)O(

The staff room was deathly quiet as everyone stared at Poppy in horrified silence.

'Please tell me you are joking!' Professor Sprout whispered and Poppy shook her head sadly.

'I wish I was Pomona, Harry has extensive scarring and several badly healed injuries, some of which are years old. It is one of the worst cases Severus and I have seen.'

Everyone's gaze turned to Severus and Professor Flitwick asked curiously.

'It was you who uncovered this Severus?'

The potions professor scowled as he felt all his colleagues eyes on his, remembering their hostility to him on New Years Eve.

'Yes,' he asked evenly. 'Mr Potter had a serious chest infection during the holidays and whilst treating him, I discovered he was wearing glamours. Underneath,....well, you have all seen his weight. There were also open wounds on his back and several more serious injuries. The boy had been walking round all term with broken ribs and a broken wrist.'

Hagrid groaned and buried his head in his hands.

'I should've known, ' he bawled in anguish. 'Why did'nr he tell no one?'

'It is very rare for a child to disclose they are being beaten, Hagrid,' the Headmaster said quietly. 'It is usually by their behaviour and their injuries that it is spotted. Unfortunately, in this I have let Harry down very badly. I knew he was unhappy at home but I never suspected....'

The staff all looked hastily away as Albus blew his nose on a large hanky and wiped his eyes.

'We have all let Harry down Albus,' Poppy whispered. 'You must not carry this alone.'

The Headmaster smiled at her, for once the smile not reaching his eyes.

'You are more forgiving than I deserve, my dear,' he said kindly. 'Concerns have been raised to me on several occasions by those close to Harry and I choose to ignore them. There are many who have a right to be angry with me just now; not least Mr Potter.'

The collective attention immediately shifted to Professor McGonagall who was sat white faced, her hands folded tightly in her lap. Minerva's outburst in the Headmasters office was now making a great deal more sense and Professor Sprout patted her colleagues arm in sympathy. Minerva was well known to be protective of her little lions and would not be taking this revelation well.

'Will the Aunt and Uncle be facing charges Albus?' Flitwick asked, by far the calmest person in the room and the Headmaster sighed in response.

'Eventually, I hope so,' he said quietly. 'At the moment I am more concerned in protecting Harry from the publicity that would ensue if this went to court now. He has already had a very distressing few months. I will have to talk to him but I am hopeful that we may be able to find him a more appropriate guardian without having to lay charges.'

Professor Sprout gasped, her face full of outrage. 'Albus! You can't let those Muggles just get away with this. They have mistreated one of our children.'

Albus smiled at the protectiveness of his staff and in particular the emphasis on 'our' children whilst Severus chuckled into his coffee mug.

'I don't believe they are just 'getting away' with it Pomona,' Albus stated with a pointed look at his potions master.

Poppy's eyes widened as she saw the wicked grin that flashed between Minerva and Severus.

'What did you do,' she asked eagerly and Severus rose an eyebrow at her.

'Hardly anything,.....yet.' he stated dryly and the mood in the staff room lightened considerably.

'Well, if you need any help with that 'hardly anything,' please do let me know,' Flitwick stated with a distinct edge of steel in his voice and Severus inclined his head in acknowledgement.

'I believe I may take you up on that,' he said quietly as the headmaster cleared his throat, pointedly throwing a disapproving look their way.

No one in the room was fooled. The man had blown the windows out the day before when he heard their students had been subjected to a blood quill. They had no doubt what would happen to Vernon Dursley if he had been unfortunate enough to be in the same room right now.

'How is Harry coping?' Pomona asked, her question directed to Poppy and Minerva.

All of the staff knew from experience that a welfare meeting and the process of being forced to face up to the reality of an abusive background was often an awful time for a child. There was an uncomfortable silence, before Severus realised that both of the witches were too distressed to answer the question and smoothly stepped in to fill the void.

'Potter has been remarkable composed throughout the whole ordeal.' he stated quietly. 'He is more concerned about the security risk to any new guardian and I believe that was the main factor he considered when he decided not to disclose his injuries last term.'

'He was trying to protect everyone else.' Albus stated sadly.

