"But, Potter - " Severus began, and cut himself off. "Harry - are you well?"

"Yes, sir," Harry nodded. "If you really don't want me though - "

"No, it's fine," Severus cut him off. "I wouldn't have made the offer if I wasn't prepared for you to accept. But - why?" Harry simply shrugged at him. "Such eloquence."

"I'd just rather not go back with the Dursleys," Harry mumbled.

"And why is that?" Severus asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Well," Harry stalled, and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Severus stood up and went to his armchair in front of the fireplace. A low fire crackled away. Wordlessly, Severus summoned some tea, where it sat steaming on the table.

"Would you care to take a seat?" Severus asked, gesturing to the armchair across from him. Harry nervously rose and scurried to the offered chair, where he sank down gratefully, though he still looked stressed in the extreme. Severus handed him a teacup, and began to nurse his own. Harry sipped his own tea, and began to relax a little, as they sat in companionable silence.

"So, tell me, Harry," Severus finally began, "why is my pathetic guardianship something preferable to your relatives?" Harry jumped a bit at the sound of his voice, and his eyes darted around nervously. "The truth, Harry," Severus clarified.

"I mean - you're not going to hit me, will you?" Harry blurted out, his panic visibly near the surface.

"Of course not," Severus replied off-handedly. "And your reason for this being a concern?"

"Then it will already be better than the Dursleys," Harry muttered, relaxing a little again. Severus leaned forward and poured Harry some more tea.

"From the sound of things," Severus began, "I won't have to try very hard to improve your life. Why did you let me think otherwise?"

"You only saw what you wanted to see," Harry shot back defiantly, risking a glance at Severus.

"Perhaps," Severus deflected. "Then why didn't you tell the Headmaster or your Head of House?"

"I did tell Dumbledore!" Harry shouted, quickly setting his tea cup on the coffee table as he stood, his fists balled. Severus could see that Harry was blinking back the beginnings of tears, but decided not to comment on that observation.

"Calm down, Harry," he said softly.

"Calm down?" Harry asked, his voice getting high. "I told Dumbledore, and he gave me some line about how families could never hurt or ignore one of their own. He basically called me a liar, and when I proved it, he just smiled and said I had to put up with it for the greater good. That stupid twinkling in his eyes didn't even fade!"

"Regrettably, I'm hardly surprised, I suppose," Severus said quietly, his face darkening a bit, in a sad sort of way.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, eyes narrowing, as he seated himself again.

"Yours is not the first case where he's refused to intercede." He raised his cup and took a sip.

"You mean your own?" Severus tried to not spit the tea back into the cup, but failed. It was either that, or choke.

"I suppose you could say that," Severus finally said. "How in the world - ?"

"McGonagall mentioned it," Harry explained.

"Oh," Severus nodded. "That was confidential information." They were silent for a few moments.

"I'm sorry," Harry finally murmured.

"If she told you, it's hardly your fault that you know," Severus dismissed.

"I mean, I'm sorry it happened."

"Hmph," Severus grunted. "Doesn't matter." They fell silent again as they watched the fire. Then, "Tell me about your relatives."

"What's to tell?" Harry sighed, picking up his tea cup, and rolling it in his hands.

"How would you describe an average day with them?" Severus prompted.

"Look, they don't like me, and I don't like them," Harry sulked. "There's nothing more to tell."

"Mm," Severus said thoughtfully, and a very small smile tugged at his lips. "I could always put some Veritaserum in your tea next time."

"What?" Harry gasped, horrified. "You wouldn't!"

"Just try me," Severus challenged, a victorious smirk settling on his features. He still had the power to intimidate, and he was satisfied with that.

"Alright, fine," Harry backpedaled. "What was the question again?"

"What was a typical day with your relatives like?"

"Well," Harry stalled, setting his tea down when he noticed his hands were shaking, and he shifted uncomfortably, "I mean, I did chores. That was pretty much it."

