Severus was trying to prepare Harry for the move to the manor that afternoon when the incident occurred. He and Harry were sitting on the floor of the living room as Severus showed the child pictures of the manor, hoping to accustom him to the place before they moved over, when there was a loud popping sound, and suddenly, Dusty was standing in the middle of the room.

Harry’s reaction was instantaneous. He screamed, a loud, howling sounds, before scuttling away from Dusty like a crab. He hid behind Severus, hissing menacingly at the poor elf, who looked frightened out of his wits. Severus carefully took stock of the situation. Dusty hadn’t used his formidable magic to curse the child, and Harry hadn’t run for the potions cupboard- yet. He thanked Merlin for small blessings.

He was more worried about Harry than Dusty. Dusty was quick, and if he hadn’t cursed the child yet he wasn’t about to. Harry’s behavior was more wild and unpredictable. Thus, he was the one Severus would have to deal with first. He turned about so quickly that his lank black hair slapped against his cheek.

“Behave!” he made his voice firm as he carefully placed his hands on Harry’s shoulders.

Harry glared up at him, wild-eyed, and then wrenched back before sinking his teeth angrily into Severus’s arm. Severus grimaced but picked up the child this time, restraining him more completely. Harry thrashed for a while until he grew weary, his body sinking against Severus’s arms.

“Calm down,” Severus said, a little more gently although still firmly. “There is no need for you to be carrying on so.”

Harry hissed again, although he seemed to have lost some of his steam. Severus took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before he tried to think of how to deal with the situation at hand. His eyes fell to the chunk that was missing out of his arm from when Harry bit him, and his stomach rolled the slightest amount when he glimpsed his bone shining beneath.

“Sir?” Dusty asked, sounding less certain of himself than usual. “Would you like a bandage?”

Severus contemplated that for a moment. Undoubtedly his arm could use one, but if Dusty got closer to him, Harry might start panicking again, and he didn’t want to deal with that right this second. It wasn’t bleeding too much to manage; his internal magic preserves were preventing that. “I think not, Dusty. I’ll make sure to put something on it tonight so that it doesn’t get infected.”

The house elf nodded, trying, and failing, not to look to curious about the child Severus had begun to whisper assurances to. Finally, Severus glanced up again.

“Did you need something just now, Dusty?” he asked, looking tired. “When you popped in?”

“Fable sent me to tell you that dinner’s in an hour.”

Severus winced. Fable took pride in her food, and she’d be insulted and angry if Severus was late to a meal that he’d asked her to prepare. At the same time, he was afraid that Harry wouldn’t be ready to head over to the manor that soon. It was all too clear to Severus that he needed to set some boundaries for Harry before they got there, and explain house elves to him…

“Can you send Fable here, please?”

Dusty looked apprehensively from Severus to Harry. “Sir?”

“I’ll make sure that Harry doesn’t hurt her. It may be wise to warn her of his… phobia… though.”

“Yes, sir.”

It was only after Dusty left that Severus realized the elf had been calling him ‘sir’. That was something… He wondered if it was due to Harry’s presence, or if Dusty had switched television programs again. He couldn’t think of what show would teach Dusty that kind of respect, but he had been sans-ballcap…

Severus glared down at his charge, who had finally calmed down completely and was simply resting in Severus’s arms, looking at Severus apprehensively. Well, that was something… At least he recognized that he had done wrong.

“I’m very disappointed in you,” Severus told Harry, narrowing his eyes. “I can’t believe that you would behave in such a fashion, and biting me is completely unacceptable.”

Harry’s eyes were moistening with what Severus decided were crocodile tears. The boy wasn’t sorry at all. He frowned, wondering how he should discipline Harry. He knew that he had a minute or two before Fable showed up- she would have to put her food in a stasis and Dusty would have to tell her about Harry- but he didn’t have enough time to have a proper conversation with the boy.

“There’s going to be another house elf coming here,” Severus told him. “If I set you down, will you be able to refrain from that outlandish behavior and comport yourself with dignity?”

Harry stared at Severus mutely. Frowning, Severus released Harry and pulled the boy to his side, keeping a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “I expect you to remain right beside me. If you can not handle that when Fable shows up, you are to go into the bedroom.” He pointed in the direction of the bedroom helpfully. He didn’t have time to see if Harry understood him or not as at that moment there was a CRACK and another elf was in the room.

