Last Time...

Silently Severus was handed a medical report by Poppy. Albus watched as dark eyes scanned the grim report, momentarily widening before fluxing back into their usual cool, calm form.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose Dumbledore made his way out of the room, followed by Poppy.

The broken family needed some time alone.

Dark looming shadows flitted at the edge of his consciousness, focusing as he came to.
Large figures meant pain. He tensed out of habit attempting to pull his limbs close and protecting his body.

It never occurred to him that he should hurt. That the last time he partook of the waking world he was on death's doorstep. That he shouldn't be able to move at all, seeing as the last time he was taking part in the experience of life numerous bones were broken and he was bleeding internally.

It did however occur to him that his arms were much heavier than they ought to be, which, of course, left him exposed.

Exposure meant pain. Be it from a beating or his uncle ... 'playing' with his privates.
What his uncle did didn't seem like ... 'play' to Harry. It made his privates get all puffy and red... and it hurt.

Harry didn't know much- he was only seven after all. He did know that he didn't like it when his uncle touched him there... it made him feel sick.

While his uncle was 'playing' he would get sweaty and rough. What would start out as light touches became painful grabs where fingernails scraped at skin leaving trails of red behind.

This was different.

Even when he was little and his aunt had taken him to the doctor who took his temperature it wasn't so bad. When his temperature was taken it didn't make him feel like one of the toys Dudley didn't like anymore and broke.

It hurt worse than anything his uncle had ever done before- including the stove. At least with the stove he stopped feeling after a little while. With this...

Harry was only seven at the time and therefor didn't know much, but he was pretty sure that... whatever had happened... wasn't supposed to.

Once his uncle finished he cried. He knew that tears only made things worse, but he couldn't help it. His privates and bottom hurt bad.

His uncle hit him, and told him not to be such a sniveling waste of space. That only made him cry harder.

As such when he felt something happening around his privates, he began to cry. Tears leaked from his eyes as he desperately tried to stay silent. Relief filed him when the movement ceased, only to be replaced by fear as something cool was put on his bottom. The battle with tears lost, shuddering sobs wracked his body before a soft hand was placed on his forehead. Words that made little sense were whispered into his ear, calming him as the hand stroked his hair. The cool thing was taken away and sobs reduced to thin gasps for breath.

The kind hand continued to run through his hair, eventually lulling him into a sense of safety. Though he was reluctant to fall into a more venerable state, the little boy found himself nodding off into the much kinder world of dreams.
____

Poppy removed the gloves, vanishing them with a wave of her wand. As if the poor boy hadn't been through enough already, waking up in the middle of an exam. Looking to the doting father she took in the touching site. There, sitting next to the bed of a child was a man who many claimed had no heart, and yet here he was comforting a small boy through a trying experience.

"How is it?" The soft baritone startled her out of her musings. Dark eyes met her own, desperately searching for an answer.

She sighed. "The rectal tearing has healed significantly, but I went ahead and applied another dose of the salve. I also had to replace the Foley."

"And that is what woke him?"

"I suspect. Having a tube pulled out of your urethra and then replaced can be quite uncomfortable if not slightly painful, especially for one so young. You did a good job of comforting him."

The Potion's Master's dark eyes closed before he nodded wearily.
Madame Pomfry pulled up a chair beside the dour man. "There was nothing more you could have done. Its not your fault Harry's in this condition. If anything, you saved his life."

Obsidian snapped open resembling the fiery pits that birthed them. "Only after I had condemned him. If I had listened to my wife he never-"

"True," she retorted "If you had listened to Lily your son would never have been in this situation. However, Lily thought you were dead. When you miraculously 'came back to life' the Filidus charm had already been cast and there was no going back. What happened was merely a tragic result of multiple situations out of anyone's hands."

Now," she said with a wave of her wand. "I believe the best place for Harry to be is with his father. You are just as competent as I in taking care of him at this point in time. He shouldn't fully awake for a few days yet, and when he does awaken I have full confidence in your capabilities as a parent." Gently picking up the child and wrapping him in his sheets the Mistress of the Hospital wing handed Harry no longer Potter to his father.

Marveling for a second at how easily Snape slipped back into paternal mode, she shewed them out.