Severus had been in Little Winging for nearly a month now, and he still hadn’t seen Harry Potter. He did have some clues that he was possibly there, but those signs were quite vague. The problem was, he knew there was someone else living with the Dursleys, but he couldn’t prove it. The way the kitchen had been cleaned up, the spells that told him Harry had or still was there. He still wondered why the spells weren’t working proparly. They only were disturbed if someone used great amounts of magic to hide his or her own excistance, or if the person was either dead, or near death.

Severus had been at the Dursleys a few more times after the first dinner. He really couldn’t stand them, and hoped that if Harry was still living there, he was allright. But he thought not. In the beginning of this mission he thought it would be pretty simple. The boy had probably been really spoiled and didn’t want to go to Hogwarts, but to some other school. Or perhaps he felt himself too good to learn more magic. Either way, he had thought that it would be pretty easy to find Harry and take him to Hogwarts. Now he had his doubts. And they grew every day. He had tried to find information about Harry at the primary schools in Little Winging, but he couldn’t find it. Of course he had used magic to get into the schoolsystems, but there had only been one Harry, and he had died three years ago. And that Harry didn’t even look anything like James or Lily Potter. So he thought it was pretty safe to say, that Harry would still be alive today.

Severus was thinking this over, while walking to the teachers room. At the school, the teachers had a weekly meeting to talk about problems in classes, students that needed extra help, or had some other things that could interfere with their schoolwork. Severus had already decided to introduce such meetings at Hogwarts when he would be back there. This way students could be helped sooner and it would avoid a lot of problems, like he himself had had to endure. All in all, Severus thought, those Muggles were really progressing with their schools and ways of teaching, he would like to have a computer at Hogwarts too. Would save him a lot of time so he didn’t have to write all those scrolls of parchment. Unfortunately a computer wouldn’t work in Hogwarts, because of the amounts of magic concentrated there.

Pulling himself back to the present, Severus stepped into the teachers room. He was rather pleased with the subjects he was teaching, although the combination of Literature and self-defence was a bit weird. But he knew enough about both subjects, and he could still practice his potions at his house.

Severus was sharply pulled back to the meeting when the principal started the meeting.

“Good day everyone. I would like to introduce a new colleageau to you all. This is Mrs. Foster. She taught at Victoria’s College, but is now starting at our school. She will be the new history teacher and she will also be counselor to students. She will also be the tutor to a new student. This student cannot talk, the tests weren’t clear if he was also deaf, but we get the idea he isn’t. So Mrs. Foster will also teach you sign language, although some of you already know it, I believe. This student will come here tomorrow. He will start his first year.We will place him in clas 1A, they are usually very nice.

According to his aunt and uncle he had been sick for nearly the entire summer, so we shouldn’t worry too much about his appearance. Although, I know his aunt and uncle personally, and everyone who knows the Dursleys know what I mean if I say we should take that with a bit of scepticisme. The students name is James Evans by the way. Perhaps I shall let Mrs. Foster tell you something about herself, and then you can tell her if you know sign language or not.”

At hearing the name ‘Dursleys’ and ‘James Evans’, Severus could practically hit himself on the head. Of course, they had just changed the name of the boy. It was high likely that Harry Potter was now called James Evans. That could also be the reason the spells weren’t working proparly. But why would they have changed his name? He really couldn’t understand those Dursleys. He wondered why the boy wouldn’t be able to speak. Perhaps he wasn’t so unscathed from the killing curse than everyone had been thinking. He would contact Albus tonight with this new information. Severus was rather glad about one thing though, he could do sign language. He had once had a good friend who couldn’t speak. And together they learned sign language, because wizards only learned spells to know what a mute was saying. They didn’t trouble themselves with learning muggle methodes.

Then Severus got a sharp poke in his ribs by his nice collegeau Mike. Looking up, Severus noticed it was apparantly his turn to tell Mrs. Foster if he needed to learn sign language. So he signed her ‘no, thank you, I already know this.’ She smiled at him and went on asking the other teachers. Severus couldn’t wait till tomorrow. He had class 1A the second hour for Literature and then later on the day at the 5th hour for Defence. So he would be able to speak and see James Evans.