'Yes; strongly influenced by the death of his godfather. I believe Mr Potter decided he wasn't willing to let anyone else risk their lives for him.' Severus broke off and glanced across at Hagrid who had started to sob loudly.

Professor Flitwick watched Severus thoughtfully. It was hard not to miss the change in the way his colleague was describing young Harry Potter. They were all used to Severus practically spitting the boys name.

Unbidden, an image of Severus and Harry sat side by side on the couch on New Years Eve, both sniggering at some quiet comment sprang to the tiny professors mind. He had not thought the severe young man capable of compassion but found himself wondering just how much he really knew about his colleague? Severus had always had the confidence of Dumbledore and Filius knew that many of the staff had been sceptical about the headmasters judgement. Yet again, it seemed as if Albus had seen something the rest of them had missed.

'I am glad you were here for him Severus,' Pomona said quietly to murmured agreement from the rest of the staff. 'I get the impression that this is not the first student in these circumstances that you have supported?'

'We see two or three Slytherin's at the start of each school year,' Poppy replied seriously and at the staffs quiet shock, Severus added.

'There's a reason eleven year old children are sorted into a house that typifies self reliance, personal ambition and survival instincts,' he said pointedly. 'The majority of kids in my house only truly know acceptance and safety within these walls and even then only within their house. The rest of the schools attitude towards Slytherin only serves to re enforce their belief that they are on their own.'

A tense silence fell and Severus was surprised and somewhat shaken by the compassion he felt directed his way. Since when did his colleagues care about his snakes?

'How many children like this are you currently supporting?' Filius asked, his voice so quiet it was barely audible.

Poppy hesitated, 'I'm not sure of exact num........'

'Twenty seven,' Severus interrupted smoothly, gratified to hear several of his colleagues gasp. 'Those are the ones within my house who have suffered or are under investigation for physical abuse. There are a further fourteen who are treated rather badly at home, but not to an extend that action could be taken. I meet each of them fortnightly.'

'But Severus,' Minerva exclaimed. 'That represents...'

'More than a third of Slytherin. Yes, I am aware,' he said wryly.

'I have three in my house.' Pomona said quietly. 'I thought that horrific enough. I had no idea Severus.'

Hagrid blew his nose loudly, finally composed enough to speak.

'I always wondered why yer yung Sylther'ns wer' so loyal t'yer Pr'f'sr. I understand now, what with yer lookin after so many poor wee things.'

Albus smiled fondly at his gamekeeper. Sometimes Hagrid was surprisingly good at stating what everyone else missed.

Severus, 'the protector,' was not an image many would see when they looked at the sour faced man; but that is exactly the role he had held for many years. It was ironic that Harry, who Severus had sworn a wizarding oath to protect had been the one to slip through the net.

Albus looked around the room at his staff and knew he would not be the only one seeking to make amends with young Harry.

Albus sighed heavily. He and Poppy now had a visit to Grimmauld Place to make and would have to go through this whole sad tale again. The Weasley family in particular were going to be very difficult to manage.

The Order members had all grown fond of Harry over the last few years and those who had been stationed to watch Privet Drive were not going to be happy that they had guarded the perimeter of that dreadful house, unaware of all the harm going on inside.

)O(

Harry paused by the doors to the great hall and took a deep, steadying breath. He had been awake since four and had sat watching the sunrise over the snowy hills for hours, trying not to get nervous about breakfast.

Snape had said that the staff would all be told at the meeting last night and most of The Order later the same evening. It made him cringe to think that an Order meeting had been called just so that all the important adults in his life could be told that he was too much of a wimp to defend himself against a few overweight muggles.

Harry debated turning around and running back to his common room. What did it matter if he skipped breakfast? If he stayed in his house until all the students arrived this evening then at least the staff would be too busy to focus on him.

Except, he had promised Morgan and Emma one last fly around the Quiddtich pitch and knew they wouldn't let him fly without having eaten first.

Harry stood in the middle of the large entrance hall, indecision evident in every line of his body, unaware of soft brown eyes watching him sadly.

'Harry.'

