The slap across his face resounded around the silent corridor, but Harry having been trained as a child not to made a sound, stayed silent even as his face was smarting. He chanced an eye open to see his Uncle look around and after seeing no one coming he turned back to his nephew.

“You're going to pay for what you’ve done,” he told him he as he balled his fists up.

Harry gasped unable to help himself, before he shut his eyes again, wishing with all his heart that Snape would come. But as the man wasn’t even at Hogwarts, he knew that was a futile wish, so he changed it to Ron. He hoped his friend would come out and stun his Uncle, because at the moment he was paralyzed in his fear and powerless to do anything. He stumbled when he suddenly felt a punch to his stomach, and he gasped even louder as he tried to catch his breath. He had barely opened his eyes when he felt his uncle land a punch right in his nose. He groaned as he hit the stone floor. 

“Ron,” he called weakly, as he felt the fist's starting to pound into him. “Anyone, please,” he whimpered sadly as he shut his eyes once more and tried to lose himself into his mind.

 The portraits were besides themselves, but they didn’t seem to be able to catch a human. At least not one that would be able to help, as Filch was useless. It was a with a great sigh of relief to all portraits that were witnessing the beating of the child when they heard word that someone had heard their message and was coming to help. They only hoped whoever it was, would hurry up because they weren’t sure the poor child could take anymore.

Dudley had just come in from a run around the lake with Winky, and the first thing they had noticed was the portraits in the front hall were in a frenzy.

“Wonder what's going on,” he muttered to no one in particular. 

No sooner had he spoke, they had all as one turned to look at him with various expressions on their face. The most common one seem to be fear, but what were they afraid of he didn’t know. Dudley's brow furrowed as he saw Winky hurry over to one portrait, and he saw her already big eyes widen even further as she ran to him.

“What happened Winky?” He asked in concern as she grabbed is hand. He knew she was getting ready to pop somewhere, he just didn’t know why.

“Young master's father has gotten free, and is hurting Master Harry Potter sir,” Winky said grimly in her squeaky voice before they disappeared only to reappear on the 2nd floor.

Dudley was struggling to process what his house elf had just said when he took in the sight in front of him. His eyes widened as he took in the still form on the ground, recognizing the person to be Harry.

“No Dad!” He yelled, and before he realized what he was doing he had ran towards his father and collided with him. He hit the stone floor softer then what he thought possible until he remembered Winky. Although his father hadn’t been so lucky as the man was now knocked out. He didn’t spare another glance to him as he hurried over to his cousin.

“Harry! Harry wake up please! Oh please don’t be dead,” Dudley pleaded as he knelt at his cousin's prone form. He turned his frightened gaze to his house elf, who was glaring at his father, with all the anger Dudley was sure he would feel towards the man if he wasn’t so afraid of how his cousin was doing.

He looked around wildly, wishing for an adult, or someone to come and help him. He didn’t want to move him, in case he was seriously hurt.

“Winky get help!” He yelled to her, feeling even worse as when she disappeared because he was alone. He gently shook his cousin as he looked at his bruised body. “Harry don’t die, please,” he pleaded. “Help! Someone please, help me!” He screamed at the top of his lungs. He didn’t think he had ever felt so helpless then he did at that moment and nearly cried in relief when he heard a door near them open and someone came running out. He recognized the red haired boy even though he had never officially met him.

Ron took in Harry's still form and his giant lump of a cousin near him and he of course jumped to what he thought was a rational thought. “What the bloody hell have you done?” He asked his wand falling into his hand with a flick of his wrist.

“I didn’t do this, Da--Vernon did this,” Dudley said pointing to where his passed out father still laid.

“What part did you play in this? You hate Harry,” Ron said his wand still pointing at the boy, in disbelief.

“I knocked my dad off of him, the portraits led us here,” Dudley told him honestly as he heard a soft moan coming from Harry. He gently lifted his cousin's head, not wanting the blood from his nose to go down his throat.

