Muggleville by Jan_AQ
Past Featured StorySummary: With a strange potion, new location and the odd Muggle Studies Professor along for the ride, Harry's in for an interesting summer, but why is Snape here? Dumbledore had better pray he gets all three back in one piece! Humor, Angst, No Mary Sues, No Romance, no real plot.
Categories: Parental Snape > Guardian Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Original Character
Snape Flavour: Snape is Kind, Snape is Stern
Genres: Angst, Drama, Humor
Media Type: None
Tags: Child fic, Deaged!Harry, Deaging, Injured!Harry
Takes Place: 6th summer
Warnings: Abusive Dursleys
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 32 Completed: No Word count: 163476 Read: 499480 Published: 15 Jan 2005 Updated: 17 Jul 2016
Velveteen Rabbit (Sick Harry) by Jan_AQ
Author's Notes:
Last chapter: Harry accidentally wet himself, Snape found out and cleaned it up.

Hoppity sat at her desk at work, making notations on her computer. Across from her, her coworker, Cynthia Wong, was on the phone calling a student’s parents to pick them up. They had been doing that all morning; apparently a nasty sickness was spreading through some of the children in the third and fourth grades. She had been told that last week it was the high school students who were ill and that the teachers were next. Hoppity was very glad that she wasn’t a teacher.

Her phone rang and Hoppity picked it up. It was the Nurse and apparently another student was sick. Wonderful, another poor child full of those nasty germs, she thought as she looked up the child’s contact information.

The door to the office opened, and a mother came in with her small daughter trailing her, crying.

“My stomach’s going to come up again!” the young girl cried, and indeed she looked quite ill, her face was pale under her tan and her long blond hair was plastered to the side of her neck.

“I just need to sign Jenny out,” the mother said and was quickly directed to the sign-out book in front of Cynthia’s desk.

Hoppity peered at the little girl worriedly, she seemed quite young but not as small as Harry so she supposed that it hadn’t hit Harry’s grade yet. He was still safe.

They worked through lunch and the rush of sign-outs seemed to quell. Hoppity had just started to play with her pencils when her phone rang again. She answered it.

“I have bad news,” the Nurse said on the other line.

“Another student sick?”

“Yes, but it’s Harry. He threw up in the hall after recess. He needs to go home.”

Not Harry! Hoppity faintly recalled saying thank you and that she’d be right over as she hung up and gathered her belongings. “I- I got to go,” she said.

“What’s wrong?” Cynthia asked concernedly from where she was connecting paperclips.

“Harry, he’s sick. Can you-?”

“Sure, don’t worry about it,” Cynthia waved her off, pulling over the sign-out book.

Hoppity hurried down the hall to the Nurse’s station. Upon opening the door, she immediately saw Harry sitting on a hard cot, holding his stomach. She ran over to him, his eyes looked pained and sweat made his fringe damp enough to stick to his forehead.

Upon spotting Hoppity, Harry seemed to let go a little. “I was sick,” he cried, “In the hall and all over Mary-Beth’s shoes!” Hoppity reached out to smooth his hair back, even all the messy sticking up bits, which of course popped right back up.

“It’s okay, I’m sure she has more shoes. Let’s get you home,” she helped him off of the cot.

The Nurse, who had been watching, chose this time to speak, “He has a fever, not to high right now but it may last a couple of days, if it gets too high he may have to go to a doctor. Make sure you keep him hydrated.”

“Alright, thank you,” Hoppity said and then they were walking out and to their car. Hoppity opened the back door and helped Harry in. Harry hoped that they would get home soon.

He had had a long day. He hadn’t felt well since breakfast and it quickly got worse when he arrived to school, but he stayed brave like a Gryffindor and lasted until recess. That’s when his stomach decided that it didn’t want anything in it at all, not that Harry had done more than unpack his lunch and taste it before putting it away. He was glad that he could go home now, maybe it would make him feel better.

They were five blocks away when Harry knew that his stomach would sick up again soon, as in right now. He told Hoppity so.

“Hold on, Harry, we’re almost there!” Hoppity said desperately, hoping that Harry would make it. She pulled into their drive and ran to the side of the car. Harry was already up and out of his seat, trying to open the door, which she helped open quickly. Then Harry was jumping out, and then there was sick falling to the pavement and all over Harry.

Harry was feeling horrible and this latest development was not helping matters. He was now all covered in sick and Hoppity seemed like she didn’t want to come near him. He didn’t blame her, he smelled horrible; it made him want to be sick all over again.