"Which is why you were concerned that I would hit you," Severus drawled, taking another sip of his tea. Harry flushed and dropped his gaze, shrugging.

"If I didn't get the chores done on time, or if I did them wrong," Harry began softly, "then they'd hit me."

"And how often was that?" Severus asked conversationally.

"Once every couple months?" Harry said, casting a worried glance at Severus, who simply raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Once a month?" The eyebrow didn't move. "Once a week?" Harry's voice was beginning to sound almost desperate. "Okay, fine! I was lucky to miss a day. Only if the Dursleys were doing some family event and didn't have time for me." There, now Severus believed him, and stopped holding him under that scrutinous gaze. Harry's shoulders slumped in despair.

"Describe it," Severus demanded thoughtfully, as he leaned back and steepled his fingers. Harry shrugged a bit.

"What do you want to know?" Harry said, shivering a bit, but Severus was sure it wasn't from cold. "They hit me; I cried. That simple; that humiliating."

"Who usually hit you?" Severus pressed.

"Uncle Vernon," Harry admitted. "Sometimes Dudley - my cousin - would try to hit me, but I could usually avoid him."

"What did your uncle use to hit you?"

"His hands, his feet, a newspaper, a belt, whatever he could grab easily," Harry said, perhaps a little puzzled. "He wasn't picky. Why does it matter?"

"Because if I'm going to try to fill a role of father, then I probably should know a little bit about you," Severus replied calmly.

"You don't even like me, so why should you want to be a father to me?" Harry whispered.

"What I like or don't like is beside the point," Severus dismissed. "I've been dealing with things I don't like for all of my life. Additionally, if we dispel some of the miscommunication between us, perhaps we could come to something of a compromise on the matter. Also, apparently someone needs to look out for you, since the Headmaster is doing a piss poor job of it." Harry smiled at Severus' choice of words.

"So, yeah, thanks, I guess," Harry stammered.

"And the severity of these beatings?" Harry's eyes widened a bit and he began wringing his hands.

"Do we have to talk about this?" Harry asked, his ears turning red. Severus noted that Harry didn't argue with the term, beating, and counted that a good thing.

"Yes," Severus replied. "Now answer the question. Honestly."

"I guess it depended on how angry Uncle Vernon was," Harry whispered, though Severus was careful to hear every word. "And how drunk."

"I see," Severus said. "And when he was particularly angry and drunk? The severity?" Harry clasped his biceps and shivered some more.

"You don't want to know," he finally said, after a moment.

"I believe," Severus said slowly, "that when I ask a question, I do want to know the answer."

"Fine," Harry snapped, though his voice lacked the usual defiance, and Severus actually found himself a bit concerned at that realization. "They were bad. Like me bleeding out with broken fingers bad. Like me begging for it to end and him laughing at me. Like me being in pain for weeks after, crying myself to sleep because I didn't have anything else. Like my being locked away for days on end, forgotten, bored and aching, with nothing to do, alone." Harry turned his face away.

"Locked away?" Severus echoed, looking a bit sick.

"Yeah," Harry murmured.

"Where?"

"Before Hogwarts? A cupboard," Harry explained. "After Hogwarts, I moved to the smallest bedroom. They put bars on the window and several locks on the door. There was a cat flap to pass food through. And I was helpless, because I couldn't magic my way out."

"They let you out of your room sometimes at least, didn't they?"

"What part of 'forgotten' didn't you believe?" Harry muttered sadly. "I wasn't ignored. I was forgotten."

"And bathroom breaks? Meals?" Severus pressed, the growing sense of horror beginning to creep into his voice. Harry just looked at him expectantly, but didn't reply immediately. Severus sighed. "I had no idea."

"Wouldn't you have done the same, maybe two years ago?" Harry asked.

"Absolutely not," Severus said quickly, affronted. Then he added, more quietly, "I suppose I thought you had a good life, because I would have done everything in my power to give you that myself. And if I would have done that, what more would your relatives do, who were even more financially capable than I am?" Harry looked shocked, but didn't say anything.