“Dont touch him! Get away from him,” Ron said angrily, wishing that he had complete control of his patronus to send a message to the Headmaster. He needed help! It took him a moment to think through what the boy had just said. “What do you mean we?”

“My house elf,” Dudley said his eyes never leaving Harry's. It was about a second later when Winky appeared and a half of a second later that Dumbledore joined them.

“Headmaster!” Ron screamed in relief. “That oaf hurt Harry.” Ron said pointing to Dudley who was still tenderly holding Harry's head up.

“No I didn’t, the man that used to be my father did. Winky and the portraits know,” Dudley said defensively as he looked at the old man warily.

“I know what you did Mr. Dursely, and I applaud you. At the moment however, we need to get Harry to Poppy,” Albus said with a gentle flick of his wrist he had the hurt teenager in his arms.
 

Dudley stood up and nodded, knowing who she was. It was because of the Matron that he knew the correct doses of potions he could take, and she was helping with his diet. She had also set him up with a squib psychologist who had grown up in the same type of household he did, so the man knew what he was feeling when he couldn’t express it. He shook those thoughts away and turned back to the conversation.

“We'll meet you there,” he told the man sincerely.

“I know you will, trust me when I say Harry is in a good hands,” Albus told them.

“I know he is Headmaster,” Ron said as the man apparated on the spot.

He sighed, knowing it was a perk of being a Headmaster as no one else could apparate in or out of the castle. He turned his gaze from where the old man had disappeared with his friend to face the boy only to find him standing over his big mass of a father. 

“How. Could. You?” Dudley demanded harshly, each word accompanied by a kick to his father's stomach.

Ron could only stare in confusion as he took in the other boy, he could swear that the teen had a hand in what happened to Harry but now he was having doubts. Especially as he could hear the portraits cheering him on. He turned to one, not wanting to be confused any longer, and his eyes narrowed as the story went on.

“You fucker!” He yelled as he ran over towards the still man on the ground.

Dudley backed away, ready to defend himself when he saw that the boy had delivered a massive punch to the man that used to be his dad. He had decided in that moment when he saw his father hurting his cousin he had ceased to be Dudley Dursely, he was now Dudley Evans and couldn’t be happier. He allowed the other boy to get his frustrations out but he knew that if they didn’t want to be responsible for killing him he had to get him to stop.

“Ron stop, if he dies, he won't suffer in Azkaban,” Dudley said firmly as he reached to grab the boy's shoulder.

“He deserves this, you're only saying that because hes your father,” Ron spat out angrily.

 “No I'm not. The minute I saw him hitting Harry he no longer had that privilege,” Dudley replied before turning to Winky who had been watching them all silently. “Can you tie him up?”

He nodded quietly as she bound him before snapping her fingers, and his former father disappeared.

“Where did you take him?” He asked curiously, not that he cared. He nodded happily at the answer, a cell in the dungeons. He noticed at the mention of the dungeons how Ron's face had taken on a pale color. He looked at the other boy closely.

“What's the matter with you?” Dudley asked carefully.

“Snape isn't going to like this one bit,” Ron moaned before taking off down the hall.

Dudley quirked an eyebrow, he had heard that name before, he just couldn’t remember where.

While Ron was running to the infirmary, Dudley turned to Winky who only gave him a small sad smile in return before she clasped his hand and they disappeared with a pop. He knew when they reappeared where they were, as the infirmary had its own personal smell. He was relieved to see that Harry's face was devoid of those bruises, and he looked to be sleeping. He didn’t see Madame Pompfrey at the moment and instead took a seat in the empty chair that was next to Harry's bed. 

He sighed as looked as his cousin, he felt out of place and awkward. He and Harry had never been close, but he couldn’t help wishing that they were. He didn’t know what to say, would his cousin even forgive him? He didn’t know what he would do if Harry didn’t, but his therapist said this was the first step in his healing process. He didn’t care about any of that, he just wanted Harry to know that he was so very sorry for everything he and his parents put him through. He took a breath before calming himself, unbeknownst to him Harry wasn’t asleep.  

