"No way! Totally no way.”

“You are being ridiculous! It’s a simple device meant to --”

“It’s a baby monitor! I’m not a baby!”

“You are certainly acting like one right now!”

Harry’s jaw dropped. Clearly he’d gotten too comfortable with the man, because that jab had hurt. And he didn’t allow himself to be hurt. Come on Harry, you’re better than that, he tried to tell himself in the seconds after Snape’s comment.

“Don’t do that,” his teacher’s voice broke into his thoughts.

“Do what?” he couldn’t help but ask. Curiosity could be a friend and an enemy that much was clear.

“Close yourself off. I do have some experience with the process you realize.” And just like that, Harry’s hurt flared back to life. He felt his face twist into a pout without his permission.

“You’re mean! I’m not acting like a baby!”

“No, not at all. Currently you are a paragon of maturity,” came the reply. And before Harry could stop him, Snape reached across and poked at his protruding lower lip in emphasis.

Defeated, all he could do was cross his arms and flop onto his bed to emphasize his unhappiness. “Yeah, well, it’s still a stupid baby monitor...”

“If you would just deign to listen to me for a moment you would learn very quickly that it is *not* a baby monitor, you stubborn child. I would liken it more to a walkie-talkie toy.”

Snape knew what a walkie-talkie was? Nonetheless...

“You don’t need to listen in on me. I – I promise I won’t get out of bed again.”

“You continue to miss the point.” Harry wanted to argue again, but felt bad at how exasperated the man sounded. Perhaps he should give him a chance to talk.

“You are allowed to get out of bed. You are not a prisoner in your own room. But I think we both know the reason you’ve been getting out of bed thus far is not the healthiest.”

“I’ve stayed in here two nights already and didn’t leave!”

“Yes, that’s true, and I do appreciate the effort that must have been for you. However you did not sleep a wink either night, did you?”

“How did you know--”

“If you do not realize that I have my own ways of ensuring I am aware of your location and well being, you are more naive than I feared.

Harry bit his tongue for what felt like the fiftieth time during the conversation. Sure enough, he was rewarded.

“This device works both ways, Harry. But even so, I am not giving it to you so I can monitor you. I’m giving it to you so you can hear into my chambers. So you will know that I have not gone anywhere in the night. I am giving it to you in the hopes that someday soon you will know that I am not going anywhere.”

Oh. Well now he had to bite his tongue for entirely different reasons.

“I really must wonder what those retched relatives of yours did to you. And I have been negligent in my own care of you by not attempting to find out. So tell me, Harry, did your Aunt and Uncle often go off and leave you alone in the middle of the night?”

Uh oh. Questions. Questions never went anywhere good. But he was also never very good at keeping things from Snape. Not when the man really and truly wanted to know. And right now he looked like he really truly wanted to know.

Harry sighed, feeling like he was about to walk the plank on a pirate ship. There was nothing to be done; he just had to take the plunge.

“No, no they never did that, at least not as far as I can tell. But I was really scared about it. I mean, it’s just that, in my room at night...” Heat rose to his cheeks and he felt himself getting angry. Why did Snape have to ask so many questions anyway? Why did it matter WHY he was worried, shouldn’t it be enough just that he was?

He didn't want to explain. He didn't want to talk about those nights in his cupboard. He didn't want to talk about the Dursleys at all. All he wanted to do was run from the room and hide until Snape was done with all his questions and poking about where he had no business.

Anger rose in him with a speed that was frightening. Harry found himself standing and stomping his feet and shouting, "They locked me in every night okay! It was dark and I couldn't get out. I had no idea if they were even there." After such an outburst he was quick to lose his steam. Now the anger was gone he was left only with empty embarrassment. Once again he had proven to his guardian that he was too much trouble, too volitile. "I don't even know if I wanted them to be there really. But they locked me in, and what would I have done if they had left. No food or anything...But I guess I was just being silly. Like I said, they never did it."

"That doesn't undermine your very real fears. From what I understand of your relatives, it might not have been beyond them. You had every right to be afraid."

"Ron wouldn't have been. Hermione would have been logical about it and known it wasn't going to happen. I bet you wouldn't have been afraid."

"It's impossible to say, as I was never locked in a room overnight on a regular basis. But I can tell you that I certainly had fears of my own when I was the same age as you are now. It is a perfectly reasonable response."

"You were afraid of stuff when you were my age? I don't believe it!"

"Everyone has their fears Harry. Even now, I carry fears and worries. As does Dumbledore, and your friends. You are not the only one."

“Yeah well, at least theirs don’t mean they need a baby mon--”

“I TOLD you, it’s NOT--”

“I know, I know. And sure, maybe everyone has their own fears, but why do mine have to be so stupid?”

“I don’t think your fears are stupid. And as long as we’re making comparisons to other people, I shall say only this: spiders.”

Harry grinned down into his lap. He shouldn’t laugh at his friend’s expense, but it was a good point. From the corner of his eye he could see the small speaker set that Snape had brought into his room. Without looking up, he reached out and took the nearest one into his palm.

It was purple. He liked that.

“So it’ll let me hear you?”

“Yes.”

“So you can talk into yours and I’ll hear it?”

“Yes.”

“And can I talk to you?”

“Yes, like I told you, it works in both directions.”

“I mean, may I talk to you.”

