At the moment Severus was having a well-deserved gloat over the success of the Dursleys' arrest, Harry was hobbling pell-mell down the halls of Hogwarts, breath sobbing in and out of his lungs as images cascaded through his mind in horrifying snapshots. It was a miracle that he had retained front. As it was, they kept switching for a few moments at a time, and he couldn't control it anymore than he could stop a rollercoaster.

It had been Madam Pomfrey who had set it off, entirely unwittingly, of course. She'd been ready to fix their ankle that morning and had made a chance comment about 'being a good boy' and before anyone knew it, Freak was out, off the bed, and halfway down the corridor. Harry had tried to regain control and well...

He had no idea where they were. Somewhere in the dungeons was his best guess, but honestly, it wouldn't have surprised him to look out a window and discover they were floors above the ground. They had lost Madam Pomfrey ages ago, but couldn't stop running. Well-doing their best attempt at a run, which was a sad cross between a limp and a fast walk. Their ankle sent out random bursts of pain, throbbing up through their whole leg, but they ignored it. It didn't matter right now. Nothing mattered but safety and safe, but there was nowhere safe. That was the problem.

Snape? Was Snape safe? But he wasn't here, he'd told them he had business at the Ministry and left them right before Madam Pomfrey had decided it was time to fix their ankle. They were alone, Harry was alone, and the panic kept rising up and up, threatening to overwhelm him completely.

He finally stopped, sobbing and wedging himself into a corner behind a slightly rusted suit of armour. Aside from the ragged sounds of his hysteria, the corridor was utterly silent, and its almost tranquil calm seeped into the system until finally, Harry uncurled slightly and let Blue come out.

For a moment, she expected Uncle Vernon to charge around the nearest corner, bellowing for his "boy!" and swinging the leather belt with the blood-stained buckle. She squashed herself more deeply into the rough stone corner, feeling it scrape her back through the thin hospital gown and not caring one whit. They were still barefoot as well, and her feet were freezing, her ankle a dusky purplish shade that told her that it was still injured.

The torches flared brightly, but Blue almost wished that it was pitch black down here. She had no idea what time it was, or how long they'd been fleeing Madam Pomfrey. She must be so mad. A whimper choked in Blue's throat, and she tucked her feet up under her, wrapping her arms tightly around her knees. She didn't think Madam Pomfrey would hit them like Uncle Vernon did. Or use a belt. Or kick them. But then again, they'd run away from her. She was only trying to help and they'd just rejected that help. Professor Snape would probably be mad at them, too. She began to shiver as she imagined his fury. If he got angry at her twin Jay simply mouthing off like he always did, what would he do to her?

"I don't know where he is, Severus!" Poppy exclaimed for the nth time. Severus paced the length of the Hospital Wing, his face so forbidding-looking that if Blue had seen it in that instant, she would have burst into terrified tears.

"How could you lose him?" he demanded, knowing his anger at her was irrational and embracing it anyway. No matter how satisfying it had been to put Petunia in her place, seeing Harry's cupboard had left him badly shaken, out of sorts, and furious at the type of people who could do that to any child, never mind their orphaned nephew. Clearly, the 'freakiness' drove any sort of family charity out of Petunia's head.

"I don't know!" Poppy shouted back. She looked near tears and utterly frazzled, and Severus felt a moment's sting of shame. "I was fixing his ankle and before I knew it, he'd panicked and run out. I tried to follow, but I lost him. None of the other staff who are still here, or the ghosts, have seen the boy." She sighed and sat down on the edge of a slightly rumpled bed, dragging her hands through her hair.

"You don't think he's run out of the castle, do you?" Severus voiced the worry that had been plaguing him. Concern sharp in her face, Poppy thought, then slowly shook her head.

"No, an alarm would have sounded if he'd made it to the doors," she stated. "I cast those as soon as I lost sight of him. He's in the castle, it's just where."

Severus sighed glumly. Great. Hogwarts was huge and full of hiding places for a scared and lost eight-year-old boy.

"Has anyone searched the dungeons?" he asked, struck by a sudden thought. Poppy shook her head.

"You don't think he's really down there, do you, Severus?" Poppy asked, doubtful. "It's a scary place to be when you're eight. Particularly when you're already scared."

"It's worth a shot," Severus said. With a swirl of his robes, he was gone.

At first he thought Poppy had been right, that there was no way Harry would have come down here, in a blind panic or not. Then his well-trained eyes noticed traces of disarray, and the torn-off corner of a blue-patterned hospital gown.

"Harry?" he called softly down each flickering corridor, trying to seem as unthreatening as possible. "Are you here? It's all right. No one's angry with you. You can come out."

A stifled whimper echoed from a corner, and Severus's ears perked, leading him to...a suit of armour? His brow crinkled in confusion. Then he noticed the bare feet slightly peeking out, white with cold.

Moving the suit of armour aside with a slight wave of his wand, Severus beheld Harry Potter, wet-eyed and scrunched into a corner, looking more terrified than when he'd had his panic attack at Spinner's End. His ankle looked swollen again, and the child was shivering like mad. Severus crouched down to the boy's level, careful to stay back far enough that the child didn't feel cornered or trapped.

"Harry?" he asked carefully. "What's wrong?"

Sniffling, the boy shook his head.

"Please tell me?" he tried again, unsure of what to do. He couldn't leave, Potter might take off again. He wasn't well suited to giving comfort, though.

"Got scared," finally came the halting, hesitant reply. The boy looked up at him with shimmering emerald eyes, so much like his mother's it was painful.

"Why did you get scared?" Severus asked, only to receive the shock of his life when Harry Potter launched himself out of the corner, hurtling toward him and wrapping his arms around Severus's middle, tears soaking his robes.

"You weren't there," came the sniffled admission, and Severus's mouth dropped open in shock.

Apparently, Potter more than meant it when he said he wanted Severus to be his guardian.