After Poppy had healed his injures she had enervated him, but was all set to put him back to sleep. It was only at the Headmaster's insistence that Poppy not give him a sleeping potion. Harry wasn’t sure why the man did that but he didn’t want to be drugged when Ron and Snape came to him because chances were they were both worried about him. 

He had been deep in thought when he heard someone take a seat next to his bed. He almost rolled over to see who it was when he heard an intake of breath that he knew instinctively was neither Snape nor Ron. Why was Dudley doing here? Would he try to hurt him? He stopped his train of thoughts when the boy started talking. Harry listened and pretended to be sleep, because he wasn’t really sure what else could he do.

“Hey Harry, its me Dudley,” he started off, shaking his head at how stupid he probably sounded. “I know you probably don’t want to see me, or talk to me. And I know there’s a good chance that you can't hear me but that just makes it easier for me. Hank, that’s my therapist he's a squib like me, says that we need to talk. I just wanted you to know above everything else, how incredibly sorry I am. I knew what I did, can't really be forgiven but I hope one day that you'll find it in your heart anyway.” he said before taking a shaky sip of water. He didn’t think it would be this hard, and Harry wasn’t even woke,

“And I wanted you to know that what Mum and Da-Vernon did to you was wrong, and that you did not deserve that. And what I used to do was also wrong and I'm so very sorry. If I could take it back I would. And one more thing Harry, what dad said about you being alive? I don’t think that you're a waste of space,” Dudley said softly, his voice sincere as it had ever been as he spoke of incidents that he remembered when then were kids. He took the blame for it all, and wished that he had someone to tell him no.

By the time he had finished, Dudley felt lighter in a way. He hadn’t even known he had the much he needed to get off his chest. He found himself fixing his cousin's blanket and smoothing it down before he caught himself. Dudley sat there for a few more minutes, lost in thought. He sighed once more before he prepared to stand up. As he glanced back at the bed he found himself looking straight into a pair of knowing bright emerald eyes.

“Bloody hell,” he said hand going to clutch his chest as the green eyes, now showed mirth at his expression. He found himself smirking as he looked at his cousin.

“You sound like Ron you know,” Harry said softly.

“Yeah, I'll bet,” he said lightly before scratching his head. “I'll leave you to it,” he finally said turning to go.

“Leave me to what? Dud I’m in a hospital bed with Poppy,” Harry said wryly.

“Well I don’t want to disturb you,” Dudley told him honestly.

“Since when do you care about that?” Harry told him sarcastically. “I'm surprised you haven’t killed me in my sleep. Since I don’t deserve to live,” Harry told him watching his face. He had heard the boy's words, but he wanted to know if he really meant them. He was rewarded when the boy flinched back at his words as if he had gotten slapped.

Dudley swallowed heavily, this is what he didn’t want. He sighed, guessing he didn’t have the chance. He didn’t think he could give an apology if Harry was going to do that. The boy had every right, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt. “I was just leaving,” Dudley said stiffly as he stood up. Of course Harry wasn’t going to forgive him and he knew he deserved everything the boy threw at him.

“No no, stay Dudley, we need to talk,” Harry said seriously. 

Dudley gave Harry a wary look. “Talk about what?” He found himself asking.

“Talk about what happened after I passed out and you pushed your father off of me,” Harry said. He had heard the Headmaster and Poppy talking not to mention the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff. He heard all about the heroic effort, but he wanted to hear about it from the source.

Dudley didn’t hide his surprise, that Harry knew about that as he launched into the story, leaving nothing out. He could see that the blank expression that Harry got on his face when he told him that his father was dead to him. But he refused to take it back. He felt a bit off actually when h

Harry brought that particular topic to his attention. It was almost like Harry couldn’t understand just why his father was dead to him.

“He's your father, you can't do that,” Harry had protested vehemently.