"Were the beatings, locking you away, and not feeding you the only things they did?"

"Isn't that enough?" Harry asked bitterly. "I didn't deserve it. I tried to please them." Harry's breath hitched a bit, and he covered his face with his hands. "I tried to do what they wanted. I tried to be good." Severus rose silently and stepped close to Harry. Hesitatingly, he put his hand on Harry's head, just resting it there.

"I want to know if that's where it stopped," Severus said quietly. "Did they do anything else to you? Did your uncle - touch you?"

"No, sir," Harry murmured, taking his hands away from his face. Severus took his hand back and resumed his former position in his chair.

"And you're certain of that?" Severus pressed.

"Yes, sir," Harry nodded. "I'm certain."

"Did anyone ever give you reason to fear an assault?" Severus asked, his expression thoughtful. "Before your godfather." Harry looked away and didn't answer right away.

"Well," he said softly, slowly, "sometimes, Uncle Vernon would say that if I didn't straighten up, that would be all I'd be good for."

"Clarify, please," Severus requested.

"He'd say," Harry continued, very quietly, "that if I didn't stop doing freaky stuff - magic - that the only way I'd ever earn a living would be if I let other people shag me." Severus scowled. "But he didn't do anything, I swear!" Harry began pleading. "He just would threaten it. Nothing ever happened."

"Alright," Severus agreed darkly. He supposed Harry was telling the truth - there was no sign of a lie - and it would also account for why Harry would hold an active fear of that, and why he might have hallucinated what he did about Black.

"'m sorry," Harry murmured, and refused to look at Severus. Severus didn't know what to do with the apology, so he moved on.

"How often did you miss meals?" he asked.

"I usually got one a day," Harry shrugged.

"And water?"

"If I was working outside, I could drink from the hose," Harry explained. Severus snorted and sipped his tea again.

"I suppose the beatings left marks?" he finally said. Harry nodded, and judging by the way he was biting his lip, it was because he didn't trust his voice at the moment. "Let me see."

"No, please," Harry begged suddenly finding his voice. Severus had already begun to rise, and continued the motion. Harry cowered back in the chair. "Haven't I told you enough?"

"And how does it hurt anything for me to see?" Severus asked. "As a parental figure, I should think it's my duty to know you past."

"I told you," Harry hissed. "You don't need to see it to. Unless you don't believe me?"

"Of course I believe you," Severus said. "I have believed you in the past, haven't I?"

"Yes," Harry nodded.

"Then humor me and let me see," Severus said quietly. "That's an order." Harry watched Severus carefully, but stood and loosened his tie, unbuttoned his shirt, and shrugged it off.

"Turn around," Severus said gently. Harry did as instructed. Severus saw Harry's back, scarred, and Severus placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. The boy flinched. Severus wasn't sure if touching Harry was to steady himself or offer some sense of sympathy. He moved his thumb over Harry's shoulder blade as he tried to think of something appropriate to say.

"Let me see your hands," he finally said. Harry turned, and held the requested appendages out palms down. Severus took them in his own and began to examine the fingers. "Definitely broken on several occasions," he diagnosed needlessly. He took note of the state of the boy's nails. "Would you care to explain?" he asked, gesturing to his fingertips.

"I bite my nails," Harry shrugged.

"You bite them down to the nail bed," Severus observed coldly, "and then you bite at the cuticles too. You are not to partake in such self-descructive behavior," he added sternly.

"Yes, sir," Harry said, ducking his hand and putting his hands behind his back.

"Get those back here," Severus snapped. Harry hesitated, but held his hands out again. This time, Severus grabbed Harry by the wrist. Immediately, Harry tried to pull out of the strong grip, but failed. Turning Harry's arm upright, Severus closed his eyes for a moment.

"And would you care to explain that?"