~Parsel tongue~

Harry awoke alone in the dark infirmary; he shook his head to clear the sleep. What time was it anyways? He didn’t see Snape or Poppy anywhere and he took this time to think about what he could get done. Well he would probably be in a bit of trouble but it would be worth it, he decided to head to the Chamber of Secrets. He quickly disabled the charms around his bed and ran out the infirmary and headed to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom on the 2nd floor.

“Hey Myrtle I’m Harry, if anyone asks I was never here ok?”

“Ok, what are you going over there?”

“Nothing,” he replied as the sink opened into a giant tunnel.

“If you die down there, you can share my toilet,” she replied grinning.

He grimaced; this Myrtle was the same as the old one.

“Uh thanks for the offer, but I don’t plan on dying. Goodbye,” he answered then slid down the hole.He landed on the pile of dead animal bones; he would have to clean that up if he came down here anytime during the year. He slowly walked through the Chamber keeping his eyes low and peeled for any sign of the giant snake. As he headed to the mouth of the tunnel he heard an angry hiss and he quickly shut his eyes before speaking.

~Whossse there? ~

~My name isss Harry what isss your name? ~

~Annabelle, what can I do for you young sssspeaker? ~

~Jusssst wanted to talk to you, do you believe in time travel? ~

~Of coursssssse, the humansss just haven’t figured it out yet~

~I came from the future, I have to make thingsss right~

~You wissssh to bond with me don’t you, young one? ~

~How did you know that? ~

~I am a magical creature I can ssssee your aura, itssss very bright. I sssense darknessss in the air and I have no plan to be usssed like I was 40 yearsss ago. You may bond with me young sssspeaker, and I will be there for you whenever you call me~

Harry smiled as they bonded; now Tom had no chance of almost killing Ginny in his 2nd year. Even if they had divorced he still didn’t want anything to happen to her, she was after all the mother of his children. He stayed around Annabelle and he found out that bonded didn’t have to protect their eyes from her gaze. She treated him like he was kid, and he wasn’t complaining when she took him on a ride throughout the pipes in the school. As they neared the Great Hall he heard McGonagall’s scared voice about a lost boy in the castle, and cringed when he realized it was him. He looked down at himself he was filthy but perhaps this could work in his favor. He jumped off of Annabelle bade her goodbye and then put a bunch of cuts on his body with his hidden wand. He looked like someone had attacked him, and he idly mused if Quirrel was back from Albania yet. He wandered out an entrance near the Dungeons, where he hoped Snape would be. He lay down on the floor, and brought up some tears, he mused to himself that he was doing quite a lot of fake crying today, when he heard footsteps. Time to turn on the water works he thought, and he started bawling.

“Harry is that you?”

When Severus headed to the infirmary after his 4 hour meeting with Albus, he felt accomplished, he told Albus about the Potter’s will and promised to show him when Harry woke up. He didn’t mean to stay that long and he thought he had nothing to worry about, but he was wrong. When he entered the infirmary, Poppy was nowhere to be found and neither was Harry. Severus called for her and out came Sybil, what the heck was she doing here?

“Where’s Poppy and Harry?”

“The time child is in the Chamber with his bonded and Poppy is looking for him.”

“What Chamber are you talking about? Are you telling me that Harry is lost?”

“Not lost, just don’t want to be found, he’s on a very important mission.”

“Sybil he is an 11 year old boy who has never been to Hogwarts of course he wants to be found. He’s probably frightened; I better go help look for him.”

Severus had been looking for Harry for about 1 hour when he had a hunch to go check his Dungeons; they were after all easy to get lost in. He had just wondered passed his quarters when he heard the sound of crying, he breathed a sigh of relief until he wondered what the child was crying for.

“Harry what’s wrong? What happened, are you hurt?”

He tried to get an answer out of the child but he wouldn’t stop crying. Sending a Patronus to Pomprey informing her he found him, he reached for the child. He lifted him up and carried him towards the light it was too dark to check the child down here. Harry never did stop crying and when he saw him in the hall he knew why. The boy was covered in an assortment of cuts, what the hell?

“Shh, it’s ok Harry your safe now. Do you think you can tell me what happened?”  

Severus shook his head he wasn’t really expecting an answer, and he walked toward the infirmary. He met Poppy in the hall who gasped at the sight of him.

“What happened to him Severus?”

“I don’t know, he won’t tell me. I will found out, in the meantime we are leaving here tomorrow.”