“Yes I can, especially when hes hurting my cousin, so I can and will do it. He's nothing to me, but you; when's mum gone, you're all I've got left and I would be stupid to ignore that, ” Dudley told him honestly. He had turned to grab his water cup and it was a stroke of luck that he managed to see his cousin's face light up at his words. He had no idea how much family had really meant to Harry, until he saw it in that moment. He shook his head ruefully, he didn’t deserve it but Harry was giving him another chance. And this time Dudley wasn’t going to mess it up.

~*~*~*~*~Poppy's office~*~*~*~*~*

Albus and Ron were in the Matron's office, keeping 'watch' on her patient while she had stepped out to see to another call. Ron was trying to remain calm and only succeeded when the Headmaster told him he was going to force feed him a calming draught. He couldn’t believe how the old man had let that oaf in there with Harry until Winky came in and gave him a piece of her mind. 

She hadn’t like someone talking bad about her master and when she left Ron, he felt a bit contrite after rightly so. As it was they were eaves dropping on the conversation in the infirmary, Ron because he wanted to make sure that Dudley wasn’t saying anything hurtful to Dudley and Dumbledore because he wanted to proved to Ronald that some people benefited from second chances. Ron sighed feeling for the kid as he basically poured his heart out to Harry, and for a moment he felt bad that Harry might refuse until it he heard a teasing tone he recognized all to well. 

He felt his jealously trying to rear its ugly head but he knew that Harry's heart could hold massive amounts of love and he wasn’t about to hurt his friend anymore then he had been. Not to mention Snape, his mum, Dumbledore, and now Dudley would kill him. His eye’s widened as he looked at the Headmaster before sighing.

“Professor Snape has to know, before the portraits tell him,” Ron said remorsefully.

“It'll be okay Ronald, Severus wont hurt you,” Albus told him gently.

“No worse, he'll ban me from the manor and he has every right too. I promised to keep Harry safe,” Ron told him mournfully.

“You couldn’t have predicted this,” Albus replied.

“No but I should have been there with him, and not hiding in the bloody closet,” Ron said shaking his head in disbelief. His fear of disappointing Harry's new guardian had him on edge that he didn’t even notice his language to the Headmaster who had yet to scold him on it. He sighed before reaching for the floo powder.

“Then I better stay as well, Severus will no doubt blame me rightly so for bringing the Durselys to Hogwarts,” Albus said with a heavy sigh.

“He has every right to be concerned, I wonder if Dursely knows he just killed his own self,” Ron said dryly as he threw down the powder shouting Snape Manor before sticking his head in and calling for his Professor.

Severus looked up from where he had been revising one of his potion's manual, looking up as the fireplace in his study flared. “Mr. Weasely?” He asked in confusion, and a little bit of worry.

“Dont kill me sir, but if you could please floo over we need to talk to you,” Ron said carefully.

“Talk to me about what? Where is Harry?” Severus asked tightly.

“He's here sir, could you just floo over?” Ron asked warily.

Severus got a bad feeling in his chest as he gestured to Ron to move before he came through the fire. His eyes narrowed as he took in just whose office he was standing in. He was no stranger to Poppy's office, the question was, what was he doing in here?

“Where is Harry?” Severus asked in a dangerously low voice, that had Ron swallowing thickly in fear.

“He's in the infirmary resting, he had an altercation earlier today,” Albus said taking over when it seemed Ron was incapable of continuing.

“With who? Where were you when this was happening Mr. Weasely?” Severus asked his dark gaze turning to the redheaded boy who was trying to become one with the floor he was currently staring at.

“I was hiding, we were playing a hiding and seek and he was looking for me. In my defense I didn’t know anything was wrong, but when I did I ran out to help him,” Ron babbled.

“What exactly happened? Who hurt my child?” Severus asked a murderous look in his eyes. What was this holiday? Hurt the child until he broke holiday? Why did people keep thinking that they could harm him and nothing was going to happen to them?

 “His Uncle, he somehow got out of his room, but his cousin saved him,” Ron told him truthfully.

And what is being done about Vernon Dursely?” Severus asked, putting the information about the cousin in a separate part of his mind for the moment. 

