows that Snape saw his marks. Anyone who wanted to did.
Because he was stupid enough to take his sweater off.
So theoretically, he knows that Snape knows about his home life.
He would have panicked if he felt enough to do so. He was currently numb.
The panic would just hit him later.
It always did.
* * *
Poppy watched as Severus paced back and forth, muttering stuff under his breath. She had no clue what discovery the man had, but promptly after calling someone a bastard, he got up and started doing this.
For the past ten minutes.
The healing matron watched as the man cursed every known thing in existence under his breath before she intervened.
"Severus! Merlin, what have you discovered that's got you so worked up? Good lord, sit down and tell me what's going on in that head of yours before I need to place you in a hospital bed alongside Harry."
The man felt his cheeks redden as she scolded him and he sneered. Honestly, she still acted as if he were a school boy. He huffed as he sat down in his chair once more, leaning forward to place his elbows on Poppy's desk, his chin in his hands.
It was silent for a few moments before he blurted it out.
"The Headmaster knows."
Poppy's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the man. "What on earth brought you to that conclusion, Severus? Albus would never—"
"Hide things for his so called 'Greater Good'? I hate to break it to you, woman, but you need to open your damn eyes. When, in all your years of knowing him, has he ever actually done something good for the greater good?" Severus snapped at her, before sighing and calming himself down.
It's not Poppy's fault. She has nothing to do with this.
He took a deep breath before looking her in the eyes.
"Poppy, he knew. You wondered why the boy's core wasn't depleted? Because Albus knew, and he glamoured the boy, everyday. It's a theory, yes, but it's too obvious to be anyone but him. I don't know how he did it, but he did," Severus sighed, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
"We had a discussion. On Tuesday. I had suspicions that something was wrong with Potter. This panic attack wasn't his first one I've witnessed. He freaked out that day. I caught him out after curfew. Looking back, he looked terrible; but I did not put the pieces together until later. Long story short, I suspected something was amiss and went to Albus. He- that man denied everything I said and came up with some idiotic explanation for everything."
Severus recalled the cruel smirk Albus had thrown his way just before leaving the room that night. Dumbledore was hiding something. That much was obvious.
The man was the one who placed Harry there in the first place. After Minerva and, partially himself, had told him how horrible the Dursley's were.
On the walk to the hospital wing, with the shaking child in his arms, Severus finally realized where he'd heard the name Vernon before.
Long story short, he'd heard Lily complain about the man her sister married numerous times during Order meetings.
Merlin he should have put the pieces together a long time ago. Before that horrid man Potter calls Uncle could get his filthy hands on him...
"I told him about the signs I had unconsciously noticed. How small the boy is, the way he flinches at every little sound, the way he purposely never gets too close to older male students as well as male professors. I told him how the boy barely eats enough to survive, and how he's protective over his food in the Great Hall. How jumpy and skittish the boy is. All these things that I've never noticed before...but that's not the point. He excused every little thing, Poppy. Said that the boy looks the way he does because of his father, said that Potter is so 'jumpy' because of me. Which could be true, if it weren't for the fact that I only see him in my class and in the halls. If I was the reason he was terrified daily, why would he act the way he does when he's not around me? When I've seen him in the halls, or dinner, or the times I see him but he can't see me?"
And I know what these habits the boy has means. Because I tended to have quite the same when I was a boy.
But he didn't say that.
Severus felt anger boiling inside him again. The man truly made no sense for his reasoning as to why 'Harry is a perfectly normal boy, Severus.'
Any random person on the street could look close enough and realize something was wrong with Potter. And although it took Severus this long to figure it out, he wasn't going to back down until he got to the truth. Until Potter was safe.
Until Dumbledore couldn't deny it any longer.
Severus realized that the woman had not said anything after he finished. She was looking at him, a curious look written on her face.
"You said that Albus told you I wouldn't find anything, correct?" After seeing Severus' confirmation, she spoke again. "If he was the one casting the glamour, obviously he was confident enough to believe that we would see nothing. So how did you end up breaking through that glamour without even knowing until now that there was one in the first place?"
Severus thought about it. How could he have seen the marks on the child, if Poppy's spell told them that the boy had had a glamour placed on him?
And obviously the boy's friends Weasley and Granger saw them as well.
So how have they never noticed before?
"The boy, he usually wears his sweater, no matter where he's at, no matter what the temperature is." Obviously the boy didn't know he had a glamour on him, or he wouldn't have gone to the extents he did to hide his abuse. "What are we missing? We know he had a glamour on him, your readings said so, but how?"
They both sat there for a while in silence. Neither of them wanted to voice what their thoughts were just yet. It was something they hoped would be proven false once they spoke with Albus.
They didn't want to bring into existence the possible fact that Albus Dumbledore simply didn't have time to cast a glamour on the boy today like he usually does.
Suddenly, Severus remembered the parchment Poppy had. He really didn't want to see it, but he knew he needed to if only to solidify neglect at best. He gestured to the scroll still laying on her desk and held his hand out.
"Oh right! I completely forgot about the medical exam. Read this over, Severus. I'm going to go check on the boy. And then we're meeting with Albus." She handed him the scroll, patting his shoulder once before leaving the room.
Severus sighed, as he held the list in his hands. He did not want to open it and have the horrible life of Harry Potter slapped in his face. But he supposed it was payback for the way he'd treated Harry all this time.
He opened the scroll and read.
Every word dug deep into Severus' heart. Head wounds. Broken bones. Second degree burns. Third degree burns. Internal Bleeding. Internal Bruising. Welts. Deep cuts and lacerations. Dislocated joints. Malnutrition. All of this, from the earliest age of 5 to now.
And the signs of sexual abuse...
Severus felt his breakfast coming up once again as he took in every word. Internal tears. Hip dislocation. Asphyxiation. Throat bruising...
He felt sick thinking about the fact that Petunia and Vernon Dursley were the cause of this, and they have a child of their own.
But there's one thing that is painfully clear.
Harry Potter has been abused.
Horribly and viciously by cold hearted, sick, twisted people, who were supposed to love and cherish him.
His family did everything but that.
And Severus will do everything in his power to make sure the child never has to go back to them. He's going to make sure the rest of his childhood is happy and safe.
And he's going to do it whether it's the last damn thing he does.
Because Harry Potter does not deserve to be thrown down stairs.
Harry Potter does not deserve to have grease poured on his arms.
He does not deserve to have an iron held to his chest.
Harry Potter does not deserve the broken bones, the head wounds, the starvation and the hurt, the neglect from his family, the loveless household, the fear and panic.
Lily's boy, deserves none of it.
And Severus is going to make them pay.
Starting with Albus.
* * *
a/n: okayyyy so here is chap 11 :) I am aware how very confusing it probably is right now but I promise it will all make sense soon. Hang in there besties !! Everything will be explained in due time. leave comments, reviews anything ur heart desires :)))
let me know if you spot any mistakes so I can go back and fix them !!