Scarlet Pain

A/N: Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews. They are much appreciated. As for the now infamous letter, all shall be revealed in time (hopefully by the next chapter). I meant for it to come to light in this chapter, but it just didn\'t fit (and I didn\'t time). Anyways, hope you all like this admittedly short chapter.

Bailey: Thank you for the great review. It is much appreciated. I\'m glad you like how I\'m portraying the characters. I really am trying to keep them in character, even though it\'s difficult. Anyways, thanks for the sentiments, I\'m glad you like the story so far.


Scarlet Pain
Chapter Twenty

Harry\'s eyes widened slightly before closing in defeat. Severus was at a loss. The young man needed some healing potions and bandages.

\"There\'s a first-aid kit in one of the trunks,\" Harry rasped out, his voice tight with pain.

Severus looked around the room for the first time since he\'d entered. A quidditch trunk was shoved in the corner, two bludgers straining against their restraints. Shelves filled with books stood next to it, and there was a fireplace, unlit, took up the rest of the wall. A cot covered with pillows was pushed against the other wall, right noext to Harry, and two more trunks pushed against it. All and all, the room was almost bare, leaving plenty of room to maneuver. Snape moved to open one of the trunks by the cot, and had just gotten the lock undone when Harry cried out in panic.

\"No, not that one! That one has a - \" Too late Snape realized that the trunk he had opened was in fact the odd home of a boggart. He lunged backwards, away from the trunk, only to remember that that left Harry the closest being to the creature.

Harry watched, horrified, and the boggart stepped out at him. It seemed confused, flickering between the form of a Dementor and Vernon, before settling on the cold and terrifying form of Mr. Collins. Harry shuddered at the cruel smile on the man\'s face.

Severus couldn\'t tear his gaze away from what was happening before him. A man, somehow familiar though he couldn\'t remember from where, advanced on the younger man, a twisted smirk on his face that had even the Potions Master inwardly shuddering. Harry\'s eyes were wide with terror, even as he tried to utter the spell that would send the boggart back to the trunk.

\"Redikkul...Redi...Re...\" Harry was gone, lost to memories that Snape could only guess at.

Mr. Collins loomed over him, reaching out a hand to caress his face in mock care. Harry shuddered and shook his head.

\"No, don\'t!\" He tried to scramble away, but the man\'s hand descended onto his shoulder and pinned him in place while the second hand trailed down the front of his school robes. Harry shoved against him uselessly, his fear and shock making him ineffective. Before he knew what was happening, the young Gryffindor found his hands pinned above his head. His breath left him, eyes clenched shut in denial. Harry tried desperately to find his center...wait, his center. Snape. Snape had held him and not hurt him. As had his friends. Draco was becoming his friend. But Draco needed help too. Harry couldn\'t let this happen. Not again.

\"NO!\" Harry\'s eyes shot open as he screamed at his attacker, and finding a place past the pain, twisted his entire body around till he had one leg free, then proceeded to knee the man on him in the gut. The boggart in the form of Mr. Collins gave a quiet roar of rage, and the hand that had been busy unbuttoning Harry\'s robes now grabbed him where he had been hit with a cutting curse.

Harry\'s cry of pain snapped the Potions Master out of his horrified revery. Watching the scene in front of him had been like watching a quidditch accident. Not wanting to watch two players collide so far above the ground, yet unable to look away as they fell. Yet this was no game accident that he had no control over. With a snap of his wrist, Severus had sent the boggart flying across the room to smack heavily into the wall. He then scooted forward to where Harry was curled up on the ground and pulled the younger man into his lap, one arm slung protectively around his waist.

When the boggart, still in Mr. Collins form lunged at them again, Snape sent two more curses at it rapid fire before binding it and forcing it back into the trunk. It wasn\'t until his own heart had stopped pounding that Severus turned his attention to the young man in his arms.

Harry had curled into him, his head buried in the Potions Master\'s robes, as if hiding from his would-be attacker. His hands clenched in the professor\'s robes, as blood seeped from his wounds, staining both their clothes. Severus rubbed a comforting hand up and down Harry\'s trembling frame. Yet when the boy finally looked up, his bright green eyes were dry. Harry\'s face was ashen and his entire body spasmed with remembered shock. The young Gryffindor couldn\'t say a word; he could barely breath.

\"Harry,\" Severus murmured, shifting postition so he could put Harry down. \"I need to get the first-aid kit. I\'m going to set you down on the cot now - \" The younger man gasped out and clutched harder, head shaking in denial.

\"Don\'t go,\" he rasped. All he could think of was the comforting, safe feeling he had curled in the Potions Master\'s arms; how protected he\'d been.

\"I\'m not leaving,\" Snape sighed in frustration. And because he couldn\'t help it, \"I doubt I could even if I wanted to considering we are locked in.\" Harry stiffened slightly, and dropped his gaze before attempting to pull himself off his professor.

\"I\'m sorry, sir.\" His voice was quiet with hurt and confusion. Severus clenched his teeth as he - gently - pushed Harry onto the cot. Everthing that was happening was frustrating him, not to mention causing emotions he didn\'t even want to examine at this point.