“I don’t know, Winky took him somewhere,” Ron replied as he continued to tell him the story.

Severus nodded as he listened closely not wanting to miss each detail, before nodding to himself as he realized that Harry had just gained a new protector. Which was a good thing as it looked like he had way to many enemies as it was.

“If that’s all, I need to go see to Harry, and while I'm at it I'll discuss with Mr. Dursely where his house elf took his father,” Severus said as he opened the door to the office and walked into the infirmary.

Albus frowned as he took in the man's words, he unlike Ron had heard the dangerous tone underlining the words. He didn’t want Severus to do something regrettable not when it seemed Harry really did need him. He sighed before giving them a moment before making his way out to the infirmary.

The minute Harry had seen Snape appear out of the office, a bit of his insecurity started to rear its head as he looked at the man carefully.

“Are you alright Harry?” Severus asked as he took a seat on the bed as he took in his child. His face was blemish free as he remembered him but he could see bandages that was not there that morning.

“I'm fine, Dudley saved me,” Harry told him before wincing as he moved to crawl towards the man.

“What are you doing? You foolish child, be still you're still hurt,” Severus said as he moved closer to keep Harry where he was.

“I wanted to hug you,” Harry told him with a pout.

“And which part of that requires you to re-injure your bruised ribs?” He asked dryly.

“But I want a hug,” Harry said sadly. “You're gonna deny me that, after I got beat up?” He asked slyly, his green eyes innocently wide. He watched in satisfaction as the man's eyes widened and his body turned to him, his arms already outstretched before he seemed to catch himself.

“If you keep talking like that Harry, people are going to think that you're a Slytherin,” Severus told him as he held the child in his arms.

“I wanted to feel safe again, if they don’t like it. Well you can give them a detention,” Harry mumbled into the man's chest.

Dudley who had witnessed the whole thing, was sitting there quietly. He grinned to himself at the way Harry was acting but as he had never really seen him this way he wasn’t going to ruin it. He worried that they had forgotten that he was even there, and found himself quietly getting up. He didn’t want to invade their time, and found as he turned to give Harry a half of a wave that the man, Snape was it? Was staring at him with a calculating gaze.

Severus knew who this boy was having seen him in Harry's memories. He also knew what this blood relative of Harry who was here in the infirmary meant, having heard Ron's story. He frowned and knew he needed to have a word with the boy but not in front of Harry. 

“I wanted to thank you for helping Harry today, you didn’t have to do that,” Severus told him formally.

“But I did, I couldn’t let dad do that to Harry. He's been through to much, and he didn’t deserve any of this,” Dudley said firmly. “I'm going to stand by him, just so you know,” he said defiantly. He didn’t like the way the man's look was assessing him.

“I know, which is why we'll have to have a little chat,” Severus stated casually.

“What kind of chat?” Harry asked curiously.

“The same one I gave Ron, now hush child. You need your rest,” Severus replied patiently. Harry didn’t need to know what they talked about as the boy would no doubt over react. 

Dudley was interested to know who this man was to Harry, but he wasn’t about to ask. Not at the moment, maybe when he got this inevitable chat he would feel a little bit more comfortable speaking. But the way this man was looking at him, the gaze just screamed dangerous. He couldn’t help but feel a bit defensive as he stared at him which is why he was currently staring at his hands. 

He didn’t like the feeling that this man who he knew to be a wizard like Harry could probably kill him and wouldn't lose a wink of sleep. He had to wonder if the man knew just who he was and what he had done to Harry. He didn’t have to think too long on it as another quick glance into the dark man's eyes had his own eyes widening as he realized yes he was very much aware. Dudley suddenly wasn’t very interested in this chat, and he found himself quickly standing up.

“Big D, where are you going?” Harry asked, turning around to look at his cousin in confusion.

“Leaving, I need to talk to Winky and see if mum ate actually ate today,” Dudley replied honestly.

“Oh, well will you come back and visit with me?” Harry asked a bit unsurely.