That evening he contacted Albus and told him about his findings. Albus looked rather pleased, although he also wondered why the Dursleys had changed the boy’s name. Severus ended the conversation with the promise to contact Albus again tomorrow.

The next day, the start of the second hour.

Severus had made a place in his class for James/Harry (from now on I will refer to Harry as James, to make it a bit easier). He had put him rather in the front of the class, so the boy could read his lips, and see his sign language easy. And it would also work the other way around of course. He wondered how the boy looked. Then the first students started walking in. Severus wondered if they were whispering so much about James, or about something else. When everyone was seated, he looked at the door where James appeared. Severus noticed the black hair, that was sticking up in all kinds of directions (just like his fathers) although it reached his shoulders, and most of all he noticed the beautifull green eyes (just like Lily’s, he thought). Then he saw the rest of James. The boy was really pale, like he hadn’t been outside for a long time. Also he was very small. He didn’t look like an eleven year old, he looked more like an eight year old. His clothes were way to big for him, and they looked rather shabby. No wonder the other students had been whispering. He looked more like a beggar, than a students. He also didn’t carry his books in a bookbag, but in a plastic bag. By looking at him, Severus felt his last doubts about a spoiled boy fall away. Now he could only wonder why the boy looked like that.

Then he realised he was staring, and signed to James ‘do come in, you can sit here’ (he pointed to the table). Then he signed and talked at the same time: “I hope you all made your homework, because I will ask questions about it.”

The class took out their work and started looking it over. James slowly walked to his table. Severus noticed the way his eyes kept on looking from one direction to another, as if expecting danger from all around him. Severus also thought he saw him trembling a bit. James sat alone at the table and after looking at the other students, he also took out his Literature book. But he didn’t have his homework of course.

Severus decided to ask him some questions after class. They would be having a break then anyway.

The class went rather well. He had asked James some questions, and although he couldn’t answer them all without help, he was rather good, even though he missed a month of school. Severus was already working out a plan to get him up to date with the rest of the class. Unfortunately the class wasn’t very helpfull. James just looked to different for the other students to really like him or look for contact with him. And apparantly some students had been in the same class as him, at primary school. And then the rumours started going round.

After class Severus signed to James to stay seated for a bit longer. James did so, and kept looking at the table for a while. When Severus was sure the other students had left, he closed the door and walked to the table James was sitting on. Then he put his hands on the table, so James would notice he was there. It worked, James lifted his head and looked at him. Or rather, Severus noticed, looked somewhere behind him, as if he didn’t like making eyecontact.

“Well James”, he signed, “From what I have seen in this class, you are not too far behind. Could you tell me what you have learned already? Then I can make some work for you so you will be on the same level as the rest of the class.”

James didn’t do anything for some time. Severus decided to just wait. Then James started signalling: “I read some books this summer, because I was sick. But I do not know all the theory behind them, so I think I need to work on that. And I haven’t really had anything else, so that’s about it.”

Severus wrote it down and then said: “Very well, I will give you some work tomorrow, that you can make in class then. Tomorrow the others will get a test, so you won’t miss anything. I will just mark the work you will make as a test.” He hesitated a bit.

“Do you mind me asking, what kind of sickness did you have this summer, to make you miss a month of school?” right after he asked the question, he noticed he shouldn’t have done that.

James just tensed up, and his eyes started darting around again. Then he looked down at the table for a while. Seeing there wouldn’t be an anwer coming forward, Severus put his hands on the table again. James slowly looked up.

Severus gave him a small smile. “I am sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. But if you ever feel like talking about things, school, or whatever, then you can come to me. I’m no Mrs. Foster and it will be all of the record. For now I think you should just enjoy your break and I will see you at Defense class this afternoon.” With that he stood up, motioning for James to do the same. James took his plastic bag protectively in front of him and walked out of the classroom. Severus looked after him.