“Well let’s go to the infirmary then," Poppy replied.

They were met in the hospital by the Headmaster whose twinkle in his eyes was gone.  Poppy healed his cuts and spelled him cleaned all the while he refused to let go of Severus, and she couldn’t blame him. She gave him half a calming potion to drink so he could talk about his attack.

“What happened to you Harry?” Severus gently asked.

“I don’t know I fell; I’m so sorry that I got dirty Uncle Severus.”

“You’re trying to tell me that all these cuts were caused by you falling? What do you take me for Harry? Do you think I’m stupid? Because only a moron would believe that, do you think me a moron Harry Potter?”

“No sir, not at all. I didn’t mean to make a mess or make you worry.”

“That’s not a problem Harry, Poppy cleaned you up. Harry, do you know who hurt you?” 

“No, I remember him laughing and then, I don’t know why I can’t remember. I’m sorry.” Harry answered making confusion his main emotion on his face.

“Do you think he was obliviated?” Albus asked with a frown.

“It’s possible, but you know I can’t check. His mind is too immature and I could damage something. Maybe it’s good that you’re taking him to the cottage tomorrow Severus. I will try to be there sometime this week with Albus to talk with both you and Harry,” Poppy replied.        

    Harry wondered what they wanted to talk to them about but he was too tired to think about it. He was too tired to even eat and Merlin knows he was starving, oh well he went to bed with an empty stomach before it won’t kill him. As he sat there nodding off Severus noticed and ordered a sandwich for him, the child hadn’t eaten all day he was sure of it.

“Harry you need to eat, then you can go to sleep.”

“I not hungry,” he replied tiredly before his stomach growled.

“I know I can tell,” Severus replied sarcastically.

“I too tired Uncle Sev, I don’t want to eat.” He answered wearily.

Before Harry knew it he was being lifted up and leaned against Severus’s chest and a piece of sandwich was put into his mouth. He was a bit embarrassed about being fed like a baby but he was too tired to care, besides it was only Poppy and Albus watching. He finished half of the sandwich before his stomach was full, but still Severus fed him more. He could feel his stomach start to rebel and shook his head no and refused to open his mouth.

“Come on Harry just a few more bites and your done,” Severus spoke gently.

“I can’t my stomach is full, if I eat anymore I’ll be sick.” Harry sighed as his statement set off an angry Poppy and Severus using Albus as the scapegoat especially since it was his fault.

“Please Harry; I know you can finish it. There’s only a little bit left.”         

   Harry grimaced as he was fed the rest of his sandwich, and the minute he swallowed the last piece he could feel it coming back up his throat. He struggled to get off of Severus’s lap to run to the toilet but he only made it 2 feet before his stomach was emptying its contents on the infirmary floor. He was extremely embarrassed and his eyes were watering, he hated sicking up. He heard gasps behind him, and then someone was carrying him to the loo. He finished sicking up in the toilet, and rinsed his mouth out and warily turned to face Snape. The man’s expression was unreadable to him, and he couldn’t tell if he was angry or not.

“I’m sorry Uncle Severus, I didn’t mean to sick up. My stomach was just so full and I couldn’t help it. I wasn’t trying to be wasteful with the food.”

“I know Harry, that’s fine. It’s my fault, in your defense you did tell me that you couldn’t eat anymore, and I didn’t listen.”

“I’m sorry about the mess I made out there; I’ll go clean it up.”

“There is no need Harry, Poppy has already taken care of it. How are you feeling now?”

“I’m fine, I’m just tired.”

They walked back out where Poppy and Albus were having a heated discussion and he would bet his entire vault of galleons that it was about him. He was too tired to focus on the conversation so he climbed back on Snape’s lap and rested his head back against Severus’s chest and fell asleep.

What starving 11 year old boy do you know that can’t finish one whole sandwich without getting ill?  Severus couldn’t name any healthy ones; only the starved ones like Harry came to mind. He looked at the child who had fallen asleep on his chest; this child was changing everything about him. He had resigned himself to living alone and bitter as the snarky Potion’s Master, but in just one day he had become the caregiver of an 11 year old boy. His heart still warmed at the thought of when the boy referred to Severus as being a part of his family. The child trusted him to keep him safe and he would find out who had hurt Harry. He was also determined to stretch the boy’s stomach to where it should be this year, and with the nutrient potions, he hoped it was easy. But as he learned things with Harry Potter are never just easy.