Harry awoke to the sudden feeling of pressure on the bed and a large creature sniffling at his head. He sat bolt upright startled to find that it was merely the dog, Harvey had jumped onto the bed and was now pawing at Harry's stomach. Harry smiled giving the dog a hug. Harvey wagged his tail fiercely, as he started to jump up and down. Harry let go and Harvey ran towards the door and out towards the stair case. Harry threw off his blankets and put on some clothes...if you could call those things in his suitcase clothes. He always felt extremely lucky that none of the boys in his dorm really noticed what his muggle clothes really looked like.

"HAROLD JAMES," came a deep angry voice from one irritated potions master. "Didn't I tell you to put on something decent?"

Harry ignored Snape's hollering as he walked into the dining room sitting down at the table and starting his breakfast. Snape didn't wish to deny the boy food so allowed him to eat but the minute that he had finished eating he put his hand over Harry's. "Go change," he said in his domineering manner.

Harry sighed as he stood from the chair and walked slowly back towards his room thinking about what he could possibly do. He knew the truth, his uncle and aunt had told him so many times before, he was merely a worthless freak who didn't deserve things that a normal civilised person would. That is why all that would ever remain his when he was not at school were Dudley's old clothes, cast-offs which never fit him, first of all being such a big size and secondly because his cousin was always so much more reckless than he ever was. Just like his cousin had the second room, his cousin also had the good clothing and all he had was these…he continued to try to find something that would make Snape happy but he knew that it was a hopeless case. There was nothing he owned which would be presentable. He did consider buying muggle clothes when he first got his wizarding robes, after all there was a section for it, but he decided that if his aunt ever found him in anything else than the rags that she had given him, she would most likely make him strip on the spot and find someway to give the clothes away to his cousin or one of his friends. No…good clothing was something that he had never received and would never receive.

"Harry what is taking so long?" came a booming voice from the doorway.

"I can't….I don't have…sir.." Harry muttered feeling lost and confused in a world of his own thoughts.

"Surely you must have something to wear Harold, I can't imagine those muggle relatives of yours allowed you to run around the neighbourhood dressed in nothing but those old rags so get something on and I shall show you the quidditch field."

Not that Harry could have missed it, that giant patch of green in the middle of the back yard with the posts up in the air was a bit of a give away, but Harry wasn't going to talk back at Snape when he was in this kind of mood, no he had learned how wrong that could be when he lost five points for his house in his first potions class!

Harry continued to rummage in his suitcase when Severus lost his temper. Taking out his wand Severus chanted "bnoagobosui" much to Harry's surprise his suitcase started to rise up into the air, where it unceremoniously dumped all of Harry's clothing onto the bed.

"At least now you might learn to put your clothes away!" Snape stated with an unpleasant look on his face. He walked over towards the bed looking at the clothing that was now on his son's bed. All that was sitting there was more of the same, clothing which Harry had worn the day before and down to breakfast. Very dull colours and looking like they would have more chance fitting a baby elephant than his son!

"What kind of a joke is this?" Snape stated furiously, "where are your clothes? This had better not be some elaborate scheme to make me take you shopping, I don't go shopping."

"Yeah there's no surprise there!" Harry muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Severus stated as if he had missed what Harry had said. Snape always had very sharp hearing, one of the many skills that he had used to his best advantage whilst spying. Always be aware of your surroundings. "Mind your attitude Harold, or you won't be able to sit for a week!"

Harry simply put his head down, feeling very chastised and embarrassed. "legilimans" Snape muttered using the opportunity to flip through his brats mind, hoping to find the truth of the events in front of him. He struggled to believe that someone would treat a child that badly, but through his years of teaching Slytherin house, and seeing many an abused child, Harry was showing all of the classic symptoms.

In his mind's eye Severus witnessed some of the treatment which Harry had endured. He saw Harry get locked into the cupboard at the age of 3, crying to get out, his uncle grabbed him by the rags he was wearing, beat him around the head and shoulders and threw him back into the cupboard again. He saw Harry aged 5, bleeding and face full of dirt, whilst his cousin continued to kick him with his friends and all the poor boy could do was cover his head as his friends stripped him naked and he walked back to the Dursley's from the park to be questioned by his aunt and shoved back into his cupboard to "think about the ungrateful way he was behaving." Ungrateful? What did the poor boy have to be grateful about? At age 7, he was sitting in his cupboard and Snape could see the malnourished form of his son, laying there and talking to the spiders about how hungry he felt and how lonesome. At age 9 he saw him working in the garden with his fingers bleeding and sweating ferociously, looking at the long list of chores which were supposed to be done before lunch and written on the paper was HAVE THESE DONE OR NO LUNCH! Vision after vision after vision swept past the man's eyes until he could bare it no more and cancelled the spell.

