Taken

Body



Disclaimer: *sighs* I still don\'t own this, so leave me alone. *pouts* It\'s not like I have anything you\'d want anyway. *brightens* Oh! I know, I\'ll give you my really old magazines that I just can\'t seem to throw away, cause that\'s about all I own. I mean, come on! I\'m a full time student, a part-time worker, writing four posted stories and two not, and beta reading for someone else. Do you honestly think I\'d have time to own anything?

Chapter 3: Resorting and Introducing Mr. Nice

Finally well enough to be released from the hospital, Harry clutched onto Snuffles\' leash, while the other hand clutched Severus\' robe tightly. "I-I can\'t do this! I\'m not ready to face those people yet. Sev, they\'ll expect something of me, recognition, and I\'m not ready." A whining tone had entered Harry\'s voice.

Pulling Harry into a hug, Severus tried to dampen his fear. "Harry, now I know that the student body doesn\'t know what has happened to you, but you will make it through this. No matter what. You will have my support and the support of your godfather, Albus Dumbledore, and your two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger." Running his hands in soothing circles on his back, Sev continued to try to assuage his fears. "I promise you that no matter what happens, they will be there with me." Lightening his tone, he said, "Look on the bright side, they will be able to fill in some of the blanks about your past, things I don\'t know."

Noticing that Harry was calm, Severus led him towards the Great Hall. "Now remember, although you will be joining your year mates in classes, you will be taking extra courses in the evenings that will hope you cope with being blind and doing magic. I\'ll try to be at all these classes to help you." Giving Harry\'s hand a gentle squeeze, Severus pushed open the doors into the Great Hall, causing all the chatter to stop and all eyes to turn towards them. Steeling themselves, they entered.

As soon as the mass of students saw who entered, furious whispering started. Everyone was curious as to why Harry had a dog, and why he was following Professor Severus Snape, the most hated teacher in Hogwarts. The man most believed to be in league with You-Know-Who. Staring in disbelief at the two, the whispering surmounted when they noticed that Harry seemed to hide behind the Potion\'s Master when they reached the teachers table.

"Ah, welcome. I have an announcement to make," raising his hands in a grand gesture, Dumbledore waited for silence, smiling in merriment at everyone in the hall. "It is time for all of you to know why Harry has been absent." Sobering at this, he looked out upon fac faces of the students, noticing that he had everyone\'s undivided attention. "Over the course of the summer, Mr. Potter suffered many grievous injuries. We will not ask him of these, but three of these have left permanent marks. The first is that Harry can not talk for long periods of time. The second is that Harry has no recollection of people or anything that happened over the summer. He remembers everything he has ever been taught, but not the people who taught it. The last, and most serious, is that young Harry is now blind. His dog, Snuffles, shall act as his seeing eye dog." Cheering almost instantly, he continued, "Now, onto much happier things. It has been decided, that due to Harry\'s summer, that he should be resorted!" Turning towards Harry, "Harry, if you\'d please?"

Taking his first tentative steps away from Severus, Harry clutched Snuffle\'s leash tightly, completely relying on his godfather to get him there soundly. Stopping, Harry felt the hat dropped onto his head, and a whispering started in his ear.

\'So, Harry Potter, back again? I think I\'ve had more conversations with you than any other student, ever.\'

\'Um, I wouldn\'t know, sir,\' he thought.

\'Ah, I see! Not so brave anymore, so definitely not Gryffindor. Hmm... Very smart! And very loyal, as well. Talented,\' the hat chuckled. \'Hmm, but where to put you? Ah! I also see you are quite dark, cunning, and sly. Slytherin to the bone. If only they knew of the notions you keep in this little head of yours. Who would have thought somebody was capable of that complex a mask? I told you the first time, didn\'t I? The House that suites you best is\'

"SLYTHERIN!" Harry only had quiet acceptance to what the sorting hat had decided. Furious whispering started from outraged students. Cries of shock, outrage, and traitorously rang throughout the hall as Severus escorted Harry to the Slytherin table.