In the teachers room he talked to some other teachers. James was the topic this time. Most of the teachers were also wondering what kind of illness the boy had had in the summer, and why his aunt and uncle put him in such awfull clothes. Severus was also wondering why his aunt and uncle kept him sort of hidden from the rest of the world. He had gotten a hold of the file from the primary school and read it all. The marks of James showed some rather weird things. He had been a very sickly child apparantly, and everytime he had been sick his marks had been low, but after a while they were one of the best from the class again, but then he got sick again. Severus soon noticed a pattern in this. He always got sick when his marks got rather high. Apparantly James was rather smart. This pleased Severus, if he was smart he would be able to pick up magic in no time. But he also wondered why the boy had been sick so often, could it be the effect of the killing curse, or was it something else? Did his aunt and uncle change his name for security reasons, or was there another reason for their behaviour towards their nephew? He didn’t know, but he was going to find out.

The other teachers started talking about the rumours they had heard about James. The students were talking about him a lot. Especially those that had been at the same primary school. They said he always wore those baggy clothes, and he got picked on a lot by his cousin Dudley, and his friends. James didn’t have any friends because the children couldn’t use sign language. The few children that tried to befriend him, had been chased away by the cousin Dudley. Severus didn’t like these stories. They reminded him a bit too much about his own childhood. So putting his thoughts on another path, he started making the work for James.

He was wondering how the defence class would be going.

Fifth Period: Self defence.

Severus was waiting in the gym. He had put some mats on the floor. Today the students would be learning to fall correctly and how to dodge punches. He hoped some students would show promise. So far, this class wasn’t too good at self-defence. Slowly the students came walking in. They were all wearing their PE-clothes, only James wasn’t. Severus walked over to him and signed: “Why are you not wearing other clothes? It will be easier for ths class to wear your PE-clothes.”

James looked at the floor for a moment and then signed: “I haven’t got any PE-clothes. My aunt still needs to get them for me. But I can move in these clothes, or I could just watch.” By the look of his hands, Severus could tell he really didn’t want to participate, but he decided to just try it for a little while.

“Well, you are in luck, I have an extra shirt with me, that you can use. The trousers you will just have to keep on, but at least you can wear another shirt.” Giving the shirt to James, he wached him trudging back to the dressing rooms. He let the rest of the class sit on the mats, and begin their meditation training.

The meditation training required silence from the students, so Severus was rather surprised to notice James had walked in again, without him noticing. So the boy could be really quiet then. He wondered where he had picked that up. He put James on a mat and signed him how to go about meditating. He had to sign it now, because he would have to close his eyes during the meditation. The rest of the class was meditating, only a few students couldn’t keep their giggles in.

Severus noticed James picked up on the meditating very quickly. Perhaps he had been doing it before, or else he was just a natural.

After a few more minutes he slowly called the class back from their meditation. When they were all looking at him, he started telling them what they would be doing this class. He had learned them a few punches last time, so they could practice in pairs. Because the class now had an uneven number, he took James to practice. He would have to call the other students to him one by one to see how well they could fall and dodge, but for now he would concentrate on James. It was luck that the defence classes had only started last week, so the boy hadn’t missed much.

Severus showed James how to throw a few punches, but he noticed there was hardly any strenght behind them. The illness had weakend James too much. He would have to work on the condition of James, then. So Severus decided to throw some punches to James to see how he would do. He noticed James wasn’t very comfortable. He had put on the shirt Severus gave him, and although it was still too big for him, Severus could see the arms of James were really thin, more bone than anything else. He hoped the boy could duck, or else he might break something.

Severus did get a big surprise however. When he threw a punch at James, at first the boy just stood still. Severus managed to avoid hitting him, although it was a close call. He noticed James trembling, as if expecting punishment. Then he decided to explain that James was supposed to avoid being punched. James gave him a startled look, as if to say: “Are you crazy?!” but then he nodded. Readying himself again, Severus took another swing at James. James moved out of the way really fast. Severus wouldn’t have been able to do it like that. When he threw a kick at James, the boy let himself roll into a ball and fall to the ground. Then he quickly stood up again, waiting for Severus to do something else. Severus was surprised, the other students as well he noticed, since they were all staring at them.

Severus nodded to James and signed: “you did very well James, I don’t think you will have many problems in this class, although you should work on your condition. But I will help you with that in this class.”

Then he let James practice with another students while he went and called all the students to him one by one. Unfortunately they weren’t that good. He kicked some of them, and there was only one other student that could let herself fall down the right way. She told him it was because of the horse riding she did. She had learned herself to fall right, so when her horse gave problems, she would be okay.