He spun around at the quiet voice, a surprised and delighted smile crossing his face.

'Remus! What are you doing here?'

In answer the gentle man just spread his arms wide and Harry ran into them without thought. Thin arms tightened around him and Harry found himself held firmly against the man's chest, his head resting on Remus's shoulder.

'I can't believe you're here,' Harry murmured happily. He hadn't seen the man since that awful night at the Ministry.

Remus held the boy close, his throat thick with emotion as he felt every one of Harry's ribs; even through the thick jumper that drowned his small frame. Listening to Poppy talk through Harry's injuries the night before had been the longest hour of his life and it had taken all of his control not to jump up and instantly apparate to the boys side.

When Albus had cornered him after the meeting and offered him his old defence position, Remus had been packed and ready to go in twenty minutes. There was no way he was letting his old friends son out of his sight. He would set the wolf on anyone who laid a hand on Harry again, or tried to separate them.

'How are you doing there Harry?' he asked gently and in answer Harry snuggled in closer to the man's chest.

'I've been better,' he whispered and felt Remus tighten his hug.

'I know and I'm sorry. No one should have to go through this.' Remus struggled to find the words to say, wishing more than ever that Sirius was here. He pulled back a little and laying a hand on each of the boys shoulders, gave Harry his best smile.

'You know that there are lots of people who care about you don't you? I know it might not feel like it but you are not alone.'

Harry gave a watery smile and looked at his feet, finding it hard to meet the man's eye. Why wasn't Remus angry at him? He had lied and covered up what was going on at home and Remus had lost the last of his friends because of Harry's stupidity. He had expected to see disappointment in the man's face. Not this quiet compassion.

'Does everyone know now?' Harry asked thickly, still looking at his feet.

The Professors grip tightened on Harry's shoulders.

'Only those that need to Harry. I would advise that you talk to your friends soon though, particularly the Weasleys. Molly was rather emotional last night and is not the best at hiding her feelings.'

Harry grimaced; that would mean talking to Fred and George as well although he didn't think the twins would pester him if chose not confide in them.

'I'm sorry Mrs Weasley was upset,' he mumbled and Remus pulled him back into a hug.

The boy was bloody apologizing for being beaten, he thought savagely. What the hell had those people done to make the child think it was his fault? And why hadn't anyone noticed?

Memories of the patronus lessons jumped into his mind and the fact that Harry had struggled to find a happy memory to use. Why hadn't he realised that wasn't normal? Why hadn't any alarm bells gone off. Remus cursed himself, those bloody muggles and every member of staff in this stupid school. They were meant to be the adults for Merlins sake, and yet Harry had had to deal with all of this alone.

'Don't be sorry, Harry,' he murmured softly in the boys ear. 'Molly and Arthur care for you very much. We had to force several whiskeys down Arthur's neck to stop him paying an impromptu visit to Privet Drive. Alastor Moody volunteered to go hold your uncle down for him!'

Harry sniggered into the werewolf's shoulder, his face pressed into the frayed wool of Remus's jumper.

'I'd have liked to see that,' he admitted. 'I can't imagine Mr Weasley angry.'

'We were all angry, Harry; but not at you.' He reassured softly.

–

Severus turned the corner to the entrance hall and paused as he took in the two wizards stood before him. He quietly took a step back into a small alcove and watched as Lupin comforted the boy.

Harry's head was resting on the man's shoulder and Lupin held him tightly, one hand firmly wrapped around the boys back, the other stroking his hair.

Severus felt strangely numb at the scene. He couldn't even summon his normal scorn for the bedraggled looking wolf who frankly looked worse than Severus had ever seen him.

The scrawny teenager was wearing his christmas jumper again and baggy trousers and Severus recognized the need to hide from the gaze of the teaching staff. Harry was clearly hiding as much as he possibly could and Severus was surprised and impressed that the boy had even come down for breakfast.

He watched as Lupin took a step back and patted the boys arm gently.

'Are you ready to get some breakfast?'

Harry swallowed and nodded, his face pale and Remus opened the door to the great hall for him. Severus watched them go and counted to fifty before following at a sedate pace.

)O(