Severus found not only pain reliever potion and bandages in the first aid kit, but also some mild healing draughts, a calming draught, and a muscle relaxing potion. The professor noticed with some alarm that many of the relaxing potions were the ones commonly used on Cruatious victims.

\"Well, Potter, lucky for you the Room decided to give you a mini-apothecary of healing potions.\"

Harry took the potions without question or hesitation, and Severus cleaned and dressed his wounds in silence. When he was finished, the professor glanced up to notice how tense the young Gryffindor was, the boy\'s eyes glued on the wall away from Snapes gaze. Without a word, the Potions Master handed the younger man a calming draught, who drank it in one swallow, a slight grimace marring his features at the bitter taste.

For a while, neither spoke a word. Finally, uncomfortable with sitting on the floor, Severus stood up. Harry\'s eyes followed him dazedly.

\"Professor?\"

\"Yes, Potter?\"

\"Do you want the cot? I don\'t need it anymore, and it\'s more comfortable than the floor.\" His words slurred together only a little. Severus just gave Harry an incredulous look, before shaking his head and beginning to pace. After a few moments Harry spoke up again.

\"Professor?\"

\"Yes Potter?\"

\"Are - are you angry at me?\" Severus whirled around sharply. Harry didn\'t meet his gaze, though he did flinch slightly at the Potions Master\'s sudden movement. Snape couldn\'t understand where the question had come from, though he figured the calming draught had led to Harry actually asking the question instead of leaving unvoiced.

Harry\'s hands twisted in his lap, his nerves getting to him with every silent moment that passed.

\"I\'m sorry, sir. I didn\'t mean to get you stuck in here with me. I know that half the stuff in here I shouldn\'t have access to, but it was just me, nobody else was involved. I\'m sorry about the boggart, it won\'t happen again, sir. I\'m so - \"

\"Silence!\" Snape cut off the boy\'s breathless tirade and glared at the young Gryffindor. Harry\'s eyes widened, and he couldn\'t stop the tiny whimper that escaped. Severus pinched the bridge of his nose, and turned away. After another few minutes during which Snape was sorely tempted to begin pacing again, he looked back at his student, who hadn\'t moved since he had silenced him.

\"Potter - Harry, who was that man?\" Harry cringed away from him, wide eyes filled with despair. Severus approached him slowly, not stopping even when the younger man stiffened visibly, and crouched down in front of him. \"I need to know who that man was.\"

\"Mr. Collins.\" The words were spoken in a voice barely above a whisper. Snape raised an eyebrow and Harry continued hesitantly. \"He\'s a business associate of uncle Vernon.\"

\"How long?\" The question could have been asking a couple of things. Yet the answer was the same either way.

\"Since the summer after 5th year.\" To say that Severus was shocked would have been an understatement.

\"Why didn\'t you say anything?\" Harry curled in on himself and looked away, mumbling something Snape couldn\'t quite catch. \"What was that?\"

\"Vernon would have... he would have... he wouldn\'t have been happy.\"

\"That doesn\'t answer the question.\"

\"Yes it does,\" Harry replied stubbornly, though still unable to meet his professor\'s eyes. Severus sighed, even with the calming draught this was proving to be difficult.

\"Harry, what did you think would happen if you told?\" The boy gave his professor an incredulous look.

\"Vernon would have been angry, and when he\'s upset, I...I\'m...my life isn\'t good. It only would have made things worse. If it could even get worse\" He muttered. Harry shuddered and clenched his hands, refusing to cry even though the tears were locked painfully in his throat, cutting off his air. \"Dumbledore said I had to go back because of the blood magic in the wards. There was nowhere else to go...\" His voice broke as a shudder wracked his small frame, but still the tears did not come. It was as if he had locked that part of him away.

Severus felt his admittedly cold, and small heart clench, and for the second time pulled Harry into his lap. And suddenly Harry\'s words were spilling past his lips unchecked.

\"They hate magic, almost as much as they hate me. They\'re afraid of me, and they hate me. Vernon only wanted me out of their lives, but he couldn\'t, no matter how much he tried, I didn\'t die. When he found out that Mr. Collins could...could...\" Harry choked on the next words. \"When he found out that he could... control me, Vernon started inviting him over more. He was a muggle, I couldn\'t, he did things...I didn\'t want to, I swear I didn\'t want to...but it was all my fault!\" Harry was reaching hysterics by this point. \"There was always blood on my hands. I can\'t get it off, it never comes off! I didn\'t mean to. I didn\'t mean to.\"

Severus rocked the trembling boy in his arms, cold fury racing through his veins with the strength of an elephant stampede. When Harry began to blame himself, he couldn\'t contain his anger and yanked the boy around by his shoulders. Harry went abruptly silent, but continued to tremble as Snape grabbed his face and forced him to look his professor in the eyes.

\"It. Was. Not. Your. Fault!\" Severus nearly yelled. \"Do you understand me?\" Harry could only nod, his hands clinging to Snape\'s robes. The Potions Master held onto the young Gryffindor until the shuddering had stopped, and the harsh breathing had softened, eyes drooping in sleep. Severus barely remember to transfigure the cot into a more comfortable bed complete with a comforter before drifting off to sleep himself.


TBC