Fable was wringing the hem of her skirt nervously between long green fingers, her eyes wide as she stared at Harry. Harry looked at her just as nervously, and one of his hands reached out and gripped Severus’s trouser leg, his nails digging into Severus’s thigh. It was much better than the boy’s earlier reaction, but Severus thought that might have more to do with the fact that Harry knew he was in trouble than the fact that Harry had actually realized the house elves weren’t frightening.

“Master called?”

Severus let the master thing slide, though he had asked the house elf on more than one occasion to call him anything else. He was already preparing to ask her to hold dinner for a bit longer. Making her upset first would not help his cause.

“Fable,” Severus began, frowning a little in consternation. “The child who is currently clinging to me is named Harry. He was… abused… in an extreme way for many years. Due to this he is rather unpredictable.”

Fable nodded to show her understanding, though it was clear from the crease in her brows that she wasn’t sure where Severus was leading with his speech. Severus decided to simply cut to the chase.

“Harry doesn’t understand simple things, and he’s incredibly violent when provoked. I’m trying to get him used to the idea of moving over to the manor, but my success is… limited… and I’m afraid that Dusty appearing the sitting room before I had the chance to explain to Harry about house elves rather set us behind schedule. I fear we may be to dinner later than you had planned for us.”

“Oh!” the house-elf’s ears drooped a little, and Severus feared that she was horribly upset, but when she looked up at him her eyes were more concerned than anything. “I can be holding dinner, master, and I can be making sure the little ones aren’t going near the young master for now. Would master like help with the young master later? Perhaps if he’s around a house-elf later, he will grow used to them.”

It wasn’t a bad suggestion, actually. Severus gave Fable a rare smile. “That would be wonderful. I think that for now it would be best if you, Dusty, and the children try to stay away, but perhaps around bedtime you could come introduce yourself?”

Fable positively beamed. “Of course, master, sir!”

She was gone almost before she had finished spitting out the sentence, and Severus was left thinking how terribly redundant it was to be called both master and sir in the same sentence. He shook the thought away and forced himself to focus on more important matters- namely, Harry.

Severus knelt beside the boy, who was looking anywhere but at him. He sighed, forcing back his frustrations before he dealt with Harry. “Look at me, please.”

Harry’s eyes locked with his. Harry withered a little under Severus’s gaze and began to chew upon his lower lip. Severus sighed and gently pried the offending lip away.

“You seem to be under the misconception that the entire world is your enemy and the best strategy in life is to attack first, ask questions second,” Severus said. Realizing what he’d just done, he shook his head. Small words, Severus, he reminded himself. He was, after all, trying to communicate with a seven year old. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Attacking people is not okay. You do not growl. You do not hiss. You do not bite. You do not spit. You do not kick. You do not hit. Do you understand me?”

Harry’s eyes were watering again, but Severus found that it was getting easier and easier to ignore that. After a moment, Harry nodded his head slowly, although he looked rather like he thought that he was condemning himself to the gallows. Still, Severus took the step forward for what it was. He flicked his wand, sending one of the wooden kitchen chairs into the corner.

“When you are naughty, you will be sent to sit in the naughty chair, and you are not to get up again until I think that you can behave like a gentleman.”

Harry’s eyes widened considerably. He looked like he’d rather rip his eyes out than go sit down. Severus felt a bit bad- after being locked away for so long, forcing the boy to stay in one spot again was almost mean- but he reminded himself that Harry was in sore need of the discipline.

“Go on,” Severus told him, nudging him between the shoulders. Harry slowly padded over to the chair and sat down, looking at Severus through big puppy dog eyes.

Harry was barely in the chair for thirty seconds before he began to squirm, his eyes racing about the room. His left hand tapped irritatedly on his thigh and he began to nibble on his lower lip again. Good thing dinner was soon, Severus thought wryly. He wondered how long Harry should sit there. Age dictated that he be there for a while, as did the enormity of Harry’s wrongdoing, but Severus didn’t want to scar the child, and it wasn’t as though Harry had really known better. Yes, Severus had told him to calm down, but the truth was that Harry’s fears had been warranted- at least from the child’s point of view… In the end, Severus had Harry sit there for two minutes before he walked over and crouched in front of the chair.

“Alright, now, before you can get down from the chair you’re to say you’re sorry.” It was doubtful that Harry would know what it meant, but the mimicry would- hopefully- help him learn. “Can you say sorry.”

“S’rry.”

“Good boy.” Severus stepped aside and let Harry slide off the chair onto the floor. “Now, back to preparing for the manor…”