"Well? Move," Severus growled out at Draco, and the Slytherin student sitting next to him. Blinking out of their stunned looks, they moved apart, allowing Harry to sit between them. Helping Harry sit down, he said, "Harry, to your left is Draco Malfoy. He is in your year, so he\'ll be sharing a dorm room with you. Should you need anything, anything at all, feel free to tell Draco." Sending a pointed look to the boy, Draco knew that Severus meant business. "Don\'t hesitate to ask him, he doesn\'t mind. Do you, Draco?"

Noticing another glare being shot at him, Draco said, "Of course not. Anything I can help you with, I will." Sneering mentally, Draco began to wonder why he had to be bridled with the burden invalid. He\'s probably only faking it anyway, for attention. I bet that him, the Weasel, and the mudblood got into a fight. Once they\'re all hunky dory again, he won\'t need anyone, and his sight will miraculously fix itself. Turning back to his meal, he tried to ignore the boy next to him, and what Severus was saying to him.

"Now, to your right you have Chantel Avery. Chantel is in her seventh year and is very friendly." Nodding, Harry blinked his big, milky green eye\'s at Severus as he ran a fatherly hand over Harry\'s hair, in a futile attempt to tame it, before heading to the teacher\'s table.

Folding his hands together Harry lowered his head, not allowing anyone to see his face. Touching his shoulder, Chantel said, "Hey, Harry. Would you like me to tell you what we have on the table for dinner?" Looking up in surprise, Harry uttered a hoarse please. Going over everything, Chantel explained what there was and got Harry what he indicated he wanted. Watching, Draco began to notice that the boy across from him was nothing like the HarrHarry Potter. It was almost like meeting someone for the first time. Carefully, he watched how Chantel explained things to Harry, paying more attention when she started talking to him once his plate was full.

"Now, Harry, at twelve o\'clock, you have your mashed potatoes and gravy. At two o\'clock, there is your chicken. And finally, at eight o\'clock, we have your corn. Your pumpkin juice is right past the outside of your plate, at eight o\'clock as well. I\'ll hand you your fork and knife, and then you can begin your meal." Draco noticed Chantel\'s nurturing, caring tone, and he noticed that she moved his hands over the areas she indicated, as she was talking.

Deciding that maybe Harry wasn\'t faking it, Draco looked into Harry\'s face. Noticing the cautious and guarded expression, he moved up to his eyes. The once brilliant emerald eyes were now belied by blindness. Sighing, Draco decided that the boy definitely wasn\'t faking anything, and that he should give him a chance.

Noticing Harry\'s odd way of eating, he began to wonder why Harry chewed so much before slowly swallowing such small bites of food. "Harry?" Draco cautiously asked.

Looking to the general vicinity of where he thought the voice came, he said, "Yes?"

Tilting his head to the side, he asked, "Why are you eating like that?"

Getting a confused look on his face, it dawned on Harry what Draco meant. "Oh, because my throat was permanently maimed. It wasn\'t just my speaking that was affected. I\'ll never be able to eat like I did before. I have to be careful not to do any more damage to it."

Reaching a hand towards Draco, he started to pull it back, quivering slightly. "I...I was wondering Draco, if you could..." Constantly stopping his quiet sentence, Draco had to lean in to hear what the quiet boy was trying to get at. "It\'s just that Sev has been constantly there, holding my hand, or with an arm on my shoulder, or the base of my back. I was wondering if you would... could you..." Blushing, Harry continued, "I\'m scared," he managed to say, before falling silent once again.

Curiosity turned to dawning, and Draco reached a hand out to lightly grasp one of Harry\'s hands, entwining the smaller, pale hand in his own. "Does this help make you feel better?" Draco asked.

Nodding, Harry happily continued with his meal.

TBC

Again, not as long as I wanted, but oh well. After the next chapter, we\'ll get to more of my own ideas. Not that I don\'t like LunarMistDarknessEclipe\'s idea. It\'s just that some of the chapters are a little too short for my liking. I try to make them longer, but this is about all I could get.

Anywho, please leave me a wonderful review.

Myk