Chapter 2:
Every time we lie awake Only when I stop to think about it I hate everything about you
After every hit we take
Every feeling that I get
But I haven't missed you yet
Why do I love you?
-I Hate Everything About You, 3 Days Grace
Madame Pomfrey had seen a lot of hurt children in her thirty years at Hogwarts but this boy was by far the worst. AND she hadn't even run her tests yet. "Lay him down on that bed Severus." She commanded the Potions Master before getting ready for the tests.
Severus set Harry down (Harry? When did he start thinking of him as Harry?) and then sat down in the chair next to the bed. Madame Pomfrey waved her wand in complicated patterns and a scroll appeared in the air and grew longer with each swish of her wand. Once she was finally done and the list was about 3 feet long she began to read it. Severus grew worried as he saw her facial expressions change, and at one point she looked like she would vomit. "Poppy? What is it?!"
"Instead of just giving me a list of his current injuries, it gave me a list of all the injuries he's received in his lifetime. I managed to narrow it down to the ones he hasn't received at school and it's rather shocking."
Severus looked at the list over her shoulder. "SHOCKING?! It's a bloody miracle he's still alive! Look at all this. A broken wrist at the age of just two? All these welts and bruises he's been given. And…. Is that what I think it is?!"
Poppy nodded sadly. "The molestation started at four, and he lost his virginity at six. It seems the sexual abuse seemed to really start up after that. And by the automatic DNA matches, it wasn't just his Uncle. Other people as well. I'm surprised he stayed sane throughout all his years at Hogwarts."
Thinking back on all the classes that Severus had with Harry, he remembered all the times the boy would flinch whenever he was around other people and how he avoided touch. And he was so much smaller than everyone else! Right now he could easily pass for a first year. Severus swore to himself. "I can't believe I didn't notice! All the signs were right there! The flinching, the avoidance of touch, the size!"
"He is incredibly short and thin. We'll have to put him on nutrition potions right away. It seems he won't be ready to start school on the 1st."
"It's that bad? Poor kid. Have you noticed, he's practically a magnet for bad luck?"
"Severus Snape, feeling sorry for the Boy-Who-Lived? Better prepare your supplies; it looks as though the apocalypse is coming!" Poppy laughed at the glare on Severus' face.
"I've never really HATED him Poppy just….. Strongly disliked him for awhile. Obviously I had the wrong image of him. I never really noticed how quickly he seemed to grow up."
"Well it was necessary. He won't be able to live a normal life though….. He's too grown up. He's going to need someone to talk to about this though. Can you think of anyone who's gone through something similar?"
Severus thought for a moment. "My godson, Draco Malfoy. His father never raped him but he was beaten and verbally abused up until this summer. Narcissa and I helped him come to terms with it once his father was put into jail after the Ministry incident. I'd help Harry but he'd probably do better with someone his own age."
"But Draco Malfoy of all people? The two of them hate each other. It won't help, they'll just fight the whole time."
"Believe me, Draco has changed a lot over the summer. I don't think he'll be fighting with Harr---Potter. And I don't think Harry is in a position to argue right now."
Poppy smirked at the slip-up of Harry's name but decided not to say anything of it. It'd be better to let Severus come to term with his feelings on his own. "Alright we'll try it. Bring Draco up later once Harry's woken up. For now, we'll heal him and then you can stay watch until he wakes up."
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A/N Sorry for the late upload, too much stuff going on. Thanks all of the reviewing :).
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