Taken

Body



Disclaimer: *sighs* I still don\'t own any of this. Not Harry, not Draco, and not Sev. Oh, none of the other characters either. Even the original plot line came from someone else. Also, I\'m poor. Don\'t sue me. All you could get would be my computer, which is broke down quite often, and my car, which is broke down more often than my computer. =)

Chapter 5:

Cautiously stepping into the room, Harry stood there, unsure of where he was to go, or what he was to do. He hadn\'t a clue what anything looked like, or who was in the room with him. The only ones he knew of were Draco and Snuffles. Nervously, Harry shifted from foot to foot, wondering if anyone was going to step forward and introduce themselves. He\'d settle with someone just stepping forward and telling him what the room looked like.

Looking over, Draco noticed Harry\'s nervousness and could have slapped himself in the head for being so scatter brained. Walking close to him, Draco said, "Harry, almost every Slytherin is down here. Our color scheme is our House colors, silver and green." Laying his hand on Harry\'s shoulder, Draco started guiding Harry around the room, giving graphic details of what things looked like. As they headed over to different people, they would reach out to him, gently touching his arm or shoulder and introducing themselves. Following Draco, Harry never once had a reason to not trust him, following him and expecting him to be completely truthful with him.

Hmm, I\'m kind of glad that Professor Snape put this on me. I\'m not sure some of the other Slytherins would have had the patience to do this with him. Looking over at his companion, Draco shook his head in wonderment. After everything he\'s been through, he\'s still so trusting. I mean, I don\'t know what exactly happened, but even I have a pretty good idea. I bet it was those damn muggles he lives with.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, Draco realized he had put himself on autopilot, taking Harry to the fifth year dorm room without explaining how they got there. Cursing under his breath, Draco noticed Harry\'s slightly amused and nervous face. Seeing the boy wringing his hands, Draco realized that he wasn\'t sure how to speak with Draco, or if he wanted to. Walking closer to him, Draco rubbed up Harry\'s arm in a comforting manner.

"It\'s okay, Harry. I won\'t push if you\'re not ready." Draco tried to put emotion into his voice to prove to the skittish boy that he wouldn\'t prod. He didn\'t want to cause the boy to pull further into the shell he seemed to have built up.

Smiling to the general vicinity he thought Draco was, Harry said, "I want to try to tell you what little bit Sev would tell me." Biting his lip, he said, "Could we, uh, maybe sit down on a bed, or something?" Draco looked a little confused at the request, but then he understood. Harry would simply feel more comfortable, and less likely to fall, if he were sitting. Silently, Draco led Harry over to his own bed, not even thinking of taking Harry to his new bed.

Sighing, Harry decided that it would just be best to plunge in. If he thought about it too long he would probably chicken out. "Okay, now I\'m only going to say what Sev said. Some of this stuff I don\'t know the meaning of." Running a hand through his mused hair, Harry plowed right ahead. "He said that I had been mentally, physically, and sexually abused. He explained the first two to me, but told me that he didn\'t want to explain the last, that it was something hped ped I would never remember." Sucking in a trembling breath, he continued, "But, I think I\'m starting to remember. I haven\'t told Sev this, but the last few nights I\'ve been having dreams of things that have happened." Shuddering, he said, "The dominant person in my dreams is a man called Vernon. He\'s rather large, not the largest of the group, but he\'s the most violent."

Falling silent, Harry began to wonder how Draco would react to this knowledge. He could only hope that he wouldn\'t turn away from him. He started to become nervous when he didn\'t get a response from the other boy, but listening to his surroundings told him why. As he listened, he could distinguish muffled crying past his own erratic and heavy breathing. Feeling wetness falling on him, Harry was not surprised when he felt himself drawn into a comforting embrace. This one was similar to his Sev\'s, but with a difference. Sev seemed to exude a predominant emotion of love like a parent, while Draco\'s love seemed different in someway. Running comforting circles over Draco\'s back, he crooned to the crying boy, wondering what he should do for him to help. Harry then started murmuring nonsensical ramblings, telling him how everything would bay. ay.

Sniffling pathetically, Draco let out a strained chuckle while he wiped his eyes. "And here I thought I\'d be the one comforting you." Pulling his emotions together, Draco looked over to the boy. Furrowing his eyebrows, he wondered how the boy could seem to have no reaction to what he just told him. Not wanting to help along bringing back those emotions, Draco asked Harry a different questions. "So, you wanted to talk to me about Sirius Black, your godfather?"

Smiling brightly, Harry whistled, causing Snuffles to come cautiously lumbering up to the two. Brightening when he felt the wet muzzle touch his hand, Harry began his tail. "Sev introduced my to Snuffles. He then introduced me to the concept of a...a..um, er...well, you know. That thing humans can do, change from animal to human, human to animal." Waiting for an answer, Harry was happy to hear Draco say that he knew what he was tng ang about, he called it an animagius. "Anyway, the point being that Sirius is actually innocent and Snuffles."

Jumping back in horror, Draco whipped his wand out of his robe, pointing it at the grim-like dog that was sitting next to Harry. Rolling his eyes in a doggy fashion, there was a pop, and where once was Snuffles, now there was a bedraggled looking man. Gulping, Draco prepared to defend himself and Harry.

Sighing in exasperation, Sirius said, "Didn\'t Harry just say I was innocent? Hmm? You can put the wand down." Seeing that the boy didn\'t believe him, Sirius turned to Harry. "Do you want to continue with the story, or should I tell it?" Noticing Harry\'s hand gesture, Sirius realized it was time for him to take over. Harry\'s throat was probably pretty sore, he hadn\'t been using it that much this summer.