“I don't think so, Poppy fixed you up. So I'm pretty sure you're good to go home today,” Dudley told him.

Harry smiled in agreement. “Well yeah I knew that but I mean at my house, with my dad,” he stated proudly.

Dudley stopped from where he had been about to speak as he turned to look at Harry. He knew that Harry's parents had died when he was a baby, so who was this new man he called his dad? He was a bit confused about his last statement and he got a small thing of dread in the pit of his stomach. And even though his common sense urged him not to ask, he needed to know. “Whose your dad Harry?” He asked cautiously.

“Him!” Harry replied cheerfully, pointing to the man who was holding him tightly.

“That's what I thought, I'd better go,” Dudley said hastily. This just went from good to worse in a matter of seconds. He needed time to think about this, as he did not feel safe in the man's presence. If the man wanted retribution for what he did to Harry he would be powerless to stop it.

“Wait Dudley, you didn’t answer, will you come visit me?” Harry repeated softly, his insecurity showing through as he bit his bottom lip worriedly.

Dudley swallowed, as Snape was it? Turned his dark gaze back to him, just daring him to say no that he found himself nodding vigorously before he even fully knew he was doing it.

“Great! Well I'll send you an owl okay? Be on the look out for Hedwig,” Harry said grinning happily.

“Sure, bye Harry,” Dudley said as he headed quite rapidly to the exit.

Harry waited until his cousin had disappeared and turned to face Snape, who looked to be deep in thought. “Why did you do that?” He asked frowning slightly.

“Do what Harry?” Severus asked curiously, as he hadn’t done anything to the boy.

“You scared him,” Harry pointed out. 

“Oh that, I scare everybody Harry,” Severus told him honestly.

“No you don’t, you don’t scare me,” Harry protested.

“Once upon a time, I frightened even you,” Severus promised.

“I was 11, you scared all of us,” Harry said in embarrassment at the memory.

“Point proven then,” he said smirking.

“No, you deliberately scared Dudley, I think he would have said no when he realized you were my dad. You made him say yes, I don’t want to make people fear your retribution. I won't have real friends that way,” Harry said his tone obviously hurt.

“Oh hush Harry, I did not make your cousin do no such thing,” Severus told him gently rubbing his side. 

“Then why was he scared?” Harry asked softly.

“Because he was projecting his thoughts and I answered them,” Severus answered promptly.

“What was he thinking of?” Harry mumbled out.

“If he wants to tell you, you will know but you won't hear it from me,” he said as his dark eyes roamed over Harry before setting him on the bed.

“Whoa, I was comfortable!” Harry protested before pouting as the man gently slapped his hands away that had been reaching for him.

“I know you were, but I need to take care of something.” Severus replied a glint in his eyes, that had Harry gulping before he could help himself.

“What do you need to take care of?” Harry whispered.

“Vernon Dursely,” Severus hissed before he moved away from Harry and started walking towards the exit of the infirmary.

“Wait Dad no! You'll get hurt!” Harry yelled, trying to get out of the bed, only to realize that he was stuck. He cursed loudly at the fact that his father had stuck him to the bed, without him even being aware.

“Language Harry,” Severus admonished, turning back to give him a glare that told him that would not be tolerated.

“Sorry, but can you come un-stick me? Dad you can't do this,” Harry pleaded as he struggled to get to his wand on the dresser.

“Trust me Harry, I can,” Severus replied calmly as he accioed his son's wand only to tuck it into his cloak pocket.

“No that's mine! Stop!” Harry yelled loudly, his eyes wide as he took in the situation. He figured that Poppy was in her office and was trying to attract her attention to help and get the Headmaster who knew what to do and how to stop his father. It worked perfectly as both Ron and the Headmaster came out of the woman's office, looking around in confusion.

“What's wrong Harry? What hurts?” Ron asked immediately as he ran over to his friend's bedside.

“Un-stick me Ron,” Harry ground out angrily.

“What do you mean?” Ron asked in confusion.