Harry felt proud of himself. Snape looked shocked, at least for a moment. Then his face seemed to soften marginally and he said, “You may speak to me whenever you need to. You don’t need to do so through the speakers, you can come to me.”

“Oh. I know that. Thank you.” He received no real response, however. All he got was that weird hum Snape did through his lips. Kind of like ‘Hmmm’, but not quite. Harry suspected there was a lot more than ‘Hmmm’ going on in the man’s brain, but who was he to press for sharing?

“You will accept the speakers then?”

“Yeah. I mean, I do get it. That you’re trying to make sure I’m not scared.”

“Indeed. Now I do believe it is time for your bath.”

Harry wanted to hug the man, but couldn’t seem to cross the distance between them to do so. Instead he tightened his grip on the speaker brought it a little closer to his chest. After a moment the professor reached over and set it down on the nightstand.

“Go on now Harry.”

And so he did.

HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS

A baby monitor. Severus had to snort at the very accusation. The boy was quicker than he gave him credit for, certainly. Still, his objective had been accomplished; the speaker set would be ensconced within Harry’s bedroom. Now they would both get a good night’s sleep, and gods willing the child would never find out that the object was, in fact, a baby monitor with a few magical adjustments. Yes, that piece of information was better taken to his grave.

Still, Severus was fairly proud of the cunning he had used to get the boy to accept it. For a child with as many issues as Harry, he certainly was incredibly reluctant to accept any sort of help. Almost as bad as I am, he couldn’t help but think.

But, he had succeeded, and it was a step in the right direction, anyway. Now on to step two. Sleeping patterns were on their way to being addressed, now he had to do something about Harry’s wardrobe.

Sparing a quick glance at the closed bathroom door, Snape made sure to note that the water was running before he moved to Harry’s trunk. The underpants he had spotted in the cupboard the night of Dumbledore’s visit had made him wonder about the rest of the child’s wardrobe, and over the last several days it had become obvious that Harry’s clothes were in despicable condition. A grass stain here or there he could understand, a tear in the knee or elbow even, normal for a boy of that age. But what he had seen over the course of the last several days was very much not normal.

Key distinction being the clothes that he had seen. If the clothes that Harry was willing to wear in front of him were that run down, what was he hiding away?

He had to find out, and there was no time like the present.

By the time he had made piles for trousers, shirts, jumpers and indistinguishable rags, he was seething. How could they? The clothes laid out in front of him would have been scorned by Oliver Twist. They were overly large, torn, grey and stained. He was currently looking over a pair of trousers with a tear up the inseam. For a change, this seemed to have been mended, or an attempt had been made at the very least.

He turned the leg of the trousers inside out to examine the stitching more closely, and his breath caught at the sight of it. It was plain as day, messy, unpracticed sewing in bright orange thread. Severus’ breath caught in his throat. Oh Harry.

“I didn’t want no one to see – I mean, I had to wear them to school and the tear was--”

He hadn’t expected the boy out of the bath yet. He struggled to clear his throat and his head.

“Modesty is a good virtue to possess, child. You did a valiant job with this.”

“No I didn’t. It’s no good. It kept re-tearing and I didn’t have enough thread.”

He looked so small, standing there water dripping down his face from his still wet hair. Severus found himself uncharacteristically hurting for the boy. Before he could lose himself in it, however, Harry saved him.

“Why are you looking at my clothes, anyway?”

“It has occurred to me over the last several days that the ones you have are less than ideal. I wanted to see what needs to be replaced.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m okay.”

“Mmmm. I’m sure you believe that to be true. But I would be incredibly negligent if I let you keep wearing these rags. You deserve proper clothes, Harry. Clothes that fit, and aren’t torn and dirty. So if you don’t mind, I will continue on with my efforts to catalogue what you need.”

“No, stop!” Harry cried out as Severus turned back towards the trunk. “You can’t go in there.”

“Why ever not? I told you Harry, I need to see what else you need.”

“I don’t need anything else. Please!”

“Breathe! Why are you so upset?”

“Because the rest of the stuff is personal. I don’t want you to see it.”

“The rest of the – your underclothes?”

“Yes! God! And teachers aren’t supposed to see your underwear!”

The boy’s statement, rife with panic and embarrassment, sent a chill down Snape’s spine. He dropped the lid of the trunk closed and stepped closer to his charge. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t. But he was unable to deny that the boy was vulnerable, and after the attack by the Ravenclaw boys...He dropped to his knees and gripped Harry’s shoulders.

“You’re right Harry, teachers aren’t supposed to see your underclothes. Have any teachers seen yours?”

Harry’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? No, no one’s seen them. Why would they?”

Relief overwhelmed him, so much so that he almost laughed. Instead he settled for pulling the boy to his chest and folding him into an embrace. Thank god.

“I will just assume you need everything replaced, all right?” He whispered.

He felt Harry nod against him as he wrapped his arms around Snape’s neck. He was well versed enough in Harry’s silent signals at this point to know what this meant. The boy had reached the end of his tether.

Grateful that his ward was small for his age, Severus stood. He was halfway to the bed when Harry whispered in return.

“They’re awful Daddy. I don’t want you to see. It’s too embarrassing.”

Ah. Yes, definitely at the end of his emotional rope.

“You have nothing to be embarrassed of, lad. Your muggle relations are the ones that should be embarrassed.”

And someday they would be.