“Oh Harry,” Hoppity seemed like she was close to crying herself. “Maybe there’s a hose around here…”

A hose? Harry didn’t quite like the idea of being sprayed with a hose.

“See if you can take your shirt off without getting any more sick on you,” Hoppity said and then she was running up to the front door. “SEVERUS!” she called out loudly. “SEVERUS!”

Meanwhile, Harry was having a lot of difficulty trying to get his shirt off without making a bigger mess. This was horrible! Hoppity soon ran back and then helped him off with his shirt. She dropped it onto the pavement next to the puddle of sick and then helped him into the house.

The first thing Harry noticed was the steps and that Snape was waiting by them, looking very irritable.

“This had better be important enough to warrant you calling for me like a dog,” he snarled, his wand out and ready to ward off anything dangerous. “What happened?”

“It’s Harry, I need you to fix him.”

Snape looked down at the half naked boy and seemed to catch on, the smell and sick on Harry’s pants gave it away. He grimaced. “What makes you think that I can ‘fix’ anyone?” Snape asked, putting away his wand. He seemed to become more at ease now that he knew that Death Eaters weren’t chasing them and about to kill them all.

“Well you fixed him yesterday,” Hoppity said before deciding that she should change tactics. “Please, he’s really sick.” She didn’t like to see Harry sick. Being sick was awful, especially when you were young.

Snape’s eyes roved over Harry studiously.

“At least get that mess off of him first,” Snape said disgustedly and turned to leave; Hoppity took that to mean that he’d help.

“Come on, Harry.”

They went upstairs to his room and Harry moved immediately to his bathroom so that he could rinse his mouth out. He was too short to drink from the sink easily but he had a cup, which he used.

This was awful. He felt sick and weak and just horrible. His mouth tasted horrible and his clothes stank. His stomach was far from being fine and Harry worried that he may sick up again. He didn’t want to.

When he turned, Hoppity was there, holding a clean pair of sleep clothes and a damp wash towel. She helped wash his face and arms, and then Harry got changed.

Feeling quite ill, Harry followed her into his room where the blankets of the bed were drawn back and pushed to the side. Harry didn’t really feel like resting, he didn’t think that he could sleep and just lying there would leave him to notice how miserable he really felt, but Hoppity was waiting so he climbed into bed and lay down. He was feeling hot, and didn’t want the blankets.

Snape had entered the room while Hoppity had got him settled, and now approached the bed while Hoppity moved to hover worriedly nearby. Snape peered into Harry's bright eyes, and once Harry's pain distracted brain noticed, Harry closed them and turned his head away. He often thought that Snape was a mind reader and Snape did nothing to dispel that belief.

Snape's tone was agitated, "Stupid boy, that was not what I was attempting. I have no desire to know childish secrets such as how many space rockets your little friends have." Harry was surprised that Snape even knew what space rockets were.

Snape then held up Harry's left wrist with a cool hand and felt along the pulse. He then peered back into Harry's eyes, and felt along the sides of Harry's neck. Harry closed his eyes as the sick feeling returned with gusto. He was surprised when he felt the potion master's pull up his top, exposing his stomach to the cool air.

"Mhm.." Harry mumbled and tried to lower it back down while weakly squirming away from the cool hands.

"Stop that Potter," Snape said sharply and deftly restrained Harry's squiggles by capturing one arm and pressing it to his upper chest. Snape was now free to place one cold hand on Harry's bare stomach. The slight pressure was enough to make Harry feel like throwing up again. He let out a low distressed sound.

Snape didn’t seem to notice, seemingly concentration on something that only he could see.

“What are you doing?” Hoppity asked quietly.

Harry was close enough to notice the brief moment that Snape seemed to be caught off guard. Snape’s answer came out with a biting, haughty tone, “It’s something Potions Masters develop over time, I wouldn’t expect you to understand or know of it.”

Hoppity seemed to accept it and sat down on the side of the bed. "Do you know what it is Severus?"

There was a moment of silence while Snape removed his hands and lowered Harry's top back down before he answered slowly, "The high temperature and nausea is indicative of a foreign presence attacking his body, but he’s not poisoned and it’s not an allergic response. He’s ill but not seriously so, his body is fighting it." Snape was pensively silent for a moment before, "Wasn't the reason why Harry couldn’t play with his playmate yesterday because his playmate was ill?"