“Snape stuck me to the bed!” Harry exclaimed his emotions on edge, didn’t they understand the situation and what this could mean if the man actually killed Vernon Dursely. He could go to prison and Harry would end up god knows where!

Ron nodded and was reaching for his wand when a silky voice had him freezing in his tracks.

“If you so much as take your wand out Mr. Weasely I will confiscate it and stick you to the bed next to him,” Severus told him dangerously.

“Duly noted sir,” Ron replied with wide eyes, his hand dropping to his side immediately.

“Traitor,” Harry said darkly.

“That may be true, but I can't really help you if I'm stuck too,” Ron said sheepishly.

Dumbledore who had been watching the scene quietly, finally decided to speak as he himself couldn’t allow Severus to go after the muggle, no matter how justified he was in it. If Severus lost control, which he looked on the verge of there would be no stopping him and he had fought once for him not to get Azkaban, he didn’t think they would go easy this time.

“There is no need to help Harry, Ronald. As Severus won't be going anywhere, I can assure you Harry,” Albus said firmly, his blue eyes never leaving the Slytherin. 

Severus for his part was floored, though he had a hunch that Albus might react this way. He had at least hoped that the fact that Harry the child they had continued to fail had gotten hurt on his watch that he would turn a blind eye on the situation, but he guessed not. He frowned as he looked at his mentor in disbelief.

“You mean to tell me that once more, you're going to let Harry's abusers get away?” Severus asked in a dangerous tone.

“I never said that Severus.” Albus replied quickly.

“You hadn’t said it yet, you did this with Black, and then Delores. And now with his whale of a Uncle. Has the child's security mean so little to you?” He asked appalled at the whole thing.

“Of course not, Harry's safety is my priority. Severus you know that, I just cannot have you going around giving what you see as justice,” Albus stated calmly.

“Yes because Merlin forbid, someone actually pay the crime they committed,” Severus muttered sarcastically, his grip tightening on his wand as he stared at the old man.

Dumbledore's blue eyes flashed hard, for he hadn’t appreciated the man's tone in the slightest. He was doing the best he could, among other things that he had to take care of. He narrowed his eyes, a bit of his own irritation showing through. 

“If you truly believe that Severus then maybe you can explain to me why you aren't rotting away in Azkaban? Since you say that everyone should pay the crime they committed,” Albus murmured curtly, regretting the words the minute they left his mouth. The minute he saw the man's face blank over, he wished he could take them back but he knew he couldn’t. He sighed wearily as he heard the gasps from the boys, reminding him that they weren't alone, and that Harry had just witnessed this.

Severus didn’t think he could be surprised anymore that day, but his mentor's words once more threw him for a loop. Why because he was actually hurt, though he wasn’t going to show that which is why his shields went up the minute he recognized the feeling. He made sure his mask was firmly into place, he hadn’t forgotten that Harry or Ron for that matter was still there, and he could see the look on Harry's face and that was too much for him. 

The child looked horrified, but Severus was too into his own grief to realize that the child was horror-struck that the Headmaster had dared to say something like that. Looking at the old man, he could see the regret, but the harsh words were out there. So he knew that even if he apologized, they could never be taken back and he had meant them when he said it. That was the part that really hurt him, did the man honestly think that he deserved to be in prison? Would nothing ever be enough? 

How many times did he have to risk his life for him to be satisfied? The answer never was on the front end of his mind and something in his heart broke off a bit. He made a small noise before turning around, he couldn’t be here around them. He couldn’t see the regret nor the fear. He honestly believed he couldn’t handle it at least not at the moment. He was shaken and he needed a moment to gather himself, before he could release his anger on Dursely. If the headmaster thought he deserved to be in prison, well why should he try to prove him wrong? Especially if nothing was going to change the man's mind anyways? 

“Severus, my boy I'm so sorry,” Albus said the regret making his tone heavy. He hadn’t meant to let his emotions get the better of him. As he saw the man stiffen, he knew that he hadn’t taken in the apology and quickly flicked his wand at Harry who was still sitting on the bed,k releasing the sticking charm to the child's relief.