Snape quickly exited the room leaving Harry feeling lost and confused. Snape went directly down to his potions lab where he let out an animalistic ROAR! He just couldn't BELIEVE the way that those people would dare to treat HIS son….and that was one of the strongest feelings that Snape had encountered for the boy…not just any boy…but HIS boy. Regaining his composure he went towards the dining room table and scrawled a quick note. Calling his owl to him he sent it off with the message, directly to Dumbledore, he had to find out if the man had known. Surely…he could not have known about this. Thinking for a second Snape wrote another quick note, folded some wizarding money into the note and then placed it into an envelope. Turning and walking back up the stairs to his son's bedroom where Harry was sitting absolutely distraught on his bed.

"I'm so sorry sir, I'm so sorry!" Harry said, "I didn't mean to be so disobedient and disrespectful, I didn't mean to be treated like that. I know I deserved it; I know I was bad but please…please forgive me. I know I was bad I deserved it I'm sorry!" Harry stated in a panicking voice.

Well, if Snape hadn't have flashed through Harry's memories this reaction from the boy is all that he would need to find out about the boy's past and just how he was treated.

Snape suppressed another violent reaction which was stirring inside him to look at his son calmly and state, "Harry, nobody should ever be treated that way. You may have deserved some discipline, all boys do. However, you did not deserve the way they treated you and I don't want to hear you speak that way again."

Harry just looked at the man, feeling extremely confused. This was the treatment he always received, all he had ever known...and yet this man was saying that he didn't deserve it?

"But you…you don't understand, please sir…please it was me! I was bad! I did things that were…unthinkable!" Harry muttered.

"Like what son? Tell me?" Severus stated.

"Like…when I burned the dinner, or when I didn't finish my chore list on time, or when I got in the way when I knew my relatives were angry," Harry said quietly, "and I did other things too!"

"Well Harry, I can't see anything wrong with the first two things, unless of course you were slacking off like I know you do," Snape stated, Harry blushed, "but you know that even if you did behave incorrectly there was no reason why these relatives of yours could not have punished you in some other manner, like a brief spanking." Harry blushed even more if this was possible, "and besides," Snape continued, "if you had gotten in their way when they were angry, it is up to them to reign in their temper, not to take it out on you son." Snape knew from personal experience that he had received the blunt end of his own father's fiery temper more than once and was determined not to instil that same fear into his own son.

"Harry?" Snape questioned gently as he put his hand on the boys shoulder, "I was wondering...how would you like to go to the Weasleys for a day or two?" He smiled to see his son's reaction; Harry looked all excited and happy as if they had not gone through the trouble of that day at all.

"I'd love to, but I wouldn't be in the way there would I?" Harry asked.

"Well…we can go together and see if you are feeling too stressed about it son," Snape said hiding the envelope behind his back, "but I'm sure that Molly would love to see you and it would be good for you to spend some time with your friends."

Snape had other matters he wished to attend to, like speaking to the headmaster about Harry's treatment by his relatives and deciding the best course of action. After all Snape did not wish to get himself into any trouble which could cause Harry to lose another loving parent. His fiery temper had threatened to put him into Azkaban before as a youth, it was only thanks to Dumbledore's quick thinking and Severus' loyalty to the man that he had not.

"No…I'll be just fine!" Harry said happily, "how do I get there?"

"Take the floo that is on top of the mantelpiece in the lounge room," Snape stated quietly, Harry turned to leave rushing out of the room, "Harry come back here please," Snape gently commanded. Harry turned and returned to face his father, "take this, and give it to Molly Weasley" Severus said handing his son the envelope "and behave!" Snape gave Harry a tap on the bottom as he walked away to remind him to behave and then watched the boy as he fled down the stairs to the lounge room and disappeared through the green flames.