"Yes, but it was the little brother that was sick. The floo his mother said, she didn’t want Harry to catch it. Do you think that this might be the same?"

"Undoubtedly. Muggles spread disease like rats. You don’t know what this is?"

Hoppity looked regretful as she sat on the edge of Harry’s bed and reached out and rubbed his foot. "We only covered the basics of Muggle healing, like how they place their broken bones in cement and just let them heal on their own and stitch large wounds up with strings. I just know that they get sick with thousands of virusies and bacteria but no one mentioned how they get well again."

This was something that Harry was very acquainted with, thanks to his stay with his relatives. "They take medicine and wait ‘til it goes away," Harry said weakly, trying to keep the nausea down and not think of it. Turtles… he should think of Ninja Turtles instead, that’s what Michael would do.

Neither Hoppity or Snape seemed to accept this idea. "Perhaps a Fever reducing potion and Pepper up may help," Snape suggested, “They work best on wizards over the age of nine but if the boy can get them down then they may work.”

Hoppity nodded and Snape left.

“How are you feeling Harry?”

How was he feeling? Awful. He tried to tell her that he was okay, but he couldn’t get the words out.

“Shush, it’s okay Harry,” Hoppity consoled as she moved up the bed to pat his head. “I know it must be terrible, but soon Snape will be back and you could be feeling a whole lot better.”

Harry found it weird, but he hoped that Snape would be coming back quickly.

They waited and waited, and Harry felt that his nausea was getting worse. Finally, Snape came back up with two hot potions.

Hoppity helped Harry sit up as Snape neared the bed.

“Which one first?” she asked and Snape tested the temperature of a potion before handing it over to her. She handed it to Harry and Harry looked into the glass woefully. The potion was a murky brown, hardly appetizing to the steadiest of stomachs and Harry’s was about to revolt at any moment. He looked at both Hoppity and Snape, but they were unyielding.

Hoppity encouraged, “Come on Harry.”

Where’s your lion spirit? Harry asked himself as his eyes landed on Snape and then he swallowed dryly and put the cup to his lips and started to chug it down. He gagged a little but kept swallowing and then it was over and he was reaching for the next potion. If he didn’t get that one down soon then it would all come up. He was swallowing the potion and his stomach was coming up at the same time and then he was sicking back up into the cup and all over the bed and himself and Hoppity. It felt horrible, like he was dying or something, and it came up, and then up again but then it was all out and then all what was left was one empty and still feeling ill Harry, and one big, smelly mess. The liquid that had splashed all over his clothes was hot and oddly comforting considering what it was.

Harry felt like crying and he was sure he was. This was disgusting and horrible and he was sure that his guardians were going to leave him any second to deal with this on his own.

“Well. At least it’s mostly potions this time,” Hoppity said optimistically from where she was covered in sick and potions but Harry could tell how disgusted she really was.

“I’m sorry,” Harry broke out.

“It’s okay, Harry, I’ll just throw these clothes into the wash with yours… and the bedding…” Hoppity was standing up carefully. Sick slushed to the floor.

“I think a bit of magic may be necessary in this case,” Snape said, wand out and Hoppity paused and thought a little before answering.

“Yes, you’re right, Muggles don’t have an easy way of cleaning a whole bed. Or… the carpet. We’d probably make a big mess carrying it all down anyway, and we’d never be able to completely clean it up with Muggle means,” she said, trying to reason using magic for cleaning. “But that’s it. We can’t use magic for anything else.”

Harry wondered what would happen if they did, if they got caught but he wasn’t able to think about it for very long before the magic distracted him.

As if conducting an orchestra, Snape waved his wand and all the sick rushed together, out of the sheets and the clothes and off of Harry and Hoppity. It congregated onto the floor, spinning until it became a solid mass in the shape of a small vase. It was the same colour of the potions, with clear bile mixed in and Harry had to look away because he feared becoming sick again at the sight and the memory of how it came to be outside his body in the first place.

Harry felt so much better now that the mess was gone, the small was gone, his bed and clothes were dry and clean, but most importantly so was Hoppity.

Sometimes he really loved magic.

Snape was pushing the solid sick vase away with his shoe when Hoppity next spoke, “We still have the issue of how to cure Harry. He can’t just lay here and wait this out for who knows how long!”

Harry’s stomach gurgled. “I’m not taking any more potions,” he told them and he meant it!