He was rewarded for his efforts when Harry took off across the infirmary and barreled into Severus's back and held the man tight. Albus watched the scene with emotion, he continued to hurt his boys day in and day out. Of course they had sought comfort with each other, when he couldn’t give it to them. 

Harry hugged the man tightly, even as he felt Snape trying to pull him off. That only made him grip his father tighter, he wasn’t about to let go. He had no doubt what his father wanted to do to his Uncle, and normally he wouldn't mind but he didn’t want Snape to go to jail. Especially not over him!

“Let go of me Harry,” Severus stated calmly, more then what he felt inside. He hadn’t felt such rage like this in a long time, and he didn’t want to lose control with Harry so close.

“No Dad, you can't hurt him. You cant go to prison!” Harry yelled out.

“As your Headmaster has just explained to us, it doesn't matter what I do. As I deserve prison anyway,” Severus said gritting his teeth, carefully gripping Harry tight and starting to pull him off and away from him.

“Who cares what he said, he was wrong Daddy!” Harry protected firmly. His eyes watered at the thought that he wouldn't be able to stop the man from going after his Uncle. He could see the Headmaster but he wasn’t moving from his corner and Harry had a hunch that the man saying or coming over here would make the situation even worse.

Severus gave Harry a sad look before shaking his head, a curtain of hair falling in front of his face. “But he wasn’t, I knew I deserved to rot for what I did, and I guess secretly Albus did too. I'm no better then your Uncle,” he told him softly.

“He was wrong, you are nothing like him!” Harry cried out into his chest. “Stay, don’t go for him. Don't hurt him, please Daddy, don’t hurt him,”

“Why are you protecting that beast? He hurt you,” Severus said angrily, as he tried to gently remove Harry's from him. 

“Because you're a better man then he will ever be, don’t stoop to his level and prove me wrong.” Harry said sniffling.

“Is that the only reason why, and its not because you somehow still love him because he's your uncle?” Severus asked him skeptically.

“Yes that’s the only reason, I promise,” Harry said his hold never loosening on the man. “Stay for me! Promise me you will?” Harry pleaded.

Severus blinked away his own sudden tears as he stared at the child that had somehow got into his arms. “He hurt something of mine. I protect what is mine, and you are mine,” he said his voice thick with emotion.

“I know he did, but I won't let him take what belongs to me anymore. You're my dad, and that means you stay with me for now,” Harry whispered, the tears falling from his eyes.

Severus couldn’t reply to that, because of two things. One he was sure that if he spoke, he would lose his self control and he wasn’t going to cry in front of anyone. And another was, he was in too much shock to actually even think after Harry's words. He had never felt so cherished then in that moment, that the old man's words, hurt less when he heard that. 

“No, that means he stays with you forever Harry,” Ron replied softly.

Harry grinned a tearful grin at Ron before turning to the Headmaster with a look of irritation. “Haven't you learned that words hurt more then you realize? He didn’t deserve that, and I didn’t deserve to be beaten. But you're the cause of both of that, and yet you still stand here, like we owe you something. I don’t owe you anything, and neither does him. He paid his debt, and continues to pay it every time he goes to a meeting.”

“You owe him an apology, because my dad did nothing to warrant that. He was going to protect me, when you failed. This is the third time this has happened Headmaster. How many times must I get hurt before you see that not everyone can be saved? What will it take for you to see how much you are hurting me every time you let the abusers go free?” Harry stated quietly before turning his head into Snape's shoulder.

Severus had taken the minute Harry spoke to regroup himself and gestured to Ron as he headed back to Poppy's office.

“I truly am sorry Severus,” Albus said softly as they walked passed him.

“As am I Headmaster, I put the trust in the wrong person and once more something of mine was hurt. I wont make this mistake a third time,” Severus promised before he and the boys disappeared into the office to floo home,

The old man could do nothing but stand there and sigh wearily and the mistaken he had just made. It took a Severus a long time to trust and in his irritation he knew that he had probably lost it all.