"All right, if you promise not to hex me, I\'ll tell you the rest." Watching as the blonde boy lowered his wand a fraction, Sirius took that as a sign to continue. "As I\'m sure you remember, I escaped from Azkaban in Harry\'s third year." Cocking his head to the side, Sirius eyed the youth before him, starting to ramble about other things. "I guess it would have been your third year as well. Who would have thought that I\'d be talking to Lucius\' son? Hmm, you look just like him. I wonder..."

Interrupting him, Draco growled out, "All right, mutt. I think you\'ve gotten a little off track."

Giving the boy a sheepish look, Sirius thought about where he had left off. "Well, I was imprisoned in Azkaban, without a trial mind you, for betraying the Potter\'s and the murder of one wizard and twelve innocent muggles. The truth is, Peter Pettigrew was the one who should have been charged." Running a hand through his straggly, dirty hair, Sirius launched into his emotion filled tale. Towards the end, he was seething with anger and was practically foaming at the mouth with anger and the need to find the rat.

"So you mean to tell me that the rat that bit Goyle?" Snorting when they shook their heads in confirmation, Draco said, "I knew there was a reason I didn\'t like that vermin."

Turning his head, Harry wondered if he meant Ron or Scabbers. From what Sev had told him, Draco didn\'t get along too great with his other two friends, Ron and Hermione. Focussing in on now, Harry decided he needed to ask something of Draco. "So, you, uh, won\'t tell anyone, right?"

"Tell anyone what?" Draco asked with a confused look on his face.

"You won\'t tell anyone who Snuffles really is," was Harry\'s slightly pleading reply.

Smiling, Draco sat down next to Harry again. Taking Harry\'s hand back into his, he said, "You don\'t have to worry. I won\'t tell anyone." Looking over to Sirius, who had just reverted to Snuffles form, Draco put on a mock sneering face. "Just make sure that mutt doesn\'t leave any messes." Turning back to Harry, he said, "He is house trained, right?" Raising his eyebrows, he and Harry laughed when they heard the dog growl low in his throat.

Hearing a knock on the door, Draco rose from his bed. Opening the door, he smiled up at his Head of House. Draco might have grown to six foot tall over the summer, but that still put him a good four or more inches shorter than Severus. "Ah, welcome Professor Snape. Do enter." Making a hand gesture for him to enter, Sev suddenly found himself with an armful of Harry. It seems as though Harry had flung himself from the bed to him when he entered.

"SEV!!! I\'m so happy you\'re here! I\'ve missed you!" was Harry\'s overly enthusiastic exclamations.

Raising his eyebrows, Sev couldn\'t help but smile at the irony of the boy missing him. "I just saw you about fifteen minutes ago. Remember? Right at the end of dinner."

"I know, I know. But I still missed." Dragging Sev to his bed, Harry pushed him down onto it, settling himself in his lap.

Automatically, Sev put his arms around Harry in a protective embrace. "I heard that you gave the little one a thorough tour. I\'m very pleased with you." Smiling in appreciation at he boy, he looked down to the figure that was cuddling him on his lap. "Harry, babe, did everyone greet you nicely?"

"Uh-huh. Wherever Draco took me, the people there would introduce themselves. They were ever so nice," sighing, Harry cuddled further into Sev.

"I\'m glad to hear that," looking at Snuffles, Sev even had a smile for him. Noticing the disbelieving look on the dog\'s face, Sev couldn\'t help but smile even more. He was in such a good mood from a discussion he had just had with the Headmaster.

*flashback*

"Ah, Severus! Just the Potion\'s Master I was looking for!" Snorting, Severus was tempted to point out that he was the only Potion\'s Master around. Glaring at the man, Severus was severely irritated, he was on his way up to see his Harry. "Now, I understand you\'re on your way to see Harryt tht this is important." Blinking owlishly at the man, Severus wondered how he knew what he had been thinking. "It has to do with Harry\'s guardianship."

Following the Headmaster, Severus eagerly sat down, even going as far as to accept a lemon drop from the insane old man. "I have decided that there is no way that Harry is going to an orphanage. It was cause too many similarities between him and the Dark Lord." Clearing his throat, he saiduot;uot;I have come to the conclusion that Harry would be safest with a staff member." Giving Severus a pointed look, he thought the man would understand.

"I understand, sir. And I completely agree. What staff member were you thinking of?" Attempting to keep his emotions off his face, he didn\'t want to show the Headmaster how much he was disappointed that he didn\'t get to keep Harry.

Rolling his eyes, the Headmaster said, "I was talking about you, boy." Seeing the shocked expression on his face, he decided to elaborate on his decision. "Harry opens up to you, he trusts you. In this trying time, he needs someone like that. So, will you take him?"

Nodding his head enthusiastically, he bounded out of the room to tell Harry the good news.

*end flashback*

Gathering his nerve, Severus tapped Harry on his shoulder to get his attention. "Now, the Headmaster and I have been discussing where you will live from now on. We think we\'ve come up with an acceptable placement." Grinning from ear to ear, he continued, "If you\'d like, you can live with me until your godmutt has been cleared."

"Really?" Harry asked in wide eyed wonderment.

"Yes, Harry, really." Noticing his enthusiastic nodding, Sev pulled Harry into a tight embrace. "Well, I think it\'s time you went to bed." Picking him up, he found the bed with Harry\'s trunk. Laying him in the bed, Sev gathered his pajamas, wordlessly handing them to him and pulling the curtains shut. Hearing the boy say he was done, he gathered the dirty clothes up. Helping tuck Harry in, he kissed his little one on the forehead and wished him a good night.

TBC

Well, there you go. This chapter is longer than the rest. Hopefully you liked it. Review, please.

Oh, aren\'t my titles so pretty? As you can see, I\'m a little stuck on those. I don\'t know why, I don\'t have a problem labeling any of my other stories\' chapters. Oh well. Review!!

Myk