Hoppity gave him a sympathetic gaze but otherwise ignored him. “What about that really gentle one that they give babies? You know, the one that has smoke come out of their mouth and noses like a little dragon?”

“Unfortunately, I do not know how to make a Junior Make Better, and in our current predicament I am not able to procure the knowledge of how to do so,” Snape said regretfully as he shoved the vase out into the hallway with his shoe. “Millions of Muggle children have to go through illness without the help of magical means. I have no doubt that Harry must have done so in the past, he will just have to do so again.”

Harry felt a sense of hopelessness at that, the thought of suffering like this until he was better was terrible to contemplate. He never felt more grateful for Hoppity for what she said next.

“Well I refuse to let him just- just wait it out like that! There must be some Muggle medicine for this. I’ll call June, she’d know.” Hoppity stood up determinedly. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

This was something Harry hadn’t really seen before, this determination in her. Even Snape seemed affected, making no move to leave the room. He supposed that it was a Hufflepuff trait. It reminded him of that boy…

Snape moved to stand by him. Harry clutched his dragon and turned his head to face the wall. He could hear Hoppity talking… Snape was still hovering…he was still feeling sick, his stomach felt queasy and Harry searched for a way to distract himself from it. Snape was the closest target and Harry thought that the man’s hovering was making him feel worse.

“Don’t do that, I might be sick again,” Harry warned and that was all Snape needed to hear to hover further away.

Hoppity was pacing outside in the hallway, talking on the phone. “Alright, children’s… oh, yes… got it… and TLC? Erm… Okay… right. Got it. Thank you! I hope your boys get better soon…” and then she was turning the phone off and coming back into the room. She had a piece of paper with notes scribbled on it on one hand, and was pulling a chair in the other. From where it came from, Harry didn’t know or care as she brought it next to his bed.

“Alright, I found out what Muggles use to heal their children now all we need to do is find it all… I don’t think Harry’s up for a trip just now so someone needs to stay here with him.. Severus would you rather go get the medicine or would you rather stay here and hold Harry until I come back?”

Snape gave a disgusted look at the two choices before reaching out for the note.

Hoppity gave a humble smile and passed them over. “Thank you Severus.”

Snape left and then they were alone.

“Is Michael sick then?”

“Yes, Harry.”

Harry furrowed his brows, thinking. “Oh. Did he get it from me?”

“Oh no. I don’t see how he could, his little brother was sick first so he probably got it from him, or school. Or soccer.” She sighed. There were so many places a child could get sick!

The was a quiet for awhile, then, “If I feel like sicking up again right before I take the medicine, I don’t think that I should take it.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Harry,” Hoppity said kindly. “But I think you should try. I’ll find a bucket just in case though…”

---

Snape wandered around the large store in search of the ingredients – no, supplies he needed for one sick little boy. He was quite lost, but confident that he would find what he needed after a little exploring.

“Can I help you sir?” a pimply adolescent boy asked. The boy was dressed in what could only be the store uniform, a red apron over a blue shirt. Snape sneered at his dirty shoes.

“Perhaps you can,” Snape said superiorly, “I am in need of these things.” He held the note out to the boy who took it. Snape tried to keep his lofty air, but glanced over to see if the lad was just as lost as he was, or if he knew of the things on Snape’s list.

“Oh sure, the flu items are this way. Aisle 5.”

Snape followed the youth to the correct aisle and then to shelves full of what seemed like thousands of brightly coloured boxes. Why were there so many of them? Which was the one he wanted?

The youth seemed to note his uncertainty for he pointed out a row of children’s medicine. “These are the ones you want, Hummy’s is a pretty good brand and their orange flavor is much better than any cherry one. It comes in liquid and chewable.”

Snape eyed the boy. “You tried them?”

He gave an uncomfortable shift “Ah yeah… is there anything else I can help you find?”

Snape reached out and fingered the boxes. He took both types the boy mentioned, as well as two others next to them; he didn’t want to have to come back if he got the wrong thing “I need the rest of the items on this list.”

The boy showed him a little ways down to the sick child’s drinks and pointed out the different flavours. Not knowing the difference, Severus selected two at random.

“Well I guess that’s it?” The youth seemed ready to leave, where to Snape did not know.

“One moment,” he replied silkily as he looked over the list of things needed. “I am still in need of one item. This... TLC…”

Snape looked up at the sound of a snort. The youth had the gall to be amused at him!