Then there was a commotion at the other side of the classroom. The student that had been practicing with James, was shouting for Severus to come and help. James was lying on the ground, very pale and shaking. He also seemed to have trouble breathing.

Severus quickly sent one of the students to get the schoolnurse, and let the other students go to get changed. He was looking James over for any signs of what caused this. The pulse was going too fast, and his breathing was erratic. Other than that he didn’t really want to do anything else, before the nurse could come. She came not more than three minutes later.

Together they lifted James up on a stretcher and carried him to the small room the nurse used for sick students. There they put him on the bed.

The nurse also checked the pulse and got him to ly a bit higher with his head, so he could breath a bit easier. In the mean while she questioned Severus about what had happened. When she heard his story (which wasn’t much) she lifted the shirt of James chest, to see if she could find anything there. With one look at his chest she motioned Severus to come and have a look as well. She could hardly believe her eyes. Neither could Severus.

James chest was really only stick and bones. You could count all his ribs, and his stomach was sunken. His arms were nearly only bones. The nurse decided to check the rest of his body as well, so they pulled the overlarge pants of. His hips were jutting out, and his legs were more like sticks. There wasn’t any meat on him anywhere. And worst were the bruises they found. Mainly on his back, but also on the inside of his upperlegs, and his front chest. Not on his arms, or face and only a few on the other parts of his legs, but enough to know this couldn’t be done by clumsiness. The nurse gave him a good look over, and declared that his collapse was because of exhaustion and malnutrition. She gave Severus a rather helpless look. He felt the same. This was really bad. The boy probably wasn’t sick this summer, unless his family helped him being sick.

The nurse prepared a nutrition drink for James and put him under some covers. James was so tired he din’t even react. Then the nurse beckoned Severus over to her desk.

“Damn this Severus. I have never seen such an obvious sign of child abuse, but this is going to get risky. You see, his aunt and uncle have quite a lot of influance in our community, so they can get us fired if we are not carefull.” She looked at James again.

“But I wasn’t planning on letting them get away with this. I’ll make some pictures and file it all away in the bank. I will also warn the principal. He doesn’t like the Dursleys anyway. But do you know anything else we can do? I know Mrs. Foster is good friends with the Dursleys, so we cannot go to her for help. Will you help?”

Severus didn’t need to think twice about that. He nodded. The nurse smiled at him. “Good. Now, we will need more evidence that the Dursleys did this, or else they can claim some other students did this and his ‘illness’ made him so thin. You live near them right? Could you collect information?”

Severus nodded again. The nurse looked a bit surprised at his easy admittion, as it’s not everyday you’re being asked to spy on people, but she didn’t know it was normal for him.

Then she suddenly stood up at the movement on the bed. James was waking up. He actually didn’t make a sound, so it was lucky the nurse was looking in his direction when he started moving.

She stood next to his bed, Severus on the other side. James looked grodingly up at them, then seemed to notice he was nearly completely naked in a strainge bed. So he panicked. His breathing got erratic again, and he tried to hide under the blankets. Only the nurse stopped him and started to speak to him in calming tones. This proved that James could still hear things, because he looked at her and calmed down. Seeing this, Severus signed to James

“James, we saw the way you look, and want to help. We want to get you out of the Dursleys hands. I actually knew your real parents, so I can help even better. Do you trust us enough for this? We promise to be carefull, not tell everyone about this and not let the Dursleys find out untill we can get you out. Will you help us?”

James seemed to panic for a bit again, but then relaxed more. He signed: “You knew my parents? They weren’t really drunk and lazy were they?” the last bit was added with hesitation.

Severus looked at him in surprise. So those Durselys had told him that his parents had been drunk and lazy? “No, they were not. Your mother was the kindest person I knew, and even though your father wasn’t a good friend, we got along. They were certainly not drunk and lazy. They worked very hard and loved you very much. Lily always came by to show me some more pictures of you and to tell me stories about you. So no, they were not like the Durselys told you.”

James smiled for a bit. Then he signed: “Will you really help me? Not just promise and then disappear?”

The nurse and Severus nodded. It seemed the story about his parents had helped to win the trust of James.

Than James nodded and signed: “Allright, I will help you, but please don’t let the Dursleys know I said this.”

And with that he smiled his first genuine smile of the entire day.