“You’re not from here…” the boy said with a smile.

Snape thought that that was pretty obvious and needless. “Your point?”

“TLC is a… acronym. It stands for something.”

“I am quite aware of what an acronym is,” Snape sneered. “However, that does not explain your apparent… amusement at my predicament. Is a sick child amusing to you, Mr.…” he peered at the nametag, “Chris?”

“No sir, of course not,” the youth sobered. “I’m sorry. TLC means tender loving care. You can’t buy it, unless it’s a product I don’t know of, which is a possibility...”

Snape drummed his fingers on his sleeve.

“Maybe... maybe whoever wrote this list out meant that you were supposed to buy something--?” Chris waved his arm around as if trying to catch some elusive idea.

“Something that embodied the idea of ‘Tender loving care’?” Snape asked snarkily at having to supply such an answer.

“Yes,” the boy fidgeted. “Would you like me to get you a basket? They’re right over there…”

Snape nodded his peevish consent and the boy left. He glanced around the aisle and the items for sale, highly put out that the woman had meant for him to buy something for Potter that had to do with “loving” and “tender” and “care”. Humph. But if this were anything like a potion and needed all the ingredients to work… He cast his eyes around for something, anything.

He spotted a familiar looking book, and he recalled that it was a book that Smirkett had held recently, something about reading to the boy. Next to the book was a pile of plush rabbits. It would have to do. He could even claim to have picked it out especially.

He snatched one up and then that bothersome, rude, but nonetheless helpful boy brought a red basket and after browsing a bit more it was only some time before he had purchased everything and was traveling back.

---

“It’s about time you came back,” Hoppity said once he entered the room with the packages. Gratitude was something that she was obviously short in supply of but she had been sitting with the sick brat for all this time so Snape refrained from commenting.

Glancing at said brat, Snape noted that he still looked hot and feverish at his end of the bed. He emptied his bags of their purchases on the foot of the bed and Smirkett reached out and pawned through them.

“Here is everything that was listed,” Snape said unnecessarily.

Hoppity was reading the backs of the boxes of sick child medicine. “Which one’s the TLC?”

Snape picked up the rabbit and handed it to her, “Here.”

Hoppity gave a surprised smiled and took it, looking at its tags. “I don’t understand, how is this TLC?”

“It’s not, or rather, apparently TLC stands for something, it means thoughtful care.”

Potter was looking at him entirely too closely for his liking. Snape picked up a package of medicine and tried to appear busy. “Are these supposed to go in any particular order?”

“Oh no, don’t be silly! They are practically unrelated- Hey Harry look! It’s the rabbit from the book!”

Harry reached out quietly and took the rabbit from her.

Snape? Buying him a toy voluntarily? There was no way… Harry looked at the rabbit. Snape had to be telling him something with this gift. Why would Snape give him this rabbit?

In the book, the boy had had a rabbit when he was sick, deathly sick. And then afterwards the rabbit had been taken away, almost burned alive. Harry thought he knew what that might feel like, he was so hot.

Just what could this rabbit mean?

“Harry, what’s wrong?”

Harry surprisingly realized that he was crying… sort of. This illness already had him in a crying mood, and now thoughts of that rabbit…

“Are you going to sick up again?”

“No,” Harry said quietly, but then Hoppity was there, hugging him and rubbing his back. It just made him cry harder and Harry didn’t know why, just that he was sick and felt awful and sad inside.

When Harry next looked up, Snape was gone.

---

Around 2 am, after the latest bout of puking in the toilet, Hoppity was surprised to see Snape standing in the doorway. It had been a long day, Harry had slept for awhile in the afternoon but woke up and for the last few hours the nausea was back with a vengeance.

She helped Harry rinse out his mouth and then helped him back into bed. She hoped that Harry would soon drift off to sleep.

Snape was still there, watching them and she had to wonder what he wanted. "What are you still doing up?" she asked lowly as Harry shifted around in his bed, trying to get comfortable.

Snape leaned against the wall and quietly answered back, "The walls are thinner than a Gryffindor's ambitions. I can hear every time the brat relieves his stomach from my bedroom."

"I'm so sorry Severus. We'll try to be quieter."

Silently, Snape strode further into the room. "No need, I am no longer tired. Go to bed Smirkett, now that I am awake I might as well watch over the boy."

Still feeling ill, Harry desperately wanted Hoppity to stay with him, to hold him like she had been doing and not leave him with this cold unfeeling git. He mentally cheered at her dubious look at Snape.

"Are you sure, Severus? Harry's not in a good way."

"Yes,” Snape replied, ignoring the urge to be sarcastic at her obviousness. “It won't do either of you any good if you exhaust yourself by holding him all night."

"Well alright. I am rather tired."

Harry wanted to whimper. She was leaving him. He must have made a sound because Hoppity looked worriedly down at him. "Harry, I'll just be across the hall while Severus takes care of you for a little bit. Is that okay?"

Harry wanted to tell her that No, it wasn't okay and that Snape would make him feel a lot worse, but his pleading got stuck in his throat when he looked at her worn face. He clutched at the rabbit closer.

She smothered his fringe from off of his forehead and Snape looked away, fingering the medicine on the bedside table. "Try to sleep Harry. You will probably feel much better in the morning and the sooner you sleep, the sooner you’ll feel better." She gave one last comforting embrace and then released him. "Alright Severus. Please be understanding of him."

"Smirkett, you will please remember that I have had experience with children before."

"If you say so. His last dose of the medicine was 2 hours ago. And, erm, he probably should have any of those drinks, that was what he just sicked up." Hoppity gave one last tired look at Harry before she left the room, leaving the door open.

Snape stood for a moment before pulling the forgotten chair over to the bed and sitting down. "Well, Potter. Looks like an awful mess you've got yourself into yet again."

In response Harry just weakly turned his head away to face the wall. He was hot and uncomfortable and that awful nauseous feeling was creeping back into his stomach. He was almost startled when Snape reached out and resettled him back in the middle of the bed and pulled the blankets back over his fevered body.

Harry didn't want them on, and said as much, but Snape just told him to be silent and tucked the blankets in tight.

“You will make yourself worse if you get chilled,” he said, “And you have a tendency to want things that are not in your best interests.”

“But I’m hot!” Harry complained piteously. Snape just ignored him.

Snape sat there for awhile and Harry just thought about how miserable he was.

“You should drink something.”

“No.”

“Dehydration is not something to be trifled with. You will drink something, and then you will go to sleep,” Snape instructed.

Harry thought that that was rather rich, Snape thinking that he would e able to do that, just like that. He’d probably throw up whatever Snape gave him to drink and there was no way he would fall asleep.

Snape poured out a clear drink and held it up Harry. “Come now, drink this up.”

“No.”

“I had though that you were older than two and didn’t state contrary things just to vex others.”

That sounded like a very long and grownup way of Snape saying that he was annoyed with Harry. Harry just glared at him.

Resolutely, Snape brought the cup over to Harry, giving him a look that said “sit up and drink this or I’ll pour it through your nose.”

Fine, Harry thought as he sat up and took the cup, but when his stomach emptied itself again Harry was going to make sure that it landed all over Snape. He hoped that it leaked into his shoes.

Harry settled himself back into his bed and tried to get comfortable, wondering when he’d be sick again and if Snape would be quick enough to avoid it. He pictured Snape grabbing him up like a cauldron and running with him to the bathroom so that he could bubble up into the toilet like one of Neville’s doomed assignments. Wait, that didn’t make sense. There were no toilets in the dungeons.

He wished he could sleep and that it would just be tomorrow already. He tossed and turned and he was too hot.

It was obvious that Harry needed help falling asleep or he would be tired and frustrated for hours.

Casting about for something to distract the boy, Snape spied a stack of books. He went through them and was soon rewarded when he spotted The Velveteen Rabbit.

He had intended to come in here and steal the book to read later to figure out what he had done wrong by bringing back the boy a stuffed rabbit. Now he didn’t have to, this was the perfect opportunity.

Snape opened the book and began to read, hoping that his familiar voice would make the boy drift off soon before he was sick again.

"There was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be…"

As he read, Snape glanced at Harry every once in awhile, noting the way his breathing seemed to even out and his eyes were slowly growing heavy. He had stopped tossing and turning in bed and seemed content to listen.

By the time Snape read the last page and closed the book, Harry was asleep.

Snape still had no idea why the boy had cried over the present Snape brought him. The story was silly and childish. It had a note of magic in it, yes, but Snape could not figure out what had distressed the boy so.

Well it seemed as if he had the rest of the night to figure it out.

To be continued...
End Notes:
If you want to read The Velveteen Rabbit online, you can here.


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